Gus is continuing to do better. He makes lots of progress and then seems to plateau for awhile, which I'm told is common with brain injuries. This past week, we had an extra busy schedule. On top of the usual therapies, Gus had a 'swallow study' done and saw an eye doctor. Both visits were very encouraging. The swallow study, done with a radiologist, showed that his muscles for swallowing are all functional - just weak. We simply need to get them stronger. We've started to work on feeding him more often every day. It takes a lot of his energy and he doesn't do much else after that but sleep. Once he is stronger with swallowing, we'll work on liquids so that we can finally get rid of the G-button!!
The eye doctor as well had good news. He was checking to see if damage was done to the optical nerve during the swelling, but God protected it - there was no damage done to his eyes from the accident. The visual problems are all related to the brain injury. The next step for helping his vision is to take him to Delta Gamma, vision specialists. They can tell us if he sees double, just shadow, only up high, certain colors and not others, and so on. Our appointment with them is on the 13th of November. They will help us with strategies to improve his vision.
This past week, Gus is suddenly very limp (the drugs he is on relaxes the muscles and as he improves, they relax more and more). He isn't too crabby but he won't even roll over like he was. Please pray that the doctors realize the improvement made and will reduce his medications accordingly. They want to go slower with reducing medications but every time Gus has less medication, he does new things - it is always an improvement. If we need to wait to reduce them, please pray for patience on our part.
The kids all say hi to you. They love Gus and he adores them. They can always make him smile.
Thank you for your support. Without it, we would fall apart. Your prayers keep us going, keep our hope alive. Your comments mean a lot to us, even if I can't read them often, I treasure them when I do.
with hope and thanksgiving to God who hears our requests, esther
