Rock on Paul

First of all, I am sorry about the delay getting this posted. The problem is that if I don't get the posting sent in a few minutes, the connection through the hospital internet is dropped and I lose everything I wrote. I have lost my post 2 times today.
So here is another try.

Last night Jon and I went to see Paul from 8-10 pm. The ICU is closed everyday from 6-8 AM and PM for the changing of staff. We came into the room and Paul was wide awake and not fidgeting with his tubes. Just looking around. Jon got to the side of him and said "Hi Paul, it's Paps." (This is the name Paul gave him)
Paul was lookiing intently at him, and Jon asked Paul to give a thumbs up if he knew who it was. Paul continued to look hard at him, but did nothing in the way of movement. At first I was disappointed for Jon, then thought about how much Paul seems to hate that being asked of him. All day long, they say "Paul, give me a thumbs up for yes". So I told Jon to ask him to do something else to let him know he knew who it was. So Jon gave the sign he and Paul do for Rock On, which is a hand sign most people know - you put your middle 2 fingers down on your palm and hold the thumb, first finger and little finger up. Paul immediately gave him the Rock On sign. Jon and I burst out laughing and hugged Paul. It showed that he not only understood, but had the ability to do it well - it was not a modified attempt - it was very clearly the Rock On sign. Another big triumph for the day.

My cell phone rang, so I showed Paul what was ringing, and opened it so he could see the display. I said, "it is your brother Jon". I asked Jon to talk to Paul, and I placed the cell phone to his ear and Paul listened very intently. Paul then looked up at me, and so I checked to see if Jon was still talking and he wasn't.
Also, we told Paul that the sooner he starts to move his left arm and leg, the sooner we could get him out of there. He moved his left leg as best he could, which showed he understood. We wrote the words YES and NO on a notebook and I asked Paul to use the pen to point to either word to answer my questions. I asked him if he was hurting and he took the pen and actually tried to write something. Because it was a pen, and the pad of paper was not on his lap, he wasn't able to really write anything. I was thrilled he knew WHAT to do with the pen. We are going to get him a Magna Doodle to use to try to communicate. It will take more coordination than he has now, but it will be a start for him.

Today was rather slow. No therapy because they were going to take Paul to get a cat scan to see why he is not really digesting his food. We still seem to have a problem with food going directly into the stomach. He needed medication that made him very drowsy, so he didn't have a lot of response today.

Please pray for a simple solution to the issue of digestion. We don't want to have to do a surgery as that will cause a long delay in recovery for Paul.

I decided to play the music Paul recorded with his band Hind Sight, to try to get some reaction from him. He did open his eyes after awhile and he started to move his right leg like he was keeping time. Then the great part was, he started to really move his left leg. I saw him move his left leg more than ever before so I continued to play that music for about 30 minutes. He started to have trouble with lots of coughing, so I turned the music off. He really responds to music though. On Monday, he seemed a bit agitated, and I realized the music that was not normally what he listens to. I changed it to Dream Theatre and he settled down and fell asleep. Music will most likely be the key to getting him to new levels. He responds so visibly to music. And it is what woke him up!

Richard Watson came by today and he had read the site and he then brought DTSI hats to the room and some shirts for the brothers !! It is these kinds of sweet and charitable deeds that make us cry at the outpouring of love for our family. It is so huge a thing for us, we just can't grasp it all. We talk about everyone's response to our call for help in the way of prayers, more than we talk about what happened to Paul! Sorry about when you read this Paul, but it was not just about you dearest! We sit in utter amazement how God is weaving such a huge tapestry with all of these moments of brothers and sisters in Christ sharing their faith. I keep hearing about people's faith stories, from the nurses and friends and people who don't know us, but are staying in touch. I can promise you this - it is all about God. He has taken a simple, obscure family, and has managed to reach so many people with his loving acts of mercy. He is talking to us all - please take time to sit and listen to what He is asking of you. This event is your proof that He will sustain you in all things. He will guide you, provide all the necessary graces and will show you the fruits of your labor. The truth has been borne out in all of this.

Next step: we are waiting for the plastic surgery to be scheduled. The plastic surgeon and neurosurgeon will be together during this, so they are coordinating their available times with the operating room schedules. It will be Friday or Monday. After that, the next effort is to get Paul off the ventilator. That will be an important step for him. Until he is off the vent, the trach stays in place, which means Paul can't communicate verbally, at least not easily. His neck is still in a soft brace, so he doesn't move his head alot and he doesn't lift his head up or down. So he is limited to the range of vision basically in front of him. Lots of things going on that hinder the rehab process.

As you can see, we have a long pathway, but your prayers will keep Paul on this pathway. Please don't think your prayer doesn't mean much. It all adds up. It reminds me of a saying I heard a long time ago - watch out for the dimes and nickels, they add up to dollars. Paul won the lottery!!

God bless all of you in all ways, through the intercession of our dearest Mother in Heaven (and I can personally say, I have felt her constant presence throughout all of this.) On to tomorrow, where again I will say, THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.

Love to you,
Jon and Rebecca Fidero