Many people I have seen in the last week have asked about Levi, said the blog hadn’t been updated much lately. That is true, and sorry, folks. None of us, or Levi had realized before all this just how many friends we had, or how many people were concerned about us. Thanks SO MUCH for all you have done. All the card, letters, prayers, food baskets, offers of help in one way or another---acts of kindness. You lift us up and inspire us.
Things have been very busy! Not only were the holidays to deal with, but as you know, Levi relocated. He is now in Trust Point Hospital in Lubbock. It is primarily a rehab facility and its GREAT. Dr. Wolcott personally met us at the door and showed us to Levi’s new room. He, as well as all the rest of the staff, seemed so very excited and happy we were there! (I even wondered to myself if they were all on “happy pills” or something. LOL).
Things have been very busy! Not only were the holidays to deal with, but as you know, Levi relocated. He is now in Trust Point Hospital in Lubbock. It is primarily a rehab facility and its GREAT. Dr. Wolcott personally met us at the door and showed us to Levi’s new room. He, as well as all the rest of the staff, seemed so very excited and happy we were there! (I even wondered to myself if they were all on “happy pills” or something. LOL).
Levi has made a lot of progress since he has been there. I believe the very next morning after arriving, Seth and Roda had Levi sitting up on the edge of the bed! That was the first time since the accident. They asked where his clothes were; they were ready to get him in a wheel chair and on the fast track on therapy. We brought clothes and he has been out of bed and in a wheel chair at least twice a day ever since, sometimes 3-4 times. It exhausts him, but as he told Nana one day, “Gotta go to therapy. Gotta get stronger. Gotta get better”. Yes, Levi---you go, boy!
Even though he arrived with a peg tube in his belly (for feeding) he has been eating by mouth ever since arriving in Lubbock. Obviously, he was gaining strength and mobility daily. After about a week Levi pulled his own peg tube out (They say “DC’d it”). Doc said, “Oh well, he didn’t need it anyway”. He then proceeded to eat just about everything in sight----even cauliflower and lima beans, sometimes even Bingo tokens and play dough--- Huh, Fabian? Levi did develop an annoying urinary tract infection, but Dr. Rice cleared it up pretty quickly with a round of antibiotics. Dr. Rice was also kind enough to spend 45 minutes or so (on a Sunday morning, if you can believe that!) giving me the clearest explanation of many things going on with Levi that I had received. I was highly appreciative and impressed. (I’ve talked to a LOT of doctors the last 3 months.) Anyway, about 18 hrs. after finishing the round of antibiotics, Levi DC’d his central line. Didn’t need that anymore either!
One night he was eating corn chowder. The nurse came in and slipped a couple of pills in a spoonful. When Levi chomped down on it, it sounded like an unwanted cherry pit in a piece of pie. Levi spit it halfway across the room and bounced it off the far wall! She laughed and went and got some more. I said, “Guess he didn’t need that either”! This time she gave him just the pills with a drink of water and he swallowed them.
The poor nurses seem to get the worst of it. They come to give him medicine, check his vitals, bathe him, dress him----whatever. He characteristically has a good many choice words for them. They are always so calm, unflustered….just talk calm to him, go about their business. Funny thing about Sal----He’s a large, muscular, male nurse, 30’ish. To him, Levi says, “Help me out, dawg”. LMAO Levi hasn’t lost all control, he’s just “lax” with it!
Melissa, the speech therapist was having a hard time getting Levi to cooperate. He didn’t want to identify simple objects or point to pictures or colors, etc. Luckily in the next day or two, Nana brought homemade Christmas cookies---white snowmen, red bells, green Christmas trees, etc. Amazing thing---Levi could identify those shapes, tell which color he wanted, and even lift that stiff arm to his mouth for a bite! All of it in one bite, I might add. It was kinda comical, like a greedy cow trying to waller around a whole ear of corn in her mouth so the others can’t get it! I told Melissa she just didn’t have the right motivational tools. She needed Nana’s cookies! Nana left a whole boxful, just for Levi. Cristy asked him if she could have one. He said, “No, MINE”. Sounded clear enough to me! He polished the last one off last night.
Sometimes Levi seems to talk nonsense or just ramble, but he can focus when he wants to. He had a pretty interesting exchange with Dale one day but I won’t go into that here. He had us all rolling with laughter and I’m pretty sure it made Dale’s day. He also had a really lucid discussion Christmas night with Luke—about cattle, prices, death loss, etc.—read a couple pages in a book, discussed that and so on. Jeff Bertrand brought him a T-shirt yesterday. Asked Levi if he knew what it said. Says, “Bertrand Spraying” “Gimme it”. You want to put it on? “Yep”….We did. As Jeff was talking to him he said he wanted one that said “Ouch, Dammit, Ouch”. We laughed, wondered if he knew what he was saying, but before Jeff left Levi reminded him again to bring the shirt and what it was supposed to say. Short term memory may not be there ALL the time, but it certainly isn’t absent either.
I guess its been a little over a week ago Levi got to take his first shower. He looked both exhausted and yet refreshed. He had been getting bed baths, but that’s just not the same as a regular shower. He brushes his own teeth, too. The chair won’t wheel up real close to the lavatory, but that’s ok----turns out Levi can spit a stream of water about 4 feet! LOL I think Beverly kinda got sprayed with some back splash, but you learn to get out of the way!
When he gets really fed up with our incompetence, he starts spelling. I thought he was talking something about school and couldn’t really understand. Finally he spelled it ‘S-K-U-L-L, SKULL!” With Cristy’s help I figured out he wanted to watch Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Monday he was saying something---we were looking outside; I thought it was jog---like a nice day to jog or something. “J-O-B, JOB”. He wanted to go to work with me. Hasn’t asked that since he was like 10!!!! WOW! Later I heard him asking the nurses for directions to Bovina! They might need to lock the doors; Levi’s liable to “Break Out”!
He does now have the splint off his left arm. Esther said that smelled really bad, like when a cast comes off, I guess. Still has the ankle fixator on. I know several staff members have been making calls, trying to see about getting that off, too. It may still be a while on that, though.
We may soon be moving to another facility, TLC, also in Lubbock. More therapy still, but more emphasis on cognitive function. Those arrangements are not all settled yet.
In summary, Levi’s not close to 100% yet, but he’s a LOOOONG blinking way from a persistent vegetative state!
Even though he arrived with a peg tube in his belly (for feeding) he has been eating by mouth ever since arriving in Lubbock. Obviously, he was gaining strength and mobility daily. After about a week Levi pulled his own peg tube out (They say “DC’d it”). Doc said, “Oh well, he didn’t need it anyway”. He then proceeded to eat just about everything in sight----even cauliflower and lima beans, sometimes even Bingo tokens and play dough--- Huh, Fabian? Levi did develop an annoying urinary tract infection, but Dr. Rice cleared it up pretty quickly with a round of antibiotics. Dr. Rice was also kind enough to spend 45 minutes or so (on a Sunday morning, if you can believe that!) giving me the clearest explanation of many things going on with Levi that I had received. I was highly appreciative and impressed. (I’ve talked to a LOT of doctors the last 3 months.) Anyway, about 18 hrs. after finishing the round of antibiotics, Levi DC’d his central line. Didn’t need that anymore either!
One night he was eating corn chowder. The nurse came in and slipped a couple of pills in a spoonful. When Levi chomped down on it, it sounded like an unwanted cherry pit in a piece of pie. Levi spit it halfway across the room and bounced it off the far wall! She laughed and went and got some more. I said, “Guess he didn’t need that either”! This time she gave him just the pills with a drink of water and he swallowed them.
The poor nurses seem to get the worst of it. They come to give him medicine, check his vitals, bathe him, dress him----whatever. He characteristically has a good many choice words for them. They are always so calm, unflustered….just talk calm to him, go about their business. Funny thing about Sal----He’s a large, muscular, male nurse, 30’ish. To him, Levi says, “Help me out, dawg”. LMAO Levi hasn’t lost all control, he’s just “lax” with it!
Melissa, the speech therapist was having a hard time getting Levi to cooperate. He didn’t want to identify simple objects or point to pictures or colors, etc. Luckily in the next day or two, Nana brought homemade Christmas cookies---white snowmen, red bells, green Christmas trees, etc. Amazing thing---Levi could identify those shapes, tell which color he wanted, and even lift that stiff arm to his mouth for a bite! All of it in one bite, I might add. It was kinda comical, like a greedy cow trying to waller around a whole ear of corn in her mouth so the others can’t get it! I told Melissa she just didn’t have the right motivational tools. She needed Nana’s cookies! Nana left a whole boxful, just for Levi. Cristy asked him if she could have one. He said, “No, MINE”. Sounded clear enough to me! He polished the last one off last night.
Sometimes Levi seems to talk nonsense or just ramble, but he can focus when he wants to. He had a pretty interesting exchange with Dale one day but I won’t go into that here. He had us all rolling with laughter and I’m pretty sure it made Dale’s day. He also had a really lucid discussion Christmas night with Luke—about cattle, prices, death loss, etc.—read a couple pages in a book, discussed that and so on. Jeff Bertrand brought him a T-shirt yesterday. Asked Levi if he knew what it said. Says, “Bertrand Spraying” “Gimme it”. You want to put it on? “Yep”….We did. As Jeff was talking to him he said he wanted one that said “Ouch, Dammit, Ouch”. We laughed, wondered if he knew what he was saying, but before Jeff left Levi reminded him again to bring the shirt and what it was supposed to say. Short term memory may not be there ALL the time, but it certainly isn’t absent either.
I guess its been a little over a week ago Levi got to take his first shower. He looked both exhausted and yet refreshed. He had been getting bed baths, but that’s just not the same as a regular shower. He brushes his own teeth, too. The chair won’t wheel up real close to the lavatory, but that’s ok----turns out Levi can spit a stream of water about 4 feet! LOL I think Beverly kinda got sprayed with some back splash, but you learn to get out of the way!
When he gets really fed up with our incompetence, he starts spelling. I thought he was talking something about school and couldn’t really understand. Finally he spelled it ‘S-K-U-L-L, SKULL!” With Cristy’s help I figured out he wanted to watch Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Monday he was saying something---we were looking outside; I thought it was jog---like a nice day to jog or something. “J-O-B, JOB”. He wanted to go to work with me. Hasn’t asked that since he was like 10!!!! WOW! Later I heard him asking the nurses for directions to Bovina! They might need to lock the doors; Levi’s liable to “Break Out”!
He does now have the splint off his left arm. Esther said that smelled really bad, like when a cast comes off, I guess. Still has the ankle fixator on. I know several staff members have been making calls, trying to see about getting that off, too. It may still be a while on that, though.
We may soon be moving to another facility, TLC, also in Lubbock. More therapy still, but more emphasis on cognitive function. Those arrangements are not all settled yet.
In summary, Levi’s not close to 100% yet, but he’s a LOOOONG blinking way from a persistent vegetative state!
Thanks for the “Never Give UP’ poster, Mac.
