From Betty today

TGIF!!! Faith and love propels me forward each day but I thank God for the weekends to have a little break. This past week has been a difficult and emotional one with Ben transitioning back into school on a modified schedule (2 classes a day rather than 4 at school and continuing 2 classes at home), IEP and security in place. He continues neuro-psychological testing next week and hopefully we will have the full assessment by the end of the month. Ben is also continuing speech therapy and hopefully we will get in to see a Neurologist soon. Each day presents new challenges but so far we are meeting them head on. I am very proud of Ben for his tenacity despite the challenges it presents at times. Every day I remind myself of how difficult it must be for him being a teenager dealing with a TBI on top of all the normal teenage stuff. Our lives have been changed by this incident but I thank God each day for giving me Ben and for giving me the strength to be his Mother. I thank each one of you for your continued support and prayers.

Ben is home.

Ben came home on December 7th. He has been attending outpatient physiotherapy over the past several weeks. He has improved a lot over the past several weeks, but only time will tell what the long-term prognosis will be. At the moment he's at home playing board games with the family, hanging out with his step-grandma and Aunt, and playing with his little brothers.

It's noisy with all those kids!

Ben is in the Paediatric Ward of the hospital now and they are hoping to move him to In-Patient Rehabilitation today. He will have up to three hours a day of rehabilitation. He's still hooked up to a lot of monitoring devices and it finding it hard to sit still.
Betty's FB status update from today:
God is great! Ben has made remarkable progress. He is our miracle. My heart is full. Tonight Ben got to see his little brothers for the first time since the accident. what a precious gift to witness them all together again. Ben is going to be moved to rehab tomorrow. It looks like it will be 2-3 week of intensive therapy. We are all very thankful for all your support and prayers. — with Benoit Cloutier.

Ben is out of the ICU.

Updates from yesterday and today from Betty:
Yesterday:
Ben has been a little wiggle worm to his own detriment. he actually pulled out some tubes last night while restrained so they had to restrain him further. some not so once things have come out of his mouth...appropriate to share is ...this really sucks. If all goes well Ben will be moved from ICU to step down in the next day or so. Goal is to work on his voice today so he can eat food :)
6am ish this morning:
how amazing the power of prayers and faith is. Ben had a great day yesterday. hoping to move out of ICU into step down today. Ben is being bossy and demanding lol. How wonderful it is to see his transformation. it will take some time to know the extent of damage but very hopeful and have faith that he will be fine with the right care. thank you all for your continued support and prayers. hugs and love
8:30pm:
Ben has been moved out of ICU to the pediatric floor. Wow what a heartbreaking experience being on this floor. Saying lots of prayers.

Ben whispers.

A note from Betty this morning:
Ben has the incubation tube out now...making great strides. He is still in ICU and will probably be moved to another floor in the next day or so. Still no visitors please. It is so great to see Ben coming to and very promising that the old Ben is still there. He can't talk bc his throat is raw but is trying and has mouthed to me as the day has progressed the following which I want share as I find it humorous
...First was thank you...second was love you...third was f* you leave me alone when I was preventing him from pulling other tubes put. Almost back to normal LOL

Ben opened his eyes.

From Betty this morning: Ben had a bit of a rough night last night however he's doing better now. They took the ICP (intercranial pressure measuring device) out of his head. This was measuring the amount of fluid and pressure inside his head. He is becoming more responsive and following some commands but not all. He is still heavily sedated but still trying to climb out of the bed! He started opening his eyes yesterday.

I'm working on setting up the fundraising for Ben's family's expenses. More will be forthcoming on that front next week.

No more paralyzers!

The night before last the paralyzing drugs were removed from Ben's regime allowing his body to take over more of its own functions, like breathing. Because the paralytics were removed they had to increase his sedation throughout the night. In a surprising move Ben also opened his eyes yesterday morning and appeared to be responding to questions. This is a good sign but there is still a long road ahead for recovery. The family appreciates your prayers and continued support.