Jackie is slowly starting to come out of the anesthesia.  At the beginning it reminded us of when he was little.  He had two minor surgeries before he was 7 and when he woke up he didn’t know what to do with himself for a while. We are seeing the same type of response.  After his first surgery at the end of February he was in the induced coma so we really didn’t experience what we are tonight.

One thing is for sure, we are seeing much more body movement.  For the past week and especially the last couple days we have seen very little movement of his left leg. Since his surgery his left leg has been moving just as much as his right leg.  His hands are still active, plus we are seeing more upper body movement.  He is actually moving his head and neck more and trying to lift up his shoulders.  He takes little cat naps in between being awake.  During the times he is awake his heart rate really elevates.  Since he still cannot speak, it is so hard to figure out how he feels.  I again equate this to when he was a toddler and was sick.  We knew something was wrong, but it was difficult to pinpoint the actual problem.  We decided to give him some pain meds with the start up of other meds.  Right after they were given he spit up a little.  We are not giving him anything else through his feeder tube tonight.

Jackie’s head is all wrapped up in gauze.  Even his ears are covered.  At one point he reached up and felt his head.  We reminded him of his injury and the surgery. His drainage tube is starting to slow down, which is good.  It was filling up quickly at first.

The marathon continues. We are becoming more knowledgable about medical terms and conditions and even the administration of meds with every mile.  We have encountered and have successfully jumped over hurdles.  We know there are many miles ahead, but continually are thankful that Jackie has the chance to just be in the race.

Hopefully following Jackie’s progress will help you realize that some of the hurdles you have been facing are merely bumps in the road.

As always, thanks for your positive thoughts and prayers.  We would still like to hold off on visitors until early next week.  We think Jackie just needs time to get through this phase of recovery.