2nd Update on Monday, April 15th, 2013

Ben's Update:

So I'm at the hospital with Ben now. Went to bed at 1:00 A.M, got up at 5:00, and flew to Vegas from Los Angeles. Man, are my arms tired! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

First, Ben looks better. His bruises are healing nicely, as are many of his cuts and scratches. His pneumonia is persistent, so he has to cough a bit, which is hard to do through a breathing tube. So they're draining his lungs of fluid every half hour or so.

To say that Ben is "conscious" is kind of iffy. I think that he is drifting in and out. My wife asked the doctor when we could expect him to regain full consciousness, and he said that he couldn't guarantee that Ben would ever be fully conscious. "What you see is maybe all that you'll ever get."

I don't believe that, though. Ben's MRI showed that his brain is still swollen, and I think that as the swelling goes down, he'll do better. He is moving pretty well--right arm, left arm, legs, hands. He has opened his eyes a couple of times.

I held his hand for awhile, and he opened his eyes. I told him that I was holding his hand, and he tried to move it a bit. I believe he knew what I was saying. The nurse reported that when they were trying to drain his lungs this morning, she thinks that he was trying to kick her . So as I was talking to him, the nurse asked, "If you can hear me, nod your head." It took thirty seconds or so, but Ben slowly nodded his chin up and down three times.

So he's in there. Ben's alive, and I believe that he will get better. The nurse doesn't think that he will be able to leave the ICU for at least two more weeks, because his vitals aren't fully stable. I suspect that that's right, but it could be less, or it could take longer.

I've heard from dozens of people with similar injuries, and this is the kind of accident that demands months or years of recovery time. So we're taking it one day at a time.

Right now, the nurse is brushing his teeth wish some new-fangled equipment.