I have been reminded again about how long it has been since I blogged!  Wow,  it is sure hard to find time these days. 

James and I went to Nanaimo Hospital yesterday for him to have an abcessed tooth ( a molar that was badly broken during the accident)  removed.  We went down in a St. Joseph's ambulance. He got his legs out of the blankets and straps early on in the trip and the attendant ended up giving up trying to get his legs back in.  Every time she wrestled one leg into the blankets and straps,  he would take the other one out!  It was kinda comical.  He spent the trip to Nanaimo lying on his back on the stretcher with his feet on the ceiling,  or waving a foot at the back window! We were supposed to leave at 7 am but they were running late and we finally got going at just before 8 am.  We arrived at Nanaimo Hospital to find out that they were not prepared with a bed for him.  Since it was day surgery they just assumed that he would sit in a normal chair and wait his turn.  They finally put him on a stretcher in the hallway for about 3 hours,  then onto a bed in a storage alcove for another 7 hours!  The appointment that was originally booked for 9:30 am finally happened at almost 8 pm!  James was exsausted by the time they finally got him in,  he kept trying to doze off during the day,  but a hallway in the hospital is not condusive to sleeping!  He actually handled it very well.  They had sedatives ready for him if he needed it,  but he did well  all day.  I ,however, could have used the sedative!  I went in with him when they were putting him under,  but he was a trooper and lay perfectly still while they placed the iv line.  He grimaced but did not move a muscle.  He also let them use the mask on him.  Before they got a look in his mouth,  one of the doctors asked me who diagnosed the abcess.  I kinda looked sheepish and she asked,  "did Mom?"  I told her I had.  Not even his GP has seen the tooth properly!  I called it right though.  It sounds like the infection may have been fairly extensive.  The roots to that tooth went quite deep and entered the nasal cavity,  so they had to patch a hole after they got the tooth out.  Poor guy,  today he looks like he has a golf ball in his cheek.  We finally arrived back at St. Joseph's Hospital at midnight.  What a long day!  Poor James had been fasted for 24 hours by the time we got back to his room! 

James seems to be slowly coming out of the agitated/agressive stage.  He still has moments,  but he has been much more controlled.  We are still trying to keep stimulation to a minimum.  If he is going to get worked up it seems to be when there are more than two people in his room with him, or if his day has been too busy.  He is starting to communicate with not only us,  but the staff also,  using head nods and shakes for yes and no.  His neck has been loosening up too!  He holds it up in the headrest most of the time,  and he is turning to his left a lot more.  He is swallowing more too.  I have been thrilled that he has been much more cooperative with physio and speech and language therapists. 

He had his first visit home last Friday!  It went really well and he seemed to enjoy himself.  His girlfriend came and visited and Grampa and Robin stopped by for Birthday cake.  James will be 19 on Monday! 

It has definetely been difficult to find time to update the blog lately!  James keeps me pretty busy!

 He is in the classic agitated and confused stage of his recovery.  He is very territorial of his room!  Especially when it comes to staff.  He seems to be having difficulty telling the difference between staff and visitors,  so visitors are pretty much just family for the time being.  We dont know how long this stage will last,  hopefully not too much longer,  because it is tough on us!  Most of his care has been being done by me, on my own,  because he gets very agitated when staff come near him.  He is getting much more coordinated each day and more alert each day too!  It is a bit like trying to dress an octopus in the morning!  Yesterday when I arrived in the morning I found that he had pulled the end off of his feeding line,  and his whole feed was on him and the bed and floor rather than being in him! Thank goodness it was just the end of the tube because at first I thought that he had pulled his tube out! So I started my day by giving him a bed bath,  changing and washing his bed and him and cleaning the floor around his bed! 

He seems to something new everyday.  Today he became obsessed with his socks and managed to pull them off using his hands a couple of times!  He is scratching his head and repositioning his glasses on his own now too!  All these little tiny things that we all take for granted are now huge exciting accomplishments! 

 I am crazy busy so I havent had much time to blog.  The specialist came to see James on Monday,  He said that James is very close to being ready to go to the rehab program in Victoria!  He will reassess him in 4-6 weeks and see if he is ready by then!  Right now,  I am the only person who can do anything with James,  This makes my life that much busier,  He has become very anxious around the staff and kicks and pinches and punches when they come near. This is a tough stage,  but a good sign.  Those that go through this stage have a better prognosis.