October 10, 2008

Dad was much less responsive yesterday than the last couple of days but hopefully he is just trying to get some rest. His body is working hard right now. The swelling on his brain has gone up again as well as his blood pressure so the Dr's are keeping a close eye on that but say that its normal to have up days and down days. He finally has a feeding tube in so hopefully he is slightly more comfortable. This morning they were taking him in for a procedure to put a line in from his groin all the way up under his heart to filter/stop any blood clots that might form in his legs and try to travel to his heart or brain. They are only giving him a local so we are praying for his comfort and that the procedure will be successful without any further damage. Thank you for your comments and your love and prayers.

October 9, 2008

Levi is doing well today. Kelly says he attempted to say "hi" in a whispered voice, and wave goodbye by slightly lifting his right hand to wave. He opened his eyes very briefly, fluttered and closed them. He said "no" to one of the nurses when she asked him a question and he pulls his pillows out from under him each time the nurses try to make him more comfortable! All of this is wonderful news for us and we will gratefully take it. He is still considered unconscious. They still are not addressing his broken back until his brain is more stable. We did find out yesterday that his left eye socket has lots of tears in it so we don't know if he will have vision in that eye yet. Jenny overheard a nurse say he is "very responsive" which is wonderful!

The Accident

On Saturday morning, October 4, Levi was washing windows, and fell from a ladder. He was found by a friend he works with. He may have fallen as much as 20-22 feet onto landscaping rocks. He has been in critical condition with a broken back ( a ‘burst’ fracture on his 12th vertebrae), a skull fracture, blood clots on his brain, severe head injuries, and swelling on the brain.

He has had surgery to remove a clot from his head, and relieve pressure on his brain. Everything went well with that surgery. Over the next couple of days (Sun and Mon) the doctors were doing scans to monitor the other blood clots and swelling.

Levi seems to have some purposeful movement in his hands and legs. He was very insistent on getting loose from the bed restraints and he would even follow commands like squeezing the nurse’s fingers and then letting go, moving his feet and toes. Monday he was grunting like he was wanting to talk and Tuesday his nurse asked him to show him one finger to which he did. All of this is very good news for us and at this point we are happy to take what we can get.We pray that he will have a full recovery if that is the Lord's will for him. We love him so much and it's so hard to see him in this condition but everyday seems to bring more hope.