Four weeks

It is now just over four weeks since Jim had his accident. It is tempting to suppose that he has almost made a full recovery, and he continues to amaze us and his nurses with his progress. However we were reminded today by experts in brain injury of the dangers of rushing his rehabilitation. Slow and steady improvement is recommended as the optimal trajectory towards the best possible final outcome. Trying to force through improvements in Jim's capabilities too early might cause exhaustion and result in longer term disability. So it might be some weeks before Jim can come back home on a full-time basis.

On a more positive note, Jim's mobility has increased markedly this week. I watched him score highly on tests involving standing and walking this morning, and this afternoon he told me he had walked for 60 metres in 60 seconds essentially unaided. This has improved his confidence and morale immensely. He is obviously very keen to regain his health and return home.

Yesterday afternoon Jim almost went too far. On his own in his bed, he decided he would get up and walk to his wheelchair that was in the far corner of the room, rather like "Andy" in the "Little Britain" comedy sketch. He did so, and then having moved around in the wheelchair decided to return to his bed. He was discovered standing dizzily on his way back to bed by an understandably alarmed nurse. He has realized the risks of sustaining further injury by falling and and so will not be repeating this effort.

Jim's short-term memory has also improved a lot over the last few days. He has scored 100% on the simple memory tests he has been given. His language capabilities seem unimpaired though sometimes he struggles to find some words for concepts he knows. Examples are "laxative" and "kettle". He also says "basically" a lot, but I suspect he might have done this before the accident.

Jim's medication has also been drastically reduced. He no longer requires hypodermic shots in his stomach, his anxiety-reducing medicine has been stopped, and he is on very limited pain relief. Without a spleen, he still requires daily antibiotic pills for the next two years.

Jim is happy to see visitors at the Wilson Centre, but during the week he is very busy with physiotherapy and other commitments, so he may not be free when visitors come. The best time to see him is between 4 and 5 pm. For other times, it is best to check with Brigie about his availability.