Posted by gguinn on July 23, 2012, 10:13 am 71.216.54.161
So After being moved from UNMH last week to Kindred Hospital, Dustin took some time and rested, then on his birthday July 20th we had a nice little breakthrough when he mouthed the words “I Love You” to his wife Erica, this was during the time that we gave him a little birthday party. We had a good laugh together when he broke wind and I couldn’t help but to crack up, he got a huge smile and laughed for a good minute or two both times. As that night progressed Dustin pulled his Tracheotomy tube out of his neck and moved the oxygen neck fitting to the top of his head. Saturday they tried to put in a Tracheotomy tube with a speech valve but his vocal cords would not allow him to cough up mucus, but that all changed on Sunday. So I am now proud to report that Dusty can talk. Now I haven’t seen it or heard it so I do not yet know to what extent he is talking, I just know he is able to. I am going to go and see him this afternoon and hopefully have a nice conversation with him. I will report back on his speech progress again tomorrow after I have talked with him! Personally I think this is nothing short of a miracle, it’s all just so amazing to me, and gives a whole new meaning to the term “Built Ford Tough”!
So yesterday Dusty was wicked tired and a sleep the entire time I was there. His Tracheotomy has been capped and if he can continue to breath and cough up mucus without it for two more days then they will start to give him food orally. Now for the talking, with the amount of energy it was taking for Dustin to breathe completely on his own through his nose yesterday he didn’t say much, but he said it to the right person when he did. The speech therapist came in to see Dusty, she said “Hello” to which Dusty in a weak voice responded with “Hi”, she then asked “How are you doing today” to which he replied “I’m doing ok”. Now to us this seems like a trivial conversation, something we would say in passing walking to the vending machine, but for Dusty this is big. It shows that not only can he talk but that the conversation is still there; he is not just repeating what others say. He didn’t talk to the therapist any more yesterday but was able to point out to her who his wife was; showing memory is still intact or at least that part of it. I am going back to see him today and hopefully I’ll get to see him awake, and maybe get to hear him talk.
