Monday, August 9, 2010

Music to my ears!

This has been a HUGE week in Troy's recovery. First off, the family training went very well. The last of my training was on Friday night when I had to stay with Troy, and the girls, in a suite on the hospital floor. In this suite, I was to care for Troy, in a home-like environment, as if I was home with him. I was in charge of caring for him through the night, giving him his medicines when they were due, and getting him ready in the morning for breakfast in the therapy gym.

Well, Troy was obviously very excited to have us all there with him and we were just as excited! He didn't go to sleep until about 4am, or at least that's the last I remember, because I finally zonked out. He called for me all night. He would call me over to his bed "Joan!". I would get up, go to his bedside, only to hear him tell me he wanted me to cut the cast off his arm! I calmly explained to him that the cast was to stay on his arm because it would help keep his range of motion and I could not cut it off; to which he replied "Yes, you can!" This went on all night long! LOL. It was aggravating and refreshing at the same time, to have him bugging me again!

Finally I told him, "Troy, you have to go to sleep!" and he replied "I can't sleep!" That's when I finally told him, "OK, YOU can't sleep...but I CAN and I WILL! So go to sleep!" I didn't hear from him again...lol. This was at about 4am! His speech is very garbled and he doesn't enunciate his words well, but he is definitely speaking his mind and communicating what he wants to say.

The rest of the morning went fairly well. He resisted me a bit in the morning when I was trying to get him out of bed to bathe him and brush his teeth, but I finally got him out of bed, bathed, dressed, and cleaned up.

Saturday morning, apparently Tyra had picked up a stomach bug because she was getting sick on me at the hospital all morning long. Finally at around noon I told Troy we had to leave and get Tyra some medicines and fluids in her but that I would come back. He then tells me "Make sure you come back!" Brianna and I both looked at each other and wondered if we heard him correctly! We said our goodbyes and I told him I would be back.

Well, we didn't make back to the hospital until Sunday mid-morning. Tyra was feeling better by now and we were all very happy to see him. When we first got there the nurse told me that he was being very ornery and wasn't eating his breakfast. She said he was playing "possum" when she was trying to feed him. He would act like he was really sleepy and wouldn't open his mouth or cooperate in feeding himself as he has been doing for weeks now. She then would step away to help another patient eat and look back at Troy and caught Troy looking around the room! She said this went on 3 different times until she finally gave up, made sure he drank his Ensure, and left him be. I, of course, thought this was hilarious, because I thought it was so cute how Troy's stubborn personality was starting to shine through...she, obviously, didn't think it was so amusing.

The rest of the day went fairly well. His cousin, Mitchell stopped by, with his wife and son to visit, and I asked Troy if he knew who that was; Troy answered "My cousin Mitchell." We were all happy to hear that. Troy has really started vocalizing and becoming more verbal so I was happy to see his memory was also there with him and he remembered others. Today was also my birthday so I asked him if he knew what today was and he didn't answer. When I finally told him it was my birthday, he opened his eyes big, gasped and said "Happy Birthday!"; I almost cried! He even gave me a birthday hug. That made my day.

But the topper of today was when I started talking about his mom and his family. He clearly said "I miss my mom", and he started to cry. I asked him if he wanted me to call her and he said "Yes". I called his mom and he started to talk to her telling her he loved her and missed her; he cried the entire time. I then called his dad, brother, sister, daughter and he even got to talk to his niece Brittany! It was awesome! I was so overwhelmed by how much he was talking with them. Even to the point when he greeted his brother Chris by saying "What's up, man?", my jaw dropped! This is how Chris and him would greet each other on the phone before the accident.

Needless to say, today was a very emotional day. God, through Troy's speaking, blessed me with the best birthday present ever! Troy's voice is like music to my ears!

Please continue to pray for Troy's healing and that his memory continues to come back. His memory was a bit vague on some topics, including my birthday and other things I was asking him about, but he did remember who everyone was and he even read a line from a card his mom sent him that was hanging on his wall. So he even remembers how to read.

God is showing His glory throughout all of this and, as always, God's timing is perfect in every way! I appreciate all the continued prayers and look forward to talking with Troy some more tomorrow!

Praise God!

P.S. Please excuse the horrible grammar on this posting tonight. I am trying to cram 5 days of posting into one summarized blog -- oh and I should mention it's late and I'm beat! LOL.

5 comments:

  1. Yahoo! Praise God! Thanks for putting the effort into posting, Joan. It's so great to hear details about all that the Lord is doing. We love you all!

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  2. Wow!!! PRAISE GOD! This post (more accurately, hearing about how Troy is recovering) makes me cry. Rejoicing with you!

    Sarah

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  3. Thank you Joan for keeping everyone up to date. I look forward to reading your updates. It is amazing and refreshing to hear about Troy's progress! All are in my prayers each day. Happy Birthday! God Bless.

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  4. Great news! God is soooo good! That is really amazing news and wonderful for you and the girls! Happy Birthday Joan! You are an awesome woman of God! It's great to hear that Troy and all of you are doing so well. Thank you for keeping us posted! Love, Tamu

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  5. Soooo, happy to hear this! God is working in his own time but watching him work is such an encouragement to me!

    Thanks for sharing Troy's progress.

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