Doctor's report not what we had hoped for

8:45pm

Hershey, Pearl, Ann, You Know Who and Bill

Saturday night we made another trip to Lakeland Regional Medical Center to visit a couple of the Nurses at the Medical Intensive Care Unit that we had missed during previous trips. Taylor has little recollection of the 5 weeks he spent in MICU, but did remember Bill.

Bill works 7pm to 7am and Taylor was often awake - or at least had his eyes open - during the middle of the night and Bill would often talk to him. Taylor couldn't talk back, so now at least Bill got to hear Taylor's voice and have a real conversation with him.

Today we made another trip to the University of Florida - Shands Hospital to meet with the Otolaryngologist that has been seeing him for the facial paralysis. Today was the day that we would find out what can be done for Taylor's facial paralysis,.

Taylor decided to go ahead with the out-patient surgery to have a gold weight implanted into his left eyelid so it will close a little more naturally. That is the easiest procedure that he'll go through with regard to the facial paralysis.

The Doctor had reviewed the EMG that was done at Shands before, and the report was that the facial nerve is degenerating, not regenerating. We had hoped and prayed that the nerve would have regenerated and that he would regain the ability to control the left side of his face.

The Doctor talked to Taylor and gave him all the options for reconstructive surgery. Each has a certain amount of risk - some more than others. I think what Taylor will decide on is the transplantation of a "chewing" muscle near the upper cheek that will be harvested and moved lower, then redirected to help control the left side of the mouth. Taylor won't get his entire smile back, but it will help. The Doctor said that in time the lower eyelid will begin to droop, so other procedures can be done later to help correct that.

The issue on the facial paralysis has been the only real let down we've had. Taylor has reclaimed the use of so much of his body, and has recovered so well when he was so very close to death, paralysis or permanent brain injury. We really try to focus on all the good that has happened and not let reports like today bother us too much. We've gotten back so much more than so many other parents have already.

No matter how he looks, he's still Taylor. From the beginning, I just wanted Taylor to open his eyes and say "I love you". It took 24 days, but on March 25th, I got to hear those 3 words - or at least I got to see him mouth the words since he couldn't talk at that time. Everything that has happened since that time has been a bonus.

But, most importantly, Taylor is accepting of his situation. He understood a long time ago that he might not smile the same way again, and may not walk again like he once did. But, he recognizes how lucky he is to be alive. Although he hasn't let on, I'm sure there are times that he gets down about everything. Overriding that, however, is his positive attitude that has been a main factor in him recovering the way he has.