Today has been a much better day for Chad, compared to yesterday.
When I arrived this morning, he was pretty alert. He was sitting in bed, fiddling with the tv remote.
He was in the process of being repositioned in bed, but he followed me with his eyes until I was able to greet him properly.
I leaned over and gave him a hug, a kiss on the forehead.
He grabbed my arm and looked me straight in the eyes. And smiled.
A very sweet, much needed moment.
He was talking quite a bit this morning, producing spontaneous sentences – finishing some of them.
He even patted my stomach at one point and said, “You’re skinny. Eat.”
Funny fella.
That is a great task in itself, because most of his communication is limited to yes/no answers and his few sentences are very hard to decipher most of the time.
He hasn’t had an appetite today, but has had a lot to drink. Two sippy cups of apple juice and a Diet Pepsi.
That’s more than he’s had in the last few days, combined.
I was sitting on his bed shortly before lunch time and he simply stated, “I don’t know why…”
Then, he was finished.
I asked him to complete his sentence, and he wasn’t able to.
After a few minutes, he started again, “I don’t know why….”
I simply asked, “You don’t know why, what?”
He finished the sentence this time…“Why I’m still here?”
I was shocked that he put a sentence like that together.
And even more shocked that he asked.
–
Shannon called to check in, and while I was giving her the update, I noticed that Chad was very interested in the phone.
So, I put him on speakerphone, where he held a brief conversation with her. Priceless!
Since he was feeling so communicative today, I decided to get a video (or two) on my phone.
The first on was the for the girls.
The second one for his sister.
I am sharing the one for the girls with you.
Please be advised that Chad looks different than the last time you saw him.
He has lost a lot of weight. Some people may not want to watch – and that’s okay.
But I did want to show you all that he was having a good day.
