A difficult day of recovery for Thomas Peters

Yesterday (7/24), Thom had his first visit from the occupational therapist, who is wonderful! She is focusing on his upper body and conducted tests to determine muscle strength. His shoulders are the strongest at this point. While he doesn’t have use of his fingers, she is teaching Thomas ways he can pick things up with the use of his wrists: his own suction tube, a cup with a straw (when ready) and wiping his face are all things they can practice now. Exciting!They also tried to take Thomas off the ventilator today, but his cough just isn’t strong enough yet. The doctors said that sometimes the only way to tell if a patient is ready is to actually try to take it out and see how he does.  Everyone, including Thomas, agreed it was worth the shot.

Without the breathing tube, he was able to talk with Natalie for a few minutes – finally real communication! He said it “hurt like hell” to get it out – so much worse than he imagined. They put it back in, and will give it more time and try again.

The rest of the day was one of the hardest they have had yet, for both Thomas and Natalie. The nurses could not get his pain under control – and he was dealing with a whole host of pains today: throat pain from tube; intense neck and head soreness from Tuesday’s 4 hours sitting; anxiety; nerve sensitivity. He didn’t sleep at all during the day.

In the late evening he was in horrible pain from what he described as “wires” he was laying on – but there was nothing under him! We are pretty sure this is nerve pain as his back muscles are waking up! He said he had no idea he had a brace on his back until he started feeling this pain – Natalie thinks this is a great sign. “Some times with blessings comes a little more cross to bear. ”

—

Many of you have expressed a wish to help Thomas and Natalie at this time and we are grateful!  Of course we are still humbly requesting prayers!To help ease some of the financial burden of living out of state, at the hospital, we have added a Donation button to the blog.  This is through PayPal and the money will go directly to Thomas and Natalie for them to use for meals, transportation, and bills.

Additionally, the following gift cards can be sent to the National Organization for Marriage, Attention Thomas Peters Recovery, 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20006.

• Visa or American Express gift cards
• Au Bon Pain gift card
• Jimmy John gift card
• Walgreens Gift Card

(These three restaurants are in the hospital or nearby; Walgreens is the closest drugstore.)

Additionally: if anyone has spare miles/points for hotel stays, that would be wonderful! There is a Sheraton, a Holiday Inn, a Hilton, a Marriott, and a Hampton Inn all within walking distance of the hospital. If you’d like to set this up please email us.

Thank you in advance for your willingness to help!