Paul's Update - 04/29/07

Dear Friends:

Gladys arrived around 7am. She and Dad got Paul into the shower to get ready for our day. We thought we may have Max this morning but Tabby didn't bring him over so we all went out for breakfast as usual. When we got there we realized that we would have to sit in the smoking section and it was BUSY ... the owner said we could take Paul through the hallway where the bathrooms are to go to the back of the restaurant where it is non-smoking. The normal hallway to the back is very narrow and blocked by one of the booths by the doorway. While we were eating we saw Lawrence, Lewis & their Mom, Rita. We also see our neighbor Roger there quite often. It is a "local breakfast place"!! When we went to leave we went out the side door of the restaurant ... which was really nice because it was adjacent to where we were parked!! After breakfast we headed home for a bit before time for Sunday School at 9:30. We were able to sit out on the swing in the front yard for a bit. It was a beautiful morning. I pick up two ladies from the nursing home nearby for church on Sunday and Paul decided he wanted to ride with me this morning. It is the first time he has done that. Dad & Gladys headed down to the church and met us when we arrived. Our Sunday School class has moved to the upstairs part of our church (in the sanctuary) so that Paul can attend with us. He seems to enjoy being there. Just before the service started Paul was greeting people as they came in. He says hi and will shake your hand if you ask him to! After church we took Joanne & Wilma back home (Paul rode with me again!) and on the way home Paul was trying to see the stoplight ahead of us which was blocked by a truck. I asked him what color the light was...he said "ow". I asked him "is it red or green?" and he said "green". He knew what color it was when I gave him the choice of the colors available!! We went to Warrenton after we got back and had lunch at El Agave. This is something we usually do on Saturday but Bill had to work yesterday so we went today. Paul doesn't eat the Mexican food since it has made him sick in that past. He had a hotdog and fries. He enjoys our trip out there though! This afternoon was so beautiful and we sat outside again when we got home. Paul got a little sun on his face ... it is a little red! After we came in Dad went to lay down for a bit and Gladys started working with Paul to catch the exercise ball and throw it back to her. He did amazingly well at this. She was even able to get him to kick it to her. She is persistent and works hard with him. Later in the evening I asked him if he was OK. He shook his head no. I asked him "do you want something to eat?" and he nodded "yes". I told him he needed to tell me ... and he SAID "apple" without any prompting! WOW ... it was great! I immediately got him an apple!! He stayed up late again tonight. I think he likes being able to stay up late. Paul has had such a good weekend. He seems to do better all the time. It is very slow but like the tortious and the hare ... slow and steady wins the race!! We are so thankful for our many blessings!!

Have a great day Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/28/07

Dear Friends:

Friday was a quiet day. After Dora got Paul cleaned up and dressed Dad had him walk to the living room. Recently he has decided that he likes the swivel rocker that I have in the living room. He goes right to it and sits down. Dad brings him his coffee (something he always enjoys!) and he drinks it in the living room before he goes to the table for breakfast. Dad had to go out after breakfast to run some errands. He went to Costco and got some groceries that we were in need of. It seems we go through a lot more stuff with Paul in the house! LOL After lunch Dad worked with Paul on counting and drawing on paper. He struggles to write on paper. Dad had him sit at the table and work. He seems to enjoy sitting in there more than in his wheelchair (guess I can't blame him for that!). Friday evening I went out with Ronda. Our choir director had a voice recital that several of our choir members attended in support of him. He did a great job and we were proud to be there! I got home around 10pm and Paul had already gone to bed. I didn't expect him to be awake but when I went in his room he looked up at me. I enjoy the time I have with him before he goes to sleep! Saturday morning came early for Dad. He didn't sleep well and woke around 4:30am. Gladys comes in around 7am and she gets started bathing and dressing Paul. Once he was dressed he wanted to sit in the living room chair before breakfast and drink his coffee again! It is a nice change from sitting in the recliner or on the couch all the time. After breakfast Dad had Paul try to write on paper again. He didn't want to do it but Dad said "you can practice and write anything you want". He sat there alone for a while and when Dad came back in he had made several lines on his paper!! I think he will eventually figure that out! Dad worked in the living room on the floor mat with Paul a little later. Paul didn't want to roll over on his stomach. We managed to get him to roll over on his stomach briefly but then he immediately rolled back over on his side. After attempting him to roll back over on his stomach again we gave up and decided to have him take the exercise ball and hand it over his head to me while he was on his back. This actually turned into a good exercise. He had to reach over his head to hand it to me and then he had to reach over his head again to take it back from me. After we did that about ten times Dad told him to hand it sideways to Gladys and then to the other side and give it to me. Each time he did it we moved a little farther away from him so he had to reach a bit farther. At one point we were far enough away that he had to roll on his side in order to reach us!! He worked on that for a bit then we had him lay on his back and do pelvic lifts. This is something that the therapist wants him doing to strengthen his lower back muscles. He wasn't much interested in doing it but Dad told him to lift up and he would put a pillow under him. He seemed interested in doing that and he did it about ten times. This afternoon Paul worked with some magnetic blocks and did some work on colors and the alphabet while he sat at the dining room table for a snack. He knows the colors but doesn't associate the color with the object just yet. He can say "blue" or "red" or "yellow" but he can't tell you which block is the color you asked for. Dad & I went over to see Bobby's new apartment this evening. It is a very nice (and big) apartment. It is in a new community that is gated. I think he and Jen will be very happy there. Tonight Tabby came by for a short visit to bring some things for Paul that she picked up at the grocery store. She was tired from helping Bobby move. She stayed for a couple of minutes to say hi to Paul and then headed back out. It is very difficult seeing her right now. Our relationship has been strained to the point that we are all uncomfortable with each other. I pray that an emotional healing will come soon. Sunday we will do breakfast with Bill & Ronda. We didn't go out for Mexican Food this afternoon so we plan to do that after church!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/26/07

Dear Friends:

Wednesday started out as a quiet day. Dad went over to the hospital to arrange for the MRI that has now been approved by Medicaid. It is easier to drive over there than to do it by phone! When he got home, Dad loaded Paul into the car and headed out to visit his mother at Lake Anna. Dora was able to take the day off since Dad wasn't sure how long he would be away and she leaves at 7pm. Uncle Jimmy traveled with them. He hasn't seen his mother in a while either! Grandma Johnson is doing well. She has been feeling bad off and on for months but was having a good day. This is an hour and a half trip and Paul did good during the drive. Wednesday night is our bible study night. We were able to sit out on the deck for part of the time. Once it got dark and the temperature started dropping we moved into the house. Paul sat out there with us. After we moved into the house we had dessert that Ronda had made ... YUM! After everyone had gone home Paul sat up and watched TV with us until about 10:30pm. He gets really tired sitting in the recliner but doesn't want to give up during his TV programs!! Thursday morning was Paul's physical therapy. Dad, Dora & Paul headed out about 9am for his 9:30 appointment. Cathy (the therapist) had Paul walk with a walker that had wheels. She immediately noted why we don't use a walker with wheels. He leans on the walker too much and the wheels make it move away from him. This causes him to lean too far forward. Once he was in the therapy room she asked him if he wanted to go the peddle machine or the table. He said the table. Once he was there she tried to get Paul to lay on his stomach. He absolutely wanted NOTHING to do with that. She managed to get him on his stomach but he wouldn't cooperate and immediately started to try to roll back over. She isn't use to a patient who doesn't cooperate and she isn't allowed to force a patient to do something they don't want to do. She decided it was time to do the exercise cycle. He worked on that for 5 minutes. He did really good with that. Once he was done Cathy had him stand inside of a three-sided wooden box (shaped like a U) and take some bolts out of it ... move them to the other side ... and put them back in the board. Not only did he undo the bolts (and the nuts & washers), he put the bolts back on but only after he made sure the washers were in the RIGHT place!! He really does mechanical things well!! He was standing during this process and she was impressed at how hard Paul was working to steady himself while he was standing. She had to help him a bit but he was really doing well. She was impressed! She attempted to get Paul to transfer himself from the table to his wheelchair but when she went to help him he immediately tried to stand up so she just helped him turn and sit in his chair. This needs more practice! It would be nice if he could transfer himself! Tonight at dinner we asked Paul if he wanted to go to Denny's after I got home from choir and he said "no". We usually do this after choir (Carl, Bill, Ronda & I) but we decided to come back to the house for coffee instead. Dad purchased a video on Pay Per View so we all watched that. Paul wanted to stay up to see the entire movie and didn't go to bed until after 10:30pm again tonight!

Have a great day! TGIF Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/24/07

Dear Friends:

Today was a beautiful day and Paul started out with coffee on the deck with Dad after breakfast. They sat outside until about 10am. Paul helped Dad put together the new patio table that we had. He held the bolts and then was able to screw the table legs on. It has a glass top and has rubber cushions to hold the glass in place. Paul took the cushions from Dad and put them in the holes. He really enjoys working on projects with Dad. Paul's dentist appointment was at 10:50am. Dad & Dora took him. This visit was for a cleaning. Paul did EXCELLENT ... Dad said Paul held his mouth open the whole time the hygienist wanted him to. He did everything she asked him to do. She did a "deep cleaning" which even I have a hard time sitting still for!! She was even able to stick her fingers inside of his mouth and floss his teeth without him biting down. WOW ... how great is that?? After she was done cleaning his teeth he didn't want to get out of the chair. He put his feet down on the floor and wouldn't get up. He REALLY wants his teeth fixed!! Dad gave Paul some Tylenol after they got home and Paul sat in the big wheelchair for a bit. This is something the therapist wants him to do. Dad also let him practice standing from the wheelchair by himself. He is doing this better and only needs assistance from time to time when he starts to stand up wrong. Dad still has to be available to catch him if he loses his balance once he is standing. The goal is to be able to get up without ANY help. Tabby came over tonight while Paul was still eating dinner. She had some of his medicines that she'd picked up at the drug store. She sat at the table with Paul while Pap-paw and I sat on the deck and played with Max. Max is starting to let go of things and try to transfer without holding on to anything. It won't be long before he will be walking! Tabby stayed for almost an hour and we were able to have a nice visit. Many folks have asked me what is happening with Paul & Tabby ... the truth is that they are separated. Please keep them (and us) in prayer. This has been a difficult transition for all of us. Tonight Paul's neurologist called to say that Paul's sodium level is still a little low but is not in a dangerous range. His Kepra level is a little high, this is the drug that helps the trileptol work. He doesn't seem concerned about either level and wants another test in about a month. We also got notice that Medicaid has pre-approved the MRI for Paul so Dad will call the hospital on Wednesday to schedule a time for that to be done. It will be interesting to see if there has been any improvement since the last test!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/21/07

Dear Friends:

Friday was quiet. Dad worked in the garage most of the day. Unfortunately Uncle Jimmy had to leave early because he twisted his ankle in the garage. He went home and put ice on it & should be fine but it ended his ability to help for the day. Dad & I had some errands to run in the afternoon so Paul stayed home and watched TV with Dora. After we got home we told Dora she could leave early since we were planning to go out for dinner with Bill & Ronda. We went to the Chinese Restaurant in Centreville. It is usually easier to get into on Friday night and we really enjoy it. Paul has Sesame chicken. After we got home I called my sister Ann to chat with her. Dad was getting Paul ready for bed. I went in to say goodnight and Aunt Ann was able to speak with Paul on the phone for a bit. They had a nice conversation. Paul usually enjoys talking on the phone. Saturday Gladys arrived at 7:00am. She immediately starts getting Paul cleaned up and dressed for breakfast. While Paul was eating breakfast Gladys began to clean. She is good about making Paul's bed, cleaning the bathroom and then she likes running the dustbuster in the kitchen and she even ran the vacuum. She likes to stay busy and looks for things that she can do to help. Dad was busy in the garage again today. Cousin Tony came by to visit for a bit. He hadn't seen either the deck or the loft before and was surprised how much work Dad had been doing. The loft is now complete and he is putting things up there. Paul's things will take up most of one half of the space but some of the things I need stored will go up there. Tony helped Dad move some of the heavy stuff up there! Paul was tired this afternoon and napped a bit during the movies that he was watching. Dad has been encouraging Paul to pull himself forward in the recliner and lean over his knees before standing up. He is getting better at this. He walked slowly with the walker and still has lots of balance problems but he seems to be doing well. After dinner we headed out to Hylton High School in Woodbridge to see the musical production of "Music Man" that my niece Lizzie was in. It was good and Paul seemed to enjoy it. When we arrived at the school Dad got out of the car but didn't unlock the doors. When I went to open Paul's door I had to ask him to open the door because it was locked. He reached up and grabbed the handle and opened the door without any trouble!! By the time we got home it was 10:30pm and time for Paul to be in bed. He was pretty tired! While we were gone Tabby came by the house and dropped off Paul's medicines and some more of his things. Hopefully Dad will be able to get it up in the loft on Sunday. She put it in the garage so it will at least be easy to get to!! Sunday is suppose to be another beautiful day and we hope to get Paul out on the deck to put together my new glider and the patio table. There is even talk about a BBQ!

Have a great day!! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/19/07

Dear Friends:

Today was another busy day for Paul. His physical therapy session started at 9:30am. Paul did much better today. Cathy (the therapist) was encouraged. She told Dad that her "goal" is to get Paul to be able to be more independent in his sitting, standing & walking so that if either I or Dora need to manage him ... we can! Right now Dad still uses most of his strength to pull Paul from a sitting to a standing position before allowing Paul to walk with the walker. He does the reverse when Paul needs to sit back in the recliner. Cathy also wants Paul to work on his posture. All the laying and sitting in bed has caused him to have poor posture. His pelvis is curved inward and she wants him to strengthen his lower back muscles to improve this. She wants him to sit in the custom wheelchair that we have for a few hours each day. This will encourage him to sit up straighter. She plans to show Dora some exercises that Paul can do in the bed. Paul did the exercise cycle again today. Cathy wanted him to work for five minutes on it. He did really good with it. The cycle has handle bars the adjust for each patient. There is a knob that loosens to pull them toward the patient and then you tighten the knob to keep them in place. When he was done she asked him to turn the knob to loosen the handle bars. He reached down and began to turn the knob and she said "your going the wrong way" but Dad looked down and said "no he isn't!" He was doing it right and as soon as it was loosened he stopped. When he had loosened it enough she said "that's good" and he stopped. Then he took his hand and pushed the handle bars in. He seems to understand basic mechanical skills! Cathy encourages him to put the brakes on and off for his wheelchair also. He is getting the hang of it! After he finished with the cycle they worked on a table to raise and lower his buttocks, this is the pelvic/lower back exercise. The she had him raise his knees and rock his legs from sided to side. When he'd done this several times she had him sit on the edge of the table. She showed him how to bring his hips forward to stand correctly. After he was standing Dad brought the walker to him so he could do some walking. Cathy asked if the wheelchair was far enough away or did he want it to be farther. He said farther so Dad backed the chair away until Paul made a sound to stop. He walked from the table to the wheelchair...about 35 feet. Cathy walked beside him and encouraged Dad to not walk behind. She would like him to become only about 25 percent dependent on others to do his walking!! She gave her initial diagnoses of what she feels Paul needs to work on and then talked to Dad about how she plans to work with him to achieve this level of independence. When they were on the way out of the office there was a child in the waiting room with a stuffed bear. The nurse asked "is that your teddy bear?" She nodded and showed it to the nurse. It growled and the nurse looked at Paul and asked "did you see the teddy bear?" He looked over and heard it growl and he got the biggest smile on his face. The nurse was so surprised to see him smile. She asked "now where was that hiding"? She told Paul that he has a beautiful smile and hopes to see more of it!! I love when he smiles ... it is a sign that he has emotions and we get very little of that kind of response!! After therapy Paul had lunch and then watched TV with Dora while Dad worked with Uncle Jimmy in the garage. Dad was able to put some of Paul's things that were in the garage up in the loft today. When he opened one of the boxes that had come from Paul's work he found two movies that Paul had gotten from Uncle Jimmy just before the accident. He hadn't even had time to bring them home yet!! We got a package from UPS this morning. I had ordered a new glider for the deck that came today. Dad plans to have Paul help him sometime in the next few days putting that together!! Tonight for dinner I asked Paul if he wanted Milk or juice to drink. He nodded so I said again "do you want milk or juice?". He held up two fingers. I said "no...you need to say...do you want milk or juice?" This time he held up two fingers and said "two"! Again I told him you need to say MILK or JUICE. This time he said "juice". It was choice number two! It's funny how hard he tried to avoid having to SAY it!! Tonight Paul talked to Bobby on the phone. He said "hello" and Paul answered back "hello". Then Bobby asked him something and Paul said "not much". Paul said "cool" a couple of times and also said "ok" a couple of times before saying "bye" and giving the phone back to Dad. Bobby enjoyed his conversation. He said it was obvious to him that Paul was searching for the words to say but he responded pretty quickly. Billy came by this evening too and had a nice conversation with Paul. He enjoys the interaction with the boys especially!! After dinner I worked with Paul to do some speech exercises. He worked with a picture book identifying what I asked him to show me. He was able to identify the football, baseball and basketball without any trouble. But when he had the swing set, see-saw, and slide he had a bit more trouble with them. We also did a couple of wood puzzles. One had tools on it ... he got them all right!! The other one was numbers 0-9 and he had to find the number to put in the puzzle and also count the pictures that correspond to the number. He struggled a bit but was able to put the puzzle together. After we finished I had to leave for choir practice but we had promised Paul that afterwards we could go out to Denny's with Bill & Ronda. We went over and had coffee and dessert. Paul saw a couple of ladies come in and head to the bathroom. They had to pass right by him and he looked over and watched them go by. I guess they were interesting to him!! We got home pretty late (10:30pm) so it was time for bed. All in all ... a pretty good day!

Love & Hugs (TGIF) Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/18/07

Dear Friends:

The day started out with Paul heading to the neurologist office to have his blood drawn. While Dad was at the doctor's office he got a call from the hospital therapist. She said that Medicaid would allow Paul to have five visits before the preauthorization is received. Dad was able to arrange for Paul to keep his appointment on Thursday morning. He will be able to do therapy once a week until the preapproval is complete since that could take as much as a month. After Dad got home he started working on the loft in the garage. Jimmy came over to help. It is going to be a pretty large size ... across the back wall of the garage. They were able to do quite a bit of work today and will start again on Thursday after therapy. Paul had a pretty quiet day since Dad was busy in the garage. Tonight Ronda brought dinner over. It is our regular bible study night and she has been fixing dinner for us on bible study night for some time now. What a blessing she is!! It was wonderful and Paul got to enjoy it with us. He sat and listened to our study. When we were done we celebrated Suzann's birthday (even though it was last month!!). As she was leaving she stopped to say "good bye" to Paul and asked him if she could have a hug. I asked Paul "what do we do for a hug?". He raised his arms and said "love". Pretty interesting ... it IS a sign of love ... and he said this without any prompting! He was up late again tonight and when he was in bed Dad gave him the remote for the bed. When I came in to say goodnight he was playing with the remote. He had the massage function on and he was pushing the buttons to raise and lower the head and foot of the bed. I think he was enjoying it! What a great toy!! LOL Dad said he walked pretty good today ... I hope he will do good for Cathy (the therapist) in the morning!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/17/07

Dear Friends:

Dora arrived at 6:30 this morning so that we could have Paul bathed & dressed to leave for the dentist by 8:00am. The dentist was only doing an evaluation today but Paul did really good. We thought he was going to be difficult since he shook his head "no" the first time the dentist asked him to open his mouth . A couple minutes later the dentist lowered the back on the chair and told Paul to open his mouth. Paul immediately opened his mouth. He even held it open for quite a while for the doctor to examine his teeth. It looks like there is a lot of work to be done. Paul has gum work, cavities, root canals, tooth extractions & a possible partial that will need to be done. When the dentist was done Paul didn't want to get out of the chair. He is as ready to get the work done!! He now has an appointment next week to start with a cleaning and over the next couple of months we will start doing the other work. Hopefully Paul will continue to be cooperative!! Dad called Tabby to tell her about the visit and the price, which is a fraction of what the sedation dentistry was going to be! After we got home I headed off to work and Dad started working on his new project (the loft in the garage). He took a trip to Home Depot and bought supplies then started arranging the garage to be able to get to the wall. Dad got a call from the Physical Therapist this afternoon. She said that it appears we need to get a pre-authorization from Medicaid before they can do more therapy. That could take 2-3 weeks or more. When Dad talked to Tabby tonight she wants to find out how much it will cost to do some of it "out of pocket" until Medicaid will pick up. Dad will call the hospital tomorrow to find out. It would be nice to keep up the progress Paul is currently having. At 4pm the Speech Therapist, Brooke, came to work with Paul. They worked for 1/2 hour and Paul did OK but Brooke seems to think he is not progressing much and we may be wasting money to have her come twice a week. She suggested we wait until he makes more progress and then call her again. When Dad told Tabby this news she said she will talk to Brooke and see if she would be willing to come every other week instead of every week. Again ... it would be a shame to lose the progress we are making ... no matter how slow it is! Apparently Tabby called Brook right after Dad talked to her. Brooke will call Dad tomorrow to schedule an appointment in two weeks. Bill & Ronda came over this evening and had coffee with us. Paul sat on the couch and had coffee too. He was up until 10pm tonight. He seems to like sitting up with us at night. Wednesday Paul has an early morning Dr. appointment to have his blood drawn. Hopefully his sodium level is getting back to normal. If it isn't the doctor may be considering another change in medicines.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/16/07

Dear Friends:

Today was physical therapy day at Prince William Hospital. We headed out around 11am for Paul's appointment at 11:30am. We took the car since the automatic van seat operates very slowly and the wind was gusting at 45-50 miles per hour. Paul does OK getting in and out of the front seat of our car. Paul's new therapist's name is Cathy. She is very nice and is very good at her work. She talked with Paul a bit before working with him. He didn't want to cooperate much and shook his head "no" to everything she asked him to do. He wouldn't take off his coat (which is really not unusual) so she worked with his coat on. She got him up walking with the walker so she could observe how he walks. She is a bit concerned about his posture while sitting, his form when he stands up and the way he leans into the walker instead of using it to steady himself. She plans to work on these areas mostly. She was able to get him on one of the balance balls. He sat on it for a bit and did OK balancing himself but she didn't let go of him. He has lots of work to do before he will be able to do this by himself. Finally she got him on a cycle machine. She wanted him to peddle for five minutes. He worked VERY slowly and wasn't really interested in doing it. Again she was concerned with his "form". He tends to extend his knee all the way out which can be damaging to the knee. We scheduled another appointment for Thursday. We gave Paul a choice of Subway Sandwich or McDonalds for lunch. He chose to have a Sub. We got sandwiches and headed home. The afternoon was pretty quiet. Dad has decided to build a shelving area (sort of like a loft) in the garage. It will be about 7 feet off the ground so we can stack things up to the ceiling. This will allow us to store more of Paul's things. Oh boy ... another project!! LOL Tonight we worked a little bit on some speech. We mostly worked on identifying objects near where Paul was sitting. We also worked on the days of the week. He is getting better but still cannot do the days of the week without help. I asked him what he had in his hand (which was his coffee mug). He shook his head and said "ow". I pointed to MY coffee cup and said what is this? He said "SAME THING"!! I had to laugh. He couldn't identify that it was a CUP but he knew it was the same thing as what HE had!! Tonight before bed Dad asked Paul if he need something. He said "yes" so Dad asked "what do you need?". Paul said "I want ... Apple". This was without prompting ... fortunately we had an apple for him!! Tuesday will start early ... we go to the dentist for an evaluation. I pray that Paul will cooperate and the dentist will be able to work on him ... at a reasonable price!!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/15/07

Dear Friends:

Saturday started as usual with Gladys coming and getting Paul cleaned and dressed. I had an appointment to get my hair done so I was gone most of the morning. Paul had a quiet morning. We were planning to go out to the Mexican Restaurant for lunch with Bill & Ronda. We headed out around 12:30. The six of us (Bill, Ronda, Gladys, Paul, Carl and me) headed to Warrenton in Paul's van. It started raining on the way but by the time we got there it had stopped long enough to get inside the restaurant. Unfortunately it started raining harder by the time we came back out and we got a bit wet!! Paul had a hotdog and French fries meal instead of the Mexican food ... and no salsa or guacamole. He did real good coming home although we were prepared in case the ride made him sick. Apparently he just cannot eat the Mexican spices so he will not be eating for a while. Tabby came over in the evening to bring some of Paul's things over. She had Max with her and we enjoyed seeing him! We miss him a lot! She visited with Paul for a bit. When I asked Paul "Do you know her name?" he nodded yes. I said "Taaa" and he said "TABITHA!". Then I asked "do you know the baby's name?" and said "Maa" and Paul said "MAXWELL" ... not Max but Maxwell!! He really seems to know what he wants to say ... he just can't say it without help. Sunday Tabby came over around 8:30am to bring Max. He was going to spend the day with Daddy, Grandma & Pap-paw. Apparently Tabby is getting a new dog and took a trip to the southwest part of Virginia to pick him up. We weren't able to make breakfast with Bill & Ronda today (sigh!). I guess there will be plenty of other Sunday breakfasts!! LOL Getting to church was a challenge since it was raining heavily. We took Paul in the car instead of the van since the chair lift takes a long time to go up and down and Paul would be soaked by that time!! Max came to church with us and had a great time in the nursery. He had lots of playmates! Our Sunday School topic today was "Forgiveness" ... boy what a tough topic!! It made me look long and hard at the things we have experienced and the people that have hurt us along the way. Forgiveness is certainly not an easy thing to do but we are called to forgive. Isn't it interesting that God orchestrated such an important topic for today!! Paul did well in the service and lots of people were able to say hi to him. It is nice to have him be able to come to church with us! Monday morning Paul starts his physical therapy at the hospital. We are looking forward to much more progress with the professional help! Paul has come so far that we are encouraged in our thinking that he will walk some day on his own! We are certainly looking forward to the day when all of this will be just a MEMORY!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/13/07

Dear Friends:

Paul woke up feeling much better this morning. At breakfast Dad held up Paul's cereal spoon and said "what's this?" and Paul said "spoon" without any prompting!! He was able to choose which cereal he wanted. He had walked to the table. It was obvious that he was going to have a better day than he'd had most of the week. We were planning to go out for dinner tonight and we asked Paul where he wanted to go. We gave him the choice of Chinese or Logans Steakhouse. It took a little prompting but he finally said "Logans"! Dad worked on speech a bit today. Paul did some walking during the morning but was tired (not QUITE back to normal). He also napped a bit this afternoon. When I got home this evening I asked Paul "what is today?", he thought about it a bit and then said "Wednesday". He wasn't right but he at least tried ... and he did say a day of the week!! I gave him the beginning sound "FRrr" and he said "Friday". Bill & Ronda came over to go out for dinner around 8pm. We headed to Logan's since that was Paul's choice ... Bill really likes Logan's too!! Paul ordered the Salmon and a salad. He ate most of it but we had leftovers to bring home. During Dinner Bill was telling some jokes that he had posted on his blogsite and after telling several he told one that Paul actually smiled about. It was so nice to see him find something funny. When we got home Paul wanted to stay up ... it was almost 11pm. He sat in the recliner for a little while but he started falling asleep shortly after and Dad got him ready for bed. He'd had a pretty good day!

Have a great weekend! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/12/07

Dear Friends:

Wednesday morning Paul woke with a fever of 101.9 degrees. He felt sluggish most of the day. Dad couldn't even get him up to walk and had to use the wheelchair all day. The speech therapist was suppose to come but Dad had called her the night before to cancel and reschedule. Paul felt so bad that he wouldn't even talk to us most of the day and he napped on and off all afternoon. Dad tried to get a doctor appointment but the doctor didn't have any openings and she suggested that we give Paul Gatorade and keep giving him Tylenol. If he didn't feel better by today Dad was suppose to call at 8am and get a "same day appointment". During the afternoon Paul got the chills and Dad had him covered with three blankets to help warm him. Later in the evening Paul wanted to stay up and watch TV with us and didn't want to go to bed until almost 11pm. This morning Dad found Paul still running a low grade fever so he called and got an appointment at 10am. The doctor decided he was fighting some kind of infection and gave him a fast acting antibiotic. It is a one day medication. She wasn't comfortable with prescribing a week worth of medicines since she wasn't sure how it would react with Paul's anti-seizure medicines. She also noticed that Paul's breathing was labored and wheezing so she gave him a prescription for Singulair. Paul spent most of the afternoon napping again. Dad said he would fall asleep in the recliner and then would suddenly wake up with a grin on his face. We like seeing smiles ... it shows emotion ... we don't get much of that!! Dad went over to Tabby's house this morning to give her the prescription that the doctor had written and found that SHE was home with a stomach virus. Must be something going around!! Carolyn & Billy were also sick this week!! This evening his fever was down and he seemed to feel much better. His breathing was better also. He still isn't back to himself and wasn't talking much but he stayed up late again tonight. Ronda & Bill came over with dessert. Dad & Paul were watching "The Last Samurai". All of us except Paul had dessert and coffee ... Paul wasn't interested in coffee tonight! Paul finally went to bed at 10:30pm. Hopefully Friday will be a more normal day and Paul will be feeling better!!

Happy Friday!! TGIF Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/10/07

Dear Friends:

Dad received a call from the neurologist office this morning. It appears that Paul's sodium level is still too low and his liver enzyme levels are high. The suspected culprit is still the anti-seizure medicines. It looks like we will be on "med change alert" for the next couple of days. Dad reduced Paul's Trileptol by one tablet a day. He was getting three in the morning and two at night ... now they will be two in the morning and two at night. He also increased the Kepra, which is suppose to help the Trileptol work better, by one tablet a day. He will get two in the morning and two at night for this medicine also. Paul was not feeling very well today. He was also running a low grade fever (100.3 degrees). Dad gave him Tylenol and that seems to bring the fever down. He had trouble walking today and didn't talk much. The speech therapist came this afternoon and Paul did pretty good with her. He was able to identify his fork and spoon when she asked him. He did better identifying the fork ... we'll keep working on this. Brook (the therapist) was pleased to hear Paul identify words when she would start the first letter sounds. She believes he is getting better with this (we do too!!). She tried to do the alphabet but he didn't do well so the therapy was discontinued for today. He does very well when given choices. Tonight I told him his choices for dinner ... Tuna or hot dogs ... he said "Tuna". Dad scheduled an appointment today for Paul to get outpatient physical therapy. He is scheduled to go for his first therapy at the hospital on Monday next week. Tonight Paul watched TV with us. He was very tired and complained of a headache. Dad gave him more Tylenol. About 8:30pm Dad asked Paul if he needed something. He nodded "yes" and Dad asked "what do you need?". Paul said "hospital". Dad wasn't sure what he said and asked Paul to repeat what he said, again he said "hospital". Dad asked him if he remembered being in the hospital and he said "no". We aren't sure where this came from. He wanted to go to bed early so Dad got him ready. He was in bed by 9pm. Hopefully he will be feeling better on Wednesday!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/09/07

Dear Friends:

Easter morning came early as promised! Dad got Paul up and dressed and headed to the church for the 6:30am service. We stood outside in the church yard and watched the sun come up during a short worship service. It was 29 degrees ... brrrrrrr. After the service we went inside the social hall for breakfast. Dad took Paul home after the 8:30 service. Since I sing in the choir I was at the church until almost 12:30pm. Carolyn & Alysa came for breakfast and the 8:30 service. Alysa sang with the children for the 11:00am service but then left to go home. Mommy didn't sleep well the night before and was tired. Bobby & Jen came for the 11:00am service. They came to the house and had lunch with us ... we cheated and got Captain D's fish for lunch!! The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. Paul continues to do really well. His walking is getting a little better. He sometimes gets ahead of himself and tries to walk before he finishes putting the walker down. The only problem with that is ... his balance isn't good enough to walk without using the walker. He is also saying words more and more. He can say our names and his name if you start off the first letter sound. He can say what day it is if you start the first letter sound. I think this is better each day. Gladys called her pastor in Ghana just before dinner. He does healing services and wanted to pray for Paul. He has been praying in Ghana and he has even been fasting for Paul's recovery. When he prayed for Paul on the speakerphone Paul was listening intently. When he was done and said "Amen" Paul looked up and said "Amen" back!! At dinner Dad gave him his dinner and Paul said "Thank you". It is nice when he says things that are voluntary!! Monday was a quiet day. I was off today since I have decided to work a four day week. Paul was up watching TV when I got up. It was a quiet morning until Dad decided it was time to exercise. Paul went into the laundry room where we have the exercise equipment and Dad made him work out for about 45 minutes. He is doing really well with the weight machines. He is actually very strong. Between the exercising and the walking it appears that Paul is losing a bit of weight. After the workout Paul was tired but he seemed to walk even better. Dad had to run out this afternoon to take some things to the dump. I stayed with Paul & Dora. Paul was pretty quiet most of the day. He didn't want to do much talking but we worked a bit on the parts of the face. He struggles with identifying his nose, eyes, mouth & ears but with some help he gets them right about 30 percent of the time. Tabby came by this evening. She spent some time with Paul. Pap-Paw & I played with Max. He is getting brave and lets go of things while he is standing up. It won't be long before he will walk!! I put Max on Paul's lap for a little bit. I asked Paul "do you remember his name?" ... then I started with "Mmmm" and Paul said (very clearly) "Max"! Tabby stayed for about 45 minutes. It was getting time for Max to go to bed. After Tabby left Paul sat up and watched Star Trek with Dad until after 10pm. He seemed wide awake (even after meds!!). Tomorrow the speech therapist will come. Dad also plans to put together our new patio table for the deck. If it is nice enough that is ... he wants Paul to be able to be out there and help!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/07/07

Dear Friends:

Friday started out early as usual for Paul. After dressing & getting breakfast, Dad took Paul to the doctor's office to have his blood drawn. The doctor is of course pleased with Paul's progress. He wants to have an MRI done soon so we can see the progress of Paul's healing. Hopefully as soon as the doctor's office gets a preapproval from Medicaid we can schedule something. The doctor also wrote a prescription for outpatient therapy so Dad can start taking Paul to the hospital and use their therapy services and equipment. While Paul was at the doctor's office Dad asked his how he was doing. Paul said "I'm doing average!". After Dad got Paul home they worked a bit on the alphabet and some of the speech exercises. Saturday morning we got up to a light coating of snow on the ground!! I was gone most of the morning and then had a birthday party for our granddaughter Alysa at 12:15pm. She is now seven years old. Billy & Carolyn organized a birthday party at a play place called "Pumping up". They had blowup slides and moon bounces for the kids to play on. I think they all had fun. Dad was at home with Paul & Gladys. Paul had a good day. After the birthday party we met up with Bill & Ronda and headed to Warrenton to have Mexican food. Paul (and Gladys) went with us. Paul at a lot of food and seemed to enjoy it but on the way home he threw up in the van. This has happened before so we may have to order something milder for Paul when we go there. Later this evening he was feeling better and we went to the bowling alley with Bill & Ronda and some of their kids. Paul sat just behind us and watched. He got to have Pizza and soda ... so he was happy! We got home pretty late and Paul was ready for bed! Sunday morning will come early for us ... Easter Sunrise Service at 6:30!

Happy Easter- Jesus Christ is Alive! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/05/07

Dear Friends:

Wednesday was a pretty quiet day. It was rainy and cold in the morning so Uncle Jimmy didn't come to work on the deck. Dad went out for a bit to see if he could find a glider swing for the new deck but he was not successful. Paul stayed with Dora. Rainy days are usually not good for Paul. He seems to have headaches and doesn't feel very good. They worked a little on speech and Dad has been giving Paul choices with his eating utensils. The therapist wants to see if Paul understands which utensils are appropriate for use when eating. That evening Dad asked Paul if he wanted to go to the bathroom or go to bed and he said "both"!! Thursday Dad had a doctor appointment. Dora stayed with Paul while Dad was gone. Uncle Jimmy came and helped finish the deck. Dad wanted to get Paul outside to help but it was too cold for Paul to be outside. The speech therapist came in the afternoon. She has noticed that Paul is having some improvement. She prompted him to say things and he did really well. She did the days of the week, numbers, shapes and she had Paul say his, Dad's & Dora's names. He now completes words with a prompt of just the beginning sound. This is an improvement since the speech therapist started coming. He is also able to tell us what he wants with a choice of two things. If you ask "do you want water or Kool-Aid?" he will say which one he wants. The therapist was only here for a half an hour and will come twice a week for a while. She is tracking his progress and as long as he keeps progressing that will continue. If he stops progressing she will discontinue his sessions until he is ready again. Dad said he believes that Paul is also doing better with his walking and balance. He has been using the walker for almost two weeks. Dad also believes that he is losing a little weight!! Friday they will try to work out in the exercise room. Bobby & Jen came by this evening. Paul enjoyed seeing them. Bobby said "hi" and Paul said "hi" back. Bobby said "how are you?" and Paul said "good". Then Bobby said "where's Mom?". I had gone to the church service tonight ... but Paul didn't really know that. Paul said "she's outside"!!! I guess he knew if I wasn't in the room I must be outside!!! By the time I got home tonight Paul was already in bed. I went in to say goodnight. He was pretty tired but I said "I'll see you tomorrow" and he said "OK"! Friday Paul goes to the neurologist to have his blood drawn. All has been going well and we don't expect the doctor to change any of his medicines or our routine. Dad plans to see if the neurologist will write a prescription for Paul to do outpatient therapy at the hospital since he is doing so well. Now that we are in a new year, Paul is eligible for more therapy hours through Medicaid. Friday is the anniversary of Paul's return home from Mount Vernon. He has been home for a year now. It is hard to believe that 17 months have gone by!

Happy Easter - Christ is Alive! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/03/07

Dear Friends:

Dora returned to work this morning. She still has a cough which she says is allergy but she is getting better. She and Dad got Paul up, dressed and he was eating breakfast when I got up. I returned to work today so I left the house around 8:30am. Uncle Jimmy came again today to work on the deck. It is almost done. They built a ramp that goes to the driveway so Dad can get Paul onto the deck a bit easier. There is still some work to be done but it is almost complete. Paul sat on the deck a good part of the day watching them work. When they took bathroom breaks Dad had Paul use his walker to get to the bathroom. He really does well although it is slow. The speech therapist came in the afternoon. She worked for about an hour with Paul. Brooke, the therapist, was trying to get Paul identify his eating utensils. She would start the word out ... "knnnn" and he would say "knife". He had a little trouble with "spoon" but if prompted he would eventually get it right. She noticed that he was doing better working when you prompt him. We had noticed that too. When she showed him a number flash card to identify what number it was. He didn't do well identifying numbers but when she would show him a number and ask him "is it a seven or one" he could answer right most of the time. Then she showed him shapes which he did pretty good at. If he had trouble identifying it she would show him a third card which matched one of the two and he could match the shape and get it right 100% of the time. Paul did OK but got tired and was falling asleep after about 1/2 hour. She plans to come back on Thursday and work another 1/2 hour to see if he does better working only 1/2 hour sessions. She wants us to start giving him more choices for things. We have already started doing that but she wants us to encourage him to say what he wants. Tabby came by this evening. She visited with Paul out on the deck. Carolyn had dropped Max off at our house since she was going out to dinner with a friend so Tabby was picking him up as well. Paul wasn't too sure what to do with Max when she put him in his lap. He didn't push him away or reject him but he didn't seem to know what to do. Tabby asked him if he wanted to kiss Max. He shook his head "no" so Tabby said "you want me to turn him around". She was having Paul kiss Max on the head when it was Max's bedtime. When she turned him around Paul was willing to kiss him on the head. Then Paul said "that's better!". This was unsolicited ... it was great! I went out with Brenda & Ronda tonight. We try to get together at least once a month and have a "girls night out". When I got home Paul had just gotten in bed for the night. I went in to say goodnight. I gave him a kiss and asked him if he wanted his second pillow under his head. He said "yes" and I tried to put the pillow behind him. It propped his head too much so I said "do you want me to take it back out?" He nodded "yes" so I removed it and said "sleep good". He responded by saying "good night". It was almost like having a regular conversation ... not just a prompted conversation. He is beginning to say more words. I believe he is beginning remember how to say some things ... not much but it is encouraging that he is doing so well.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/02/07

Dear Friends:

Sunday Paul didn't go to breakfast with us. He had breakfast at home with Gladys (the nurse) while Dad & I had breakfast with Bill & Ronda. Next week we will be able to take him since we have permission to bring Paul in through the side door which is more accessible. When it was time for Sunday School, Paul didn't want to go so Dad stayed home with him and they came down for worship. We live down the street from our church, and it was a beautiful day so Dad took Paul in the wheelchair and walked to church. Paul enjoyed the service. One of the members of our congregation helped Paul find the music in the hymnal to follow along. Gladys had made fried rice and brought it for us to have lunch. She really enjoys caring for Paul and likes bringing lunch from time to time! We had a restful afternoon. In the evening we went out for dinner to celebrate Billy's birthday. Paul ordered a Mexican pizza ... it was too much for him to finish!! Today we started out with a phone call from Dora (the weekday nurse) to say she was sick and wouldn't be here. That made the morning routine change a bit. Dad was able to give Paul a shower and get him dressed. After breakfast we needed to go out to pick up our car that was in the shop last week. Paul went with us and then he and Dad took a trip to the Verizon store. Uncle Jimmy came today to help Dad work on the deck. Dad wanted Paul to be able to use the drill to put in some screws but Paul wasn't interested in doing that. He sat on the part of the deck that was already completed and watched them work on the rest of it. He sat out there for several hours while they worked. He enjoyed being outside. It was a beautiful day for it. Everyday we have been asking Paul "what day is it?" and he usually isn't able to tell us unless you prompt him. Today I asked him and he said "Monday" without my prompt. He may have just gotten lucky but he got it right!!! Then I asked him "what is your name?" and he said "Charles" ... oh well!! This evening at dinner he and I were doing the blessing ... when I finished and said "amen", I looked up at him and he said "Amen"!! He seems to enjoy being able to say a blessing at each meal! Tomorrow Dad will work on the deck again. He plans to have Paul out there again. Things seem to be going well with Paul. Each day is a little different but he has adapted well to the changes in his routine. We do ask that you continue to pray for our family. We have had lots of changes and expect more. We need wisdom as we make decisions that will affect all of us.

Have a great day Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 03/31/07

Dear Friends:

Friday Dad started early. Home Depot delivered the materials for our new deck around 8am. Dora kept an eye on Paul while Dad managed getting the supplies into the back yard and sorted so he could be ready to begin work when Uncle Jimmy arrived. Once they began the work Paul was able to go outside and "supervise" the job. He and Dora sat out there and watched Dad & Uncle Jimmy work. He stayed out there until around 1:30pm when we broke for lunch. Paul enjoyed THREE pieces of Pizza. After lunch Paul wasn't interested in going back outside. It was a bit chilly so it was probably just as well that he wanted to stay inside. We had a quiet afternoon. After dinner we watched some TV for a while until bedtime. Paul got his medicines around 9pm. He was eating some baby carrots that were in a small coffee cup. I noticed he looked very tired and asked him if wanted to finish his carrots. He nodded "yes" so I asked "how many do you have left?". He looked into his bowl and looked back up at me and shook his head "no". I said "can you count them?" ... again he looked at them and looked back at me shaking his head "no". I went over to him and pointed into the bowl at the carrots one by one and he immediately said "one" ... "two" ... up to seven. He actually counted them BY HIMSELF! Saturday Paul didn't want to go outside when Uncle Jimmy and Dad started working on the deck. He stayed inside with me and Gladys. We watched TV much of the day. I've been trying to get him to chose a show by asking him "do you want to watch Mythbusters or something else?" I ask him until he gives me an answer. Amazingly he can actually pick one and say the name when I give him the choices. This evening we went to Carolyn & Billy's house for Mike's (a family friend) birthday. We had steaks & kabobs along with hotdogs & hamburgers. It was nice for Paul to be able to go and hang out a bit with the other kids his age. He said he enjoyed the evening. After we got home he wasn't tired and wanted to sit up for a bit. He has been doing so well the last week. I'm thankful that God has blessed him with so much healing and strength. I look around me and see many people hurting ... and I find myself grateful that our problems seem so small compared to some of the things others are dealing with. I'm also in awe that so many people continue to care about our family and Paul's progress! Thanks for being part of our journey!!

Love, Lynne & Carl