big day for Brian

I spoke with April (Speech) today. This was the first day that Brian was offered any food. It was a cup of applesauce with smurf blue dye in it. He looked at it kind of funny. She told him what it was and asked him to open his mouth for a bite. Not gonna do it. So she put a bit on his lip and the tongue came out slowly to have a taste. Now he opens wide like a baby bird and she feeds him the whole cup. Afterward, she suctioned the trach to see if there was any blue dye which would indicate bad swallowing, or some aspirating. Nothing, zilch, zippo, nada! Not even any icky secretions. Well done Bri! She will try water tomorrow. It's like when you introduce new foods to your baby and you wait to see if there is an allergic reaction. For Brian it is a matter of seeing how he handles new textures and tastes. She said his swallowing was excellent. It will be up to his body to determine how much food and how often he gets it. They also have to closely monitor his belly and bowels which haven't seen this thing called food for 2 months. Make sure that all systems are "go", so to speak.
Three other neat things she told me. They were just conversing about what he can and cannot do and he told her, "I can do more than I can do". After she thought about it for a minute she thought that that was a pretty good statement.
April asked him several times what his favorite food was. After a bit of time with no answer, he gave her a sideways glance and asked, "Whatta ya got?"
Yesterday when she first saw him she asked him if he had had his physical therapy yet. He looked right at her and said, "Two girls came and said they were from physical therapy and took me to the gym". She now agrees with Rachel and I that sounding out words like cat, dog, mom etc. are no longer necessary.
Today, he was full of giggles for April which apparantly is very typical. Kind of a childlike response that all head traumas go through. He was very sensitive to his clothes today...trying to take off his shirt, pulling at his pants, etc. Also, typical. I clipped his fingernails and toenails today much to his pleasure. He also had his hair washed very nicely in the shower today.
Yesterday, Rachel watched him stand for a good 5 minutes. They also put a weighted cuff on the left wrist to pull that are straighter. Not too comfortable I guess. But today when I asked him to pull his arm down, (it is usually at a right angle across his chest), he was able to go further than I have seen before. Little steps but such big progress for Brian! I'm so proud, but not surprised, at the tenacity I see in him. He is such a fighter! Til next time, Marcy <3