Things are still progressing on floor 6. We have our new favorite nurses, and Steffan’s speech therapist is Brandon’s new favorite person - she’s been amazingly encouraging and optimistic.

Steffan’s sense of humor pokes through the haze every now and then. He’ll roll his eyes and moves his eyebrows with perfect timing and sarcasm.

He’s been working on his swallow reflex lately - they sit him upright and have him chew on ice chips to practice swallowing. You can tell he’s working extremely hard at it but sometimes is more successful than other times. While in the sitting position, they have also taught him how to brush his teeth - which must feel amazing to him. Fresh breath and a sense of control and mastery!

And we are still trying to coax his third word out of him. Trying all tactics - sometimes wonder if he can do it but is enjoying watching all of us doing somersaults and backbends around him to entice one. I thought maybe he’d want company on his bed the other day, so perched on the edge and accidentally set off the “bed alarm” and that didn’t get a word either. I’m not supposed to do it again but maybe I will... I’ll keep you posted.

Brandon has been blown away with the amount of love and support he’s been getting from you all. It is so appreciated and needed. If at all possible though, please send your messages via the comments on this blog. It is still a very overwhelming time for him, and he’s back at work full time, and bc he’s a stellar human being, he feels obligated to respond to all of your texts and emails. (Unlike me.) So you’d be doing him a huge favor if you kept correspondence directly with him to a minimum during the next few weeks. If you just can’t help yourself (I’m guilty at times too), you can email myself or Chris Groves.
hannahbessmurray@gmail.com
cgroves@gmail.com
We love all of you!