This morning, a friend of a friend who is a physical therapist came to visit to help us explain the situation a bit more. The staff here is wonderful, but sometimes it's nice to have an outsider explain the situation. The PT explained a bit more about the situation in general. Then she went in to meet Nathaniel. She tried some exercises with him. He seemed to be responsive. This is really good. When she asked him to bend his arm, for example, he could do it. That means he could understand and respond. The PT reminded me that what he can do at one time doesn't mean he will do it again this week, but we can still be excited. The doctors are still really worried about infection and they saw another place where the stitched skin might be coming apart. If it continues to separate, then the plastic surgeons will have to decide what to do. None of the options are easy. There is lots of dead tissue. We are hoping and praying that his fibroblasts (good skin cells) will grow faster than the dead and dying tissue breaks down.
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