Progress Report

First of all, I’d like to welcome hundreds of new visitors to the blog. Since Romain started the Facebook group, the daily hits for the blog have tripled. People in 29 countries have visited the blog! When I told Kevin these facts today, his eyebrows raised in an expression of surprise that we haven’t seen on his face in four weeks. We’re thrilled the news is spreading to all the people out there who care for and are concerned about Kevin. Thank you for the amazing amount of love, support, prayers and positive thoughts you’re sending Kevin’s way!

Kevin is continuing to slowly improve. He is still rather drowsy at times, which is a combination of his countless medications, not being fed much over the past four weeks and not getting a solid night’s sleep during that time. When he’s perky, however, he’s nodding or shaking his head vigorously in response to questions, can move his left side and has even sat up in a special chair (with a lot of help from physical therapists). Today, a speech therapist tried out a valve on Kevin’s tracheostomy tube that would allow him to talk. Kevin managed to say a couple things very softly. He will do several more trials over the next few days, so he might be able to speak to us on a regular basis sometime soon.

For an unknown reason, the transfer out of the ICU caused the orders for Kevin’s medications to vanish, so he went way too long on Tuesday without receiving some of his meds. However, with Dad’s help and incredible patience, that was smoothed over within the first day on the new floor. Besides that large snafu, we’ve been very happy with the nursing care and communication on this floor.

The floor Kevin is on now does not go by the ICU’s strict visiting hours, so we can have at least one person keeping him company at all times. This has eliminated a lot of stress, especially on Kathlin’s part, of sitting in the waiting room and not knowing how Kevin’s doing or what the doctors and nurses are doing to him.

Kevin’s spirits have also been remarkably high, considering the circumstances. After yesterday’s radiation treatment, Kevin gave a thumbs-up to the head radiation oncologist. He knows he’s getting better, and the doctors all agree with him now!