Logan had visitors from the east on Thanksgiving. Amy and Emily spent a couple of days with us over the holiday. Vernelle, Clare and family, and Dae Dae and family also came by to visit while they were here for a cheerleader event. Thanks to all for stopping by. I haven't posted any updates lately because there hasn't been any change in Logan's status. He has a CT scan scheduled for Tuesday of next week and we should be speaking to the neurologist after that; there are still more questions than answers. Based on the timetable that was given to us a couple of weeks ago, Logan should probably have the surgery to replace the bone flap that was removed in Lafayette by mid-December. I'll post an update after we get the results of the scan.

                     There isn't much to talk about since the last update. His doctors are still making adjustments to his medications and hoping to see more activity on the right side. This is an excruciatingly slow process involving a good deal of trial and error with no guaranteed outcomes. There are many more questions than there are answers when a brain injury of this severity is involved. Basically, we go in every day and try to engage Logan in any  way we possibly can; we talk, play movies he likes, or sometimes just do things to irritate him into responding (the speech pathologist is good at that). While waiting for any cognitive improvements that might come along, the ocupational therapist and the physical therapist do what they can to help keep Logan's body in as good a condition as possible. They take him to the gym or a therapy room every day for two sessions that last about an hour each. During those two sessions he is sat down, stood up, stretch out, and turned every which way but loose. He's usually pretty tired when they're done with him. So, that's the drill each day along with a whole lot of waiting.

             There hasn't been any real change over the past few days. Amy has been with Logan so that I could come home for a while. He still isn't using his right arm or moving his right leg like he had before the surgery and we still don't know why. His level of alertness varies from day to day and we have no way of knowing what it will be at any given time. We were hoping to have regained the movement that was lost by this time and it is difficult to wait and not know what to expect. On the more positive side, his vital signs are good and he is not on any antibiotics; also, he seems to be comfortable and resting well.

Logan was awake most of today and it was the best day in several weeks for not being sleepy in the daytime. While he didn't have a lot of movement, the fact that he seemed more alert and was out of bed, sitting up for nearly six hours, was positive.  

                 Logan has an appointment with the neurosurgeon tomorrow; I'm not sure if he's going to make an adjustment to the shunt. Unfortunately, there isn't much to talk about. He still isn't moving his right side like he did before the surgery and no one really knows why. He is on two sleep aids to try to get him on a more normal sleep cycle (so far, it doesn't seem to be working), and pain medication to keep his blood pressure and heart rate down during therapy. Right now, it seems to be mostly trial and error with medications and getting the shunt adjusted properly. Maybe I'll have a better idea about what's going on after the appointment.

                       Logan has been slowly getting back on schedule, spending a few hours in the wheelchair, getting therapy, etc. He has begun taking a medication to help with alertness, but it's too soon to tell what effect it will have yet. Robby did notice that he was beginning to look to the right side again, and that his eye movement from one side to the other was more than he had seen in a while. Since the last two surgeries, his neck muscles on the left side had tightened up and he wasn't following anything toward the right ; hopefully, he'll start tracking and turning his head on his own again. Working on swallowing is an important task that speech works on everyday. The therapist starts with ice chips and then if Logan is able to handle that , he moves on to other liquids. That's where we were before the surgeries. Right now, it's mostly trying to regain the ground that was lost in the last couple of weeks. Not much happens on the weekends, so we'll see what Monday brings.

                 Yesterday was basically a day of getting Logan settled back in at TIRR. He was put in a wheelchair for a while and his left arm was casted again to help stretch out the muscles. Today he will have a more normal routine with speech(they work on swallowing and areas relating to cognition), OT, and PT. How much they will do with him depends on how well he tolerates the activities(blood pressure, nausea, heart rate, fatigue are all things that are monitored). So far, he hasn't had fever or any other serious complications from either of the surgeries. They capped his trach this morning and Amy is hoping to take him outside in the wheelchair to enjoy the weather; I'm half-way expecting Logan to say something rude and obnoxious to her like he always used to do any minute now (no, he's not talking, it's just a thought I had). If anthing changes, I'll update this evening.

              As of 4:00 this afternoon, Logan is back at TIRR. Amy is spending a few days with him so that I can spend a little time at home. Thank you, thank you, thank you. He will slowly get back into a routine over the next several days; spending a week and a half in bed has set him back some. It will take a while to regain the strength and stamina that he has lost, but I'm sure the therapists won't waste any time. It's time to get back to work Logan.

    The surgery to remove the original shunt was done on Friday and Logan seems to be recovering ok. The new shunt is in place and is functioning as it should. Today, a CT scan will be done to begin the process of making a plate to replace the bone flap that was removed during his first surgery in Lafayette. It will probably take a month before that procedure can be done which is fine with us because he's been through enough for a while. I hope the next post has us back at TIRR; that's about it for now.