Rob Update - Day 43

43 days in the hospital sounds ridiculously long, but not when you think about what things were like on Day 1 compared to now.  I haven't updated much this week because of that whole full time working mom thing, but now that I'm taking some time to do it I'm happy to only have good news to report.

The first week Rob was in Select Care was hard on everyone, but things have much improved since then.  He moved rooms this week which helped with the noise level and makes it easier for him to rest.  It sounds like he's back to an almost normal sleeping pattern of sleeping through the night again.  (Hey, Jack too!)

The best news of the week was the completion of his swallow study, which he passed with flying colors.  They knew he could swallow from observation, but needed to observe liquid and food moving through his esophagus with an x-ray to make sure everything was headed to the right place and not into his lungs.  That day he finally got some Sprite...and has had Mountain Dew, Ensure, orange juice, etc. since then.  He was so desperate to drink something in the previous days leading up to the swallow study that he even asked for a V8.

He was able to eat for the first time in over forty days on Wednesday, and continues to eat normal meals in very small portions.  His feeding tube is still being filled at night, but we're hopeful those days are numbered.    

We're hopeful that Rob will spend his 23rd birthday (next Monday the 30th) back at Parkview after his release from Select Care.  Check back later for party details!