How injured is Joe? How much does it matter?

Joe is extremely injured. He has lost both his arms, both his legs, and a large chunk of his face. He can no longer see, hear, smell, or taste. He’s basically a torso and a brain. Joe is fed and breathes through a series of tubes. The extent of his injuries is critical to the book’s plot. Because Joe has absolutely no access to the world around him beyond the vibrations he feels as people walk by his bed. This puts him in a position that no one else can experience, and the realizations that he makes are unique to his unique situation. If he had even one more of the senses that people these days take for granted, His experience wouldn’t have been the same. From the struggle to find out the time of day, to the deep reflections about himself, all would have be different on the most basic level if he had been able to see or hear.