January 8, 2012

Mrs. Doug gave us an update in Sunday School this morning.  She said that Friday in physical therapy they sat him up on a mat and he was able to hold himself up so they put him on a bicycle for a little while.  They worked him for a little over an hour in therapy and had him up for about 4 hours all together.  They expected him to really be wiped out after that and sleep hard.  But he only took about a 20 minute nap and then was alert for the rest of the day.  Before he is able to go to the rehab facility in Jackson, he will need to be able to do at least 3 hours of therapy a day.  But he is making great progress and Mrs. Doug is very pleased with the facility where he is now. 

The speech therapist said she wants to see if he will use his voice if they cover the hole on the trach instead of using the speech valve.  They are going to discuss options for that on Tuesday with the doctor.  The main reason they are not taking the trach out at this time is because they need to be able to suction what he is coughing, which is preventing pneumonia.  They are not sure if he is able to swallow well enough to handle it on his own if they took him off of the trach at this time.

Mrs. Doug said that she and Bro. Dale had been playing lots of charades.  She's trying to figure out what he is trying to tell her with his "sign language."  He had been pointing to the clock and pictures on the wall several times.  She asked him if he was wanting to look at them or for her to read something to him and he kept shaking his head no.  She finally figured out to ask, "are you trying to tell me that you can see those now."  He nodded.  They had determined that he had lost part of his vision on the right side of his right eye, but they had been doing therapy with that eye and his vision has been restored!  Praise the Lord! 

"¹⁷ Be good to your servant while I live,
   that I may obey your word.
¹⁸ Open my eyes that I may see
   wonderful things in your law^{." 
Psalm 119:17-18}