Day 85 (Nov 15)

On the way to the hospital today, the car radio played "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" by Credence Clearwater Revival.  This is one of the songs that Tobias liked to listen to as part of his eclectic musical taste.  The chorus lyrics are "I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?  Comin' down on a sunny day".  This made me sad for a moment to think about Tobias' situation and how close one of his favorite song lyrics could be applied to his current situation.  Tobias' future was very definitely a sunny day and this turn of events is rain.

Tobias' eating stamina has dropped off slightly.  He didn't finish as much food in any of his meals, but he is still getting a lot of good practice.  He spoke several times today, but also gave me the "what language are you speaking" stare for most of my questions.  The botox in his left arm has made it easier to bend his arm and wrist, but he still pulls the arm up onto his chest, which appears to be due to errant brain signals.  Tobias is getting better at opening his mouth when we use the suction wand and when we brush his teeth.  He is occasionally opening his jaws wide enough to fit the spoon in without helping him to open his mouth and once I saw his lips open.  Normally he opens his jaws without separating his lips, but it was a success to see him move his lips.

His heart rate was over 100 this afternoon, but it dropped down to the low 90s when I massaged his back and feet.  His back was particularly tight today and he pulled his head to the left more than usual.  His feet have been stiff, but the massages are helping them to regain movements.  I massaged his ankle joints and turned his foot from the "sprained" position back to a normal position.  I also try to stretch his foot away from the ballerina "en pointe" position to a normal 90 degree angle relative to his shin.  His tendons and muscles won't allow his foot to reach 90 degrees, but he has more mobility than he did a few days ago.  I think it will still take several weeks to get his feet fully flexible, but it doesn't seem like a lost cause.

The doctor still needs to call the insurance company in Germany to share Tobias' medical information so that the flight can be arranged.  We would like to have a date so that we can plan accordingly.  We're concerned that the process may take several weeks and we don't want to return to Germany in the middle of the Christmas holidays.

The big news today is that I put another episode of "Psych" on the TV for him and he watched in rapt attention this time.  The picture above is from Tobias watching the episode.  At one point it looked like he was smiling (at least as much as the uncooperative nerves and muscles in his face will allow).

Hope over fear.