This is the view out Woody's window of a courtyard between Vanderbilt Medical Center buildings. Those are two very large magnolia trees...just think they reach to the 4th story windows. There is a man walking down in the courtyard to give you an idea as to how big they are. The sun is beating in the window, which I am enjoying as they have the thermostat turned down to keep the room cool. I am defeating that with the screen/blind pulled up and the afternoon sun streatming in. The side of the room where Woody is is still cool. Today has been a day of more progress for Woody. The brain doctor said that his brain waves were reurning to normal but not all the way there yet. He has had his eyes open more today and has started more consistently following commands like "give me a thumbs up" or "wiggle your toes." When the medical team gives him the orders he doesn't follow them as well as he does when I ask him to do the same task. I was given a task by the brain doctor to clean up his head/hair once they removed all he leads from the EEG. What a mess...they attach the leads with a glue/paste-like substance. The doctor said that it can be irritating to the skin. It is close to impossible to get off. I was given wash cloths, a comb and one of those dry shampoo caps to help with the job. I worked for a long time and decided that it would have to do for this time. I may work on it some more tomorrow. Pretty hard to wash someone's hair who is pretty flat in bed! I think it is pretty stiff. I told him that he could have a style of stickky-up hair like Cheryl...asked if he wanted that style...he shook his head "yes." Not sure he knew what he was saying yes to that time! I'll bet my sister is laughing at him wanting her hair style! I am on my third set of drops of the day at the momeht. Waiting on the timer to say it has been five minutes since I put the first ones in. The phone has been a big help reminding me. One more set tonight and I will be through with my third day of drops...only four more days of one kind and then another week beyond that for the other drop. Done till 10pm! I have been pretty sleepy today...didn't sleep the best last night...first the couch is not very comfortable and second it was pretty loud out in the hall all through the night...nurses were very talky and giggly. Woody's room is right across from the nurses' station. I have read a little and talked to a lot of folk about Woody. The consensus is that he is improving, but it is still a ways till they can remove the breathing tube. His eyes have been open more and he has followed me and I think that today he has focused on me. When I was "fixing" his hair, I mentioned that we needed Joy for this job and he nodded strongly in the affirmative. Another strong "yes" he gave was when I asked him if Arby's sounded good. As the brain team said...yesterday was better than the day before and today is better than yesterday. Looks like we are heading in the right direction. Becky from Fresenius Dialysis Center called this afternoon to check on him. She said that they were all wondering about him and that patients had asked about him. Looks like patience for the patient is what is being called for. I did just pull the blind...it was getting a bit much as the sun is setting...I couldn't even see the iPad screen and I had the screen turned away from the window. I'll keep you posted. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!
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