Everyone returned from the hospital today with a bit more energy in their step. Walter cooperated with the therapists more than in the past. He squeezed Dad's hand with his left—this, I have learned, is major. It shows that his left side has neural connections that rehab can focus on. His eyes continue to improve. For several days his left eye was constantly floating down around the bottom. Now it's lining up better and he seems able to focus better on things like television. He is not coughing like he was. His coughing a few days ago was frequent and deep. Now it's much less frequent and, as Lyn says, "it sounds like Walter's cough". We now focus on things that once we would not have, like what an individual's cough sounds like. Well, Lyn now recognizes Walter's. He is finally getting some good sleep, and it shows in his face and his eyes. Yesterday he began to look like himself.
The EVD remains clamped off, but the doctors want to make sure that the ventricles are regulating themselves before they remove it. They want neither to have to reinsert it later or insert a permanent shunt. Resolution of this issue appears to be our next threshold event. Once the EVD is removed, Walter will be eligible for evaluation to move to Shepherd's to start rehab. That transition will start the next chapter.
The doctors and other professionals uniformly, though cautiously, express optimism that Walter will recover most, if not nearly all, of his functions. One experienced nurse observed that he would be surprised by a lack of substantial recovery. A doctor predicted that, in a year, Walter will walk down the street without anyone but him recognizing any lingering effects of the stroke. One of the lead doctors encouraged Mom and Dad not to be overly discouraged by how Walter appears now, that we should see much improvement within three months. So, we persevere in light of hope.
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