Kevin2109 please keep him in your thoughts and prayers

[Jono]

Great news!!

[Old Lemon]

****in awesome possum

[cuong-nutz]

Great news!

[LNasty]

Proving the doctors wrong!

[hirubhaiambani]

Cool! I hope he is all healed up very soon.

[kevin2109dad]

I am reluctantly posting this because I am afraid people will not believe it or that people will think I misinterpreted it. There were about 5 witnesses to all of this. He has not woken up but this is what happened today:

He snapped his fingers on 4 separate occasions on command
He turned a flashlight on for me with a slide lever after I asked him to turn it on
He hugged me and rubbed my back and the back of my head for a few minutes and stroked me
He examined an object with his hands, turning it around for a minute or so examining it by feel because I asked him to tell me what it was. Then he threw it across the room
When we tell him to stop grabbing at tubes and things he stops. Previously we had to pry it out of his hands.
He grabs tubes and puts them between his toes on command so many times I lost count

Just going to report facts and let you guys interpret

Oh yea, he does the open your eyes thing, the hold my hand thing, and the lift your finger thing, but I am not even going to report those or get excited about those things as he is so far past this and my style has always been to push him to the max because I believe he is very capable. The things he did today may be considered extradonary, but I just consider it Kevin.

[alex.s]

keep pushing kevin, frederick. i have been reading a lot about grade 3 DAI and recovery statistics and i'm very hopeful for kevin, not just from hearing from you and andrea but from what i've seen of kevin at the hospital. with enough support from his family and everyone around him he will be back on his feet before we even realize it.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by kevin2109dad

I am reluctantly posting this because I am afraid people will not believe it or that people will think I misinterpreted it. There were about 5 witnesses to all of this. He has not woken up but this is what happened today:

He snapped his fingers on 4 separate occasions on command
He turned a flashlight on for me with a slide lever after I asked him to turn it on
He hugged me and rubbed my back and the back of my head for a few minutes and stroked me
He examined an object with his hands, turning it around for a minute or so examining it by feel because I asked him to tell me what it was. Then he threw it across the room
When we tell him to stop grabbing at tubes and things he stops. Previously we had to pry it out of his hands.
He grabs tubes and puts them between his toes on command so many times I lost count

Just going to report facts and let you guys interpret

Oh yea, he does the open your eyes thing, the hold my hand thing, and the lift your finger thing, but I am not even going to report those or get excited about those things as he is so far past this and my style has always been to push him to the max because I believe he is very capable. The things he did today may be considered extraordinary, but I just consider it Kevin.

tennis ball? I'm asking this seriously to see if it's something that is actually meant to be thrown.

that's kevin for you, he's a fighter who doesn't care about statistics, he'll probably even wake up soon though I doubt he'll remember how his accident happened and maybe some amnesia of events preceding it.

[ForceofWill]

Very good news to hear!

[LNasty]

That is amazing to hear! Keep it up Kevin!

[kevin2109dad]

Originally Posted by Sirref

tennis ball? I'm asking this seriously to see if it's something that is actually meant to be thrown.
.

No. It was a turquoise , ribbed nozzle about an inch long. It either goes on the end of a hose or syringe. It was made of plastic. It was just something I found laying around. I purposely wanted something unfamiliar in hopes it would force him to open his eyes. For example I think he knew what the flashlight was quickly after putting it in his hands so he didn't have to open his eyes as demonstrated by him switching it on. I want him to try to "think" on some of my tactics to try and stimulate the brain.

My theory is that he was trying to figure it out as I was pushing him and got frustrated and threw it. I see this as good news as getting frustrated after twirling and object in your hand would indicate to me that he he was trying to exert cognitive skills. You could see him scrunching his forehead and trying to open his eyes as he was playing with it. It wasnt like he got limp and dropped it. He had to position it in his hand to throw, wind up, have a sense of direction to throw it away from him, and the go throw the motions of a a clearly intentional throw. All cognitive skills in my opinion

[ally99]

Gooooo Kevin! Keep throwing ****!

[JohnnyBravo]

[kevin2109dad]

Just got back from the hospital. Nemesis was there and we want to thank him for the visit, all the advice he gave to Kevin to be safe in the past, and we wished we were there for the prayer as we heard it was beautiful.

I don't understand these doctors and why they say he is still in a coma and not awake. He is awake as far as I am concerned. He opens his eyes a lot. Interacts with us. Responds to things and explanations. Non verbal of course

I asked him to show me four fingers and then count backwards with his fingers. He did it all except for the #1. I asked him what 2 + 2 was and he held up 4 fingers. I will admit that he struggled with 2+1.

When we explain why he can not pull out his IV's he stops and I feel he understands. But he has to be reminded again. Previously he would pull and people would just force his hand away and he would go back to it. When you explain it to him he stops for a long time.

He seems to answer questions like "can you do that again"? I showed Nemesis the nozzle thing where I asked him to examine it for me with his hands and by touch. Did it again.

He is working with physical therapists. When is the last time you heard of physical therapists working with comatose patients? They are talking about speech therapy, and standing up, etc? With a coma patient.

I am declaring this coma over. He is awake in my book. Not all the time. But its kind of being pregnant. You can't be a little pregnant (or a little awake) and he definitely is not laying there comatose asleep. No F'in way.

I am attaching a picture of his eyes. They are open if you notice and not zombie eyes. He opens his eyes so much it is not even worth posting about it anymore. I don't want to show his full picture right now because I am not sure if he would want that posted and it is still jarring if you can not compare it to what it used to look like and appreciate the improvement. Personally I don't like him being seen or remembered this way as this will be temporary. I hope you all understand.

We still have a long road......Crap there I go again...Maybe it won't be that long?!

He works out with therapy during the day and they did comment that he needs his rest at night. He moves SOOOOOOOOOO much it is actually a problem. A problem we welcome (for now....he really moves around a lot) Because of this, can we ask that if you guys are going to visit, you don't do it late at night? He really needs his rest at night.

Enjoy the picture

[OCMagnum]

Great progress; keep fighting Kevin and thanks to all of his family and friends for the obvious excellent support he is getting!!!

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by kevin2109dad

Just got back from the hospital. Nemesis was there and we want to thank him for the visit, all the advice he gave to Kevin to be safe in the past, and we wished we were there for the prayer as we heard it was beautiful.

I don't understand these doctors and why they say he is still in a coma and not awake. He is awake as far as I am concerned. He opens his eyes a lot. Interacts with us. Responds to things and explanations. Non verbal of course

I asked him to show me four fingers and then count backwards with his fingers. He did it all except for the #1. I asked him what 2 + 2 was and he held up 4 fingers. I will admit that he struggled with 2+1.

When we explain why he can not pull out his IV's he stops and I feel he understands. But he has to be reminded again. Previously he would pull and people would just force his hand away and he would go back to it. When you explain it to him he stops for a long time.

He seems to answer questions like "can you do that again"? I showed Nemesis the nozzle thing where I asked him to examine it for me with his hands and by touch. Did it again.

He is working with physical therapists. When is the last time you heard of physical therapists working with comatose patients? They are talking about speech therapy, and standing up, etc? With a coma patient.

I am declaring this coma over. He is awake in my book. Not all the time. But its kind of being pregnant. You can't be a little pregnant (or a little awake) and he definitely is not laying there comatose asleep. No F'in way.

I am attaching a picture of his eyes. They are open if you notice and not zombie eyes. He opens his eyes so much it is not even worth posting about it anymore. I don't want to show his full picture right now because I am not sure if he would want that posted and it is still jarring if you can not compare it to what it used to look like and appreciate the improvement. Personally I don't like him being seen or remembered this way as this will be temporary. I hope you all understand.

We still have a long road......Crap there I go again...Maybe it won't be that long?!

He works out with therapy during the day and they did comment that he needs his rest at night. He moves SOOOOOOOOOO much it is actually a problem. A problem we welcome (for now....he really moves around a lot) Because of this, can we ask that if you guys are going to visit, you don't do it late at night? He really needs his rest at night.

Enjoy the picture

It was great to meet you guys (Andrea, Kevin Sr. and yourself Frederick).

When I arrived only the RN was present with Kevin. I have to admit, from reading the previous posts I didn't know what to expect. Actually I thought Kevin would be in a coma. Okay, so my definition of "coma" is someone who's unconscious/asleep. However, when the RN announced to Kevin that a friend was here to visit him I was surprised to see him open his eyes. Then the RN asked what my name was and I told her Jonathan. The RN said out loud, "Kevin, your friend Jonathan's here to see you."

Right then Kevin made a loud noise through the breathing tube. Though one may say he's probably just coughing, I can't help but disagree. To me it sounded like he wanted to say something. In fact, every time I hear him make a loud noise through the breathing tube I can't help but think he's trying to talk.

I asked the RN why they consider him to be in a coma still when he's conscious and responding. And her response to me was once Kevin is able to converse like "we are" only then would they consider him to be out of a coma. I understand what she's saying but I would have to disagree.

Several minutes later, Andrea, Kevin Sr., and Frederick walked in. As they called out to Kevin, Kevin opened his eyes once more. Kevin Sr. asked Kevin if he was thirsty, and raised a plastic water bottle to Kevin. To which Kevin raised his arm and reached for the bottle and grabbed it. If that's not being out of a coma I don't know what is.

Granted Kevin is struggling to keep his eyes open but if anyone has ever been heavily medicated during your stay in the hospital after an accident or surgery you'd know how hard it is to keep your eyes open or open them at will. Thankfully Kevin can still hear us even if he can't always open his eyes or keep them open.

What Frederick said is true...I saw Kevin count to four (2, 3, 4) and count backwards with his fingers.

It was awesome to see the love and support Kevin is surrounded with--family and friends.

He's making tremendous progress everyday. Please continue to pray for Kevin and show him our support.

[LNasty]

This was great news to start my day, Its good to hear about his progress

[cynicalkit]

I love checking in to see this news! Been reading the daily updates and it makes me happy

[csmith12]

[shane liberty]

I've been following the updates and checking on his progress. I wanted to share something that I hope may shed light on the questions you have about his comatose state.



I've had two serious injuries in my motorcycling career. One in 2005 that I spent a year that nearly killed me and that I spent a year and a half recovering from. The other was in 2010 and involved the broadsiding of a mountain at about 85mph.


Both situations caused serious concussions. The 2005 incident had me in and out of consciousness for 3 days in the ICU. The second incident was a completely different experience and was unique in regard to any other incident I've had playing sports or crashing.


2005: The force of the impact was enough to crack my helmet down a large portion of the right side and the force of the bounce shoved my helmet to the left side of my body and shattered my collarbone and paralyzed my left shoulder. The head injury was not severe enough to require a surgery to relieve pressure, but I only remember pictures or moments of time from this accident after it happened. I was told later that I was answering questions and occasionally making eye contact, but I know that I only recorded brief moments from the first few days. I was still myself when I would briefly come to, but I was only responding on a subconscious level. I was not really cognitive of where I was or what had happened. I would wake, feel severe pain then trail off and fall asleep again. This lasted for days until they started to dial back the meds heavily and I once again made it back to a state of mind that allowed me to asses my injuries and realize how bad everything was and that I was in a hospital somewhere.


2010: This accident didn't break bones but the force at which I hit was dispersed over the whole of my body. I went into a weird 20 second memory loop. My friends were helping me with the accident and so they took my phone and my wallet off me. Well every 20 seconds or so I would have to ask, "Where is my phone?" "Where is my wallet?" "Where the **** are we?" "Where's Kit?" It was pretty bad. I couldn't remember my DOB, my mother's name, I couldn't remember much of anything for a few hours. X-Rays showed no internal bleeding and I was given a clean bill of health that evening. They simply requested that I "take it easy."



I'm telling you this not for a pissing contest but to show you that the brain is a weird organ. Without even needing to go in surgically to reduce swelling you can create all kinds of wild conditions. The responses a person gives you when they're injured may seem normal, but you're probably only communicating with a portion of Kevin at the present time. He's responding already, which is great. That's a great sign. I am merely suggesting that you not get frustrated with how the doctors rate his condition at present. I'm sure they're seeing something that's been observed before and they want to keep him on the "Comatose" list until they get more signs of his recovery.


Hang in there. It sounds like he will come back.

[kevin2109dad]

Thank you Shane for sharing your story.

I appreciate your insight and keeping us in "check"

[JohnnyBravo]

The updates make my days!

[80MPHdownhill]

Any updates on Kevin?

Hope he's continuing to improve.

[00NissanNinja]

Sorry to hear what happened to Kevin, I hope that he continues to improve and quickly progresses to a full recovery. He sounds like he's a fighter and is going to push strong to get back in good health.

[kevin2109dad]

He just came out of it. Totally interacting with us. Can't speak due to trach tube

This literally happened about 5 minutes ago

[Trailerboy531]

Like......medically speaking his doctors say that his coma is over??

[Numbersix]

If I'm reading the above correctly, great news! Thank God. Even the most diligent of us is moments away from something like this, so it's cheering to hear this news.

[Jono]

Great News! Go Kevin!

[kevin2109dad]

There are not doctors all over the place this late at night. They are usually tending to emergencies and such. Therefore, there was no doctor to declare the coma over. Its not like you say "he is coming out of it" and people come rushing in. It's also a slower more gradual process to wake up from this.

And we all know there is a long road ahead as we do not know how much he remembers and how much he is damaged mentally. But he seems like he is pretty with it to me.

I can usually read people pretty well and I feel he is very with it. Keep in mind he was on some heavy sedatives while this was happening so some confusion is due to that.

He totally opens his eyes, looks at you and follows you. For a LONG time as he is engaging with you with his eyes. It is impossible for him to talk with the trach, but if that trach was not in he would have been speaking. He moves his lips and is trying to mouth words constantly.

He comprehends things, and the instructions he was following over and hour and a half are too many to list. So he can follow instruction. He asks for things (non verbal and by mouthing) He knows he was in an accident. We are just shy of having actual conversations at times. He can nod his head or shake it to indicate yes and no.

It was like having a conversation with someone that was mute and "drunk". Very interactive for a LONG time but hard to figure out exactly what he wanted or was trying to say. But definitely awake and "with it".

If anyone wants to ask a question that would indicate a "coma" ask, and I will answer honestly. I see signs of injury, confusion, frustration, etc....but not signs of coma. But I am not a doctor. Thank God I am not because I never mentioned any 90% chance of not waking up statistic!

This was not a brief awaking either where he goes back to sleep. This continued for a long time, so long that I left while Kevin Senior was interacting with him still.

Left leg is moving a ton. Left arm is still not moving that well.

[akima]

Originally Posted by kevin2109dad

He just came out of it. Totally interacting with us. Can't speak due to trach tube

This literally happened about 5 minutes ago

Really happy to hear this. I guess he has a long journey ahead, but this is an important point to have reached. I look forward to seeing him posting on ninjette.org again

[JELY1990]

Glad to hear he is making progress! Hopefully the doctors agree with you that he is out of the coma.

[Singh2jz]

That's great news! Can't wait till he's up and about..he's got one helluva story to tell. Still praying for a speedy recovery!!

[ally99]

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm coming to Cali in 2 weeks. I hope I get to see him! GOOOOO Kevin!

[allanoue]

Now we know Keven has the time for the hard work of a full recovery.

Fight on Keven

[LNasty]

wow!!!! great news, helluva way to start my day at work. keep the updates coming

[kevin2109dad]

For some reason I am really exhausted. Unusually so. Because of this I am forgetting things. Important things.

I forgot to mention why I feel like he will be ok and the most telling reason I feel this way. It was the strongest moment last night for me.

We were talking about something and I made a joke. Right before, he was frustrated (if not pissed off) because I can't understand him and he is trying so hard to communicate. I make this joke that referenced something in the past (I forgot what it was) and my jokes are usually sarcastic and not obvious. Even though he was frustrated, he laughed for a second at my joke. To understand this joke, he had to remember the incident I referenced that went back years (I really wish I remembered the joke, but I got so caught up in his reaction) and then he had to understand the sarcasm. I feel this was a complicated cognitive process.

Then there is the whole pleasure of just seeing him laugh.

Incredible, wouldn't you say? Can't believe I left this out of my original update.

[akima]

Originally Posted by kevin2109dad

Incredible, wouldn't you say?

Yes! Both awesome and relieving too.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by kevin2109dad

............Right before, he was frustrated (if not pissed off) because I can't understand him and he is trying so hard to communicate............

Has anyone tried handing him a notepad or clipboard and a pen?
I believe that even scribbling something illegible could help him feel better and more capable.

It must be important for him to communicate with others, especially now that he may be frustrated by his recent understanding of his general situation combined with his limitations in communication and physical pains.

[kevin2109dad]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Has anyone tried handing him a notepad or clipboard and a pen?
I believe that even scribbling something illegible could help him feel better and more capable.

It must be important for him to communicate with others, especially now that he may be frustrated by his recent understanding of his general situation combined with his limitations in communication and physical pains.

One of the first things we tried. Don't think he is ready for that yet, but am confident he will be soon.

[JohnnyBravo]

Now that is good news