Update on Saturday, April 20th, 2013

Update on Ben Wolverton

Ben was pretty active today. We got him awake in the morning, again in the evening, and then again tonight, with a couple of times in-between. So he was much more active today than at any other time of the week.

His fever seems to be decreasing, and his lung fluid seems to be free of blood now, so he's getting over his pneumonia, I believe. He moves all four limbs, and seems to be exploring with his left hand, as if to see what he can do with it.

He opened his eyes on command several times today, and helped a little with his exercises. His left leg seems to be in the best shape.

So I feel like he is coming awake, but it is obvious that we have a long, hard battle. I was talking to a young woman today who said that she remembers what it was like to be in Ben's place. She said, "I could hear people talking, but it felt as if I were in a deep, dark hole, and I couldn't quite reach them."

Here's to hoping that we'll reach Ben soon.

~~~~~~~~~

So, I woke up this morning thinking about all of the things that we are going to need to teach Ben Wolverton to do. The problem is, I still don't know what all he CAN do. For example, can Ben chew? Is he able to eat yet? I don't know.

I was wondering if I should trade our car in on a van, maybe one big enough to get a wheelchair lift. But I don't know if we'll need it. The doctors said that he won't be able to walk for another 2 months anyway, due to his broken bones, so I guess we won't be moving him much until then.

The list of things to work on for the week is pretty long. We need to let him wake up, of course, and the doctor said that she thinks they'll get rid of his breathing tube this week. I'd like to get rid of the feeding tube, too.

But I got to thinking about how the brain "re-wires" itself, and I wondered if in that process, we can make any improvements. For example, can we help give Ben a more positive attitude about life? He's got a strong framework, but I know that when I was about 18, listening to Zig Ziglar seemed profound. Attitude is so important.

We're not really ready yet to work on walking and talking. I keep having that theme from the opening to that old television series running through my mind, the music with the words "We can make him stronger, faster, stronger, smarter."

So, today I'm going to order an iPod and get some motivational talks installed. I have some speakers that we can put in Ben's room, and as he wakes up over the next week, I'm going to let Zig work on helping to build up a strong positive attitude.

He's going to need it.