Thursday

The CT scan came back today and it was determined that the blood clot risk (the fear that it could continue to grow) has been minimized significantly. The doctors cleared him for physical therapy, which began soon afterwards. He has yet to eat anything, and after the doctor made him drink an electrolyte replacement, he threw up all over. His potassium, calcium, and phosphate levels have been low, while his blood sugar level is high. It seems that it will take some time to determine the long term effects of the stroke, however, this type of stroke affects the left side of the body and can cause issues with balance and fine motor skills. The brain is capable of compensating for this, and the possibility that he will improve drastically is substantiated, although it may not ever be 100%. This evening they have started him on cumidan to start weaning him off the heparin IV. He looks better tonight than he has looked the entire time. He got out of bed twice today. Once he walked to the door, the other, to the bathroom (with assistance). He was more aware of things that are going on, and his sense of humor is coming back. He was given a menu tonight and will order his first "real" food from the cafeteria in the morning. Tricia has been by his side since the moment she found out about this, only coming home to shower. She is grateful for all the calls, messages, texts, flowers, visits, emails, etc.  We want to thank everyone who not only participated in the fast for R.J. today, but has put his name on the temple prayer lists. It is a great comfort knowing the amount of prayers people are saying on his behalf.