Day 13: A Complete 180

After the feeding fiasco of the weekend, Mikey seems to be doing much better. He is alert, eyes open, makes good eye contact, and still stumbles around his words. He seems to have this infatuation with numbers, he was rattling off several different dollar amounts during our visit. "200 for the computer" was one of the things I picked out. I noticed an improvement in his speech, though it is still garbled I can discern more actual words than before. The nurses said that earlier he was talking about the accident and that he got very emotional; what ever that means. He is still concerned about his Rent-To-Own flatscreen that he recently purchased but I assured him that Dad payed his bill. I wore a pair of sunglasses that belonged to him and he recognized them, took them from my face and put them directly on his. One of the things I try to do with Mikey when we visit is look at pictures and identify the people. I grabbed a picture off of the corkboard from about ten years ago and started asking him if he remembers any of the people. Instead he said "we did this yesterday," which we did! In one moment of clarity he seemed to make the connection that I was one of the people in the picture and it was as if a light bulb went off inside his head and he finally realized who this odd stranger is that visits him every day. It was so relieving. Morgan called while I was visiting and though cellphone usage is not allowed because it "interferes" with the equipment I answered. How can cellphones interfere with medical equipment within the trauma ward but not a mere 5 feet outside the locked doors? I handed Mikey the phone and he had a short conversation. [Mikey's side of the conversation.] "Hello" "Hey whatsup" "Can you hear me" "Can you hear me now?" "Oh, okay well now I have your number" Morgan was so relieved to talk to her big brother whom she has been unable to visit in the last 2 weeks. (Hospital has rules prohibiting visits from anyone under 18--swine flu precautions)

Additionally, we asked the nurse if Mikey was able to go for a walk (interpret-a stroll around the hospital in a wheelchair). She said that it should be fine so our plan is to get Mikey a wheelchair and take him outside for some fresh air. Maybe seeing something besides the innards of a stale hospital room will help him jog his memory. Also, this would mean that Morgan will finally be able to visit with Mikey!