Family Updates
Sticky Post - Intro
On Wednesday, October 16, our family was involved in a car accident on our way to NC. Lucas, the driver of our car, was the most badly injured. He was transferred via helicopter to ECU Hospital in Greenville NC. He was sedated and on a breathing tube until Saturday the 26th. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions at [email protected]. I started this quick update site November 3rd, to centralize updates.
01/10/2025 - Friday
It's been some time since the last update, but that's really because there hasn't been a lot of huge leaps and bounds in progress. Just continual slow and steady progress. But yesterday, there finally WAS a big step. Literally. Sarah was able to attempt to put weight on her legs. That was great, so they said - why not try a few steps?! Long story short, Sarah has been able to walk with some limited support and she has been looking fantastic! Even steps! Now she can actually use a shower in our house instead of going to the nearby Planet Fitness (which has a handicapped shower). Lucas is continuing to regular PT, OT and speech therapy. The frequency is greatly diminished, but his needs have been shrinking. We have had winter break and then some snow days, but hopefully within the next couple of days we can finalize a return to school plan. Slowly but surely pecking away!
12/12/2024 - Thursday
Thursday, December 12th PM: This may be the last update. Thank you to everyone that has provided so much support to Lucas and the whole family. The outpouring has been hard to fathom, and we are very grateful. Tomorrow, we go home. Home, home. After almost 2 months in the hospital, we will all be sleeping at our house again, being discharged from NRH. It's not going to be perfect. Sarah is still in a makeshift bedroom on the first floor and wheelchair bound. Lucas will need plenty of ongoing support. But it's a major milestone. Lucas took the Berg test once more today and scored a 54 out of 56, so no longer even a mild fall risk. Stairs seem fine. Physically, he has exceeded all expectations by a significant margin. That has to do with his pre-injury state, but is also a testament to how diligent he has taken recovery. It would be very easy to be down and depressed or even just half heartedly go about treatment, but day in and day out, he's pushing. And as a result, he's put himself in a very good position for full recovery. In some ways, though, it's going to get harder. Our family being together is wonderful, but it will be unrealistic for us to ensure he has multiple hours of therapy and that all of his time is curated and directed towards healing. We will have to figure out the next stage for sure. But that is a problem for next week! In the meantime, we can celebrate an early release and the blessing of being together again as one family, alive and on the path to recovery. Just a short time ago, I was hopeful that if he would just be able to move his limbs and speak, then we could figure out how to make life work. Yesterday, he beat me in ping pong. And I'm actually not too bad at ping pong.
12/06/2024 - Friday
Friday, December 6 PM: The end of our second week here and a great time to look back at the progress. On the Berg balance scale, he's up to a 48 (out of 56), meaning he is now a low fall risk. Go Lucas! He was also able to run/walk a mile in 12:50, which is great. We actually went out and played a little tennis yesterday on a pickleball court! He took a repeat cognitive test and demonstrated great improvement there as well. Frankly, he's rocking and rolling. So much so that it looks like his release may be bumped up a few ... weeks. It could be as early as next Friday. I obviously have mixed feelings. Of course I want to be home. But also, I want him to be here too, getting daily dedicated resources. It's not realistic for me to be able to substitute that myself, especially while Sarah is still recovering herself. So I want him in the place where he has the most success in getting back to pre-accident condition. But I can also see the insurance side of it too, because he IS ready to function at home, and has been for a bit. Either way, we are heading home tomorrow, and will be ready to fully engage next week and take it from there! A lot can change in a week.
12/04/2024 - Wednesday
Wednesday, December 4 PM: His g tube fell out last night. The nurse came in today to flush it and said, "Oh, I didn't realize that you had the g tube taken out already". Lucas and I both looked at each other, then immediately at the site. And yep. It was just in the bed. Usually, if it comes out this early after it was inserted, you have about an hour to get it back in, but well, it had been a lot longer and it had already closed up. Good thing we weren't using it! That was an eventful start to the day. Otherwise lots of activity as normal. The PT therapist came back after work and took Luke down to the outpatient gym so Luke could see some of the machines and get a work out game plan. That was a big part of his life before the accident, so I think it will be a great option for him soon. There are some hoops to jump through because it's in the out patient side, but we'll figure it out.
12/03/2024 - Tuesday
I feel kind of guilty skipping a couple of days between updates, but there was a lot of non-recovery/rehab activities between last week and today. Thankfully, we have the ability to get a day pass to leave NRH on days without therapy, so we took advantage of that on Thanksgiving, then on Saturday, then on Sunday! Lucas is always ready to leave the room, and the house is only about 45 minutes away when there is no traffic. Since Sarah can't drive for another couple of months, we are happy to get home to see her and Olivia. The first couple trips home were overwhelming for Lucas, but they are getting easier. He's moving around way better than what we are comfortable with, including navigating the stairs with ease. A little too casually for my likes, so with OT this week, we are doing more on stairs and balance. The more practice, the better I will feel. Otherwise, in the three therapies, he continues to make great progression. His main PT therapist is back. We only saw her the first day or two when we arrived and, well, Lucas is a different kid physically than two weeks ago. So she upped the game and started him on running. Running! And then going up and down the hospital's flight of steps from the basement to the third floor. Truly remarkable. Speech continues to work memory tasks. That recovery is also continuing, but at a slower pace than physical. Also harder to measure. Lastly, music is slowly starting to trickle back. If you remember, we introduce the piano as early as we could, knowing that it was just a big part of his life. As a result, he is naturally drawn to it. But with his hands not working as well as he wanted, the experience was always frustrating for him, so he would only continue for fits and spirts. As his hands get stronger and more under his control, piano is easier, but he still needs to put in the frustrating practice to move it along. He's got a lot to work on! This week is more of the same, just a little more and more.
11/27/2024 - Wednesday
Wednesday, November 27 PM: Today was testing day and that was great so that Lucas could really feel the progress he has made. When we left ECU, his max steps were 84 steps, highly assisted by two people. Today, he went 1k steps with just some balance help. On his initial eval a week ago, his fall risk was a 3 out of 56 (I forget the name of the measurement tool, but higher is less risk). 3 is extremely high risk. Basically, it's amazing you aren't just continually falling constantly (which he was). Today he was a 30! They said that they love to increase the score by 8 per week. So he is crushing it. Several other tests he tripled or more. It was great to have these and other measurements to help reiterate how far he has come in a very short time. Even tonight, we went out and walked the track the two of us. Physically, he is really putting the pieces together. Tomorrow has no therapy, so we are off to the house when we wake up. Likely no update tomorrow because we'll be enjoying thr time as a family, which is a wonderful blessing.
11/26/2024 - Tuesday
Tuesday, November 26 PM: Lucas was sad to see Caleb go today. He had a great time with Caleb, and surely it was nice to have a little bit of a break from me - or at least some variety! Today, he did great in his therapies. We have mostly ditched the wheelchair in walking around now. Especially short distances. His balance still needs a lot of work, and PT and OT are both working on that. I want to talk more to OT about their plans in the next couple of weeks because it feels like we could be doing more there. Music therapy as well. I did talk to the docs about maybe switching that up a bit because it hasn't been a homerun. I think we will try to spend more time on the piano privately and then use music therapy for other tools, since it kind of feels like a bad piano lesson right now. I think the music therapy team might be better off if they can work their magic without being chained to a piano that is still pretty frustrating for Luke. So a little course correction can't hurt. Tomorrow the same routine, then heading home for Thanksgiving. We are both looking forward to that!
11/25/2024 - Monday
Monday, November 25 PM: The quickest update ever because ... I wasn't here! Caleb stayed overnight so that I could spend Monday at home getting work and household tasks in order. But also, adding to the huge list of THANK YOUs from previously, includes so many other congregations and individuals that have sent us help and assistance. I didn't mean to leave you out! I just wasn't handling the mail. Thank you all very much! In a little bit, I intend to write a post outlining the financial side of a situation like this. Many people have asked and I know that lots more are curious and thought it inappropriate to ask, but I don't mind sharing. It's still to early to do so though, because it takes a long time for things to filter through insurance before they actually come to us to deal with. We have Kaiser for health insurance, which has always been great. They are a regional provider though, so the out of state part was handled by their partner Cigna. More to come on that. But I'm back at the hospital and ready for the next day. And it's going to be a busy one with 4 hours of therapy scheduled! Get your rest Luke!
11/24/2024 - Sunday
Sunday, November 24th PM: We made it home for the day. Got Luke up and ready to go and got out the door at about 930. It's an hour-ish drive back to the house. It's the first time either of us have been home since Oct 15th. It surely was overwhelming for Lucas, but we ate food, played some video games, napped, etc. He was absolutely exhausted by time we got back to the hospital. But I think it was worth it. We are going to try it again on Thanksgiving too. Tonight is also the first night I won't be there with him. Caleb is holding down the fort tonight and I'll head back in tomorrow evening. I absolutely hate leaving him, but I have lots of business and home tasks I have to knock out tomorrow. I hired an employee last week and haven't even talked to him yet! Overall, a good day.
11/23/2024 - Saturday
Saturday, November 23 PM: I wanted to set aside a post and try to mention some of the people that have helped us in the last 6 weeks. You recognize the problem, though right? I'm sure to miss a bunch of people. Many did wonderful things anonymously. Others did it through proxies. Some talked to just Sarah and I never knew about it. My memory also is terrible with stress and I did not document everything as it happened. So please accept my apologies if I forgot you. It's 100% unintentional. First, our families have been wonderful. Drove many miles, flew flights, canceled vacations, and so much more. I basically just gave a stack of things I couldn't take care of and they just *poof* got resolved. And non-trivial things too. Like, you know, getting a ramp built so Sarah can get into the house. Dealing with car insurance to replace our car. Finding the car to replace it with! Trying to get the right health insurance people connected. So many things aside from the many practical items like getting food and clothing to the hospital. Our parents and our siblings are the best and were only limited in their support by us not needing more at that time. Lindsay Massie has helped Sarah get places, shower, take meds, and more. Tarah Hudson helped bring food, keep company, etc. Brian (and Shelby) Drawbaugh lived at the hospital I'm fairly certain. Rudy and Judy Rangel, in addition to many other things, actually got to the hospital for Lucas's arrival via helicopter since I was at the regional one with Sarah. Sarah Mullery made sure that Sarah had clothes she could wear and put on with one working limb. Out spiritual family sent prayers, cards (hundreds of them), gift cards, and cash. We received cards from four continents! "Mike, do you ever use UberEats?", "Yes, why?", "No reason", followed by credits to UberEats and Grubhub. The Portland and Salem congregations, among others, sent extremely generous donations. Our local community came through. Laurie, Will, Travis cut our grass, made sure packages were picked up. Will and Abby keep our cat feed and alive! My hockey team refunded my season dues, which was a great gesture. But then collected an over the top donation to add on to it. Jennifer and Megan from my work community covered for me and offloaded so many tasks. My Air Force client extended so many accommodations and flexibility so that I could work when able, focus on Luke when needed. So many people just straight sent Venmo, Zelle or PayPal. Christine and Curt. The Drurys, Clores, Reesers, Earles, and others I *know* I'm accidentally leaving out. So many that, as a result, I had zero stress taking extra unpaid time off as needed. We had people call or email to volunteer unbelievable things. Needs transport services because insurance won't cover it? We'll do it at cost. Need some other major thing taken care of? We'll figure it out for you! I already mentioned this but Michelle Diggins got us into the National Rehab Hospital. There was a waiting list, but she made it happen. She literally changed the trajectory of Lucas's life. The doctors at ECU kept him alive. I don't know if I will ever get the visual of him in the car out of my mind. Just one of those moments when you knew everything had changed. And then putting him on the chopper not knowing what would happen by the time I could get there. Those are dark moments. But seeing the ECU in action, working like he was their son or brother was a great deal of comfort. We had a surgeon that was explaining some options to me, and he had to stop and leave the room for a second. When he came back and excused himself and said that he also had a teenage son and understood. This man was not going through the motions. I was not just a number to him. The therapy teams demonstrated that he was not a sack of flesh in a bed. That you might have to yank, pull, and grip tight, but he was going to get up and start moving. And he did. The nurses treated him with love and respect when he would not have known any different. In short, as we found out with Olivia's cancer, and now with Lucas's coma - it takes a village to keep things afloat in times of emergency and trauma. Thank you to all of the wonderful people that have helped us in our time of need. We are blessed to have the support system that came through once again.
11/22/2024 - Friday
Friday, November 22 PM: We are just a couple of days into rehab and we already have our discharge date. Dec 24th! That date is flexible, but that is the date/goal that the therapy teams have set for when Lucas should be able to return to home life. Kind of a daunting thought! And along with that, we are also allowed to leave the hospital. Luke and I went to dinner tonight, but we can essentially leave the entire day on Saturdays and Sundays. So we will definitely take advantage of that option soon. As a result of all of these positive changes, I think my updates will start to slow down. We have thankfully long since left the acute trauma phase and are entering the grind phase where the updates are more like "we made it 6 more minutes on the treadmill!" In the next day or two, I'll try to look back at the major touchpoints of our time now that we are almost 40 days out from the accident. So many people have helped contribute along the way that has helped us to where we are now and have set us up for success. It will be impossible to thank everyone, not a single card, email, text, meal, gift card, visit, and more, has gone unnoticed. More to come.
11/21/2024 - Thursday
Thursday, Nov 21 PM: Almost missed an update today, but just because of all of the activity. Lucas was awake and alert for pretty much the whole day. More mental clarity as well. He had another round of therapy today, with music therapy added in. But honestly the music one was kind of a bust, but might have gotten them on an off day. Otherwise, PT had him up on the treadmill! Speech had him complete writing assignments. OT had him working on balance and standing longer. Lots of great hard work. But maybe the best, for me, was that he hung in mentally until bed time. We played cribbage, and he had no issues counting points. Felt very much like a regular game night. So that was a positive for me. Tomorrow, all of his therapy is front loaded, starting at 9. So a good test to see how he does with three straight hours of working. Makes me tired just thinking about it!
11/20/2024 - Wednesday
Wednesday, Nov 20th PM: First full day at NRH and it was a day of introductions and baseline testing. The team seems wonderful and, like at ECU, is a great blend of encouragement and persistence. Lucas is a great rehab customer, but it would be impossible not to get tired and discouraged from time to time. But they have already made strides in the first sessions. I've been so focused on the physical improvements, but lots of the therapy involves the mental side. Especially with short term memory and confusion. We want both to improve of course, but the mental can be more difficult (for me) to gauge. Tomorrow we have another block of evaluations and thr first actually session. Looking forward to it!
11/19/2024 - Tuesday
Tuesday, Nov 19: A crazy day. We busted Lucas out of ECU at about 10. The team was so great getting us ready and prepared and out the door. A very un-hospital experience where discharges tend to take forever. The drive was uneventful. Lucas did great. We checked into the National Rehab Hospital and it really feels like it's going to be a great fit. Thanks to Michelle Diggins, our room is amazing. Roughly three ICU rooms! But best of all ... it gets dark! No monitoring alarms! Sleep is going to be so much easier since it doesn't look like 10AM 24 hours a day in the room. Tonight was just the intros. Tomorrow are the evaluations. Then it all begins! Definitely a switch from stabilizing Lucas in the ICU, to growing and repairing here at NRH, and I'm excited.
11/18/2024 - Monday
Monday November 18 PM: Sarah got to met with her team today and all looks great. Everything is healing and progressing wonderfully! No shortcuts though. She still has two months of recovery before putting weight on those legs! For Lucas, tomorrow is the day! The head of pediatrics was on duty today and he always seems to make things happen. He was the one that pulled the vent out and made other decisions that kept things moving forward with Lucas. We were still waiting for insurance to finalize the transfer, but kept coming back to the idea of just driving him there ourselves. Doc just gave us the confidence (and the medical clearance and approval) to make it happen. So discharge is tomorrow and off we go. I'm nervous about the drive, but ready to go. Kind of bittersweet to leave as I'm definitely in a routine and the team is so helpful, but excited for rehab where Lucas can flourish. Cannot overstate how wonderful the whole ECU family has been, from top to bottom. They saved Lucas's life. Which is more than enough. But they treated him with compassion, dignity and love. Truly impressive team and thankful that we were here to heal. Thank you ECU, on to NRH!
11/17/2024 - Sunday
Sunday, November 17 PM. I skipped rounds today for both the morning and evening. Which is a great thing. The doc popped her head in and said, "No changes. We are removing monitoring overnight". I've been gently pushing for the removal of everything hospital related as time goes on. We are really no longer even intermediate care. Not sure we'd qualify for the regular pediatric room anymore, let alone the ICU. So there is no reason to do any monitoring. But as you can imagine, getting everyone to agree to that in the ICU is not trivial. The team has been wonderfully accommodating and patient with me. Last night, they had a trauma entry in the middle of the night and it was a stark reminder of how far we have come, how close the line was, and how great the ICU infrastructure and team are here. Otherwise, everything is just waiting for the transfer plan. Due to distance, it's a fixed wing transport. So lots of moving pieces. Going to give it until Tuesday and then push for just driving him ourselves. PT/OT helped us practice getting in and out of a car to help me feel more confident about the logistics. But also, Lucas and I have been moving together as a team for several days now and I feel good about the physical mechanics of most parts of the trip. Having Sarah and Olivia here is such a blessing. They bring a lot of joy and energy. Just everything is better when the band is together.
11/16/2024 - Saturday
Saturday, November 16 PM: Another amazing turning point today. PT came today and got him up and walking. His previous record for steps was 26. Today it was 48 one way, and 68 another. And more than the distance, both legs looked pretty decent. His right left has been pretty good lately, but even his left was waking up and pulling more of it's weight. Then, Sarah and Olivia (and grandparents) came and we snuck him out of the ICU a few times. Not only was he awake and alert the whole day, his energy is higher, confusion less. But the best part was when him and I were maneuvering from the chair to the bed and when I set him down, he spoke in a regular voice. Somehow, he found his voice. We both just stared at each other. The rest of the family came in and the flood gates were open and regular talking resumed! Followed by tons of laughter and jokes and general silliness. Felt just like a regular family outing. Lucas really had a great day and we got to share in that day together!
11/15/2024 - Friday
Friday, 15th PM. My days lately have been broken into very small chunks. Either I'm translating what Lucas is saying to someone, helping him with his confusion, working on some rehab, helping with his hygiene needs, talking to some doctor about something, or tracking down supplies to do everything again. I have spent many, many hours in the last two days absolutely slammed, but without really getting anything done (if you know what I mean). But on the plus side, I can get him up and out of bed and he can tolerate a wheelchair now, so we have been cleared to leave the room whenever. As a result, we had a family dinner in the cafe. Thinking back on the scene of the accident and looking at him in that car and not being able to wake him, and him laying the bed with tubes and wires and lines running all over and through him and hordes of doctors in our room brainstorming about how to get him stable - sitting next to him at dinner as a family was a treat I won't soon forget. If there is something more valuable in life, I have yet to find it.
11/14/2024 - Thursday
Thursday 14th PM: Today was made extra great because Sarah and Olivia are here! Nothing like the whole family being together. Lucas and I were both watching Find a Friend and the door constantly waiting. Me, because I missed them so bad. Lucas, because they had Chipotle! Several stretches of decent sleep last night and less confusion today. Great news on the transfer front. Approved to go to National Rehab Hospital! We originally put in for Children's National because, at the time, his medical needs were higher. By the time that got approved, Lucas improved so drastically that it was no longer the perfect fit. Kudos to all of the parties involved (and boy were there a lot of them) for revamping the plan to accommodate our wishes. I know no one loves their health insurance provider, but two times now Kaiser has done us right with our kids. Once with Olivia and leukemia/bmt, and now with Luke. They have always actually worked with us. Now we are waiting for confirmation on an open bed and the transfer plan. Sounds like it will be via aircraft due to the distance.
11/13/2024 - Wednesday
Wednesday, 13th PM: The road to recovery isn't straight or without detours, and today was a setback day. He did not get much sleep last night as his coughing would wake him up and it would take some time to get back to sleep. And each time he woke up, he was so confused. Today, more of the same. Very confused and panicked. We even had to cut PT short because it was just too difficult to not get panicked. Poor guy. I can see him working it out the best he can, but today was a struggle for him. Basically spent most of the day just reassuring and comforting. Everyone here is so great and reminding me that this is part of the process, but it's painful to see him struggle and not be able to help. Tomorrow is a new day though.
11/12/2024 - Tuesday
Tuesday PM: It's been a very busy last 48 hours. Lucas has really advancing rather quickly in many areas. And since he is awake and active the majority of the day now, there is a lot of time spent engaging with him. Still lots of confusion, but that is normal. On the positive side, with speech therapy, we are clear to eat and drink! We were going to test water later this week, but it was clear Luke was ready. He went from ice chips, water sips, water through straw, apple sauce, then to cereal! Yeah, cereal is weird but we just looked for anything to test since we didn't think he'd be ready for that and weren't prepared. We cut off roughly two weeks in one session. She also performed half of a cognitive test with him to get a mental baseline. He did really well, but also some weeknesses in short term memory for sure. Then, PT was here and they were business. Got him up and walking (highly supported) to various spots around the room. His left leg finally started to come back alive today on this walk. He was giving it his all and it's fully draining, but the PT team is relentless in the best way. He was in a chair and wanted to go back to his bed, so they wheeled the chair out into the hallway and said "Sure. There it is! Let's go to it". All in all, he went about 25 feet. It was quiet on the ICU floor today, so he recieved extra therapy time, and they made the most of it. We played a little civilization together and even a card game. I'm cautiously optimistic, but if we continue to improve at this rate, we would be very blessed.
11/12/2024 - Tuesday
Tuesday AM: The surgery went well yesterday. He continues to talk a lot and be awake for long periods of time. Now that he is able to communicate better, it's some what easier to tell the difference between awake verses awake/alert. He has lots of periods of confusion. That is also easier to see now that he is talking more. What the confusion is about ebbs and flows, but we are able to work through it most of the time. Looking forward to more and more therapy today to keep moving forward. No meaningful update on the transfer, but hopefully now that the weekend and holiday are over we can get that wrapped up.
11/11/2024 - Monday
Monday AM quick update: Lucas in surgery for G tube. Also, turned another corner last night. He's speaking in full sentences now and able to have a conversation. It's incredibly faint, like a soft whisper, but when you can hear, it's clear and obviously Lucas. Same words, terminology, etc. He is mostly aware as to where we are and why, and he would like to go home and eat Chipotle.
11/10/2024 - Sunday
Sunday 11/10 PM update. Kind of an emotional rollercoaster 24 hours. Last night, he was very restless. I sat with him until 230am, helping to calm and sooth. And, most importantly, keep him from absentmindedly riping out his feeding tube. At 230, he fell asleep, so I went to bed. At 4AM, I woke up and found the feeding tube on the floor. I had him in several versions of restraints, but he was able to get out of all of them. We had to put the tube back in, and that is not a pleasurable experience for him. But then the day started and our PT heros got him up, walking a few steps (highly assisted) and outside! They even found a piano with a sign that said Do Not Move, which they promptly discarded so that Lucas could play. Some of the best crappy music I have ever heard. He remembered some of a hymn and was able to play it. When we got back, there were lots of periods of high confusion. Really tugged at the heart strings to see. Speech therapy came in and we really worked on communication with the writing board. He was able to identify exactly the main problem. The feeding tube. I told him it was coming out soon. He then wrote on the board that he wanted DATES. It has to be incredibly frustrating for him to not be able to fully communicate. He did say his first, 100% confirmed word today: "Yes". There have been several other times where I or others think that he said or mouthed a word, but this one was clear as day and in front of the whole team. Surgery to put in a g tube is scheduled for tomorrow. Then the feeding tube can be gone for good. I know Lucas will like that alot.
11/09/2024 - Saturday
Saturday 11/9 PM update. It's amazing how much can change in a short time. Three days ago, Lucas slept for most of the day. Very short pockets of alertness. Today, I ran out of things to do with him. Even now, I'm sitting here thinking - "Go to bed already, I'm tired". He's been awake and very active for most of the day. And it's been a very active day. We got him up out of bed twice. He wrote on his board that he wanted to go outside, so we were able to leave his room. Not quite ready to leave the floor yet, but the doctor had some good ideas about how to make that happen. He is so active that it's kind of a unique pain in the butt. He constantly takes off his leads, stickers, even boots. Constantly. Like every five minutes. But on the flip side, he is frustrated by not being able to talk. That much is very clear. We are just reminding him to take it slow. Having a board to communicate with is a game changer. It's far from perfect, but having some ideas of his thoughts are a huge blessing. We are hoping to get his G Tube surgery on Monday. There and pros and cons to this obviously, but getting the feeding tube out of his nose wins as the highest priority. No real update on transfer, none expected until Tuesday.
11/08/2024 - Friday
Friday, 11/8 update: Lucas had a bad night leading into today. Started on a positive note with washing his hair, but when we did, we found some large wounds on the back of his neck that were not previously identified. Then, after all of that was settled, we went to sleep around 1AM. Between 1AM and 4AM, Lucas pulled out his NG feeding tube. I never heard him do it, but it was out when the nurses checked on him. It was a painful process getting one back in, requiring multiple attempts, x-rays, and sedation. As a result, I thought today was going to be a bust. Once again though, PT came through in the clutch. They got him up, out of bed, transfered to a chair, and even practiced standing for a short period. It was heavily assisted, but he was up on his feet! Then speech came in later, and we got him pointing to YES / NO boards to communicate. He also had a little piano and played some notes there. Then she gave him a whiteboard pen and he was able to write our names. His handwriting was terrible, so that matched pre-accident pretty accurately! Pretty remarkable progress in the day overall. Still no vocal sounds, but it seems so close. No meaningful update on transfer to DC.
11/07/2024 - Thursday
Thursday, 11/7 PM - Today started a little slow, but rehab kicked him into gear. He made great progress on stretching his motor skills. He was able to point out specific objects, hold a ball, etc. Some good forward motion on that front. And overall, just a lot more active and alert. On the transfer front, inching forward. DC has agreed to recieve him at either rehab location. Now it's in insurances hands to build out the plan. Since tomorrow is Friday, I doubt anything will resolve until next week, but inching forward.
11/06/2024 - Wednesday
Wednesday, 11/6 AM update: Things have been stable medically for Lucas. He is down to intermediate care. He is slowly becoming more active now that the c-diff treatment has been running for a few days. His oxygen has been dipping a bit lately, so they have added a nose cannula for some support. In addition, we have been having issues drawing blood from his iv lines, which has led to lots of extra sticks. Thankfully, they just cut all of the lab frequencies down, which will help a lot. Next, we are probably going to schedule surgery to place a g tube for feeding purposes. It looks like he'll need feeding support for a while, so they would like to remove the nasal feeding tube and go to this longer term option. That can be done here or at Children's. Speaking of Children's, no news on the transfer side. The doc is going to call them again today and see what the issue is (different doctor today). Hopefully she can get that moving again.
11/04/2024 - Monday
Monday, 11/4 PM update: Lucas had a few periods of time today where I thought maybe we were turning the c-diff corner. There was some periods of activity and it looked oh so close like he was about to say something. No words can out, but it sure looked like the wheels were turning. A little movement on the transfer process back up to DC. Yesterday, his care was reduced from ICU to intermediate (although we are still on the ICU floor). That is a prerequisite to transfer. Right now, the process is between the doctors in the various care teams to make sure it's a good fit. Then it goes to insurance and all those steps. His coughing is still pretty bad, although slowly improving. He is still getting fevers, although not continously. So some baby steps today.
11/03/2024 - Sunday
Sunday Nov 3, PM update: More of the same today with Lucas still recovering from c-diff. But we did have a period of 10-15 minutes where he was very active. Looking around, looking at different people, moving limbs, etc. I was able to put a tennis ball in my hand and he was able to maneuver his hand to get on top of it. So that was a good glimpse into this week once the activity ramps up. Hopefully tomorrow we can restart some PT sessions and get back closer to where we were before c-diff.
11/03/2024 - Sunday
Sunday, Nov 3, AM update: Lucas is continuing to move slowly through the c-diff treatment. His coughing has been really aggressive. Feel bad for the little guy, because it has to make real sleep hard. Last night he had to be out on supplemental oxygen for the first time since the vent was removed. That should hopefully be removed today. Otherwise, he has been resting most of the time in recovery mode. Hopefully he can switch back to active mode today and start working in rehab again.
11/02/2024 - Saturday
A quick summary of the postings up to today (Saturday the 2nd of November). Lucas is still in the ICU at ECU hospital. Last week, he was starting rehab and making some great progress. However, he started having some issues with heart rate, blood pressure and fevers. Eventually, we found it to be a c-diff infection. That triggered a host of interventions. As a result, the last few days have been somewhat of a set back as Lucas recovers from that illness. This could take a few days, and then we could restart rehab early next week. But frankly, right now he just looks weak and sick. He has been coughing a tremendous amount. Thankfully, his breathing overall has been stable. His movements have been pretty small and measured and his overall activity has been low. Hopefully by tomorrow, enough of the treatment will have helped him feel better and his energy will return.