The milestones continue to pile up. Each of the nurses and staff that haven’t seen Darryl for a few days are commenting on his obvious improvement. It is due in the main to the fact that his improvment is consistent and on many levels.
Darryl is now able to drink water from a glass and is really enjoying that after 8 weeks of drought. Hopefully next week this will progress to some eating of ice cream or yoghurt and then pureed food. I hope they have got plenty in their cupboards!
He had another good day at the gym on Friday with some some sitting exercises and then some punching of some hand pads as you’d see in a boxing gym. Shane Cameron will hardly be trembling in his boots at the speed of Darryl’s left jab at this stage, but it was followed up with some fairly good bicep curls which may have him wondering.
The speech therapist who was at physio wanted to try and get Darryl to make grunting noises as he exerted, so I suggested they give him a heavy dumbbell to do some curls with. They came back with a 4 kilo (4 times the weight which has been working with to date) and Darryl promptly started curling it like he’d never stopped. Consequently, the curls continued with out the hint of exertion. Maybe a deadlift will be in order!!
Darryl was hoisted up with a standing sling again on Friday and this time stood very well, unsupported and with all his body weight as the sling was released. It was a promising effort and so heartening to see. A real positive from my point of view was a test they did with him involving his reactions. The physio let him fall (in a controlled fashion) to his side from a sitting position on a padded bench to see if he would put out his arm to stop himself – he did.
She then repeated this test another four times and with each attempt she increased the speed she ’encouraged’ the fall to occur. Darryl’s reactions were extremely fast, his arm and shooting out to prevent the fall on each occasion. Very positive developments.
Today (being a Saturday) was a little more laid back, literally. But there was two highlights. The first was when Darryl burst into silent laughter. I decided to show him a video on my laptop that involved a rather amusing clip involving ’steaming’ given it was so amusing to him the other day. While he couldn’t see the screen too clearly, he could certainly hear it and and by halfway through his face had lit up with a huge smile more akin to silent laughter. I watched him with tears rolling down my cheeks, sharing in the joy he was obviously feeling and marvelling at the fact that he could actually show it.
The next big moment in the day came when Darryl had a visit from his favourite dog Jimmy that he trials with. Merv, his original owner brought Jimmy down and when he came into the room, Jimmy went straight to Darryl and recognised him immediately, licking and wagging his tail. Darryl stroked and patted Jimmy lovingly and burst into another glowing smile when Jimmy leapt onto the bed to get closer to his master. It was great to see. Darryl was delighted to have that time with Jimmy and it appeared it was a mutual feeling between dog and master.
So another good couple of days in terms of carrying away those stones and while there is a long long way to go, he is not wasting time. The important thing is good quality, quiet undisturbed rest and the ability to maximise the various forms of therapy each day. There is a lot of work needed on his right side which has suffered badly from the storming, but hopefully over the next few weeks we start to get some movement there as the muscle tone reduces.
Speaking of storms, it is fair to say he has weathered it. We are now moving to a genuine recovery phase, something 8 weeks ago we were told was very unlikely. It’s now time for me to ensure that my focus on his recovery is just that, on his recovery. This being the case I am going to update the site on a weekly basis rather than daily as even I am finding it hard to keep up with him at the rate he is working. Please feel free to keep sharing your comments and look forward to keeping updated on his journey. Knowing Darryl he will be looking to break all the records on his long way back.
Darryl, eight weeks ago Catherine, Brook and I were sitting scared and shocked in the critical care ward of Auckland Hospital, desperately clutching to the thin threads of life you were hanging by. We now watch every day as piece by piece you recontruct yourself using every thread of determination and character you have. A lifetime of turmoil and emotion has filled those eight weeks, but with each day that now passes those feelings which will remain etched into our hearts and minds for all time are being overwritten with the joy of recovery and the possibility of your progress back to full health. Keep that mountain moving mate, I’m sure the view from the top of the new one will hold something special for you.
I’m just so glad you’re back.
Dad
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