4/21 Status Report

Things are good. He slept from 11:00 p.m. until 7:15 a.m. Today's random food cravings are a mixture of yesterday's cravings (chocolate pudding) and new items (lemonade). We had some oatmeal for breakfast. It's counterintuitive, but it's easier for him to eat semi-solid items (bread bits, small pieces of chicken) than it is for him to take straight liquids (clear broth, etc.). They say that's common. His favorite food is the homemade bread that Hindy (Rabbi Rosenberg's wife) baked.

His speech improves each day. The limiting favor is not the brain, but is his ability to muster sufficient lung power to speak in full sentences. His favorite activity is watching mommy play Pokemon Snap and telling her how to find the secrets. If you watch this activity, you can observe Jake dictate strategies that require 10 or 15 specific moves.

Male readers may want to skip to the next paragraph . . . They put the catheter back into his penis, but he's got some pain down there because the blood in his bladder (as previously described) has coagulated and clotted, and the purging of that thick stuff exceeds the design specifications of his standard issue equipment.

Yesterday we found out some "Did I need to know that?" information. It turns out that when Jake went through the difficult period two weeks ago, some of the nursing staff (privately) "didn't think he was going to make it." That's one of the reasons that they are so so doting and so excited to see his daily progress. One of the nurses mentioned this to Jen's mom yesterday, and Jen subsequently confirmed it. I can't decide if I want to know this. It's kind of like when we found out that he tested positive for TTP http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic499.htm
two weeks after the symptoms cleared.

Visiting time should be fairly flexible this weekend, but call first (954-987-2020, x. 1455) so we can coordinate between physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy (all of which take place in the room).