Paul's Update - 06/27/07

Dear Friends:

Tuesday started with Physical Therapy at Prince William Hospital. Cathy had him do the peddle bike and work on the parallel bars. He didn't really want to work at the parallel bars but she was able to get him to step up on the trampoline. She had him do some walking with the walker. Cathy said this was the last approved session for the insurance to pay for. She recommended that we work with the OT and Speech at Fair Oaks until fall and then possibly come back. After they got home from therapy Dad made Paul a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. He always loved grilled cheese ... he would even cook that for himself ... he was the BEST grilled cheese sandwich maker ever!! The afternoon was spent watching TV. It was hot outside (in the 90's) so he didn't go outside. At dinner time I fixed spaghetti & garlic toast. He loves the garlic toast. Ronda called after dinner and said she was making dessert ... YUM. She and Bill came over about 8pm and we had coffee and a Cherry-Almond Crunch ... which is like Cherry Cobbler. It was delicious. Paul started off slowly eating but once he started he ate it all up! Paul was up until 11pm.
Wednesday Paul had Occupational Therapy at Fair Oaks Hospital. Amy (the therapist) is still evaluating Paul's capabilities. She had him roll himself up to a table and took out a book. She was going to show him a page with a symbol on the top and he had to match the symbol on the page. He was going to be timed for a minute. He knew exactly what to do and got quite a few of them right. After they were done she went back to the pages he missed so he could get a better look. She wants not only speed but accuracy. He looked at the ones he missed and was able to get some of those right. He had trouble with the letter Z. It was inside of a box and he had trouble identifying it to match. After they were done they went to an exercise table and had him stand up. There were two milk crates on the table. One had small items in it. She worked with some balls that were about the size of a softball. He was suppose to stand at the table and move the balls from one crate to the other. He didn't want anything to do with it. She told him he could sit and do it if he wanted to. Finally she put several of them on the table in front of him but he wouldn't do it. Dad told Paul he really needed to do it and handed him one of the balls. He took it and put it in the crate and then did a bunch more. In a minute he moved fifteen of them with his left hand. Then she worked on the right hand and he only got eight of them. When she went to take them out of the crate she had him count them. He does really good up to ten but then you have to prompt him for the other numbers. He can do it if you prompt him. Amy was pleased that Paul understood what she asked him to do ... he needs to work on being "able" to do what she asks! After that she was able to get him to stand up at the table and he was able to move the balls into the crate while standing. She wanted to see if he could manage his balance while doing a task. He did pretty good. Dad and Amy were nearby in case he lost his balance but they really didn't have to do much. She now has a "baseline" for her work. She noticed that he was closing one eye when he was working. She used an ink pen to have him follow it. Then she held up two pens and asked him to look from one pen to the other without moving his head. She thinks he may be having some double vision. Paul has an eye doctor appointment in July and she will write a letter addressing her concerns to the eye doctor. Once the session was over she said she will be off for two weeks so another therapist will be working with him during her absence. Amy also sent home some "homework" for Paul to do. Max came over and visited after dinner for a little while. He is starting to take more steps. He still prefers crawling....he gets there faster!! He stayed until about 8pm. Pap-Paw was on the floor playing with Max & Paul was watching. Paul was smiling so Dad asked "do you like watching Max play?" and he said "yes" but when Dad asked "do you want to get on the floor and play?" Paul said "no". That's OK ... he's allowed to enjoy just watching!! Thursday Dad is planning to take Paul to the Freedom Center and try out the exercise equipment. We don't have anything for him to wear in the pool yet but as soon as we do Dad would like to start taking him to the gym several times a week.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl