Day Nine

Al spent the night last night and reports that the night went pretty well. James slept for most of the night. This morning I arrived back to the hospital around 9am after dropping Nathan at school. James was having breakfast with an aide watching some cartoons. 

Physical therapy came to work with James around 11 and brought him out of bed to do some work. We sat on  a mat and tested out what kinds of things James can do. He was able to kneel, slide on his bum and reach with both arms. His PT Kim also helped him to stand for the first time since his accident. The first time he cried, mostly because he was scared. So Kim helped him feel more secure and tried again. He did fairly well for his first time. She then had him sit in my lap and he helped him stand to his feet and reach above her to put some toys into a box (with the help of her PT assistant). James did really well for his first true PT session. I feel like she will push him just the right amount and that Kim is a perfect fit for us. 

James took a break after PT for some lunch, where the speech therapist came to observe him eat. She was checking to see how he did while eating his lunch. Her plan moving forward is to work with him 3 times per week where she works on playing some games and building back up his speech. 

In between medical visitors we watched a movie and James got himself very comfortable. It was very close to normal back at home. It was refreshing to see he can still relax and be his silly self. 

After we finished the movie his Occupational Therapist, Erin came in to meet James. It was perfect timing because he just moved into his special chair with the tray. Erin had him do some work with the iPad to try and get some baseline information from me while also collecting some from observing him. He seemed to do really well. 

A little after OT finished James had a few visitors, which he loves seeing all the familiar faces. I can tell while they're visiting that he is enjoying every moment with them. Around 6:30, right after dinner was served  James laid back in bed and fell fast asleep. So deeply they decided to use some oxygen to support him again. The resident that was on staff this evening decided to take another chest X-ray to take a look at James' lungs. They still are full of lots of junk and they've upped his orders for respiratory therapy. 

Al is staying the night with James again, I'm hoping both James and Al get some rest. It's nice to sleep in my own bed but I hate leaving James, even though his dad is there. I wish I could be in two places at once. 

More tomorrow!