Update #29 from Beth

Hi guys,

Just wanted to let you know about Steve's night last night (it was my turn at the hospital). Steve had a great night. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I felt his bed start to shake. I was initially worried that something was malfunctioning, but then I noticed that it was actually Steve shaking - he was trying to raise himself up off the bed, and the shaking was similar to what one would experience when trying to lift weights that are too heavy. He raised his head and arms a couple of inches off the bed and looked right at me, wide-eyed. He also got really agitated, as though he was frustrated that he couldn't move more. After I told him where he was and that everything was okay, he calmed back down. This happened several times at intervals of a couple of minutes.

While this was occurring, Steve also moved his right arm a lot - much more than I have seen before. He started clutching at the bedsheet and then tried to push a couple of pillows [that the nurses had used to prop up his arms] off the bed. Then he seemed to notice that something weird was attached to his left hand - it was the pulse-ox monitor, clamped on his left index finger. He reached over with his right hand and started trying to pull it off. I took it off for him, and he immediately calmed down.

All of these are good signs because agitation and purposeful movement are indicators that he is moving to the next "stage" on the coma scale... in other words, he's starting to come out of it. It was clear last night that Steve is starting to realize where he is and what is going on around him. He is also much more responsive to voice. This morning we had a "conversation" that went like this:

Me: Blink twice if you feel pain.
Steve: (no response)
Me: Blink twice if you don't feel pain.
Steve: (blinks twice)
Me: Blink twice if you want to watch ESPN.
Steve: (blinks twice)
Me: Blink twice if you want me to turn the volume down.
Steve: (no response)
Me: Blink twice if you want me to turn the volume up.
Steve: (blinks twice)
Me: Blink twice if I'm really annoying you.
Steve: (two blinks, but spaced quite far apart, so I'm going to say he's ambivalent)

While it isn't always this clear, it's nice to be able to get some information out of Steve so we can be sure he's not in pain or feeling uncomfortable. He also communicated with the nurse and doctors this morning via blinking, which was cool to see.

Hopefully today will also go well. Only one more day till rehab!

Thanks again, everyone.

Beth