March 20, 2012

Mrs. Doug called and said they pulled the feeding tube today.  It was a really quick and easy procedure and didn't seem to hurt him much.  Mrs. Doug said she told him he's got an extra belly button now.

Last night she said they were talking and he said "what" and "you."  So he's getting more words in.

Today she talked to the OT and she had told Mrs. Doug that as they were working, she told him to count with her on the sets of exercises.  He would only say, "yep" but she said eventually he will come out with the numbers by doing that.  They have something to judge his range of motion with his right arm and he was able to push it forward from his elbow and pull it back also, which he had not been able to do before.  So he definitely has usage of his right forearm and his shoulder.  He wasn't just putting his weight into it, his arm was doing the work.

In PT, yesterday and today he walked all the way to the end of the hall (about 200 feet) and they are still working on getting that right foot to not turn toward the left and cross over.  He walked the full length without having to sit down today, so his endurance is building.  This afternoon they put him on a bike and put his feet on the pedals with the exercise bands across his feet.  He was able to ride the bike for 10 minutes with the tension up to about 5.  So he was doing really well with that.

Yesterday they worked on transfers in and out of the tub and such.  He's getting pretty good at that.  Even now, Mrs. Doug is getting him up and helping him get dressed in the mornings, so she feels good about that much.  She can get him out of the bed and all of that.  She said she feels really comfortable with that.
 Tonight at supper she was commenting that she thought they were going to cut back on the double portions and he poked her and shook his head no!  Everyone got a good laugh about that.  But she was thinking about how heavy he's going to be to lift if he doesn't quit eating so much!  :)

They were talking about when he had the stroke the other night and he indicated that there were things he could remember about it too.  They had a long conversation about it and worked through where they'd been how far he'd come.  She reminded him that she kept telling the doctors, "he's gonna make it because the Lord isn't through with him yet."  That obviously meant a whole lot to him.  She told him that at some point she was going to let him go back and read through the blog to see where all he's been. 

Tonight they were sitting there and Mrs. Doug started playing yahtzee on the ipad and he took interest in it so they played that together for a good while.  That's the first time he's shown any interest in that.  She was impressed with how well he did with it.

They are getting excited about coming home Saturday and getting into their routine.  She knows people are praying for them as they transition and God will answer those prayers and show them how to do it.  Please keep the prayers coming!

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."  Ephesians 2:10