Overdue Update

For those of you who have been following the saga of my brother^§, here's the latest. I got a phone call from Dad at dinner last night, and an e-mail from A's wife this afternoon. They both had basically the same news, though Dad gave a specific date. First, here's an except from my sister-in-law's message:

Yesterday I met with A’s therapists, doctors and case manager. A has made some improvements. He has the neck brace off, and he has started eating solid food. His medical conditions (i.e. high blood pressure and sugar levels) are under control as well. The physical therapist had him in the standing machine for the first time yesterday and said he did well for the first try. He has all the muscles working that are needed for him to eventually walk again. His right side is still weaker than his left but he does try and use it so they are working on strengthening it.

A has two areas of concern at this time that they are going to focus on. The first is that on the front right side of his brain A still has a significant amount of fluid. They are going to continue to watch this with CAT scans; however, they may end up having to drain this fluid off in the near future. The second area of concern is the more major one. The left side of A’s brain that he damaged is where his language capabilities are housed. A can hear and he can talk, the problem is that he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t really understand what is said to him or what he is saying. The doctors believe that he is responding more to body language and facial expressions....

The time frame that the staff has come up with is that A will be going home by the end of September. In a couple of weeks he will be cleared for outings in which he can be signed out of the hospital for periods of time....

Thank you for your continued support and your prayers.

Dad had one addition to the above: he said A's release date, at least at this point, is September 21st.

Let me just echo my sister-in-law's sentiments: Thank you all so much for your healing thoughts, your hope, and your prayers in my brother's behalf. While this whole thing has been an ordeal for our family, we have felt great support, love, and comfort through it all.

Thank you.

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^§ For those who haven't been keeping track, you can read about it here, here, and here.