Fourth week of rehabilitation

Happy continues to make progress in many areas of his therapy and yet there are still many more tasks and cognitive (information processing) goals to be met. He got to spend Saturday night with his parents at the Ronald McDonald house and go on a field trip outside the hospital last week. Happy amazes us how he can speak Gujarati, Hindi, and English and help with translation. He can recite a story and explain the moral. All that he has learned is still there.

Happy understands when someone gives him a simple task to do, "Read this book, starting on this page" for example. However, the part of the brain that determines intermediate steps and gives commands, does not always work. His brain sometimes sends a signal and sometimes it does not. For example, when he gets to the end of the page, Happy's brain does not tell his hand to turn the page and he thinks he has completed the task of reading. Happy has to relearn these complex tasks and this takes time.

The doctors performed a CT scan last week and are closely evaluating the swelling that remains on his brain. The shunt is working properly, but they are concerned about the level of swelling. This explains why Happy has headaches. We are awaiting the result of today's CT scan. The doctors are also concerned about his high heart rate (100-110 bpm). This is probably why he gets tired so quickly. We are glad that Rajan & Amisha are so sensitive to his feelings and communicating with the doctors and therapists.

Please remember to pray for Happy's recovery

• Reduced swelling on his brain
  
• His heart rate will return to a normal range
• His ability to process information and perform complex tasks