Yet another few days of mixed fortunes for Steven. Despite him attempting to walk with assistance, and “ride” a bicycle, he is still suffering severe pains in his left leg. We continued to inform the doctors of this, but they seem to think it’s just muscle pain from the exercises. Persistence paid off though and x-rays were taken. The result of this is that Steven has a build up of calcium behind the knee, no doubt caused by lack of proper use. The shin bone is like a jigsaw puzzle and Steven fears that he will not be able to continue kick-boxing, but we try to make him think positive thoughts, and just be patient. Further examination with electrotherapy treatment revealed that with large electric shocks, Steven’s left leg muscles, particularly around the ankle are not functioning as expected. His right leg is fine. So further examinations are required.
A new unforeseen problem has developed, in that his left back and shoulder muscles have been displaced by the force of the collision, resulting in his left shoulder being about 1” higher than the right. Hopefully this will become level with regular massage.
His speech is improving. We don’t need to ask him to repeat what he’s saying as often as we have done. As with everything else it’s a work in progress.
His depression is varied, but there does seem to be more happier at times.
One evening during a conversation session, Steven asked me “What is a coma?” I explained in as simple terms as possible, basically that the brain shuts down, to concentrate on repairing itself. During this time, there’s no way of knowing what he could see, hear or experience. I told him some of the things we’d witnessed such as moving his eyes under closed eyelids, and that the first time I saw his eyes was on my birthday 2 weeks after his accident. Steven then went into almost overdrive with thoughts, and as he recounted these thoughts, and realised, as did I, that though in a coma he was experiencing things. This helped Steven tremendously because he thought those thoughts were just dreams and weren’t real.
1. He said, he could remember being in a glass observation room, with people looking in. He could also recall his eldest brother Mark, walking past the window, and at the time Mark was wearing a blue t-shirt. Someone in Steven’s condition would know, that at some point he would have been in such a room, but Paul and his Mum can remember seeing Steven’s eyes follow Mark as he left the room. The blue t-shirt isn’t strictly correct but is so close to the truth. Steven will try to remember more details later.
2. He said he could remember a man being in the room. This man had long white hair, and a long white beard. He said the man stood at the left side of his bed. The man then walked to the head of the bed, left hand side. The man then put his head very close to Steven’s head. Steven said he doesn’t know anyone of such a description. I joked that it was God. I also said that, in a round about sort of way, he did know the man. Everything Steven said is true, and I have the photograph of this man with Steven to show him when he remembers more.
3. Steven said he could remember being tied down. This is true, but it happened 3 times, so Steven is going to try to remember more details. I did tell him he was tied down for his own safety.
4. Steven said he could remember being in a room with a large window directly in front of him, with large bright lights shining through. Under the window was a bed or sofa. This is also close to being correct but for one small detail, but again, Steven wants to try to remember more later.
As I said earlier all this is so important to everyone. Steven’s happy because he knows now that he can relive his “dreams”, tell us, and we can tell him whether it was real or not. For us it’s important, because memories after the accident, are more important than older memories. We hopefully await future revelations.
Steven has received gifts through the post, giving him a much needed boost to his well-being, though a fanciful shaped pillow left little to the imagination!! (Thanks Phillip!!) Chocolates are important, because hospital law clearly says that they must be tested by Dad first.
Another wonderful gift from Afghanistan in the form of a combat style t-shirt. The motto on it, and the accompanying letter bore sentiments which gave a massive boost to Steven’s morale.
March 19th was Spanish father’s day. I received a card from Steven which had been written by him. I wrongly assumed that he had received assistance to write this card. Last Sunday was UK’s mother’s day, and I watched in amazement as Steven wrote his card to his Mum without any help at all. Brilliant. The writing was erratic, but no criticism, it’s yet another good sign of his resolve to recover.
Yesterday evening Steven had a surprise visit from his friend Pablo and girlfriend. They finished work in Torrevieja and made the long journey to see him. They arrived at 8pm and after all the local gossip, and general conversation, they left at about 11pm for the equally long journey home. Steven was well “made up”. Another welcome boost to his confidence. Wonderful.
Best regards Terry
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