Everyday Hero

Taste Of Freedom

It's now officially been a year since the initial injury...

And Dick spent the anniversary in the hospital. Indeed, the next morning after that rough seizure James had walked in to check on Dick and had a mild sense of déjà vu.

But this time Dick was conscious, however asleep, and only hooked up to basic equipment such as a heart monitor. Didn't even need supplemental breathing machines.

Definitely better than a year prior.

Upon seeing his patient asleep, James took a minute at the threshold to consider the past year.

At first, no one was completely sure just how serious the injury was or how long he would be in a coma. Or, if he would even wake up.

But once he did, it was clear, after a while, that he would live. Despite there being... setbacks.

Still, it was certainly not as worse as it could have been.

He could still be in a coma. Or dead. Although... James would have to say being in a coma would be worse. After all, the patient can't rest in peace that way.

For a moment James had hoped this would be one of those rare cases of a patient recovering without any long-term effects. But unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

You see, when it comes to diffuse axonal brain injuries, the severity is graded into one of three groups: mild, moderate, and severe. Also known as grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 with 3 being the most severe.

Grade 1 usually only includes a loss of consciousness for a little bit while grade 3 is usually a long-term, in some cases, permanent coma. And of course, the type and severity of the effects on the body are dependent on this grade.

Dick, was diagnosed with grade 2. With this grade, comas have the potential to be much longer than in grade 1 and there are often lasting effects if and when the patient wakes up, as opposed to there being possibly none at all with grade 1.

Still, Dick is lucky. He is gaining his mobility back and his headaches and seizures are treatable, it's just that Dick apparently needed a higher dosage of his seizure medication. So to James, Dick's  recovery was absolutely miraculous.

Which means, for Dick to heal completely is still possible and the more progress he makes in his mobility and speech then the more possible it is to achieve total recovery. However, some things have already been found to be permanent. His headaches and, more concerning, his seizures. So far, however, the increased dosage of his medication seems to have resolved the problem.

Although Dick is doing better, especially his disposition and confidence, that also means his stubborn side is starting to come out again. Which, in a way, will aid his recovery even more in that it will help increase his drive of resilience.

And perhaps this stubbornness will aid him in the next step of recovery...
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A week and a half had passed since Dick had once again been released from the hospital, that time has been devoted entirely to helping Dick recover and gain his strength and energy back before they could even think about allowing him to walk.

Right now he was lightly leaning against the outside of the walking bars, with Bruce and Wally on either side of him.

Today he is allowed to practice again.

So far, even before the big seizure, he has only been allowed to be mobile using the walking bars and only allowed to use the walker to use the bathroom.

Besides that, he's been stuck in his wheelchair. Even so, he's been working on his strength and not just for his legs. Since he was stuck in a bed for months, he's been doing exercises to build the muscle and strength back in his upper body. His upper body has nearly reached the tone and strength he had prior to the injury.