Steve Gilliard Update

Jen was able to visit Steve at the hospital, and gives a report. I spent about an hour in his room; his Mom was there most of the time. He STILL can't have anything at all in his room, and I had to put on the bunny suit--full plastic robe, face mask (as I had glasses I didn't grab one with an eye shield), and gloves. He can barely talk, but when he can, his full dictation is there, just weaker and whispery. His skin tone is surprisingly good; when he had the fever he was ashy. His swelling is mostly all gone. However--and this is the hardest thing for me to take--his right side is still completly paralyzed. His face and neck (thank G-d) seem normal, but if I stuck a knife into his right leg he wouldn't even KNOW it. No response to pressure, pain, anything. He also has so many fucking tubes coming out of him it's astonishing. Tracheal tube in a plastic Tupperware hole in his throat, tubes coming out of every arm and leg, a cathater (I assume) and a stomach tube. (…) From what he's been told, he'll be in the ICU "for the next 3 to 10 weeks," which I read as "they have no fucking idea when he'll be out of the ICU." In the meantime, they are doing in-bed physical therapy--just range of motion stuff. In his own words, he doesn't have "horrible" days anymore, just good days and less-than-OK days. Get well soon Steve.