Tuesday, January 1, 2008

It is almost inconceivable to believe that today starts a new year and that in a week it will be two months since Mark's accident. The last eight weeks is like a dream that I think I will wake up from, but there it is the next day. I look around the hospital at other parents and their soldier children and realize that we are not the only ones walking around in this dream state. Families we met in the ICU unit, have now moved to other wards as we have, and their sons are making big steps in their recoveries as well. Today, a new plane arrived from Germany with more wounded and another round begins as their families arrive. It seems to be an ongoing cycle, unfortunately.

Mark had a good day again today. We have noticed a trend in the agitation over the last couple of days, and think we might have hit on something. He is much better after he has eaten and today, when his lunch tray never showed up, we had a real problem. We started feeding him ice cream which they have on hand on the floor for the patients and he started to get quieter. Finally, when lunch was brought up, after many phone calls and threats from the head nurse, he was fine. Then when he woke from a nap and was agitated, we fed him dinner and he was fine. The sweating and agitation went away and he needed no medication. The nurses have also made note of this and the night nurse is going to try giving him food and supplements tonight to see if it continues to work. They, and we, are going to tell the doctors about our little experiment. They have the medication if they need it, but both this afternoon and tonight it wasn't necessary. They check his blood sugar all the time and it's been fine, but keeping him level with enough food might be a big plus. Besides, he can certainly use the extra calories.

As the Lalli's jump into the new year with both feet, we wish all of you a happy, healthy 2008.