Jess's next step

This is Dan,

Last night Jess was moved from the ICU to a neurological step down room. This was an expected step and is a step that every patient who undergoes head trauma at UCLA goes through. It was something that had been approved since yesterday morning but we had to wait for a room to become available. This has been a mostly a good move, with some slight hesitation and concern. On the positive side, the move means that Jess is progressing accordingly in her healing and that she will be in a room that is much more calming and private. The nurses do not come by as often and her regiment of medications has lessened. For the first time since coming out of the surgery Jess was able to sleep for more then a few minutes at a time. The room is bigger then the ICU and allows for me and her parents to all have a comfortable seat and room enough not to step on each others toes. The room also has a window, which although just shows surrounding buildings, allows sight to the outside world and natural light.

On the negative side, is STRESS. Jess had to endure a fair amount of pain during the travel 200ft down the hall to the corresponding wing. Any movement is tough on Jess and this was a big one in her present world. The same freedom that allows Jess to sleep also causes her significant stress. She is haunted by the memory of the surgery at UW and the need for a second surgery. She worries that she will begin to deteriorate and no one will know. This is in spite of the fact that between me and her parents, she is never left alone, she is hooked up to every monitor available to the facility and is periodically checked on by her nurse. The memory of the pain and exhaustive rehabilitation caused by her emergency brain surgery at UW is so prevalent that every time she cannot control her right hand or cannot find a answer she fears she is slipping backwards again. She easily forgets that it has been less then 24 hours since her surgery was completed and she still has a vast amount of recovery to do. The nurses and caregivers here are wonderful and Jess has quickly found her favorites and made each of them laugh. It is rare to have a nurse leave her room without a smile on their face. Her deficits are severe, but we see small changes daily and even hourly that are encouraging to us. We also see negative changes when she gets over worked or exhausted. My personal opinion on these changes is overall positive. I feel that if we see changes, good or bad, then it means that particular aspect is not permanent. If this aspect is not permanent, it is possibly fixable. When dealing in this realm, possibilities are always positive.