Thursday 13th

Hi All,

It has been a few days since the last update on Bryan's progress so I thought I'd better post a message tonight.

Bryan's had his ups and downs this week. He's had a few sleepless nights, feeling sick and had trouble with his breathing over the last couple of days due to a course of tami flu they started him on (even though he was tested for Swine flu and was given the all clear). Because these are side effects of taking tami flu Bryan told them he didn't want to continue with the course, so today he was feeling a lot better and got a good nights sleep last night.

Bryan is doing well at his OT sessions, he was able to stack 11 blocks with his left hand and 8 blocks with his right hand today which was great (even though Bryan is right handed his left hand/arm seems to be stronger). OT gave him a lesson on shaving with an electric razor on Tuesday, so he has been doing his own shaving, so that's put me out of a job and I was just getting the hang of it. Bryan has been able to drink by himself using a cup with a lid and a straw. By manoeuvring his wrist he is able to hold the cup in his hand and bring it up to his lips to have a drink, it sounds so simple but a bit of a challenge . In physio they have been stretching and massaging his shoulders and the top of his back to loosen the tight muscles in his upper body, this seems to make it easier for Bryan to move his arms and shoulders and relieve some of the pain he is getting in that area.

We have been venturing down to the dining room in the spinal ward for lunch and on Tuesday Bryan was able to eat his meal by himself using his adapted spoon and a plate guard, there were a few claps and cheers going on after he ate his last mouthful. It's amazing what can be achieved if you persist. As it was a big achievement I let him have a rest and fed him his dinner that night. He his going to tackle cleaning his teeth by himself next.

Bryan's been in hospital for three and half weeks and hasn't seen much other then his room and the ceiling in ICU so I decided to take him on a tour of the hospital in his wheelchair and he was amazed that I knew where I was going and where everything was, I told him that for the first couple of weeks in between visiting him in ICU and having coffee down in the cafe I didn't have much else to do other then go exploring.

As it is getting late I'll finish it there and get Bryan to do his own blog tomorrow using the computer that USQ have supplied for him to use, it has the dragon voice recognition program on it so he won't even have to type.

Goodnight all,
Julie