Paul's Update - 10/23/06

Dear Friends:

Sunday started out with Dad going to Paul's to find we had no nurse again. This wasn't unexpected since we already figured that the nurse probably quit. After Dad got Paul up and dressed he was sitting outside when a big truck came down the road (which isn't unusual) and caught Paul & Tabby's cable TV wire, pulling it down and damaging some of the siding on the house. The police were called and the cable company was contacted. The police couldn't do anything except take a report. Dad wasn't able to get the name of the company. The cable company couldn't send anyone out until Monday ... so Sunday was a DVD movie day. Paul is getting tired of "girly" movies though!! He was pretty alert most of the day. He is walking to and from the bathroom every time he needs to go. He won't even let Dad get the wheelchair. Paul didn't sleep well on Sunday night. This is possibly because Tabby decreased the Trazadone by another pill. He now only takes one of these medicines each night. Since this was for sleep ... it makes sense that he isn't sleeping as soundly. Monday Tabby had a job interview at a car dealership. It was for office work but it pays significantly less than she was making and is almost as far to go as her previous job. She hasn't told them no yet but she is not sure she wants the job. She still has a couple other prospects that she is waiting to hear back on. The cable guy (no pun intended) came by today and fixed the cable TV wire. Everyone was pleased to have it fixed. Paul was feeling pretty good all day. At one point in the evening he looked over at me and clearly said "Hi". Even though I know he CAN say this ... he doesn't usually and I always enjoy the interaction with him! Tonight he and I watched "Biker Buildoff" on Spike TV. They were building a bike out of mostly Harley Davidson parts and I was able to ask him about the parts. When I asked him if he liked the bike he nodded "yes". Tonight Paul was tired early. He started dozing off and suddenly I noticed that his right hand jerked and woke him up. This happened several times ... each time he'd start to fall asleep his right hand would do a spasm and wake him up. Tabby said he's been doing that a lot lately. We think this could just be a sign that the right arm is "waking up". Tabby talked to the nursing agency today. It appears that our weekend nurse is pregnant and won't be back. She injured her back moving Paul one day and isn't able to keep working for us. The agency is going to call on Thursday to let us know if we can expect a new nurse on the weekend. There is some thought that Audrey, one of the previous nurses, may come back. We really liked her and that would be OK with us! Wednesday is Paul's doctor appointment to have blood drawn. Maybe we will finally be able to decrease the Dilantin again!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

P.S. It came to my attention recently that some people may not want to continue to receive emails every day. If you would rather not get the emails but keep up with Paul's progress at your convienience, it is possible to go to Paul's blogspot and read the emails. I would not be offended if you would prefer to keep up through blogs instead. Just let me know and we can arrange to discontinue the emails.