sense of humor in tact

A few weekends ago, I brought Augie to see Aron. My mom, Augie, and I were outside, talking. It was a nice breezy day, and my mom was holding Augie over Aron. At one point, Augie drooled, and the drool was caught by the wind, and went all over the place. Aron smiled, then chuckled. It was a nice interaction. A bit later, my mom said something that in the past, both my brother and I would have been like, "moooooommmm!", and before I could say "moooommmm" at her mom-ism, Aron laughed!

Since then, my dad has been telling Aron stories, and he will laugh or show emotion at the correct time. My parents are very uplifted by this. He also plays xbox, and will "shoot" when you tell him to.


We continue to pray and hope for Aron to recover.

smile

The photo above was taken May 4. From time to time, Aron will smile - if my parents are doing something amusing, or if he finishes a good therapy session. When these moments happen, it's nice for us because we get a glimpse of the old Aron. This is a nice picture of him but should come with a disclaimer - sometimes his facial expressions are disturbing, and it's clear that he is uncomfortable or unhappy. In case anyone is wondering - the red thing at his neck is the plug for his trach.

Just yesterday my dad was working with him to try and get some intentional sounds to come out. My dad was in Aron's face asking him to say "HA". My dad kept doing it, and about three quarters of the time, Aron did it back. This must have looked pretty funny to Aron, because he laughed at my dad. He's been making noise, and sometimes my parents can get him to say "ah" or something like that.

At therapy last week, he was being asked to do something, and instead reached up and scratched his nose. Maybe not a big deal for the rest of us, but a big deal for Aron. He also is still playing xbox and working with the iPad. His anti siezure meds have been further reduced and my parents report that he is more clear.

On May 7, a group of Nova buddies came to the hospital and visited with Aron. My parents want to express their gratitude for everyone who came out to spend some time with my brother.