Update Friday Nov 7 8AM
Update: Tedi sent a revised update with more details on the swallowing issue.
Tedi sent this to me at about 11:30pm last night, I just got it this morning.
- Alex
The past couple of days have been good ones. Aaron has seems to be doing well with the Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Physical Therapy sessions, each of which he has twice a day. The goal is to have him sit in a wheelchair for two hours a day, which he enjoys since it gets him out of bed. Sadly, he failed another swallow test today, so the doctor may opt for the gastric feeding tube I mentioned before. A gastroenterologist will be consulted in the morning and we will find out if we move forward with the gastric feeding tube.
Most moderate to severe brain injury patients suffer from dysphagia (troubles swallowing appropriately). This can lead to food and drink going into the lungs which in turn can cause pneumonia. If the patient cannot swallow safely, then food and water can be given through a feeding tube. Temporary feeding tubes are inserted through the nose but they are for short-term use only. If it is expected that someone may not be able to swallow safely for a while, then a longer lasting feeding tube can be placed in the stomach or small intestine. Inserting these feeding tubes usually does not require major surgery. Most often, it is done endoscopically by either a gastroenterologist or a surgeon.
Aaron’s long term memory is slowly coming back, but only remembers bits and pieces. He was able to remember a few new things today, but forgot the things he remembered yesterday. I have found that he is able to understand and answer simple questions, but gets a bit confused with more complex questions.
Aaron is speaking a bit more, although the words are rather garbled and difficult to understand. We still refer to the alphabet board when we cannot understand him. Aaron is able to correctly spell the first few letters of a word, then it gets a bit jumbled.
Scott would like to convey his gratitude to everyone who has helped us during this time. He is leaving for the Macau GP Saturday morning. The race will be held Saturday, Nov 15th. Scott will return to the states on November 25th.
Take care –
Scott and Tedi
