July 15th, 2008

Well, Matt is doing really good. He continues to have calm relaxing days. I've been continuing to work with him on saying noises and sounds. He does make a lot of noises throughout the day. To me that's great because you can really see how hard he is trying.
His parents were going to put a bigger feeding tube in his stomach but they are holding off on that right now at the moment. we thought that the tube was actually going into his Bowel but it now looks as though it has worked its way back into his stomach. The doctors still wants to go with a larger tube but his parents want to wait and see if it's really necessary to go through that whole surgical process.
As for taking him home we are almost there. The construction for the doorways is completed, the new carpeting was put in yesterday, now all we have to do it paint the walls. We have his custom wheel chair already. It's just like a regular one only the back is higher so it'll support his neck when he doesn't hold his head up. Dad has already pimped out his wheel chair with bight neon green handle grips and a bar pad. He also put seat belts on with black sheep skin! Matt's going to be pimpin!! Dad wants to put a motor on it but I said NO! I can just see it now, Matt's zipping down his street in a high powered wheel chair! lol

As for Matt's prognosis...Matt has what is called Diffuse Axonal Injury. Also known as DAI. This is a traumatic brain injury. 90% its patients stay in a vegetative state. 10% of the patients will eventually return to having normal functions. This improvement will be seen in the first year.
The more severe the injury, the longer the recovery period, and the more impairment a survivor will have once recovery has plateaued.
Recovery from diffuse axonal injury takes longer than recovery from focal contusions.
Cognitive and behavioral processes are controlled by specific areas of the brain, so the location of the injury determines the type of impairment. For example, patients who suffer a diffuse axonal injury and/or a diffuse hypoxic injury often have difficulty with concentration and long-term memory. They may have trouble dealing with more than one thing at a time, difficulty keeping track of appointments, and keeping organized.
There are several mechanisms of recovery after brain injury. Initial improvement may be due to the reduction of swelling (edema) of brain tissue occurring over days, weeks or months, depending on the severity of the injury. Next, damaged brain cells begin functioning again, usually over a period of weeks to months. Finally, undamaged areas of the brain may, to a certain extent, take over the functions of areas that suffer permanent damage.
Matt is past a lot of the rocky area which is good. We still have a very long road to go though. Right now we are working with him on swallowing so that we can start giving him liquids through his mouth and eventually food. He is breathing all on his own, he gets breathing treatments daily every eight hours. This is to help break up the mucus and make it easier to cough up. Matt has a very strong cough. This is a very good thing.
I have been going to the hospital everyday for almost four months now. And I can tell you that he is improving so well. When I look back on pictures from a week ago to now, he looks so much better! Everyone says what I do and his parents do must be so hard but really, what Matt does everyday is the hard thing. He's a miracle! A living, breathing miracle! I know that it's going to be a long time before life as I know it will start to feel normal again but, it'll all be worth it when he is able to stand on his two feet and say "What's up?" And one day we will be there. Just keep praying and believing.