Over the past few weeks there have been many reports on Adam’s condition, a lot of which will be confusing to a number of you. So we decided we would try to clear this up.
For a long time (nearly 12 months) Adam was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. This is what most people would recognise as a coma. He was for the majority of the time unresponsive to outside stimuli and
commands with little purposeful movement.
Since then he has progressed through a minimally conscious state where he would follow simple commands and hold objects, maybe show signs of recognising peoples voices etc.
His consciousness is now defined as emerging. He is now able to follow more complex or multiple commands, will join in simple games such as throwing a ball, he can count by tapping the correct number of times when requested, will move his head left or right on command. Very recently he has started saying simple words and sounds, such as vowel sounds, yes and no, the name of his nurse and “Ben” the name of his son.
However these periods are unpredictable and inconsistent and there can be times when he reverts back to a more tense unresponsive state. These lucid moments last for about an hour before he gets too tired.
He has reasonable control of his left hand but limited movement on his right side. He has had a special set of glasses made that help him open his eyes, and his eyes will now open unassisted from time to, but we are still not sure how much he sees.
He spends time in a wheelchair but has to be hoisted in and out. He still is unable to take solid foods or liquids by mouth.
The important thing is that we are seeing slow, but steady change and improvement.
Many people ask about the prognosis. The simple answer is there isn’t one, we do not know. The only thing we can offer is that we are still seeing small regular improvement.
For a long time (nearly 12 months) Adam was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. This is what most people would recognise as a coma. He was for the majority of the time unresponsive to outside stimuli and
commands with little purposeful movement.
Since then he has progressed through a minimally conscious state where he would follow simple commands and hold objects, maybe show signs of recognising peoples voices etc.
His consciousness is now defined as emerging. He is now able to follow more complex or multiple commands, will join in simple games such as throwing a ball, he can count by tapping the correct number of times when requested, will move his head left or right on command. Very recently he has started saying simple words and sounds, such as vowel sounds, yes and no, the name of his nurse and “Ben” the name of his son.
However these periods are unpredictable and inconsistent and there can be times when he reverts back to a more tense unresponsive state. These lucid moments last for about an hour before he gets too tired.
He has reasonable control of his left hand but limited movement on his right side. He has had a special set of glasses made that help him open his eyes, and his eyes will now open unassisted from time to, but we are still not sure how much he sees.
He spends time in a wheelchair but has to be hoisted in and out. He still is unable to take solid foods or liquids by mouth.
The important thing is that we are seeing slow, but steady change and improvement.
Many people ask about the prognosis. The simple answer is there isn’t one, we do not know. The only thing we can offer is that we are still seeing small regular improvement.
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