Old Self

Kevin is behaving more like his normal self every day. His movements are less exaggerated and more controlled. Something as simple as nodding or shaking his head now looks natural, whereas it used to be obvious how much effort this action took. Every once in a while, a nonchalant “yeah” will pop out of Kevin’s mouth and sound completely like his normal, healthy, relaxed voice.

Also returning is Kevin’s desire to do things that he enjoys, and this is making him feel more like himself. Over the past few days, he has been watching episodes of Top Gear, a British TV show about cars that is actually extremely funny, even for people not all that enthralled with cars. Kevin has not wanted to watch good comedies for the past few months because if he laughs too hard, he often coughs. This is why he says Stephen Colbert is “too funny;” Kevin almost immediately starts laughing himself into a coughing fit. However, he might almost be ready for the Colbert Report again, because he laughed a fair amount at Top Gear and didn’t have any coughing problems!

Kevin’s favorite therapy is speech. Why? That’s when he gets to eat. It’s therefore not surprising that he’s progressing the most quickly with speech therapy. He wants to eat so badly that he’s working very hard to improve as fast as he can. Yesterday, he got a few bites of yogurt, mashed potatoes, applesauce AND chocolate pudding! He is doing a test today to make sure that all of his swallowing mechanisms are working properly. If all looks good, he will be able to eat more often, and he’ll move faster towards trying a larger variety of food. Until he gains enough strength and endurance to eat three meals a day, Kevin will continue to receive tube feeds through his “peg” to ensure that he gets plenty of calories and nutrition.

Thank you again to everyone for your wonderful food, wine, juice, pet sitting, housing, cards, quilts, hats, audiobooks, music, hugs, prayers and good wishes that you're sending Kevin and the family. You’ve been providing amazing amounts of sustenance, entertainment, hope and support for us. We certainly could not have managed this without you.