Still waiting for transfer to Victoria for rehab.  If nothing has happened by the time we reach a week of waiting I am going to see about nagging.  The squeeky wheel gets the grease!  Yesterday James got to try the parallel  bars for walking.  Rick was right there for help and correction and had to help with mostly verbal instruction and and correction  quite a bit,  but James did the work.  He did awesome!  Before bed I had him standing and sitting at the edge of his bed quite a bit too. 

When the nurse came on shift last night she popped in to see James and myself.  She had picked up a gift for James!  She is going off shift for 4 days and wanted to get it to him in case we were gone when she came back.  It was so sweet. He reached into the bag and pulled it out on his own. She got him a series of little stuffed animals and a stuffed flower.  She wrote a note to explain the significance of them.  The flower is because a flower blooms year after year and so will James.  The lion is for bravery,  The donkey for stubborness ( which will take him a long way in rehab) and the giraffe to remind him to keep his head up ( physically and emotionally).  Those are definetely going to Victoria with him!

Alot has happened this week!  James used a regular walker yesterday for physio.  Rick( physio guy) was unsure about how it would go, but was game to try it.  He put a belt with handles on it on James and had him hang on to the walker.  He warned him that he may wind up on the floor,  but that he (Rick) would make sure it was a slow easy landing.  James kept strong on his legs the whole time!  He was not ready to stop when time was up!  He is constantly signing "I walk" and has been mad at me because I have to keep telling him that he has to wait for Rick!  He is desperate to come home and often signs, " I can go home!"  and "I want to go home". Tonight he signed to me that he wanted "Rock, Roll" and the name of a band he wanted to listen to that is on his mp3 player!  He has been cooperating beautifully with the staff this week,  and tube feeds are no longer a fight!  He wants to use the bathroom in a bad way,  and we have gotten him in there a few times,  with success.  But the bathroom is so small that it is difficult to get him in and out of there safely. He also needs to practice his mobility more to become better at it and he only gets physio for a half hour at a time 3-4 times a week.  He has also started to finger type on the keyboard with fairly good results.  He has also started drawing recognizable letters on the ipad with his finger.  He rocks at playing tic tac toe on the ipad too.  He always either wins or ties.  Speech and language has been very impressed with him too.  He is doing some great work with doing exercises with his lips and tongue.  He is following direction to open his mouth and let her look in his mouth with a tongue depressor.  He is now putting on his own shoes with just a little help,  and brushes his own teeth.
Now the big news!!!  James is on the transfer list to go to Victoria to be assessed for rehab at Vic General! 

I told James tonight that i thought that it was unfair that he is making me blog twice in one day! So tonight I put James back to bed ( without a sling! He transferred himself!) and he got very upset after he was in bed. I did eventually guess that he wanted to walk some more! When I was trying to guess at what was upsetting him, and he started trying to write in the air with his finger. I could not for the life of me figure out what he was writing though. I started showing him the sign language alphabet and he was copying me mostly with his right hand, the second time through I said the letter and he knew the first half of the alphabet! His speech and language therapist is going to be shocked when she sees him next! She has been trying to get him to stick out his tongue. He not been wanting to cooperate. Today he started sticking his tongue right out and moving it around when asked. Being able to manage his tongue is a big part of being able to start to eat. Tomorrow James' doctor and Speech and language therapist should be stopping by. I am super excvited to tell them about his week!

Oh My!!!!  Today has been amazing and it is only 11:00 am!  James was not suposed to have physio today,  but when I arrived this morning he was rip roaring ready to go and trying to sit up in bed and putting his legs over the edge of the bed.  I told physio what he was doing and Rick came in to work with him.  He suggested that we see if he can sit on the edge of the bed.  We put the walking sling on him but did not hook it up.  James` girlfriend, Rae, was visiting today,  so after James got himself sitting on the edge of the bed with just a little bit of help,  Rick got Rae on one side of James and myself on the other.  He instructed James to put his arms around our shoulders and move his hips to the edge of the bed.  Then he told James to stand up.  James followed instructions beautifully!  He was antsy to take steps, so starting slowly we walked with him around the room.  He picked up speed and coordination as we went.  Rick kept having to nag me to keep up because James was taking big steps and picking up speed!  Lol!  We were hoping to walk out into the hallway,  but James stopped when he realized we were headed for the door,  we turned around and stayed in the room and he kept walking.  Tomorrow we are going to try the big walker again and just use a transfer belt instead of the walking sling.  He still has no speech, but he is starting to use signs and we are starting to hear different vocalizations.  I am hoping he can go to rehab soon!  At this rate it very well could be rehab in Victoria!

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.