The next several days were interesting to say the least. The CT family was elated to hear of Ryan's successful move and that he was expected to take a full share in planning his care. By two days later, he was so exhausted that he could barely talk to them when they called, as he was in therapy for anywhere from 5-7 hours every day. At the same time, his family was already reporting progress - moving from the parallel bars to a walker, walking laps around the physical therapy gym, fewer instances of agitation and more ability to let people know when he needed a break. They were torn between worrying that he was being pushed too hard but being thrilled with his progress.
On the evening of the second day, Shivaun met with Ryan's care team and his family to discuss the results of his evaluations. Ryan had been expected to come, but had fallen asleep seconds after returning to his room after his last therapy, and everyone agreed it would be better to let him rest and give him a summary in the morning. Each of the therapists reported on what they had found in their testing.
Ryan's occupational therapist went first. She reported no concerns with self-care skills, although she did say that Ryan was hopeless in a kitchen - not unsafe, he just didn't know how to cook much of anything. She wasn't too concerned about this, as Ryan had reported that they had catered meals or went out when they were rehearsing or on tour, and he often ate at his parents' house when he was at home. She noted that he was naturally ambidextrous, using his left hand to write but his right hand for sports or instruments, and that testing she had done had confirmed this - and also showed that his ability to do fine manipulations, handle small parts, and move his fingers quickly was lacking at the moment and would need work. These were the sorts of skills he would need for his instrumental music.
The speech therapist reported next. Ryan's speech was clear and easy to understand, and he had no problem with understanding language unless it was very complex, in which case he was missing details of it regularly. She'd initially had concerns about partial paralysis of his face due to his tendency to smile with only one side of his mouth, but had quickly realized that it was habit rather than any lack of mobility. She was most concerned with his difficulties with being able to speak when he was under stress, which she'd seen firsthand towards the end of their sessions when he was tiring.
The cognitive therapist spoke third. He was quite concerned with Ryan's short-term memory, as he was having trouble recalling things he'd done very recently or being asked to remember something and then asked about it again a short while later. He had trouble focusing for any length of time if there was any other noise or action around him, and he tired rapidly with tasks requiring concentration even in a quiet environment. He was developing headaches after working with the therapist - a natural side effect of making the damaged parts of his brain function again, but troubling nonetheless. These would be the biggest obstacles to returning to his performing career, where he would be required to remember sudden changes in routine, to keep things in the correct order, and to think about multiple things at the same time in an environment that would be full of distractions. Some of these would also be the hardest things to modify for him.
The physical therapist spoke last. Maura was incredibly impressed with Ryan's progress already, as he'd gone from walking 10 feet in parallel bars to over 50 feet with a walker in just two days. His primary problems overall were simply decreased endurance and strength due to the prolonged bed rest, but he was also having some balance issues, primarily due, Maura felt, to weakened core muscles rather than to any actual damage to the balance centers of his brain. She reported that he was already exceeding what she'd set up for exercise programs for him, adding extra repetitions or asking for more exercises. He clearly enjoyed the physical workouts and didn't find them particularly stressful, and Maura suggested that this be his last therapy of the day, partly so he wouldn't already be physically tired when he went to his other therapies, and partly because he'd be better able to cope with the physical activity at the end of the day rather than more cognitive work.
Overall, it was a far better report than anyone had really expected, and optimism was high that Ryan would at least meet his goal of being able to participate in the filming, with modifications needed to his rehearsal schedule and possible limitations on how many songs he would be able to take part in.
Mr. Kelly called Sharon as soon as the meeting was over and reviewed the major issues with her, which she in turn shared in detail with David Munro and with the other singers and the band, as they would be the ones primarily affected by Ryan's needs. Everyone else was given a summary, not hiding any of the issues, but not going into quite as much detail. Sharon knew the full details would filter through the group anyway, but in truth the crew and production staff would not be affected much in their work. They would need to know what to look for as signs of trouble when they were interacting with Ryan as they all did socializing and relaxing, but they wouldn't need to change their routines to accommodate him.
Any down time between shows for the singers was being spent brainstorming ways to arrange quiet areas and times for Ryan to rest, ways to limit the amount of noise and clutter in the bus and dressing rooms, etc. It was now less than a month until they would be starting rehearsals, and they were determined to bring him back and have him be able to be part of Mythology and the tour, no matter how much it meant they had to change and adjust for themselves.