Wednesday March 12th Update- a good one!

I couldn't stand it at work any more, so I went up to the hospital expecting to spend some time with Jesse's mom, Nancy and support her and whatever family was there. I met her in the waiting room and got brought up to speed. The morning CAT scan was good, and he tried to pull out his breathing tube this morning, so he was responding to discomfort.

Not long after I got here they came to get us saying he was waking up and wasn't happy. He was trying to get comfortable, and kicked the nurse in the process, and was grabbing at the tube. When I got in there his eyes were open. His mom talked to him and then told him I was here and asked if he wanted to see me. He nodded his head! We had to hold on to him a few times- he was moving around pretty good. He squeezed my hand a bunch of times, and looked around quite a bit. They had given him a drug to counteract the morphine, etc he had been on, and that seemed to do the trick. He really looks pretty good- when they mended his face they made an incision from the inside of his eyelid, and another in the roof of his mouth, so he has no scars on the outside of his face.

Nancy and I spent the next half hour or so talking with him and encouraging him to work on breathing. Then the nurse asked us to try being quiet and see if he would stay awake. By this time the drug had worn off, and he settled into a restless sleep. Good thing was he continued his breathing rate even while he was sleeping.

After he slept for a half hour or so, they checked his blood oxygen level and asked us to leave so they could pull the tube. Even half concious, I didn't want to be the one holding him down when they did that. I came back into the room after Nancy and Jesse's Aunt, and when they asked him who I was he croaked out "Matt." I've never been happier to hear my name! He also recognized an uncle who came in shortly thereafter, and was answering questions, like how many fingers were being held up, etc. He thought the date was December of 1997, but hey, it's a start.

In a classic Jesse moment, when the nurse asked him if his leg hurt, he said "no" through half open eyes. She asked him if his head hurt... "no" She asked him if his throat hurt..."no." Each time, I swear he was ready to stick out his lips like he does and say "no dude, I'm fine." I said something about him being strong, and he said "stronger than" something... Repeated it several times, but we couldn't make it out, and the nurse said he needed to rest his vocal chords. I hope he remembers what he was saying, because I'd love to know.

He's got great people taking care of him, and a room with a view of Little Traverse Bay. I talked with Nancy a bit about visits, and she's holding off on that call for now. She and the docs aren't certain that a constant stream is wisest yet, as he needs rest and probably that's tough with new people coming in and out. We'll get the word out when the receiving line opens. I did ask him if he wanted me to come back tomorrow, and he said yes, so I expect to go back up late tomorrow afternoon. I'll take some photos along, and will read him messages as well. Post up!

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