With the help of pain meds, Jackie had a fairly peaceful night.  He woke up and once again cried.  We reassured him that the surgery was over, it went well and he was ok.  We asked if he had any pain and he pointed to his neck.

Our Neuro doc stopped in this morning and confirmed that the surgery went well.  He said that pain in the neck area is expected but will go away.  He is going to keep an eye on his recovery the next couple days.

Jackie slept for a little bit and then we asked him if he wanted ice or pudding.  He did and ate an entire cup of chocolate pudding and many ice chips. He then brushed his teeth and finished up his oral care.  He is pushing to get back to normal.  We love it – PTL.

PT and OT came in later this morning and we decided that we would just do a bedside session based on Jackie’s pain.  Jackie did range of motion exercises and then moved on to cards.  He started with simple identification of red vs black cards and by the end of the session Jackie was easily giving a thumbs up to the cards that were red and had even numbers.  He ended the session knocking a large balloon in the air.  His left side is not near as strong as the right so that will be a focus for Magee.

After another dose of pain med Jackie took a nap and then headed down to radiology. We met Ellen, ST, there and were able to watch the swallow test from a control booth.  He passed most of the tests and is now able to be on a diet of pureed foods and nectar thick liquids.  He will be set up on a hospital diet and can order what he wants to eat each day.  PTL!  We still have to have him eat slow as the trach is still in, but this is a huge step toward being able to get his trach removed.  He will also still get nutrition through his feeder tube, but based on what he eats, the amount should be able to be lowered.

We know there is a long road ahead and many miles to go, but today gives us hope that we will definitely get there one day, one stride at a time.

Thanks for the positive thoughts and prayers you sent our way yesterday.  So appreciated and felt.