Paul's Update - 09/24/06

Dear Friends:

Paul had a really good weekend. He has been so alert and feeling good (except for the toothache) and has been up a lot. Saturday Tabby's parents came to visit. Dad stayed with Paul while Tabby went out for lunch and shopping. Dad had Paul up several times. He didn't really want to go upstairs so they spent a lot of the day watching TV in the bedroom. The nurse didn't show up because she was sick so it was Dad & Bobby for most of the day. Ronda & Bill came by to visit Paul for a bit. They had a nice visit and Paul was pretty interactive. When they were getting ready to leave I asked Paul if he was going to wave goodbye to Mr. Davis and he ... raised his right hand and wiggled his fingers!!! He WAVED to Bill!! It was a small action but it was definitely a wave! Tabby, Paul and Dad went out with Tabby's parents for dinner. They went to the Japanese Steak House in Fair Lakes. This is a favorite for Paul and Tabby. It was a late dinner but all had fun! Sunday started off a bit slow. Paul didn't seem to have much energy this morning. It was a football day! The Redskins were playing at 1pm and that means the boys were going to be sitting in front of the TV in the living room. Paul was ready to go upstairs by game time he was feeling pretty good. Dad was able to get him to "walk" his wheelchair to the bathroom several times ... then Dad decided he should see if Paul could walk on his legs (with Dad holding him of course). It is about a 15 step walk to the bathroom. Paul was able to do it and after he'd done it a couple of times he actually seemed to be getting better at it. This is so encouraging ... this is more strength and energy than he has had in a long while!! Tabby also worked with him this evening to stretch his arms. She was able to get him to stretch his left arm up over his head. He didn't like it much but he let her do it. The funny thing is ... as soon as she grabbed his left hand to move the arm ... he raised his right hand like he was going to hit her. He actually raised it up to about his chest level ... without any hesitation!!! He didn't hit her ... she calmed him down and he let her work with the arm. He actually seems to have quite a bit of strength in that arm ... he just needs to learn how to make it work when he wants it to! Tonight after I left Dad asked Paul if he wanted to go outside. They got him in his chair lift and he rode down to the entry landing and Paul got off of the chair and WALKED out the front door (with assistance of course!!). He actually transferred his weight to manage the steps. He sat outside for a bit. When it was time to go back in ... he walked back up the front step and through the front door to the chair lift. He even stepped onto the foot rest of the chairlift to help get into the chair!! After they got into the house and down to the basement Paul had to go to the bathroom. When he was done they got him in the wheelchair and Tabby told him to "walk" to the bedroom. Instead ... he went to the laundry room ... he wanted to go back outside!! They got out the back door and Tabby asked Paul if he could help get himself up the ramp. Paul used his legs and pushed the wheelchair while Dad was backing him up the ramp. He helped the whole way up the ramp and the sidewalk to the front porch area!! What an incredible day of hard work. Sometime early this week Paul will go to have his blood drawn to see what the level in his blood is for the new medicine. It is called Trileptol. He is also taking a drug called Trazadone as an antidepressant. I don't know much about either of these drugs. The Trileptol is going to eventually replace the Dilantin. This will take several weeks to achieve but it seems like we are on a good path so far! We praise God for such a blessed weekend!!

Have a great day!! Lynne & Carl