Tuesday June 30

John had an eventful day! This morning, physical therapists put him back in the chair. This thing is pretty fancy and starts off as a gurney so they just slide him onto it and then they adjust it until he is sitting upright. Up until today, John needed some pillows around his head and was unable to hold his head up straight without assistance. But today, he was holding his head up and eating lots of goodies. He was so alert while he was sitting up that Holly got permission to wheel him outside! This chair has a seatbelt and swivel wheels which makes it really maneuverable. They sat outside together and Holly said he seemed to really enjoy it. They were under the overhang by the ambulance entrance and there are some woods back there so she figures John was probably trying to spot some wildlife.

When I went to hang out with John this afternoon, Holly mentioned that he had moved his hands and one of his feet earlier in the day when she asked him to. So far, he has been unable to do that on command. When I got there and it was just him and me I was sitting in a chair close to his bed and talking to him and I said, "John, high five me", and he moved his hand in an effort to comply! I had some tears well up and told him how proud I was of him trying so hard to communicate, eat and come back to us.

Later this afternoon, John's mother Paulette arrived with some homemade food for John. She is an amazing cook and has been cooking and putting together a variety of ingredients to bring to him. Today she had made homemade vegetable soup (her green beans are John's favorite!) and a fruit smoothie and John seemed excited to see her. The hospital staff is heartened to see John eating soft foods and drinking lots and figure if anything will help his kidneys shift into high gear, this is the right recipe! Evidently, while IV fluids help, the body really reacts well to swallowing fluids and processing them that way. Also, they let us know that John sometimes tries to talk to them as well which is a good thing. At some point, hopefully we will get to a place of understanding each other's communication but in the meantime, I think there is no doubt that John knows he is loved and extremely well-cared for and most importantly he is safe. Hopefully, he will begin to feel more and more comfortable in our safe place and he will be able to leave his and join us again. That will be an amazing and miraculous reunion!