Cliff"s Progress

After living from hour to hour, dawn to dusk, and day to day, Cliff andJenna now have a week's worth of goals - which is so thrilling.
Cliff is beginning to put thoughts and words together, and his body isbeginning to heal from the burns and the viral encephalitis. Thetherapists, doctors, and social workers Jenna and Cliff have been workingwith are great. They are giving these two high hopes for a full recovery -even though it may take a year or more for this to occur.
Cliff was moved from Intermediate Care to Rehab last Wednesday, May 28. Hewill be having physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy 3hours a day, working up to about 6 hours a day. The physiotrist (doctorspecializing in rehabilitation) is Dr. Speed - he is supposed to be one ofthe best in the Western US in dealing with Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Because of Cliff's injuries and illness and his need to stay focused on hismany therapies, the therapists, nurses, and Dr. Speed are continuing torecommend that there be no visitors. We're finding that after there aremultiple people in Cliff's room he gets agitated, anxious, and veryrestless. The doctor explained it to me this way - Cliff sees people,converses with them, but there is still a "skip" in making all of theconnections, and because his brain is still not healed, this skip causeshim to try and put the entire scene or conversation together correctly -but he can't, so he gets anxious, concerned, and irritated by this. Thisthen brings on restlessness - which brings on lack of sleep, which meansthe next day's therapy is difficult, etc. So the rehab center is requestinghe be kept as calm as possible so the therapists and doctors can go to workand speed up Cliff's recovery.
It will be a month on Wednesda since Cliff's accident, and although thishas been a horrible month for Cliff and Jenna, the blessings arenonetheless very apparent. Please continue to keep them in your thoughtsand prayers.
Best, Ronda