Steffan has made some enormous progress in the past couple of days, with some long pauses along the way.  On Friday, his physical therapy team reported that he had a good session, including some assisted standing.  And on Saturday morning, he started speaking in complete sentences to Amy and Bek and his uncle Frank after almost a week of saying nothing.  He asked if he’d had a stroke, and said, “How lucky I am.”  Today he was not interested in talking, but did mouth some words occasionally.  Such as the time when, reflecting on the long stay in the hospital, Brandon said “I’m over it.”  And without missing a beat, Steffan mouthed, “Officially”.

In general, he’s seemed more alert these past two days, and seeing him bring Brandon’s hand up to his lips to kiss it has really been affecting my eye allergies.

His room is quickly becoming known amongst the nursing staff as “the place to hear good music”, as we rotate through spotify playlists throughout the day.  Steffan seems to enjoy hearing music, doing hand waves, snaps, and the occasional shoulder shimmy.  I told him today that Brandon was playing a lot of music from the band “Cigarettes After Sex” while his mom was in town, and while Brandon was a little embarrassed to tell her the name of the band when she inquired, she has now downloaded it onto her iphone.

Today is the last day of his antibiotics course, and they are looking to remove his EVD.  The question is whether he will be able to reabsorb his cerebrospinal fluid on his own, or whether they will install a shunt.   One or the other should happen by the end of tomorrow.  In preparation, Hannah trimmed his nails again so he’s camera-ready.