"He's doing great!"

So said Wiley's neurosurgeon tonight.

What a change a couple of days can make!

The doc also said they may be able to remove the brain pressure monitor tomorrow. That and the breathing tube are apparently the biggest impediments to allowing Wiley enough out of sedation to allow him to communicate readily. It's also probably going to be a lot more comfortable for Wiley to not have that tube in. Most likely it will take a couple of days to get to that point.

They're expecting to start backing off on the breathing assistance provided by machine tomorrow, so that Wiley can begin taking over on his own. As he proves able, they'll keep backing off further until the breathing tube can come out. The sooner he gets the tube out the less chance he'll have of contracting pneumonia. Pneumonia's certainly treatable, but it would slow his recovery process a bit. The doctors don't want to restore the missing piece to his skull until they're sure he's pneumonia-free.

The medical staff also talked with Nancy and Tim today about the fact that Wiley's personality will probably be affected at first, and that he may be angry and irritable. It typically takes about a year, apparently, for someone's innate personality to return after a head injury.

Wiley's probably still looking at another week in the ICU, but at least it will be properly scored: as of this evening, he's got his ipod nano going in his room. (No head banging allowed.) When Nancy and Tim went in earlier, they found him with a TV earbud in his ear and they said "hey, we've got something better!" Apparently the audio stimulation is now a good thing given where Wiley is in his recovery process.

Most likely Wiley will get to leave the ICU once he gets the missing piece of skull put back in. (In case you are wondering, they apparently keep the skull piece in a freezer or refrigerator in a very, very well marked bag. Not like in my freezer.) Rehab will probably start while he's recovering from that surgery; still in the hospital but out of the ICU.

AND -- best of all, the 72-hour window of greatest concern is now closed. Day 3 is done. HOORAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The family is so grateful for everyone's kind words, prayers, thoughts, acts. There have been an impressive number of expanding circles of folks providing prayers and spiritual requests of all flavors for Wiley's recovery. Cards and blog comments and e-mails and messages have been steadily arriving. And those dinner providers -- you folks have been tremendous! It provides the one time when Wiley's extended family can gather NOT in the hospital, and it has been a tremendously welcome and refreshing part of what has quickly become a nearly (bizarrely) routine, if exhausting, day.