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Scott Thorne Update 9/26

Sep-26-2004 » Filed Under: Scott Thorne

Dear Friends,

Today was a reminder that no matter how well things go one day, they do not necessarily go that well everyday. Today was a difficult one for Scott because he had to go for another CT scan. This entails being taken to the basement of the hospital at Bethesda and moved to the table of the CT device and then back again to his bed and rolled back to the ICU. A nurse, corpsman and a doctor are required to be present before he can be moved anywhere, so it makes quite an expensive entourage. He is made uncomfortable by this process and it takes him some time to recover afterward. He takes it well, but cries out during the table changes. The good news is that the CT scans and the readouts of the other devices attached to him still indicate that he is doing well. The bad news is that Scott is only dimly aware of this and we get the impression he feels he is taking a step backward because of the need for tests and monitors.

Scott requested some PT today from his brother. For those of you not in danger of being drafted or willing to volunteer, PT stands for Physical Training. I thought he wanted Physical Therapy, but that's not what Scott had in mind. He wanted his brother to work against his right arm and leg. Scott could only take this for a few minutes and is not yet able to move these limbs very well, but it was the effort that counted. Sometimes the most courageous things soldiers do is fight to become soldiers once again after being injured or wounded. Not all are successful in reaching their goals, but all are better for trying. I speak from painful personal experience.

More of Scott's body is returning to normal but this causes other problems. As each system comes back "online," it complicates caring for him until enough functions come back to enable him to handle all of them himself. For example, he is now on a liquid diet and is able to feed himself with a spoon in his left hand. Occasionally, a spoonful of gelatin wobbles precariously on his white plastic spoon before he gets it into his mouth. He's never missed, but he's come close enough to need a wipe after eating.

He dislikes the beef broth but likes the chicken very much. He can have small cans and boxes of juice as well as water. These he usually consumes with a straw, but sometimes he pulls out the straw and insists on sipping from the cup. He clearly wants to get better, but sometimes he misunderstands events as a setback.

We have passed on to him your messages as best I can recall them (we're lucky to have Internet access, let alone a printer), but too much of this makes him unhappy and he's unhappy enough. One day he will be able to read your messages for himself and be amazed at how much he is loved and respected.

ST


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