A New Year!

Two days after Christmas, in a crazy sleetstorm, I drove 3.5 hours on rural roads to PWM (Portland, ME airport). Normally it should be a little over two hours, but Winter in Maine can get pretty hairy.  I arrived unscathed that evening in time to visit with Gabe and mom for a bit before bedtime.  It was very exciting to see him, since the last time I saw him, he was still generally unresponsive. He actually began waking up the day after I last left! So, it was obvious that much progress had been made. He was able to lightly speak “Hi Summer” through his trach speaking valve, which was heart-meltingly excellent. He recognized me in a few seconds and his mouth began to move, eager to talk to me. Throughout the week, he would get excited to talk, and start moving his mouth and mumbling a bit when he saw me, mom, or other people. His speech is coming along, though it was really only possible to tell what he was saying if you knew what words he was going to say. However, this progress was super exciting to see.

It was also wonderful to see him able to eat pureed foods, such as yogurt and mashed sweet potatoes. For New Year’s Day I made him applesauce. It is weird and exciting to feed your 27-year-old brother, but I loved it, and especially when he wanted to feed himself. The eating and swallowing of such foods is a very important development, since it leads to improvements in trach weaning as well as speaking. I truly saw improvement in his swallowing just while I was visiting, which was very cool.

Throughout the week, I told Gabe about things back home, and he seemed very interested. Sometimes I joked with him and received his funny half-smile (his left side is still slowly coming along so the smile is mostly on his right). His eyes were wide and alert as he “talked” to Kierie (who was visiting family for the holidays) and our mutual friend Allison on the phone (she did the talking, though he was moving his mouth in response often). I sat with him and encouraged him as he worked with his therapists, and helped with all the bedside things that need to be done. It’s quite a workout and very emotionally demanding as well. But when the effort is rewarded with a hug, a high-five, or a garbled but definitive “I love you,” it is so amazing!

I didn’t get many pictures except a few from my mom’s camera phone. I’m in the process of getting those in a format that is actually usable, so perhaps I will post some later.

Happy New Year to all the Gabe friends, family, and fans!

xoxo