News from Eli’s Loved Ones

Hi everyone, and sorry for the quiet stretch the last few days. With the holidays, everything at the hospital has been moving a bit slowly. Physically, Eli continues to heal really well. Neurologically, he is doing okay. He has good moments and harder moments. When he first wakes up or gets tired, he becomes confused and frustrated. During those times he is much more agitated and can get angry quickly. He also gets timelines mixed up or says things that don’t quite line up, l

Eli had a much better day today! He was fully cleared on his swallow test, which means he can now eat any foods he wants. He still needs thickened liquids, so regular water isn’t allowed quite yet, but being able to choose real food again is a huge win. He ordered a cheeseburger for lunch and was very excited about that. To be cleared for normal liquids, he will need to pass another video swallow test, which can’t be done until Friday due to the holiday schedule. He is very m

I keep saying that each day feels like a roller coaster, and today was one of the hardest we have had so far. The day began with my mom arriving at the hospital around 8:00 AM. While she was parking, Eli called her and said he was being held against his will and that she needed to come get him immediately. She rushed to his room and found him sitting in a chair in the hallway, surrounded by a couple of public health officers (they work at the hospital and are called whenever

Eli had a slightly better day today, which felt really encouraging. He moved up another level after his swallow test and is now able to eat more solid foods. This is another big step forward in his recovery. His catheter was removed today, which is a huge win. The doctors still don’t want him using the actual bathroom yet, but they may try again in a few days. This afternoon, the nurses helped him into a recliner chair, where he sat for about an hour and a half. He doesn’t en

Today was a little tougher, both for Eli and for us. When we arrived at his room around 9 this morning, he was extremely disoriented. He was struggling to stay awake and was unable to answer our questions coherently. Much of what he was saying did not make sense, which was definitely concerning. He also had not eaten breakfast yet and had not received any pain medication since 11 p.m. the night before. Once his breakfast arrived about an hour later, we helped him sit up and e