Day 66 (Oct 30)

The red on his lips is from flavored ice

Tobias bounced back from his extended sleep yesterday.  In the morning, during his therapies, he was still in power conservation mode, but as soon as the Saturday abbreviated therapy sessions were completed, Tobias opened his eyes and started to talk to us more.  I've developed a secret interrogation technique to get Tobias talking easier and it worked well today.  I noticed that washing Tobias' face with a hot, wet washcloth, similar to the hot cloth one receives at the end of a long commercial airline flight, seemed to relax him and wake him up at the same time.  A quick face wash with the hot cloth usually elicits a contented, verbal sigh from Tobias and for 30 seconds or so he is more capable of connecting whatever wires are necessary in his brain to answer questions.  I've employed the spa inquisition technique to get multiple answers from him several times now.  He has surprised us with what he has been able to communicate during these not-so-grueling sessions.  Today we called Emily on Facetime and she was doing the interviewing while I was applying the carrot/stick.  Tobias recognized Emily and was able to even say her name.  That was the highlight of the day for me.  We are testing how much he understands and have been asking more difficult questions.  We asked Tobias where we are at the current time and he was able to form the word "hospital."  This was significant because it shows that he is aware of his surroundings.  I asked Tobias what "two plus two" equals and he answered "four".  This was all in the space of a few minutes and approximately ten trips to the sink to reload the washcloth with the magical hot water.  The grilling apparently exhausted Tobias and he fell dormant again.

Tobias is slowly working his way back to full consciousness.  The few minutes of interaction that we got today is better than he has managed to date.  The process is slow and painstaking, but he is clearly improving.  At some point, they tell us, he will level off and this will be his "new normal".  On the other hand, we need to keep in mind that he entered the rehab hospital with a special program for patients who are not technically ready to fully participate in therapy.  Under the normal course of rehabilitation, Tobias would have spent a month or so at an LTAC so that his brain can mend enough until he can participate in three hours of therapy a day.  Technically, he may still not meet the requirements for three hours of therapy and therefore should still give his brain time to heal.  We hope this means that his brain is still healing and that there will be a time in the near future when Tobias is able to progress at a faster pace.

Hope over fear.