It has been a week now since Bryan got his shunt. The first couple of days we could see slight progress: he was a little more responsive and the Physical Therapists said he was gaining strength. One day he was able to move his left arm towards his body and away, which is one of range of motions moves we do.
On Monday he got the filter removed that was put in to catch any blood clots that may go to his lungs. On Wednesday Dr. Manley called to say they were taking Bryan down for a full body scan since one of his legs was larger then the other. The scan showed a large clot in his thigh, one in his abdomen and another in his shoulder. Since the filter was removed they need to keep an eye on the clots with ultrasounds and measuring to make sure they don’t get bigger and don’t break off. The Drs now need to figure out the need for blood thinners and possibly the filter permanently.
On Wednesday, we were also told that Bryan had his speaking valve on his trach and when the speech therapists asked his first and last name, he said them. The ST asked what his daughter’s name was and he said, “Tabby“. She asked what that was short for and he said, “Tabitha“. She then asked what his son’s name was and he said, “Tyler“.
Today, the Speech Therapist was working with him again and asked him what his birthday was. Bryan then said, “2/12/1969”. With the valve on, he told Erin he loved her, and, while Erin was videotaping it for Bonnie, he said, “Hi,“ and “Bonnie”, when asked to say it. Also, Dave was holding up pictures of Tyler and Tabitha and Bryan said, “I would like to see them.”
We are blown away with all of this. Literally one day we got some facial responses and the next, he’s talking. His voice is gravelly and you have to be close to hear him, but he is talking.
Bryan’s had many ups and downs, and though we see how far he has come, we try not to look too far back into these past 6 months, and we can’t look too far down the road so we focus on right now. We pray that the Drs can control the blood clots and they stay away from Bryan’s lungs. But right now, Bryan is more awake and more responsive then ever.