Jim speaks

This morning Jim had his tracheo tube removed from his neck and is finally able to speak again. We heard the news at about 9:30 am when we had a phone call from the hospital. When I answered the phone, a croaky voice on the other end said "It's Jim here". It was wonderful to hear his voice again.

Jim has taken full advantage of his new ability to speak. He asked a lot of questions of us, and has told us a lot of his experiences in hospital, many of which are hallucinations of one sort or another. He has read aloud a lot of the get well cards to him, and is very appreciative. Jim also managed some phone calls to say hello to his sister Flora and some of his friends in Rotoiti. I don't think they were expecting to speak to him.

After a good sleep, Jim is almost indistinguishable from his former self. I asked him in this state if his right leg was OK, and he said "of course it is" and lifted it up, which was a big surprise to me. He now seems to be able to use his right hand as well. In his "up" state Jim is also cheerful and polite. As he gets tired, his confidence disappears, and he becomes confused, irritable and upset, mainly because his short-term memory fails. However we are amazed at how far he has come since December 14, and expect him to recover fully with more rest and rehabilitation.