Day Six

James had a long night and keeping Yaz and I not only busy, but on our toes to figure out what he needs.  Lowering his pain medication dramatically during the day in the preparation to stop it completely proved to be a struggle for James. He was on such a high dose of the fentanyl that stopping the dose can cause withdrawal symptoms.  The doctors and nurses have been amazing managing any symptoms he has. James finally fell asleep around 3:30am after we pretty much stared at each order all night. Yaz sent me off to get some rest.

I came back in to see James around 7am and he was wide awake. He was awake and alert for most of the day. He had a combined visit from Physical Theapy, Occupational therapy and Speech Therapy to assess how James is doing and to get a baseline for progress and an understanding of where he was prior to the accident.  They sat him up with full support from the team, he was able to look in both directions with minimal issues, have full neck control and move his legs freely.  They introduced Apple juice with a straw and with a spoon.  He had difficulty with the straw and wasn't interested in the spoon.  They also offered him a popsicle, which he was very interested in.  He was able to stick out his tongue and take a taste.   The team brought him in a chair for him to sit in that keeps him super secure, but is great for him to use so he can sit up and be somewhere other than bed. They had him sit in it until he let us know when he was done, which was about 2.5 hours.  Considering how little sleep he's had, that was pretty impressive.  

                           

So onto the biggest news...Nathan had his first visit.  We had child life meet with him first to check in with him and see how he was feeling about everything.  We brought him in and he did very well. The only thing that seemed to bother him was the wound on James' head. Nate stayed for just a bit, but we intend him to visit again on Saturday.

Now if we can just James to sleep some more we'd be all set. I'm not sure if the medication is making him stay awake or it's just that he's been sleeping for 5 days straight. 

More tommorow, each day brings more and more good news.