Sunday, March 11, 2012

1:30 PM DST-Just a quick update on Cole. Last night when his brothers arrived in Cole's room, Cole obviously was excited to see them and was very alert.  During the visit with his brothers, Cole spoke on two occasions. Once was when Stieler asked him if he could see him, Cole answered "yah". The other time was when Cole was standing up hugging Garrett. Cole told Garrett that he loved him. When Garrett and Stieler showed Cole a video of the RC track they built in the backyard for him (someone donated a RC car for Cole), he cried. This morning when a friend visited Cole, Cole recognized him and was able to say his name and say hi and goodbye.

Cole continues to make small subtle improvements everyday, in everything he does. He seems to understand when spoken to but only occasionally responds or initiates speech--and this really has only occurred in the last couple of days. During PT he needs a lot of assistance from the therapist and seems more alert when he's on his walks. He still is not able move the right side of his body very much and although the neurologists thinks that Cole can make a good recovery, everyone recognizes that it will be a long and difficult process.

For Tom, Rhonda and his brothers, it continues to be one day at a time. Cole will remain at Loma Linda until he can eat on his own and actively participate in PT for at least 3 hours. It's unknown how long it will take for this to happen.

As always, thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!