Prayers For Brad

[HarleyDog]

Another update on Brad:

Quote:Update on Brad:

Our goal to have a day better than the day before has been accomplished. If I had to describe today, I would say it was an emotional rollercoaster. Physically, Brad is improving. Emotionally, things are getting harder. Let's start with the positives.

This evening Brad was able to eat a few cut up pieces of grilled cheese. This is the first food he has attempted. It was a challenge to effectively chew with the facial fractures, but he got it done. He did swallow the food with some pain. It might not seem like a big deal, but had to pass a swallow test for the dr's to allow this. Yesterday he did not pass; today he did. It also means that he can move to oral medication rather IV. While IV meds work much faster, they don't have as much of a lasting effect. This was causing a lot of his discomfort and oral medication helped ease the pain for longer periods of time. They did some breathing treatments on him to try to strengthen his lungs. He's got a lot of work to do on that. It's hard for him to even cough. And when he does, the pain in his ribs is intense. Tough to watch. His chest tube was removed from his lungs which helped with some of the discomsfort. They did some suctioning to clear him out. His short term memory improved slightly, but still a concern. He asks a lot of repetitive questions related to his current care and when are we leaving. They were going to try to move him into a chair today but he just wasn't ready. They did get him up but had to get him back in bed. The fact that it was even an option was an improvement.

The downside is the emotions and acceptance of his condition. His frustrations and disappointment are continuing to grow. And I can't blame him. Its tough to accept the condition his body is in. His right arm is healing but not usable at this point. His left arm has its own issues and covered in IV's. Swallowing, coughing, or any movement causes him pain. His head is covered in staples. Overall pain is insane. I honestly don't know how he does it. Most would have thrown in the towel by now. Champ is Champ, but he has his moments that any of us would have. It's hard; really hard. Our family shares a lot of joyful moments and lot of tears throughout the day.

It was discussed with the staff that once Brad can leave UC, he will need to go a rehab center. We are lucky enough to have some great facilities in NKY for this. We will cross that bridge when we get there. While he is continuing to improve, he has a LONG way to go.

Keep the prayers coming.