Okay, everyone ready for this?? He
called me over to his side. He started
to air write. I ran to get my notebook. He clearly wrote an L, followed by a wavy
line that resembled the ups and downs of a heart monitor. He tried again. L – something. I asked, "You love me?" he nodded
yes. But continued trying to write. He got as far as writing L-A-T. After several attempts, I remembered the
communication board. It was hard for him
to hold his hand steadily. We got up to
LAT with his own writing. Then he was pointing to the I? What could that possibly mean? We were thinking of a word that started with
LAT. Finally, I was able to let go of my
assumptions and follow him. He pointed
to I, and then the letter N. LATIN. I asked him if he didn't like the
Latin. He gave a definite nod. "Do
you want it in English?" He gave me a look that said, "What do you
think?" He was complaining because the computer was playing Georgian
chants in Latin and he didn't like it.
Man, am I ever dancing in the streets, well maybe in the corridors of
this hospital.
Despite everything, his respiration
is still much too fast, and his heart rate/pulse is over 100. I think his mind is clearer because they have
reduced his pain meds.
I received a letter from the
brother of a friend who went through something similar. He was in and out of
the hospital for 5 months with pancreatitis. We are in for a long, long
haul. We will need everyone's
support.
Mike's sense of self is very
involved with his work for the church.
He LOVES all he is doing here in Hawaii.
He says he should have been born wealthy so he could always volunteer.
He is so happy working and serving all of you in this community. I am having
everyone who is working with him call him Deacon Mike.
As I am typing this up, Mike is continuing to work on communicating with
his 'sitter' using the communication board.
