Meeting with Neurosurgeon

Up to this point, the progression continues to be positive and encouraging for Keith. I (Paul) accompanied Keith’s wife Jenny as well as Wendy and Darren (Keith’s mother and brother) to meet with Keith’s Neurosurgeon at about 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Neurosurgeon covered CT Scan results and prognosis possibilities. Although most of what were heard was good, the Doctor also had to discuss other possibilities to include what kind of damage MAY have occurred with the injury as well as the possibility that recovery could take well over a year. But the key and encouraging information we received are:

1. Keith is young which is in his favor

2. Keith no longer requires draining from his brain injury

3. He recognizes pain and discomfort which is an EXCELLENT sign

4. His vital signs are good

5. Swelling is nearly if not “gone” and the brain stem looks excellent

6. It is still REAL early and that this kind of injury takes time

The Doctor reiterated that it is too soon to tell a whole lot of things. Like breaking your leg, injuries take time to heal. Patience and time to heal are important for us all to remember. Having overcome the initial hurdles, the next hurdle or test will be to get Keith to answer specific commands to show he understands, such as: raising two fingers when asked. Oh yeah, the other good news is that when sedation was reduced, an RN had to get on top of Keith to restrain him because he began to swing his arms and reach for tubes that are clearly annoying him. Moving and the ability to recognize the things that are bothering him are excellent signs. In order to accomplish testing (responding to specific commands), the ventilator and tubing may need to be replaced with a simple and temporary tracheotomy to accommodate breathing. Medical staff indicates this is a good sign when they are able to move to this step.

We all acknowledged that this could be a long journey, but family and friends all agreed that Keith is too big, too strong and too determined to drag his recovery out. We are all confident that he will beat any timeframe given for each step of his recovery.

Tonight we talked about the importance of family and friends, and situations like this really put things into perspective. Petty differences really shouldn’t matter anymore in a time like this. Keith’s mom and his brothers have been amazing rocks for Jenny. Their faith is strong and they are all confident that Keith will pull through. Each day is another day to recovering. Maddy has visited after school and homework and has been upbeat while looking forward to getting dad home soon.

If you would like to communicate with Jenny outside of getting updates from this blog, she has stated that she prefers to respond to text messages at this time. The entire family has been watching your comments on the blog and they know that we are all praying and that God is in control here.

Please continue to pray for Keith and his entire family.