All reports from those who visited Danny today were very favorable. His partner in business, Chad, was able to see him for the first time since the accident. He said Danny looked like himself but was so medicated that staying awake was a problem. Andy had pretty much the same report.
Judy and I saw Danny right after the shift change at 8:00 p.m. and he wasn't hurting or having any unusual problems. We would talk to him and he would wake up slightly and talk to us, even though we suspect most of what he was saying was not based in reality. He told us that he had drank two cups of milk, but his milk was sitting on the tray mostly full and they only bring one cup full during the day. (Update: Below in the comments, Andy set me straight with this story. He says Danny did have more than one glass of milk. Oooops) He's still being fed through the tube. I did notice his monitor and it showed the body temp to be 38.7 which is a bit high. 37.0 is normal body temp. He was breathing normal and his oxygen level was between 95 and 100.
Danny's appearance is changing for the better every time I see him. Today his face was almost clear of any signs of healing, and the skin is very smooth, looking like the skin of a young child. His lips and the area around his mouth are still looking a bit rough, but Judy told me that the day before they looked much better. He's breathing mostly through his mouth and we suspect that is the reason for the chapped lips. We haven't seen any other areas below his neck, so as far as the grafted and donor areas we can only rely on what we are told, and all those reports are good. I was comparing what his face and head looks like now and what he looked like in a picture that's taped to the wall. I was paying particular attention to his nose and hairline, and as far as I can tell nothing is different. His ears are still healing and covered with cream and gauze, so they were not visible.
Danny should be a bit happier now since we took his personal razor from home and left it with him. The hospital provides the cheap disposables for the patients and he had been complaining about that for a week.
Not too much in the way of dramatic improvements at this time. We were told that he will be up and walking on Saturday and every day from now on. It may be only a trip around the nurses station (50 to 100 feet). I'm sure any change from laying in the bed will be very welcome for Danny.
Jan
The milk thing is true. At lunch time, Danny had drank all his milk and asked for another. He finished that one and wanted another one. He probably drank 30 ounces of milk. He attending nurse said that Danny must think that milk is a wonder drug or something because of how much he wants to drink it.
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