He Speaks!

Last night was a great night! My parents brought the girls by to see Mike. Since children under 12 aren’t allowed in ICU, it was the first time they had seen their daddy since we went to Duke. Mike was very alert while they were here (not because they were loud—they’re usually pretty well behaved) and seemed very happy to see them. When we held the girls up to him, he was able to give both of them a kiss.

Now for even greater news…Mike said two words last night! Granted they were whispers and weak, but they were words nonetheless. I was telling him he was looking a little gruffy; although I like the gruff look, he does not, so I asked him if he wanted me to bring his razor and shaving cream to get cleaned up on Sunday. He then said “razor.” Since he was so aware of what was going on, I showed him some pictures. I showed the one of him and Ava at the fair (the same one on this blog) and asked him to blink twice if he remembered taking Ava there; he blinked twice. I showed him some other photos as well. He was looking carefully at them, but I couldn’t get him to blink his eyes indicating whether or not he remembered them. I then asked him if it was okay with him for me to go home, take a shower, and get some rest to squeeze my fingers, and he did. I asked several other questions and he would squeeze in response to those as well. As I was leaving, I told him to tell me “bye” and he did. When I arrived today, he was able to say “mornin’” when asked in response to “good morning.”

No other changes for today. They’re going to keep him on the same medications and nutrients. In addition to the radiation simulation tomorrow, he is supposed to have a swallow study done. This will check for what type of consistencies in liquids he can tolerate.