Guess what? Danny got to eat something yesterday! Okay, so what if it was baby food? At least it was food! The speech therapist fed him half of a jar and then he fed himself the rest. Yes, folks; Danny is able to feed himself. He held the spoon correctly and there was no hesitation or struggle to get the spoon to his mouth. He also licked peanut butter off the back of a spoon. Yummy!
I can’t even begin to imagine how his mouth must feel after not having anything to eat or drink for so long. I mean, think about how dry and scratchy his throat must be. I know he is uncomfortable because he is obsessed with water. He gets on these kicks where he begs for something to drink. We try to explain to him why we can’t give him anything and he doesn’t care. There is no reasoning with him. We tell him if he gets pneumonia again then we’ll have to take him to the hospital. He says that he wants us to take him to the hospital. He is desperate and it breaks my heart not to give it to him. Please pray that the Lord will quench his thirst.
The speech therapist’s goal is to have Danny off the feeding tube in six to eight weeks. So, we’ve upped his weekly sessions so he will get plenty of practice in with her. Danny needs to build up the muscles in his mouth and his throat. We have a few issues that he needs to overcome before we can have the feeding tube removed. The first is that he can not control food or drink from falling into the back of his throat. Secondly, he has trouble moving food around in his mouth, so his tongue needs to get stronger. And, lastly, Danny has to be able to cough and clear his throat hard enough, that if something goes down the wrong way, he can get it back up.
Danny has also had another step forward physically. He was able to balance himself for almost a minute while sitting on the side of the bed Tuesday and today. We’re terribly excited about this and it is again so amazing to see how far Danny has come. I know his complete recovery can not come fast enough for any of us, especially him. He has shown significant signs of frustration and I encourage him to use that as motivation to press on.
Personally, yesterday was a good day. We’ve been having several special moments lately as Danny has been paying me beautiful compliments. Last night, his mom was telling him how much we love surprises from him, meaning we love seeing him do something new. He turned his head towards me and pointed his finger and said ‘You’re a good surprise.’ A completely unsolicited compliment! It was great! He also told me that he loved me and I asked him ‘why?’ I know, I know; it’s a loaded question. But, he said because I am such a good wife and because of our son. Corbin wasn’t even in the room and Danny understood and remembered that we have a son. This was huge because it has taken him a long time to comprehend Corbin since he has no memory of him prior to the accident.
Understand that although Danny is making progress, he may not remember or be able to do whatever again. At one moment he may know who Corbin is, but in the next think he is his nephew. Danny may move his right toes one day, but not the next. Consistency is our frustration. We just never know what to expect; thus the surprises are so exciting.
Well, I don’t have much time to write today, so I won’t jump on my soapbox. Yes, I hear you all breathing a collective sigh of relief! Anyways, peace be with you all and may God keep you safe.
