Would You Just Shut Up So I Can Talk?

God is so good. He gave us an amazing day today. For starters we had our first family conference with Dad's doctors. Mike, mom, and I were able to sit down with dad and about 10 of his doctors, nurses, and therapists to discuss his progress and goals. This is a meeting we will be attending every week to hear a report from all of his caregivers. We did not necessarily learn anything brand new, but it was good to hear some reports on his condition. They of course can't tell us specifics on what he will be able to do...it's all a matter of seeing what movement comes back, and what doesn't. We entered the meeting sort of expecting the worst, but we left with a positive feeling. There are certainly concerns, such as the continued swelling of the left arm, and the effect the lack of oxygen had on his brain when his heart stopped early on. But we agreed that we have certainly seen dad being very much himself, and even if he is a little slow on comprehension, we're very happy with where he is. The doctors said that this can only improve with time. They hope to have him off the respirator next week, and as soon as that happens they can do a swallow study to determine if he can start eating and drinking. Until then, its bags of "oatmeal" four times a day through the stomach tube. Yummy.

The major excitement came after our family conference. Dad had his trach downsized to further ween him from the respirator. With the smaller trach, he is able to have the Passy-muir valve in longer....which allows him to talk. Yesterday he said a few words but then they had to remove the valve. Today he was talking for over an hour...and it was AWESOME. He is so absolutely excited to hear his own voice that he just started crying. He started by saying the alphabet...while crying. Then came "Doe a deer, a female deer"...while crying. Watching his excitement and emotion over the simple fact he can speak was indescribable. He looked at Mike, mom, and me and kept saying, "I love you guys so much." He was in total awe of his own voice. Amazing.

We called P.J. so dad could say hi...and Pops even gave a shoutout to "K-Dawg". He did the same for my husband Chris (a.k.a "Fans") and Mike's wife Becky. But it turned out that Becky was even more emotional than dad...lots of tears. So much sobbing that dad finally said, "Would you just shut up so I can talk?" We were dying laughing.

There were so many priceless quotes from today...too many to write. One was when his therapist asked him who the president was. Dad thought for a moment and replied, "Hillary, baby!" Another one was when a different therapist was talking to him and said, "Well, I hear you were a very active man." Dad in complete seriousness replied, "Sexually?" (Sorry if that was a little PG-13...but, heh, welcome to the Bohrman family...always crossing the line.) It was so great sharing a lot of laughs...and tears...with Pops today. Praise God for his beautiful voice...and that sense of humor.

He also got serious at times, saying how shocking it was that only weeks ago he was carrying his grandkids, and now he can't lift a thing. He's amazed to watch as mom massages his swollen left arm...and he doesn't realize it's his own arm. He asked if he would walk, if his fingers would work, if we would ever play catch with the football again (our favorite family pastime). All we can tell him is to try his hardest, to push through the pain, and he'll be surprised at what his body will do in the weeks to come. He also knows its a miracle that mentally he is where he is...thank God that he's 'mostly there'. Mom said he was only 'mostly there' before the accident...so what more can we ask for?

Just an amazing day. We have so much joy...mostly because of the joy we saw in dad's face today. Thank you God for bringing dad so far, and being with us every step of the way. We continue to give God the glory for dad's progress...may tomorrow be just as amazing.