Paul's Update - 05/22/06

Dear Friends:

Dad got to Paul's house this morning to find that the substitute CNA that was suppose to cover for our regular CNA never showed up. When Tabby tried to call the agency to find out why she wasn't there she found that the office doesn't open until 10:00am. Tabby was suppose to go to work at 6:30. When she finally got someone on the phone they said the substitute was suppose to be there at 7:00am. The agency tried to call the girl and found out that she had an accident last night and wasn't coming. It was too late in the day to get someone else so Tabby ended up taking a day off. Thank goodness our regular girl will be back on Wednesday (she had a doctor appointment today). Dad was getting Paul up today by having him grab Dad's hands and pull himself up. He did really good at that. Later in the day Dad decided that he would see if Paul could get up by himself. Dad got him to the edge of the bed and told Paul to try to stand by himself (while Dad was there to catch him). He stood up without grabbing Dad's hand. Dad had to catch him once he was standing since he still doesn't have good balance. This is the first time he's stood up unassisted since his accident! He's been trying to get up ... and he fell out of bed the other night ... evidently he wants to get up! Dad took Paul outside this afternoon since it was such a beautiful day. Dad asked Paul if he needed some sun glasses and Paul nodded "yes". Tabby handed him her sunglasses and he took them in his hand, flicked them open and put them on his face by himself!! This was another "first". It is amazing what he can do when he wants to!! Paul also used his right hand to help pull up his pants today. He is trying to use it more and more. It is still weak and he can't do a lot of things with it ... but he IS trying! The neighbor came over this evening when she got home from work. She took the van to the GMC dealer to see if anything needed to be done on it. Tabby had gone there before and helped her neighbor do some work for the dealership so they knew her already. They looked it over real good and then did several hundred dollars worth of work on it for free!! What a blessing! They said that Tabby got a really good deal on this van! We think so! Hopefully, next week we will take it to have the hydraulic seat lift put in. The visiting nurse came by today and said the incision on his foot looks real good. She remarked that everyone at her office is very impressed with the care that Paul is getting. Of course we don't think we do anything that anybody else would do if it was their family member ... but I guess that isn't always true! Wednesday we should have a speech therapist coming. It is the first speech therapy Paul will have had since we left Mount Vernon ... six weeks ago!! Today I heard from our dear friend Mary Jo whose mother was in the hospital at the same time we were there with Paul. She has had a long recovery from her injuries and she has struggled with one thing after another. Please pray for her as she has had yet another setback. Thanks for all your love and prayer!!

Blessings, Lynne & Carl