This happened yesterday … March 6, 2013
Anthony is improving. We have a long road to go, but the road gets a bit easier with each day.
Today was a big day for everyone. Drew, Anthony’s oldest brother, took a flight out of San Francisco this morn
ing at 7:30 on his way back home to Charleston. I know Liza and Lucas, Anthony’s niece and nephew, enjoy having their dad home. Meanwhile Elle left at 4:30 pm to resume work (she is a flight attendant with United) and I know she is looking forward to getting back to Anthony’s side.
Around 3:00 pm, we had a family meeting with several members of the Kentfield Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospital
including Dr. Doherty (also known as Dr. D), who is the hospital’s chief doctor for neurological needs, and the different rehabilitation specialists who work with Anthony every day to help him through the recovery process. Elle and Kim met in person at the hospital and I was available by phone. Everyone at Kentfield has been very concerned about Anthony’s welfare and very professional and knowledgeable about regarding his continued care and rehabilitation.
Dr. D started the meeting by introducing everyone in the room so I would know who the voices were coming across the phone and how they were impacting Anthony’s recovery. All of us have been concerned about Anthony’s racing heart beat, profuse sweating and frequent fevers. This has most often been happening between 4:30-5:30 every day. As you can imagine, we wanted to bring it up at the meeting. We discussed whether it could be an infection, pneumonia, or malfunction of his liver, which one of the doctors had brought up in conversation.
After the introductions, Dr. D addressed this condition almost immediately. She said, as a precaution, whenever Anthony got a fever they would keep testing his blood to see if he had an infection, however, everyone at Kentfield felt Anthony was having what are known as brain storms. Kentfield’s infectious disease specialist, who was also at the meeting, confirmed that she is going to keep testing but that it probably is the brain causing these afternoon reactions. We hope this is part of the healing process. Here’s a link to more information regarding brain storming www.touchstoneneuro.com/mindstorms-john-cassidy.htm.
As the meeting continued, Kim, the head of rehabilitation at Kentfield, told us how Anthony is doing. Although he still has trouble swallowing, he is making progress.
Later, I called after the meeting ended and Kim (not to be mistaken for Anthony’s mom) happened to be doing her daily rehabilitation with Anthony. She stood him up by securing him to a plank so he could stand and put pressure on his feet. This is important progress toward his first step. It was exciting by itself, but additionally, during my call, Kim asked me if I wanted to say something to Anthony. Anthony is responding to our questions with one figure for no and two fingers for yes. He told her yes while he was secured to the plank so he could stand up. I think this is a very positive advancement. Here he is, actively doing something, processing questions and responding – a far cry from being on live supports machinery while in ICU. God is good.
I called Kim, Anthony’s mother, about 8:00 pm PST. This is about the time she leaves Kentfield so she can rest up, come back the next day and be with Anthony. She told me Anthony’s heart rate had spiked to 160 and she was frustrated. I asked her if he was having brain storms. She said no. She also said Anthony keeps trying to pull his trek out of his throat and if we don’t remove it, he may try and do it at night. The good news is that he has more range of motion that he’s had since the accident. The bad news is that if he pulled trek out, we would have a whole new set of challenges.
The staff at Kentfield put a mitten on Anthony’s right hand after he went to sleep.
After his heart rate began spiking to 160, they took it off and it went down to 132 almost immediately. Clearly, Anthony wants his right hand to be free, as they have become his chief form of communicating with the world.
It’s going to be a long, difficult road but Kim and I are staying strong and positive. Your prayers and support for the family as we go through this is one of our blessings and makes this journey a little more bearable. Thank you.
I have been keeping track of Anthony’s progress through my mom, Janet DeBruhl. I hope with all of my heart that Anthony continues to progress. He is a brilliant, loving and amazing person. I care for Anthony very much despite the fact that its been awhile since we spoke. My family and I are praying for him and he is in all of our thoughts. To everyone who is directly involved; you’re all in our prayers. Please stay strong, Ant.
WOW so much improvement!!! Go Anthony! Please to hear things are getting better. We are all still praying for all of you. We miss him so much. Love and Hugs to all 🙂 thank you for the post.