Day 67 (Oct 31)

Back to waning today, or at least not waxing.  Tobias was unresponsive for most of the day, but he did have his eyes open often.  His eyes are closed for the most part, but every so often he will open them an look around.  Often he stares off in the distance, but sometimes we can get him to focus.  It helps if there is something to keep his attention.  Today during one of his wakeful moments, I played back the videos that friends have sent us about their memories with Tobias and he kept his eyes open and watching the videos for the most part.  His face shows no sign of emotion unfortunately, so it's hard to know how much of the video he is processing.  All my efforts to extract any communication from him were ineffective, except, of course, the amazing spa inquisition.  The hot washcloth technique put him in a relaxed enough and alert enough position that he was able to answer some simple questions before the spa joy disappeared like water into sand and there were no more answers.  For the most part today was an exercise in patience and futility when it came to communication.

Katja and I managed to give Tobias a shower again all by ourselves.  We've done it before, but we are getting better at it and aren't so nervous about how to use the shower chair without having Tobias slip out like a fish onto the tiled floor.  Tobias still reacts well to a shower and enjoys a couple hours of rest and low heart rates afterward.  Right now he is sleeping with a heart rate of 81, but it was in the 60s a few minutes ago and it will be back down in a few minutes.  It's hard to know what causes the spikes in his heart rate, but it is likely a loud noise or something that stirs him from his slumber.  When he is awake, his heart rate climbs.

Katja and I took Tobias for a long walk in his wheelchair today.  The area in the immediate vicinity of the hospital is hilly and we haven't discovered anywhere to walk for any reasonable distance.  There is a small garden in front of the hospital with a figure 8 sidewalk that takes two minutes for a full lap.  We can also walk about 5 minutes on the level part of the road from end to end before the sidewalk ends and the road drops off steeply.  Today we went on an adventure and brought Tobias with us through a parking garage, up an elevator, across another garage to a different hospital with a larger terrace in the back.  It was probably a ten minute endeavor all told, but at least it was different than the two other options that we have been using.  We could also take Tobias through the interior of the hospital system to arrive in the main hospital, but we prefer going outdoors and don't want to expose Tobias needlessly to the other hospital where the Covid patients and their visitors are located.

Hope over fear.