First Meal Together

Today, Sam was really doing well. She was very clear in her speech and her voice is definitely getting stronger. The most exciting moment of the day came when the nurse brought in Sam's lunch. I have not seen her eat since November 14th, 2008. I thought too , that I would need to help feed Sam, but to my great surprise, Sam just picked up the spoon by herself and starting eating. She asked if I wanted to try some, and so I thought why not. The food was actually really good. She had pureed chicken with a little sauce, an asparagus and pea mixture and then grits (I think). Wendy and Aileen happened to arrive at lunch time and they had brought me a sandwich. Together, Sam and I for the first time in our "new" lives together, had lunch. It was really nice. It also was great to see Sam's huge appetite and I am sure it won't be long before the feeding tube is removed. Also, today was special for a different reason. Sam seemed to be a little more "there". Hard to describe it exactly, except that she was definitely thinking about lots of things and trying to ask lots of complicated questions. It gave me a renewed glimmer of hope, since it seemed like a slight shift had occurred. There are still the moments of course, when the nurse takes Sam out of the room for about 5 minutes and then when she returns, Sam thinks that we have all just arrived and is not aware that we had been together with her for the past few hours. It is this short term, as well as her long-term memory that is the focus of much of her therapies and of course the main reason she is at the facility. But there was definitely hope today, a slight shift forward in a long and uncertain road towards recovery.