To recap all that has happened...

On Friday August 25, 2017 Blair was in an accident where he fell 75 feet down a cliff while hiking or rock climbing in White Rock.  It was reported that he fell a little after 6 pm and the paramedics worked diligently to get him out of the woods where he fell until they flew him to Hershey Medical Center.  He arrived at Hershey around 10:00 pm and the evening is pretty much of a blur.  The doctors didn't tell us much but did allow us to go back and see him.  At that time they informed us that he had a fractured skull (in the back), some brain bleeding that they were watching, some broken vertebrae, a few broken ribs, and his left arm broken in two places.  He was not conscious and he was not responding to commands.
Saturday August 26, 2017 - Blair remained unconscious and was not responding to commands consistently. He remained on the ventilator and would intermittently squeeze our hands with his hand.
Sunday August 27, 2017 - Blair had a CT scan which showed that there was not any further swelling in his brain.  He had a collapse of the upper right lung, causing his oxygen level to decrease, and the doctor performed a procedure through his ventilator tube to clean out the mucus.  This appeared to be beneficial.  The nurses said that this was not unusual for someone who has broken ribs as they can sometimes puncture a lung or he accumulated the mucus from laying still for so long. The nurses continued to move him every hour and check his reflexes.  His sodium level dropped and they gave him sodium through his IV to improve the levels (decreased sodium can increase lethargy).  He did follow commands intermittently with both hands and his right foot.
Monday August 28, 2017 - Blair had an MRI early this morning.  Prior to the MRI his lung collapsed again and they had to clean out the mucus again before they could do the MRI.  The MRI showed that he did not have damage in the brain stem and he has what they call a DAI (Diffuse Axonal injury) - a brain injury in which damage in the form of extensive lesions in white matter tracts occurs over a widespread area. DAI is one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury, and is a major cause of unconsciousness and persistent vegetative state after severe head trauma. It occurs in about half of all cases of severe head trauma and may be the primary damage that occurs in concussion.  We will have to wait for him to wake up before we will know what damage there is and what he will have to work on to regain.  He continues to intermittently follow commands.
Tuesday August 29, 2017 - This morning a nurse made the comment that "this may be the best Blair gets" and his mom became very upset thinking that Blair wouldn't want to live this way.  The hospital staff said that we were not ready to say what functions Blair would regain and any he might not.  He has to take his time healing.  Expecting him to remain unconscious, although slow, but steady progress is good.  He began responding to commands with both hands and feet today.  He is having reflex responses, although his pupils are not reacting as much as they would like, they are reacting some. Blair is breathing mostly on his own - the respirator is still there to support him when he takes a breath and provide some pressure.
Wednesday August 30, 2017 - Blair's mother reported that he opened his eyes and looked around the room and then closed them again, today.  The doctor's did not see this and therefore isn't in their notes.  He was intermittently responding to commands with his hands and feet.  He did not repeat the opening of his eyes again today.  He continues to initiate breathing on his own and the ventilator is still there to support him.
Thursday August 31, 2017 - Today Blair had surgery to move his ventilator to a tracheotomy tube and they inserted a feeding tube so they can feed him (hey, a boy has to eat, right?).   He came through the procedure well and is recovering today.  He is still initiating his breathing completely on his own and the ventilator remains there as a cushion.  He has not responded anymore than previously to commands.

We are grateful for prayers.  We are waiting for Blair to wake up and show us that he knows we are there talking with him.  We know that the road may be long ahead, but our family will be right behind him supporting him.  Bless you all for your support!