HEAL, MOTHERFUCKER, HEAL-UPDATE

I just received the following from Soren's friend Ellie:

Today’s update is short and positive.

When I arrived this morning, Soren’s mother and his sister Kristen, visiting from the other coast, were already there, along with Velma. The nurse was just walking out with his finished breakfast of oatmeal and vanilla yogurt, two foods he does not like, but I guess they're a big improvement over orange stuff up the nose; the nurse indicated that the feeding tube would likely come out soon, if not later today within the next couple of days. Soren is hooked up to fewer things; the A-line is gone, and while he still has an IV line in his hand, the various drips have been moved to the side and are not hooked up. The nurse indicated that as soon as a bed is available, possibly later today, Soren will be moved to a neurological step-down unit, which is excellent news: he’s out of danger and no longer needs the ICU, and it’s the beginning of the rehab process.

Soren was alert today and able to say more words, tries to put entire sentences together, which is difficult and frustrating for him. Velma has made flash cards with words in large block letters, so that if it’s not clear what he wants, he can chose between cards, an aid to communicating if he wants music or not, or he’s hungry or tired. She also brought a word board, made by Kip, so that he can point to a succession of words and put thoughts together. The thing that made all of this work for him is that Velma also brought Soren’s glasses; when she put them on him he smiled and gave an audible sigh of relief. Soren's other sister, a first grade teacher, had sent a package of get well pictures made by her class, and he seemed to enjoy looking at them, although quickly flipped past the ones that were crayoned all over; it may have been difficult to pick out the images. When asked if he was bored, Soren smiled and gave a nod “yes.” He is very bothered by the constant beeping of the monitors, which presumably will also go away in the step-down unit.

The neurologist had indicated to Velma that she (the neurologist) thought that Soren is making good progress.

That all sounds great to me, and hopefully the communication on his end will be a bit more smooth when I visit him tonight.