Travis is now in the centennial tower which is the main hospital building. Park in the garage and go up to the 7th floor.
Hes doing awesome today and the best ive seen him post accident. He had a tantrum yesterday and pulled out his IV and g-tube so he’s without antibiotics, fluids, and food until they can get it all back in.
We tried calling Kenny and left a voicemail with Travis saying ‘ahh’ a couple times. We worked on vowels but so far I could only get Ahh and uhh out of him.
PT and OT have been in to see him today and rose is fighting for speech before her time to get speech runs out. Make him talk and use his vocal chords when you visit. He needs to strengthen them so he can eventually talk more and even swallow. I talked to rose about some communication devices today to get Travis communicating faster even if he can’t say the words, he can hit switches to say what he wants and make choices.
He’s looking and feeling great and I got 3 good hugs before I headed out. He should be there through Monday then back to NHC Murfreesboro. Everywhere else declined him :(
Welcome all new followers. I’ll do my best to keep you all up to date! Until next time.
Just letting you all know Travis is in room 3219 at Centennial Women’s Hospital. (they were booked at the ICU) he lucked out getting surrounded by women.
He was really agitated today so I suggest you all call Rose before you make any visits today as they may sedate him. I havent seen him so upset before. He wouldn’t let anyone touch him and would cry out and grind his teeth hard enough to chip a tooth.
I’m planning to go up there tomorrow so hopefully I’ll have a more pleasant update then. He’s deep into the confused and agitated stage of brain injury so we’ll have to take it day by day. Visit if you can but be careful on the slick roads and give rose a heads up if you go tonight.
Travis is back in the ER at centennial after being at NHC Murfreesboro for a couple weeks after they couldn’t break a fever of 104.5. He’s been diagnosed with a UTI (urinary tract infection) which is very serious considering his current condition. They will most likely admit him to the ICU. More updates once I talk to Rose. Keep Travis and family in your prayers.
I’ve seen Travis the past two days. I got home Friday and met up with Kenny for pizza then took the leftovers to Rose and saw Travis.
When I walked in, he was sitting up in the chair and was alert. He was smiling and moving his arms. I wanted to hear him talk, though! We tried several times to get him to say “Hi” but the best efforts from him got us “H, h”. I was impressed, but Rose says he can say “hi” pretty clearly. She instructs him to take a deep breath, then say hi. After our visit, the staff came in and put him back into bed using a lift so he goes up into the air in a cocoon-like sack. It’s like a little swing, but he doesn’t like to swing it it.
Yesterday, I went and saw Travis while Rose wasn’t there. I stretched out his hands and elbows after taking the splints off that he’s been wearing about 3 hours a day. These splints help to stretch and maintain the range of motion in his hands that he’s lost not wearing them/not having therapy. He currently gets occupational, physical, and speech therapy. He’ll most likely remain at Select for another week but transfer to a long term care facility next week.
Yesterday, I decided to test Travis a bit. Although he said I was Autumn every single time I asked, he was able to add larger numbers (2+3, 5+5, 5+4) I was impressed! Rose has said he used to be able to add 1+1 but wasn’t sure if he still could. He’s definitely got some higher functioning cognitive processing. We watched Hey! Arnold per his request (left hand was Rocko’s Modern Life, right was Hey! Arnold and that arm went straight up when I asked for his decision) then we watched the Florida/Butler basketball game and I taught him to gator chomp. I held his hand during the final minutes and he would squeeze it when I would get excited. Haha.
All in all, Travis is progressing rapidly. There are new improvements every day and he seems more with it every visit. He’s currently off the ventilator full time. They’ll leave the trach in due to his lung infection and the likelihood that he could need a ventilator should he contract an infection. I plan on heading up again this afternoon. Rose should be back this time around. I think Jesse and Brett are coming up tomorrow, but I encourage every one to continue visiting! He loves them and is fun to be around!
Travis talked today! I just got off the phone with Rose, and she told me that they removed the trach (the shunt is still in place so should he go downhill again, they don’t have to do surgery) He’s going to be breathing on his own for 24 hours. If he does this, they’ll remove the ventilator from the room.
The speech therapist came in today and used her voice piece for Travis. She told him to say “Hi” and after working for a bit, he said it!! TRAVIS SAID HI! Such exciting news! The speech therapist also told Rose that she sees no reason for him to not start eating again once they get him swallowing. These are huge gains!
Since he’s improving so rapidly, they will most likely be moving to a long term facility next week or in a couple weeks.
I’ll be going up there tomorrow if I make it home (I fly standby..) but definitely Saturday if I can’t make it tomorrow. So excited for his progress!
Didn’t get a chance to see Travis yesterday :( I won’t see him until Friday. That’ll make it a good 2 weeks since I’ve seen him. Time got the best of me, and I couldn’t make it up to the hospital. Keep the visits strong.
I got to talk to Travis yesterday thanks to Kenny. He went up to visit Travis on his own and brought the newest coheed album for him to listen to. Travis was sitting up in the chair when Kenny visited him. He put me on speakerphone and said Travis smiled when I told him I missed him and would see him soon :)
Jesse, Brooke, Autumn and hopefully other friends have been visiting Travis this week. He has a pretty nice room. I saw him the day I left for New Orleans and the sun was shining in his face when I walked in. He promised to be good and, from what I hear, has been. No need for restraints or sedation.
I’ll be up later today to see him. I missed him but needed this vacation which isn’t quite over yet. I leave for Texas tomorrow morning. Keep the visits frequent and positive. Reading tweets, I can tell he’s getting better each day. Can’t wait to see him!!!
See you in 7, Nashville.
Tonight I thought I’d post on the amazing connection between Travis and his close friends. It’s impacted me how they have stayed by his side through everything. I know a large group went up the night before Travis had his trach put in and that’s awesome, but there have only been a few that have returned, and a few out of that that have returned on multiple occasions. I can only speak for those people here.
Jesse and I have become friends throughout this process. We always ran around in the same group but never talked and hung out. We started talking over this, and I love seeing travis’s reaction when I talk about Jesse visiting. His turns his head and lifts his arms up. I’ve heard some funny stories about Travis from Jesse as well. I brought up the -2 story today where Travis somehow got a negative 2 on a test. When I said ‘negative 2’ Travis started to smile and gurgled letting me know that he knew exactly where that story was going. He loves Jesse and Jesse loves him back. Jesse said it better than anyone could ‘I wish I could trade places with him every day’. Jesse helped me realize that Travis has good days, but he also has bad days and that it’s ok to have a bad day every once in awhile. Jesse is a wonderful friend to Travis and I love seeing them connect during their visits.
Kerry is another person I just recently became acquainted with. Once again, we ran around in the same group. I’m only telling you this because we talked about it today. I used to think Kerry Cooper wasnt the best person around. I’d heard bad things about him and he wasn’t the type of person I would have associated myself with; that all has changed in the past 2 weeks. Kerry is an amazing friend with a big heart. He’s so loving with Travis. I got to see him help work with travis’s respiratory therapist today. He was gentle and kept Travis calm. He was there for him and held his hand. He was talking with rose today about putting out a donation bucket for Travis at his work. He not only cares for travis but shows so much love and concern for Rose. Kerry is not the person I had heard about. He was grateful for the time that friends spend with Travis and expresses so much gratitude to everyone who comes in contact with Travis. He’s a spiritual person with a heart that doesn’t fit inside of his body. I’m so glad to have had the chance to get to know him and see him interact with Travis.
Brooke and I became friends just a couple months before I reconnected with Travis. She can always put a smile on his face and get his boy hormones going. Haha. Brooke always has something funny to say to get him going. She even brought Chad along who has become interested in Travis and his recovery process. She always feels guilt if she misses even one day with Travis. Work has been busy lately but is always texting me or calling rose for status updates on Travis. She’s so caring and is willing to give anything to help. I’m happy to get to know the caring side of Brooke. Shes the reason I’ve come back into travis’s life and I can’t thank her enough for that. He’s brought so much into my life and I have her to blame. :)
Autumn and I ran around in this same group (are you seeing a pattern emerge?) We, however, talked a bit at least. She and Travis are music buddies. I haven’t had the chance to see her interact with Travis as much but he’s always so playful when she’s around. He sticks out his tongue and smiles. She puts him in such a good mood. He relaxes around her and jokes around. It’s sweet seeing them play together when she visits. She’s such sweet person and I’m glad he has her in his life.
Now, Kenny is my friend. I explained how Kenny met Travis and how he’s remained interested in Travis now. I get daily messages from Kenny asking how Travis is doing or wanting to see Travis. I’m going to be gone for a few days on vacation and he’s still planning on visiting. Get this, he never knew the Travis before the accident and still shows so much love for him.
What an amazing draw Travis has. He has touched so many lives of people he hasn’t even met. Look at these people who can’t stay away and shouldn’t stay away. Travis needs us now more than ever. The doctor was blown away by the recovery in the ICU and asked Rose if we would all still be there for him because it’s truly helping him. I, along with these amazing people I’ve talked about, have made a pact to stay in his life, even it’s just once a week for 30 minutes. Wouldn’t you want that?
Once again, I encourage you to please go see him. Not only will you change him, you’ll find yourself changing. Travis puts life into perspective. He makes you think, he answers life’s questions that you never thought you could find. He has touched my heart, and I’m not the same person I was 3 weeks ago. I’m going to miss him these next few days. I expect updates from everyone!! Get him to move for you. Have him stretch his legs, arms, and fingers for you. Get him to smile. He will do it for you. I swear that sweet smile will melt your heart every time you see it.
I’ll say it one last time, Travis deserves better. Be there for him.
Travis is now at Select rehab! Kerry and I are here now and he seems to like it. He’s got a great view of Checkers, Taco Bell, and Jack in the Box. Let me tell you how to get here:
Take West End to 20th. It’s a way one street but turn away from Vanderbilt. Go down one block and take a left on Hayes Street. The building is a red brick building on the corner. You can park in the parking garage next to it that is labeled for the Baptist Medical Plaza. Once you get to the building, go straight in and turn left into a marble room. Go to the elevators and go up to the 5th floor. Turn right then merge left and go down to room 5508. Make sure to put on a blue gown and gloves before you go in or right when you get in. They are to the right of the door.
Travis can’t wait to see you!!!
Travis moves to Select Rehab tomorrow around 10am. I won’t know anything more until I get over there tomorrow afternoon.
Travis was in a decent mood when I came in today. They had done an X-ray and found a good amount of fluid in his lungs so they ordered a bronchoscopy where they would put a camera down into his lungs and suction them to clear them. He wasn’t thrilled about this.
I told him I was leaving for Florida in 2 days; he also didn’t seem thrilled about this. After talking about his procedure and me leaving for a few days, Travis gripped both of my hands, wrapped them up and pulled them to his chest and wouldn’t budge. I don’t know of it was fear of the procedure or being upset about me leaving or a combination of both, but I ended up having to leave and pry his hands off of mine.
I’ve never cried or even so much teared up since visiting Travis 2 weeks ago…..welp, today was the day my eyes welled up. His mom and I got kicked out today when the people doing the procedure showed up. You could tell he was upset when we left but his mom reassured him that she wasn’t leaving and that I would be back tomorrow, which I will and plan on spending a substantial amount of time there (only about 20 mins today)
Most of you that visit regularly should have gotten or will receive a call about Travis moving. If you need her number, Jesse, kerry, autumn, Brooke and I all have it.
On to a new facility tomorrow! Let’s hope the staff is as awesome as a majority of the nurses have been at Centennial. I would let John, Martha, or the guy with the beard be my nurse any day. They truly cared about Travis and were so welcoming of his friends even during non visiting hour times.