Valor and Visitors

Still Monday, Day 5:

The sign of a hospital...

 We are getting pretty used to this!  Its everywhere!  Two in every hospital room and one outside of each room and all down the hallways.  It has a moisturizing effect as well.  Thank goodness!  It would have been terrible if it didn't!

 Whenever I asked what Mom was thinking about she would answer, "Sharlene."  Once she was moved out of the ICU she asked if I had Sharlene's number.  When I said I did, she asked me to call and tell Sharlene she was in the public part of the hospital and the room number, but to say that she didn't have to come.  Sharlene came as quickly as possible.  Michelle and Sharlene were Mom's fellow teachers.  They team taught 6th grade at Kaysville for several years.  Michelle is working elsewhere now, but the three of them are still very close.   Michelle and Sharlene were almost as anxious to see Mom as she was to see them! ;)  This was the highlight of her day. (Except of course, when her parents come visit.  They come daily and Grampa sings to her.  I was just talking with Mom and she reviewed with me what happened last night.  She remembers Beth and Daniel (J) bringing her mom and dad in and Grampa singing.  She began singing the same song in the same voice Grampa sings it.)

 This is the biggest smile we have seen up to this point!

 Alison Frazier had come in just before Sharlene and Michelle.  She was the one to elicit the first big smile from Mom.  Earlier the speech therapist had come in and asked her to smile for an exercise and the result was pitiful.  But we thought it was the best she could do.  Little did we know until the cavalry appeared!

 Naughty Timothy pulled out his NG tube among other things.  He did that while we weren't allowed in the ICU for the nurses' shift change.  The nurse wished he hadn't pulled it out that soon, but because he is eating fairly well (pudding, soup, ice cream, etc), he should be fine without it.

 This is an example of Timothy thinking that he knows best.  He's annoyed by the many tubes and wires he's attached to.  He doesn't understand their function.  But he thinks he does with his brain injury.  So he took out the oxygen tube from his nostrils.  I asked him what he was doing. "I'm getting this in my nose.  They're in my nostrils, not my nose."  "So where are you going to put it?"  "In my nose!"  I chuckled under my breath so I could take a picture before letting him know of his mistake.  Compare with this.

 I think the tube was messing with his confidence in his eating/drinking ability.  Another reason why he moved it out of the way.
We also looked for his book (Dad hadn't brought it back from the wreckage yet) and Tim was adamant that he had it in the hospital and it had fallen on the floor.  He felt certain it would be between his sheets, so we looked for it between each sheet..... "No book," I said. "No book.  No book." Timothy piped up, "Not for a million books." :) (Inside family joke. See video below.)

 For a minute there, Tim and I were pretending his oxygen monitor on his finger made him E.T.  "E.T. phone home."

 Tim got really agitated at one point and was in a lot of pain.  His heart rate was in the 120's and he began to despair about getting "separated" from his sheets and other things on and around his bed.  He wasn't hopeful about his condition at all.  So we said a prayer.  I grabbed both of his hands restrained on both sides of the bed, bowed my head and prayed.  After finishing, Tim said thanks and closed his eyes.  Within 15 seconds of finishing the prayer, Tim's heart rate, (which is sort of connected to his pain level), was down in the 60's!  That is the lowest I've seen his heart rate since he's been in the hospital!  He fell asleep rather quickly, too.  I was so grateful.  I had an instantaneous witness of the existence, power, and love of God.  Another miracle to add to the list. 

Now Mom can have flowers in her room and she's overflowing!

 Tuesday, Day 6:

Mom asked for her hairbrush last night.  I brought it this morning and played with her hair for a while.  She was grateful to feel a bit more presentable.  She still worries about her black eye.

Cindy and Nathaniel Gillis dropped by for a short visit.  They only got to visit Mom (see how much bigger her smile is in this picture? - what a difference a day can make!), but they brought by some things for Timothy while he's in a hospital bed.  

A Nerf gun (to shoot people who come into the room), a Dark Knight Batman mask, and a TMNT Donatello figure (Timothy named the Turtle before we could check the back of the package to reference the color).  We brought them in to show, but took them back out to the waiting room until he's out of the ICU.  He's still restrained, and they are still fighting a fever to stay down.  He can't really do much with the toys until he improves some more.  But this made him smile more than I'd seen before as well.