11/18 Evening Update

Hi Everyone,

Dad showed such good progress today that I thought I'd add a little more to Kristen's update from earlier this morning.

When we arrived at the hospital this morning, Dad was laying in bed with his eyes wide open and his right leg hanging off the side of the bed (a sign that he's probably anxious to get out of that bed).  It was significant to us because it was the first time he's moved his right leg that much.  When we approached the bed, his eyes lighted up and he gave us a big smile.  Sure was a great sight to see.  We of course didn't hesitate to hover over his bed and overwhelm him with questions and comments. 

It wasn't long before the nurse came in and reported that Dad had been talking to her since she arrived at 7am.  He was responding well to all of her commands including a thumbs up and a showing her 2 fingers  - both with his right hand (all of his responses have been on his left hand so far). 

The speech therapist came in later in the morning and asked him his name - you could hear him say "Brad" and after asking for his last name, you could hear "Hall".  He went on to tell her his birthday (I could only make out "11" and "13" - if you didn't know his birthday, you might not have gotten it).  That was the first time I'd heard him say his name or his birthday since he's been in the hospital so it was pretty cool to hear.

Before today, Mom had been opening each of the cards everyone has been sending and reading them to Dad.  Today, I set a "previously opened" envelope on his lap and he immediately grabbed it with his left hand.  It took about a minute but he pulled the card out of the envelope and held it up to read it (whether he was able to or not - I'm not sure).  The next envelope wasn't opened but that didn't stop him - he worked his finger in the envelope and tore it right down the side. 

We were getting ready to hit the Hospital cafeteria for lunch and Mom told Dad that we were going to grab a bite.  He replied "Why don't we all go?"  Mom re-capped that story to the Neuro surgeon when he came in.  The neuro surgeon said that was nice - he commented that his wife would have just asked for his credit card and gone to lunch by herself.  Without hesitation, Dad looked up at the Neuro Surgeon with a huge smile on his face (lips raised, teeth fully exposed kind of smile) and a raised brow and started laughing (a full body kind of laugh).  He pointed at the Neuro surgeon and grabbed his hand as he laughed.  The Neuro surgeon was quite pleased with Dad's response, especially the quick timing - no hesitation at all.  His comments were all positive.  I asked him if it looked like Dad needed a shunt - the short answer I'll leave you with here is no.  Not that he'll never need one but he felt Dad was doing too well for a shunt.  The next CT-scan is scheduled for tomorrow (Mon) morning - we'll see what it reveals then.

I'll leave you with a nice story.  As we're in the room with Dad this morning, a man and his wife (who we've never seen before) show up at the door to the hospital room.  The gentleman says "Hi, my name is Brad Hall."  He goes on to explain that they received a card at their home that was forwarded from the hospital.  As it turns out, this was a card that Dad's cousin Loren had mailed to Dad and it ended up in a different hospital within the same network.  Since this other Brad Hall had been in that particular hospital in recent months, the hospital assumed the card was for him and forwarded it on.  When he opened it, Loren had written his local contact # in Florida (they're visiting from Alaska and hoped to see Dad and Mom during their visit) so the other Brad Hall called Loren and got the scoop on Dad.  That's when he and his wife took it upon themselves to hand deliver Loren's card directly to Dad's room.  They were such kind people and it was so nice to meet them both.  Turns out they live about 2 miles from Mom and Dad so I'm sure they'll reconnect again soon.

Well, that's all for now.  Mom is over my shoulder telling me not to write so much but it was a positive day and I thought I'd share some of that positive energy that we felt with all of you who have been so kind and supportive through all of this.

Thanks again everyone - more later.