Eight months. 243 days.
From the time Scott stepped out of the cockpit of One the day he and Virgil went to Kansas until today.
5832 hours.
Not that anybody had been counting.
It had been a difficult recovery, certainly one of the worse Scott, and for that matter any of them, had had to undergo bar Gordon.
They had been incredibly fortunate with the possible side- and long-term effects he could have suffered, but that had not made it an easy ride. Once Scott had been coherent enough to understand them, which had been several days after the operation, it had been made clear to him that if he did not rest he could face having a seizure. That was enough to make him wary of overdoing it.
He had been predicted to leave hospital after one week, but he stayed a further two. Mrs Patel, whilst getting on fabulously with Sally Tracy, had put her foot down. She was very unhappy to release Scott while he was in so much pain.
The small amount of physio his brothers were helping him with was an excruciating torture. Scott knew it was necessary, but the pain down his left side left him in tears every time. With no sign of the pain diminishing his surgeon and her team actively looked for other ways to help him as he was already maxed out on pain relief.
They came up with a mixture of medical and holistic approaches to help. His physiotherapy sessions were adapted to include some yoga and tai chi moves he could be assisted with while still bedbound. A keyboard was bought in for Virgil to indulge in some music therapy, and the three eldest meditated together. Scott's pain medication began to be reduced 8 days after the operation. While these tools helped Scott cope with the pain, they did not remove it.
After three weeks it was Sally's turn to put her foot down. Whilst Scott was not as mobile as anyone would like, he was managing most daily living activities and she saw no reason why he couldn't now continue at home.
By now Scott was up and about. But his co-ordination had been affected and he couldn't always get moving right. He'd ended up in a heap on the floor several times when he just couldn't get his legs and feet to move and had lost more drinks than he'd consumed by knocking them off the table. Despite all that, he knew he'd gotten off relatively lightly.
There were no seizures, no blood clots or bleeding.
There had been no memory loss.
There had been difficulty speaking and moving.
His hearing had been super sensitive.
Scott had slept almost the entirety of two and a half months before being able to stay awake for more than half a day. As his need for sleep lessened, so did his chronic pain and his sensitive hearing.
Initially, Scott had alternated between anger and tears. He couldn't always voice why he felt like he did, so his brothers had become quieter around him, careful not to upset him. In turn, this made Scott feel worse. It was Sally who pointed out to the four of them that they were actually making Scott worse and that they needed to treat him normally. Thankfully, these episodes began to disappear as Scott's dependence on the medication lessened.
At the three-month demarcation Brains, Virgil and Sally came to talk to Scott. The titanium mesh plate used in his operation was a standard one, but there had never been any tests done on such mesh and the effects of flying at the speeds One was capable of. However, the bone welding technology used had been far in advance of anything used before, and in combination with the regenerator Scott did not have to worry about having the plate removed – it now formed part of his skull and his bone was growing over it completely.
By the end of three months he could concentrate enough to hold what he considered proper conversations. It was a very emotional time for both Virgil and Alan as Scott had private meetings with both of them.
Kayo came into her own here. Using techniques her father had taught her, she spent long hours medateting with Scott, using a combination of martial arts to help with his balance and concentration.
By the time he'd been home for five months Scott was able to walk without using the cane he'd needed for balance. His co-ordination wasn't quite fully on track but was improving rapidly.
In all, he had only three worrying but minor setbacks.
The first was just before he had been home for three months. Alan had brought in hot drinks for everyone and had put his coffee next to Scott's drink on the table while he sorted something out. Scott, not realising which one was which, tried to grab his but succeeded in knocking the hot coffee over himself. This resulted in a first degree burn and a very guilty and upset Alan. Scott had been philosophical. He'd not been allowed coffee yet and declared this was the best coffee he'd had for months. Everyone had a beat of absolute silence before bursting out laughing. It was the first real laughter had since the incident.
The second was after being home for 4 months and Gordon came home with a cold. Despite quarantining himself from everybody, Scott still managed to get ill, and everybody panicked that this could turn into pneumonia. As soon as Gordon started showing symptoms, Sally immediately started Scott on a course of anti-viral medication, and he managed to go the entire two weeks with just a mild cold. It hurt to cough, but he was healing enough that no further damage was done.
The third occurred not long after he had recovered from the cold. Scott had been having regular physio in the pool with Gordon and was making his way there when he tripped on nothing and fell forwards, catching his head on the wall as he fell. All hell broke loose as Gordon hit the emergency alarm. Before Scott could blink he was back in the infirmary and hooked up to a multitude of scanners. He hadn't lost consciousness and the blow had only been glancing, but he was kept in for two days having scans what felt like constantly, just to be on the safe side.
During his sixth month of freedom from hospital, Virgil and his grandmother accompanied Scott back to Johns Hopkins for what he hoped would be his all clear. He had been back to being himself for three weeks – no pain, no headaches, no cane, normal speech – and he hoped that this would be enough to be cleared for light duties and maybe piloting for himself. Virgil might just be almost as skilled a pilot as he was but nothing irritated him more than being airborne but not in control. He could hear all his brothers calling him control freak.
It was a full two-day appointment as Mrs Patel wanted to be absolutely sure. After all, not many of her patients went on to fly at such ridiculous supersonic speeds. Scott underwent a barrage of blood tests, reflex tests and a combined MRI/PET scan. By the time this had all been done Scott was both exhausted and hungry, having had to fast for the PET scan preparation. He slept overnight whilst attached to an EEG monitor, an EMG monitor and an EOG monitor. Scott had never seen so many cables, and he had to wear a ridiculous hat.
The last test, scheduled for the morning, was a fMRI scan, then they had the rest of the day until his appointment at 3pm for the results. They didn't stray too far from the hospital as Scott was still exhausted, not having had much sleep the night before.
The appointment did not go the way Scott had hoped. Yes, he was healing very well, but the various tests showed that he was not quite 100% yet, and Mrs Patel was not happy to sign him off yet. He grumbled to himself, knowing his grandma and Virgil would side with the doc. They did. So it was agreed for Scott to wait a further six weeks and return for the same tests again and hopefully that would be all that was needed.
The next six weeks were hell on earth for Scott's earth-bound brothers. John, by virtue of the fact he had spent almost three months exclusively on earth to help Scott initially, escaped to Five. Everyone else had to cope with Grizzly Bear Tracy, as Gordon had helpfully started to call him. Indeed, nothing was frustrating Scott more than feeling back to normal but no being allowed to act back to normal.
Again, it was Kayo who saved the day. She started Scott off on a six-week plan to put some weight back on him. Although he had been participating in daily physio, it had not put on the muscle tone that only the gym could do, and Sally had given her blessing as long as no contact sports were involved. So for six weeks Scott spent ages in the gym getting muscle tone back and being
The next time Scott was back at the hospital he was delighted to be given the all-clear. He celebrated by piloting the jet home to a surprise party that Gordon had obviously been instrumental in planning, judging from the garish colours. Scott loved it.
Two days later…
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Eight months. 243 days.
From the time Scott stepped out of the cockpit of One the day he and Virgil went to Kansas until today.
5832 hours.
Everybody had been counting.
Scott stood at the entrance to his precious 'bird, hands on the fixtures, facing his grinning family.
'Are you ready, Scott?' asked Virgil.
Scott grinned at them all, pulled on the fixtures and said:
'Thunderbirds are go!'
NOTE:
Medical terms:
MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Uses magnetic fields and radio waves to take detailed pictures.
PET scan: Positron Emission Tomography. Used with an MRI to take clearer pictures of brain tissue and watch brain activity. Patient takes a radiotracer.
EEG monitor: Electroencephalography. Used to detect and monitor brain activity, problems with sleeping and memory, and investigate possible epilepsy.
EMG monitor: Electromyography. Measures muscle movement while patient is asleep.
EOG monitor: Electrooculogram. Measures eye movement while patient is asleep.
fMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Used to diagnose possible disorders of consciousness.
While EEG/EMG/EOG monitoring may not be standard testing for brain injury, Mrs Patel is covering all bases.