Paul's Update - 07/30/07

Dear Friends:

What an awesome start to another week. Paul started out Sunday by getting up and dressing himself. He put on his own shirt, socks & shoes. Dad said he didn't want to do his pants so Dad helped him with that. He also shaved himself and bushed his own teeth. We didn't go to breakfast since Bill & Ronda were still out of town. I left about 9:30 to go and pick up Joanne at the nursing home and we went straight to the church. Dad, Gradis & Paul were late to Sunday school because Paul WALKED all the way to church! It isn't that far ... about 350ft and it is down hill but it is still a lot of walking for Paul. He is getting very strong. He was very alert during the service and sat in the pew with Dad & Me. It is hard to imagine that only a few months ago he still had mostly a stare on his face ... now he pays attention to people and speaks to them when they say hello. After church Dad planned for Paul to walk home. He gave him an option to ride with me but Paul said "no". As I was driving away from the parking lot I noticed that Paul had stopped in the middle of the lot so I stopped the car and asked him if he wanted a ride. He nodded his head "yes" so I unlocked the door and he opened the back door and sat down by himself. I guess he was tired from all that walking!! The afternoon was mostly quiet and it rained for several hours. When it rains the Satellite TV doesn't work so we turned off the TV and everyone took a nap!! It was a great day for that!! LOL For dinner I made a roast with potatoes and carrots. Paul continued his hunger streak and ate all of his dinner within about 20 minutes. This doesn't seem like much but he had been taking almost 40 minutes on average to eat his dinner lately. After dinner Dad had taken Paul to the bathroom and on the way back out he went past his chair in the living room. He was heading to the laundry room. We told him he couldn't go outside since it had been raining and everything was wet. When I asked him if he knew he couldn't go outside he shook his head "yes" but kept walking. He went straight toward the garage door. As he neared the door the cat food container was in the way of his walker. He stopped for a second and looked at it then he maneuvered his walker sideways and then WALKED SIDEWAYS to avoid the container. He got to the door, opened it and he walked down the steps to the garage. Dad was holding him from behind but he managed the steps really well. Once he was at the bottom of the steps he walked straight to the driver side door on our car and opened it. Then he let go of the walker and positioned himself to get into the car. He sat down in the driver seat all by himself. He was very proud of himself!! Dad asked him if he wanted to drive and he nodded "yes" but when Dad asked him "do you remember how to drive?" he shook his head "no". This is the second time in a week that he has gone to the car (or truck) and wanted to get in the driver seat! We can't tell if he wants to go somewhere but he seems to know what he is doing!

Monday was another incredible day. After dressing himself and getting breakfast Dad got Paul ready to go to the gym. When it was time to go Dad told him to head for the front door so they could get in the van. Paul shook his head "No" and headed for the garage again. He walked straight to our car and stood next to the passenger door on the driver side. I asked him if he wanted to take the car to the gym and he nodded his head "yes". So Dad opened the car door and Paul got into the BACK seat! He and Dora got to be chauffeured to the gym!! Dad said Paul had a great workout again. This was gym day ... tomorrow will be pool day! He did leg presses of 185lbs and leg extensions of 50lbs. Dad said he complains about doing it but he still DOES it!! He also did arm exercises ... something called triceps presses and did about 50lbs of weight on that. Dad also has him doing a bench press but they are only doing 40lbs with that since his arms are not very strong yet. He does really well with the arm machine where he has to pull the weights from over his head down to his lap. It stretches his arms when he extends above his head. He did the row machine that simulates a rowing action. This strengthens his back muscles. He also did arm curls and this was the first time he has done them by himself. He is only doing 10lbs with these weights. Once they are done with the machines Paul works out on the bicycle for about 10 minutes. This equates to about 1.2 miles. Dad said he peddles more constant which is an improvement from when he first started doing the cycle. Dad decided to join the gym for a year since they have been going so often and it has been so good for them both! I went out and did errands while they were gone and when they got home Paul was able to walk himself up the steps in the garage by himself. He walked into the laundry room, kitchen and dining room but when it was time to head for the living room he turned and headed towards our bedroom. We have a king size water bed and Paul went to the end of it ... turned around and SAT DOWN on our bed!! He was very proud of himself! Dad asked him if he wanted to lay down for a bit and he nodded "yes" so Dad told him to scoot himself up onto the bed. He lifted his feet up onto the bed and pushed himself to the head of the bed ... all by himself! He laid in there and watched TV for a couple hours before Dad finally got him to come into the living room and eat lunch. It is so wonderful seeing him make his own decisions ... and be able to accomplish things for himself. It seems like all the exercise (and maybe the new medicine) is waking him up and making aware of the things he would like to do. After dinner Carolyn, Billy, Alysa & Chris came by for a visit. It was nice having them over. Paul really enjoys talking with Billy. Even when he won't talk to us ... he seems to be willing to talk to Billy! Paul went to bed a little early (10pm) but he was really tired! He has been so active and alert over the last few weeks. We are amazed and grateful that he is doing so well.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/28/07

Dear friends:

Sorry I have gotten behind a lot lately. So many good things have happened lately! Thursday Dad took Paul to the gym. They did their regular workout. They did leg presses with 185lbs. He did about 12 times. Dad tried to get him to do the bench press but he wouldn't do that. They moved to the machine where he has to sit and pull weights from above his head down to his lap. He did 40lbs on that machine. This machine stretches his arms and strengthens them at the same time! He is getting more mobility with the right arm all the time. After lunch Dad went over and picked up Max to spend the afternoon with them. Max is walking all the time now and he is also giving up his bottle. He is using a sippy cup and does real good with it. Our bible study was cancelled that night since Bill & Ronda are on a trip to visit Ronda's mom & dad in Indiana. We had a quiet night at home. Paul decided he wanted to come into my office while I was working on the computer in there. He sat at my desktop and I gave him my wireless mouse and a mouse pad on a lap desk. He took the mouse and moved it around the screen for a bit. I got onto the Harley Davidson website for him and he was looking at it but didn't seem to know where to go so he just moved the mouse around. I think he is interested in the computer but it may take some time for him to know what he wants to do on it. This may be worth more work!

Friday morning was therapy at Fair Oaks Hospital. Paul walked to the therapy room again. Dad has been encouraging Paul to walk all the time. He takes the wheelchair but Paul doesn't use it much. He only has speech on Friday. The therapist was able to get Paul to talk for about 45 minutes out of his hour session. They worked on the alphabet and counting. The therapist is convinced that there is a lot going on inside Paul's mind and she needs to figure out how to get it out! Since we feel that way too ... we are glad she is willing to be aggressive and work with Paul! She has promised to try to do something NEW next week to see if she can motivate him more! After therapy Dad got lunch for Paul and then headed out to the gym to use the pool. I don't know if I mentioned before that they have a machine that lowers Paul into the water. It is a slow process and Dad said the water was especially cold. Once Paul is in the water he seems to enjoy it. He has become more comfortable in the water and Dad was able to even get him to kick his legs. Dad is also letting Paul do more walking on his own in the water. It is really good exercise and it allows Paul to gain his own balance. Later in the evening Dad & I went out to dinner. Carolyn, Billy, Alysa & Chris came over. Carolyn & Billy were willing to stay with Paul while we were out. We had dinner and then went to a movie. It was nice to be able to get out ... just the two of us!!

Saturday morning was GREAT! Paul got a shower first thing. After he finished the shower Dad allowed Paul to dress himself. He put on his own shirt, shorts, socks & shoes!! He also stood at the sink and washed his hands, combed his hair & shaved. Gradis was so excited! She enjoys seeing Paul make so much progress! Dad & I went out to the farmer's market around 10am and also did some errands while we were out. We got home around 12pm and it was time for Paul's lunch. He wasn't interested in the normal lunch ... he wanted a Lean Cuisine frozen dinner. He seems to have a pretty good appetite lately and he ate the whole thing in record time! The afternoon was mostly quiet and we watched movies. Dad was able to rest some during the afternoon. Dinner was pork chops and sauerkraut. Paul ate it all (again in record time!!). We had Alysa & Chris after dinner and they stayed while Carolyn & Billy went out with Bobby & Jen. It is nice having the grandchildren over!! Paul had a bowl of ice cream after dinner. Dad gave him three scoops and Paul ate it in TWO SPOONFULS!! I think he got a MAJOR brain freeze ... the look on his face was priceless! He enjoyed it ... good thing brain freeze is not really harmful! Sunday should be another quiet day. We will worship God in the morning ... we have a lot to thank Him for!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/21/07

Dear Friends:

Paul continues to progress nicely each day. Paul spent a great deal of Thursday morning at the dentist. He was in the dental chair for over two hours while the dentist completed one of the crowns and did prep work for the next crown. The dentist always comments that he wishes all of his patients cooperated as nicely as Paul does. He opens his mouth and holds it open, he turns his head whatever way the dentist needs him to and when the assistant rinses his mouth and suctions it he closes his mouth on the little tube just like your suppose to!! Anyway ... once he got home Dad had planned to take him to the gym but he wasn’t feeling good enough for that so they had a quiet day at home.

Friday was another very busy day. Paul had Occupational therapy at 9:30. she worked on having him put pegs in the pegboard. He had to do them in a certain order and he followed her instructions at first. The second row she made a different pattern with the pegs and at first he didn’t do it right. She showed him what to do and then he seemed to catch on and did what she wanted. After OT he went to Speech. It is nice that they are on the same day and both at Fair Oaks Hospital. The speech therapist told Dad that she and the Occupational Therapist had conferred on Paul’s therapy needs and the OT wanted to only work with Paul once a week so that she could see him for a longer period of time. The speech therapist felt that now is the time that Paul needs the MOST stimulation and the more often she sees him the more she can encourage the synapses to work. Dad agrees with the speech therapist and is also concerned that if Paul should lose his health insurance somewhere along the way he may not be able to get the full benefit of the amount of therapy that has been approved. For now they have decided that he will continue to get speech twice a week. Once the speech therapist confers with the occupational therapist we will know whether Paul will continue to get OT twice a week as well. He is doing so well it would be a shame to slow him down!! After they finished at the hospital Dad, Dora & Paul headed home for lunch and then back out to the gym. Paul really enjoys going to the gym and he works out really hard each time. They did the pool and Paul was able walk mostly by himself (without Dad holding him). He wears a flotation belt so he won’t go under the water. Dad said he seemed to like doing that. He also did some floating on his back. Dad gets at his head and pulls him by his shoulders through the water. At first he held his arms close to his body but Dad was able to get him to relax and hold his arms loosely in the water. He even did some arm strokes!! That night we (Dad, Paul & I) went out to dinner with Bill, Ronda, Missy, Barry, Lew & their new baby girl, Serenity. Dad was wanting steak so we went to Logan’s. Paul had fish…which is what he told me earlier in the day that he wanted for dinner. Every once in a while Paul exhibits poor judgement and while we were waiting for our food Paul picked up the peanut bucket and put it to his mouth like he was going to drink out of it!! LOL. Then later he reached past Dad and picked up Dad’s drink and was going to drink that. It isn’t like he didn’t have a drink of his own!! Once dinner came he ate good and seemed to enjoy being out.

Saturday morning started out quiet. Dad got Paul up and showered. It is always nice when he has a shower because his hair gets so much cleaner!! Plus ... He loves showers!! Dad & I went out to get a wedding gift for my friend Karen’s son’s wedding that we were going to later that day. Paul stayed with Gradis while we were out. The wedding was at 4pm so we left about 3pm to head out to Springfield (about ½ hour away). We wanted to arrive a little early so we could get Paul situated. The wedding was at my friend’s house (on the deck) and it was a beautiful day for it. The ceremony was also beautiful. After the ceremony there was a reception on the deck with lots of food. Paul especially enjoyed the spare ribs. He ate five of them ... and cleaned every bit of the meat off of them!! We stayed until late and were able to visit with Butch and Karen after most of the guests had left.

Sunday morning we headed out to breakfast as usual. Paul was especially hungry and ate his entire breakfast pretty quickly. He has discovered lately that he would rather use his fingers to eat with ... it IS faster! He had scrambled eggs, home fries and toast. He managed to use his fork for the eggs but the home fries were fair game for eating with fingers!! After breakfast we have a little time at home before heading to Sunday School and Sunday Worship. Paul was able to greet many of the folks coming in since he sits at the back of the church during the service. After church we met up with Bill, Ronda & Lew and got Subway sandwiches that we took to the park and ate. It was an absolutely gorgeous day ... perfect for a picnic. Lew enjoyed playing on the playground and running around the park. Gradis enjoyed playing with Lew some too ... she loves children!! After coming home and relaxing for a bit, Carolyn, Billy, Alysa & Chris showed up and had leftover BBQ ribs with us. Paul enjoyed them as much today and he did at the wedding!!! I have been working with Paul to get him to stand more by himself (without much help) since he depends on Dad a lot for standing. In order for Dad to get a break someone else is going to HAVE to be able to help Paul get up ... and he HAS to help for anyone else!!! He did really well with it as long as Dad isn’t standing right there!! I think it won’t be long before he will be able to get up without much help at all. Tonight Paul watched some TV but was ready for bed about 10:30pm. Dad was ready too ... they both went to bed a bit early compared to most nights lately!! Monday we hope to see Max. Tabby was suppose to pick him up from her parents today and bring him home. We haven’t seen him for over a week and Pap-Paw really misses him!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/18/07

Dear Friends:

Tuesday Paul didn't have any appointments. Dad decided it was a good day to go to the pool. Paul enjoyed the pool even more. Dad started out in the deep pool. They had a half an hour before the summer camp kids would be coming. They actually had about 45 minutes to walk around the pool. Dad had Paul walk a little bit without Dad holding him. Since he has a flotation belt on he can move in the water without worrying about going under. He seemed to enjoy that. When they got out of the big pool Dad took him over to the hot tub. It was a little foamy and Paul didn't want to get in ... he dangled his feet in the water for a little while. After they were done with the hot tub Dad took Paul in the Water Wheel Chair (made with PVC pipe) to the shallow pool which is only 3 feet deep. It has a ramp that goes into the water. After they came home Paul spent the afternoon watching TV.

Wednesday morning Dad got Paul up, dressed and had breakfast in time to go to Occupational Therapy. The therapist had a plastic box that had horizontal rods with clips (like clothes pins) on it. She had him take the clips off and drop them in the box. She told him what to do and he immediately started to do that. He tried to do two at a time and she told him "no, I want you to do them ONE at a time" and he cooperated and did them right. Then she had him find all the blue ones and put them on a vertical rod on the box. She helped him find them and he would grab it with his right hand and clip them on the box ... each one went a little higher than the one before. Then he had to find the black ones and put them above the blue ones. He was stretching up pretty far with the right hand. He finally switched to his left hand since he can reach higher with that hand. Then she wanted him to take them off the pole but he didn't want to do that. She took them off and got a ball that she wanted him to raise above his head ten times ... he didn't want to do that AT ALL. Dad got him to raise the ball up and hand it to him and then Dad handed it back to Paul. They passed it back and forth to Dad and the Therapist (Ruby). They also got him to throw the ball. After OT it was time for Speech which is also in the hospital but downstairs. They did counting, days of the week, alphabet. She tried to get him to identify a nose, eyes & ears in a picture by saying the words. He didn't like saying "nose" but he was able to say the eyes & ears. This used up most of their time with the speech therapist. After they left the hospital Dad headed to the gym for a workout. Paul worked on the exercise machines and did a pretty good routine. Dad got him to do leg presses with 160lbs of weight. He argued with Dad the whole time but he did ten presses. Then they did the bicycle for ten minutes. He seems to enjoy doing that. They got home around 1:30 and Dad got Paul's lunch. Dad & I had an appointment to go to at 3pm. Paul stayed with Dora. We got home around 4:30. After dinner watched TV for a bit before Bill & Ronda called to ask if we wanted to go to Denny's with them for coffee. Paul enjoyed Denny's ... there was LOTS of activity there ... and lots of GIRLS!! He was watching all the people as they walked past us ... especially the girls!! We didn't get home until almost 11pm and he headed right to bed. He'd had a BUSY day! Dad said he thinks that he will join the gym so he and Paul can continue to go on a regular basis. They will go to the pool again on Thursday after they finish up at the dentist. Paul will have the prep work for the second cap and probably will have the first cap finished up. He is almost done with the dental work that he needs done!! Yahoo!!

Paul's Update - 07/16/07

Dear Friends:

Sunday started out a little different than normal. Our regular breakfast with Bill & Ronda was cancelled since Bill had to preach at the 8:30am & 11:00am services. Since Paul had been sick all day on Saturday we weren't sure he was going out anyway!! Dad went in to get Paul up and evidently during the night (Saturday night) he had done a lot of sweating. He had gone to bed the night before with a fever and it appears that he had probably had some sweating and chills during the night before his fever broke. He seemed to feel a lot better by morning. He had a little coughing incident while eating breakfast but he was fine after that. Dad decided to keep him home from church just to be on the safe side. By the time I had arrived home from church Paul had already eaten lunch and was watching TV with Gradis. It was a relaxing day and Paul napped off and on during the afternoon. Dad & I also took advantage of the quiet afternoon and took naps too!!

Monday morning Dad got Paul up and ready to go to Fair Oaks Hospital for Occupational Therapy. Paul seemed grumpy and wouldn't talk to Dad. He arrived at the hospital and nobody seemed to know why he wasn't on the schedule for the day. After some checking they realized that the therapist had changed his regular therapy days to Wednesday and Friday since that is when he is scheduled to have speech therapy. This works out pretty nice since it makes Dad only have to travel to Fair Oaks twice a week instead of three times. It would have been nice if they had called and told us about the change!! Oh well! Dad decided that since they were already out of the house they would go right to the Freedom Center and do a workout in the gym. They did the normal workout. Paul worked out on a half a dozen of the machines. When Dad asked him if he wanted to do the bicycle he said "no" but when they went to leave Paul changed his mind and so they worked on it for about eight minutes (six working out and two cooling down). He is improving with his routine each time he goes. He was pretty exhausted when he got home and spent some time resting and napping in the afternoon. Dad went out this evening to get Popeye's chicken for himself and Paul. I had a dinner out with the women at our church. Later in the evening Dad asked Paul if his muscles were sore and he said "yes". Dad's muscles are a bit sore too!! Dad is getting a pretty good workout too!! LOL Dad hopes to go to the pool on Tuesday.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/14/07

Dear Friends:

Thursday was a quiet day for Paul. Dad said Paul didn't want to go to the gym. Thursday night is bible study night but only Bill & Ronda showed up. Ronda brought dinner for Dad & Paul. I went to a baseball game with my sister, Cathy. We had a good time but the trip on I-95 took two and a half hours to get to Baltimore (which is only a little over an hour and fifteen minutes normally). It took even longer to come home (doh). When I got home Paul was in bed and Dad was very ready for bed!!

Friday Paul had Speech therapy at 10:30. The therapist (Natasha) said she is very encouraged by Paul's ability. He started out slowly and didn't want to cooperate. She got him started by having him count to ten, then she showed him some pictures to get him to tell her what they were. He wouldn't talk to her but he would look at Dad and talk to him. She tried by prompting him with the letter sound and he finally would do it. She told Paul that sometimes speech therapy may seem boring since she will have to go over things many times. She found out that the insurance company has approved Paul for twenty therapy sessions. That will take us to September. If he continues to improve she plans to ask Medicaid for a hundred visits. Considering our past experience we are not going to believe it will happen until it DOES!! After therapy Dad & Paul went to the gym. Paul rode the bicycle at level three, Dad was only at level 5 and he said it was quite challenging. Dad didn't have to correct his footing at all, usually he has to adjust Paul's right foot back onto the peddle and he didn't have to do that at all. They worked out on some of the weight machines and he did really well with them. On the way home they went to get gas and then went to get lunch at Roy Rogers. Paul said he wanted a fish sandwich ... did you know they don't have fish at Roy Rogers??? He ended up getting a chicken sandwich. He seemed to like it. Thursday was Carolyn's birthday so our family went out to dinner Friday night. We went to Akasaka, the Japanese Steak House in Manassas that we enjoy. Bill & Ronda came with us. It was really nice having everyone together. Max was the only one not there ... he is in West Virginia with Tabby's parents for the week.

Saturday morning Paul woke up and had been sick during the night. Dad got him up and was cleaning him when the nurse arrived. It appears that he has a stomach virus and he felt terrible all day. He was throwing up and listless all day. We had to cancel our trip to Warrenton for Mexican food with Bill & Ronda. Paul was able to eat a little chicken noodle soup for lunch but he didn't keep it down longer than an hour. By dinner he was feeling somewhat better and ate some toast, applesauce and Jell-O. He was ready for bed by 10:00pm. He was running a little fever (101 degrees) so Dad gave him some Tylenol. Hopefully he will sleep better and feel back to normal by Sunday morning.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/11/07

Dear Friends:

Paul continues to have amazing progress. Tuesday Paul went to the gym. They worked on legs & calves, arm extensions and even bench pressing. Paul really enjoys working out at the gym. He worked on the bicycle for about 10 minutes. Dad observed that he is getting better with his peddling. Paul spent a lot of time watching TV in the afternoon. When Dad gets him up to go to the bathroom he is working on putting his hands on the arms of the chair and pushing himself into a position to stand. Dad is only having to steady him with one arm and is doing minimum assisting. It is amazing how strong he really is. Dad was really tired in the evening after dinner. I had a meeting to go to and when I got home Paul & Dad were watching TV but Dad fell asleep about 10:30. Paul however was up and alert until almost midnight. Finally Dad got up and took him to bed.

Dad found Paul turned around in the bed Wednesday morning. He had managed to turn himself around so that his head was at the foot of the bed and his feet were at the head. His bed pad wasn't messed up and we aren't really sure how he got himself turned around. He had also folded his bed covers over to one side ... he must have gotten hot during the night. Once Paul finished getting up and dressed, Dad had him walk to the bathroom to stand at the sink. He was able to shave himself while standing in front of the mirror. Dad said he did a really good job shaving and didn't try to shave any place that didn't need to be shaved. In the past he has tried to put the razor (electric) up in his hairline but he didn't do that this time! After breakfast Dad, Dora & Paul left to go to Occupational Therapy. He worked with Ruby again. She didn't try to do any more evaluation. They started working with some blocks, she made a pattern with them and asked him to copy the pattern. He did OK with it but he had trouble with the shape that looked like "Z". He worked on it and he finally got it but it was actually backwards. He's done that with other things ... I wonder if he sees some things backwards?? She also had him work on taking his shoes off and putting them back on. He has Velcro on his shoes and he was able to undo the Velcro, loosen the straps and take his shoes off. He also put them back on and fastened the Velcro in place. She had him work on cutting strips of paper with a pair of scissors. He held the paper in one hand and used the scissors to cut with the other hand. She tried to get him to write on some paper but he wouldn't do that at all. After OT, Paul had a speech therapy appointment downstairs in the hospital. This is his first visit with the speech therapist (Natasha). She tried to get him to count to twenty. He does pretty good with that ... one to ten is easy but then you have to prompt him through eleven to twenty. She tried to get him to sing happy birthday but he wouldn't do that. Dad told her that Tabby use to try to do "Do, Re, Me" but the therapist didn't do it well enough for him to repeat. She tried to get him to look at two pictures and identify one of them ... there was a picture of a person crying and one of a pair of scissors ... she asked him to point to the person crying but he refused to do that. At that point they had used up his hour. She said she will be thinking about what kinds of activities Paul can do on Friday. After getting home Dad took Paul to the Freedom Center. Today was "pool day". The Freedom Center has a machine that lifts a person up from the floor and lowers them into the pool. Dad put a flotation belt on him and they lowered him (slowly) into the pool. Dad said the water was cold and Paul was shivering while they were getting him into the water. Once in the water Dad said Paul had a death grip on him. Dad tried to get Paul to float a little. He floated on his back OK but when Dad tried to get him to float on his stomach Paul started to panic and he immediately started to do what could be described as a "doggy paddle". Dad reassured him that he wouldn't let him fall or drown. They walked about the pool for a while. At first Paul had his arms tightly against his body but after some time Dad was able to get him to relax his arms a bit. Dad finally got him to let his arms move away from his body and Paul walked around the pool for a while. Dad tried to get him to hold onto the edge of the pool and kick his feet but he wouldn't do that. Dad tried to have him float while pulling him through the water and he did some kicking. Dad said Paul got a little smirk on his face as if to say "I like this". After the workout Dad took Paul to the hot tub for a little while. He really enjoys that. The afternoon was quiet ... Paul had quite a workout!! This evening Paul was so tired that he was ready to go to bed at 8:30!!! Dad thought he needed to go to the bathroom but once they got down the hall a bit Paul just kept on going to his bedroom and proceeded to position his walker out of the way so he could sit on his bed. Dad put a movie in for him and he started the massager in the bed. Paul watched the whole movie but was ready to go to sleep by 11pm. It is really amazing how much progress Paul has made lately!!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/09/07

Dear Friends:

Monday was a very busy day for Paul. We got up early and got dress. After breakfast we headed out to Fair Oaks hospital for a 9:30 appointment with the Occupational therapist. Since Amy is still on vacation we saw Connie today. She was very good and started out with Paul standing at the bathroom sink. She had him turn on the water and wash his hands. It took a little doing to get him started but he eventually did wash his hands. This is to practice standing and balancing as well as doing a "self-care" activity. After he finished we had him walk to the desk and attempt to work on some small motor skills. He started out slow but she got his attention with the peg board. He likes putting pegs in the foam board and he lines them all up in a neat row!! She tried several small motor skills with him which he was not really interested in but when she took out the nuts and bolts ... he suddenly had an interest in doing that!! Imagine that ... a mechanic that likes nuts and bolts!! LOL He worked on screwing the nuts on the bolts and then unscrewing them. Then with some encouragement he counted the locking rings that were on the table. He was able to get to about 18 before he gave up trying. Then she wanted to see if he could write on a page ... trace a picture. There was a square, a circle and the word "dad" on the page. She put the marker in his left hand (he's actually right handed but that hand is weak still) and he was able to trace the word "dad" with Connie's help. Then she had him start to trace the square. She helped him with the first line but then he started to do it by himself so she let him finish it. I was amazed since we have not been able to get him to do that at home. After they finished she had him put away the nuts and bolts and they worked on getting up from a chair. She wants him to start practicing standing by himself by putting his hands behind himself and pushing himself up. Since Dad helps him a lot he doesn't really get up by himself and doesn't practice proper standing skills. Once we were done (after a GREAT session) we headed downstairs and went to get coffee before we left. On the way home Dad decided to take Paul to the gym and see if they could get into the pool. I told Dora she needed to get out her bathing suit!! LOL She laughed hysterically!! Fortunately ... she doesn't really need to get into the pool ... but it was nice to see her laugh!! Once we got home Dad took him in the house to go to the bathroom and got ready to head back out to the Gym. They started out by pushing the wheelchair down the ramp and into the pool. Paul didn't move much but he enjoyed the pool. Then Dad put him in the hot tub. Paul really enjoyed that!! So did Dad!! He had a little trouble getting out of the hot tub but at least he was able to do that! Next time they will try to put on a life vest and stand him up in the regular pool. Tonight Paul got a phone call from Bobby. Paul enjoys talking to his brother on the phone. They had a nice conversation. Aside from mostly "yes" and "no" from Paul it seems like almost a normal conversation. Paul really pays attention and understands everything that Bobby says!! Dinner was stew tonight but Paul wasn't interested in that. He never really liked stew and he ended up having Chef Boyardee Ravioli. We went out to sit on the swing after the sun went down. It was still really hot out there (about 97 degrees) so we didn't stay out very long. We watched TV until bedtime. Tuesday Dad plans to go back to the gym to do exercise on the equipment ... it's good for both Dad & Paul!! :-)

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/08/07

Dear Friends:

This weekend has been pretty quiet. Paul is feeling pretty good but hasn't been very active. Dad & Dora took Paul to his general practitioner at 11:30am. Dr. Stonerock is the doctor that prescribed the medicine to increase brain tissue growth and also the medicine to increase synapses activity. Dad told her that Paul refused to take the anti-depressant that Dr. Levinstone prescribed and she said "Goooood!!! That medicine decreases brain activity ... he's better off without it"!! She was pleased that he wasn't having any agitated behavior from the new medicine and decided to increase the medicine for the synapses activity. He was taking 20mg of Adderall a day and she increased it to 30mg a day. He will go back in a month to see how he is doing. We all went to dinner at the Chinese Restaurant in Centreville (Dad, Paul, Ronda, Bill & I). Paul was extremely thirsty. The waiter there is prompt to refill the water glasses and Paul drank four glasses of water before his dinner arrived! He had Lemon Chicken with Tea and he only ate about half of it ... probably since he was full from water!! Once we got home Paul stayed outside with us until almost 10:30pm. We had been talking about the new medicine at dinner and when Dad went to give Paul his medicines at 10:30pm he REFUSED to take it. He didn't want to take ANY of his meds!! We tried to encourage him that we weren't giving him any medicines that would hurt him! After about 20 minutes Dad tried again and he took it. We certainly don't need him refusing to take his anti-seizure medicine!!

Saturday morning Dad & Gradis took Paul to the Freedom Center. He worked out and did really good. They worked on legs and calves. Dad set the weights at 110lbs. They didn't increase the weights this time. He rode the bike for about 10 minutes. They did some back extensions and worked out his arms. Dad had him extend his arms almost all the way up with some help. His arms are still a little stiff and Dad wants to work some of that stiffness out of them. Dad said he was impressed with the workout. We went to El Agave in the afternoon about 3pm. Paul ate the chicken tenders, cheese sticks and french fries. He must have been hungry ... he ate almost all of his lunch. He really likes using his hands to eat ... finger food is easier to eat!! Carolyn came over with Alysa & Chris after we got home. We all sat out in the yard for a while. It was a beautiful day. Chris is such a good baby and I got some really good "grandma time" in. She stayed until about 9:30pm and Dad, Paul & I sat outside on the swing for about another 1/2 hour before going inside. Paul actually went to bed pretty early ... 10:30pm.

Sunday we got up and headed out to breakfast. Paul said he didn't want to go but Dad asked him if he wanted to get eggs, bacon, toast and juice for breakfast and he said "yes". We had a good breakfast and when we got home Max arrived to go to Sunday School with us. It was nice having all of my grandchildren in church today!! We kept Max for the afternoon. He was really tired when we got home but he wanted to play with Pap-Paw and Alysa and wouldn't lay down to rest. Carolyn went out with Alicia after church so Alysa came home with us. After they left around 3pm Max finally fell asleep and took about an hour nap. After Max went home this evening Paul & I worked on some speech therapy. He worked with numbers, alphabet & names. I also had him work on trying to write on a white board. He has a lot of trouble managing a pen. He was finally able to put the marker on the board and made a small line. It is a start but he needs lots of practice with this. After we finished that I worked on having him identify the day of the week on a calendar. He can do the days of the week in order. He has a little trouble along the way but with a little prompting he can do it! Monday will be Paul's occupational therapy with Ruby at Fair Oaks Hospital. This will be a busy therapy week ... OT on Monday, OT & Speech on Wednesday and Speech on Friday!

Paul's Update - 07/05/07

Dear Friends:

I hope you had an enjoyable Fourth of July. Paul was up early and got a shower. We had no nurse since it was a holiday. She doesn't get many holidays so I'm sure she enjoyed being off. Actually, I enjoyed having an opportunity to clean without her here!! Dad has to work a bit harder when Dora is off but he doesn't seem to mind. While I was cleaning Paul helped me fold up some washcloths that needed to go in our hallway bathroom. I roll them up and put a napkin ring on them and then put them in a basket on the shelf in the bathroom. Paul was able to roll two of them up for me and I put the napkin ring on them. Once he got them rolled up he put them in my basket. It doesn't seem like much but it was a controlled use of his hands! Dad got busy doing the trim on the new door that he installed on Tuesday. Paul was able to watch from his chair in the living room. When Dad went out into the laundry room Paul was leaning his chair back to try to see where Dad went!! He enjoys watching Dad work. We headed out about 5:30pm to go to Carolyn's house for a BBQ & fireworks. Bobby & Jen were there along with two friends of Bobby's. Jen's sister, her husband and their daughter Jenna came too. Mike & his girlfriend were also there. Carolyn had prepared lots of good foods and we had hot dogs & hamburgers. After dinner Billy did some fireworks for Alysa, Nadia & Sevira. Paul was invited to go outside and watch but he decided he would rather sit inside and watch Billy's high definition TV. We left about 9:30pm and got caught in traffic ... it took us almost an hour to drive what is usually a 10 minute drive!! Paul stayed up until after midnight again.

Thursday morning Dora showed up at her regular time. She & Dad got Paul up and dressed. Dad was planning to go and visit his mother. About 10am Dad told Dora she could go home since the van was going to be full with Carolyn, Alysa, Chris, Nadia, Sevira, Paul & Dad. She didn't waste any time leaving!! Paul sat in the front seat of the van. That way Carolyn could be in the back with the children. Paul had a nice visit with Grandma Johnson. When they arrived at Grandma's Paul used his walker and went up the handicap ramp to the front of the house. It is quite a steep incline but he managed it really well. Dad said when they got in the house and Paul was getting ready to sit, Ruby suggested that Grandma move the chair out a little for Paul. Immediately Paul reached out and grabbed the chair and moved it out so he could sit down!! When it came time to leave Paul had a little trouble getting in the van. He was pretty tired by that time. Tonight was bible study at our house. Ronda brough stew for dinner. It was delicious. During the study Paul got a phone call and he talked for about 10 minutes. He really enjoys talking on the phone but he got tired of holding the phone so he switched hands, then cradled the phone with his neck. He started shifting in his seat to get more comfortable ... it was interesting to watch ... and the whole time he was paying attention to his conversation! Paul sat up for a while after bible study. Dad was ready for bed about 11pm and encouraged Paul to head off to bed! He was actually pretty tired and didn't fight too much! LOL Friday Paul has an appointment with his general practitioner. This is a follow-up from the new medicine that she put him on to encourage brain tissue growth and synapses activity. It will be interesting to see what she thinks about Paul's progress!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/03/07

Dear Friends:

Monday was a busy day for Paul. It started out early with Occupational Therapy at 9:30am. Dad, Dora, Paul & I headed off to Fair Oaks hospital about 9:00am. Paul's new therapist Amy was gone and we had Ruby who wanted to try to finish up the testing/evaluation that Amy started last week. She began with having Paul do some more matching of a picture that was at the top of the page to one of three pictures on the bottom of the page. He did really good with most of these. Then she moved to having him try to remember a picture on one page and identify the matching picture out of three on the next page. He did OK with shapes he seemed to recognize but didn't do as well with most of them. The next part of the testing was to look at a picture at the top of the page and identify it from parts of the picture out of three ... disconnected pictures like a circle at the top of the page and parts of that circle at the bottom. He really didn't do well with this. He got really tired of doing this testing and she moved on to having him pick out pegs from a bucked and put them in a pegboard. He put them all in a straight row and then went to do a second row. He was using his left hand and the therapist wanted him to use his right hand to try to do the same exercise. He would take the peg out of her hand with his right hand and then try to put it in his left hand. She discouraged him from doing that. He managed to get a couple with his right hand but he tired of that pretty quickly. She also tried to get him to draw a line between two dots on a piece of paper. He hasn't done any writing or drawing since the accident. He didn't even try to do this! After we were done with therapy I headed back to the house to be there when Carolyn brought Alysa & Sevira over. Billy had a doctor appointment and Carolyn was going with him so the girls were staying with me. Dad took Paul to the dentist. The dentist was very pleased with how Paul did. He always cooperates very nicely for the dentist. He did four fillings, built up a post for a crown and put in a temporary crown. Next time they will complete the crown on the left side and put in a temporary on the right side. The rest of the day was quiet since Paul was tired from all the activity. Max came over about 6pm. He stayed until about 8:30pm. We had Chipotle for dinner but Max got a grilled cheese sandwich (which he loved!). Ronda & Bill came over about 8:00pm. We had coffee and watched "The Age of Love" which is a new reality game show. Paul was up late again. He hasn't wanted to go to bed until after midnight the last several nights. Dad was able to get him to go to bed about 11:30pm.

Tuesday Dad & Uncle Jimmy worked on installing our new front door. Paul was able to watch since he sits in the living room. Dad didn't get any time to work separate with Paul. It was a beautiful day ... good thing since the front door was open most of the day. After dinner Paul was sitting with his coffee and I worked with him a little on the months of the year, counting to 30 (he actually only got to twenty by himself) and the alphabet. He still needs a bit of prompting but he gets some of them with only a little help. We also worked on names of the family. He still doesn't seem to remember his own name without help ... but he can say his first AND last name with prompting! Paul was up late again. He says he is tired but then when you ask "do you want to go to bed?" he says "no". He isn't even falling asleep in the chair ... he really doesn't want to go to bed!! He always was a night person! LOL Wednesday we plan to have a 4th of July celebration at Carolyn & Billy's house. Bobby & Jen are also coming. It should be a great family time!

Have a great holiday! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 07/01/07

Dear Friends:

Friday was a quiet day for Paul. He was still a bit sore from the exercises the previous day. Dad took a trip to Costco to pick up some snacks for Paul. Paul spent the afternoon watching TV with Dora. Dad decide to see if Paul could read some sentences on a piece of paper. He wrote out six short sentences "do you want something to drink?", "Are you OK?" etc. Paul shook his head "no" as he read the sentences except one ... "I love you Paul" ... he nodded yes to that. It is hard to tell if he can read. He enjoys looking at magazines but we cannot tell if he is reading. We went out to dinner with Ronda & Bill in the evening. We went to Logan's Roadhouse and had steaks ... all of us except Paul ... he had BBQ Chicken. It was pretty late when we got home but Paul sat up and watched TV for a while before going to bed around 10:30pm.

Saturday morning Dad left Paul with Gradis while he went out to pick up the new front door that we ordered from Home Depot. It was pretty hot by the time he got it home and he didn't want to get started installing it since he isn't sure how long it will take. Uncle Jimmy will come up next week and help install it. In the afternoon we took our normal trip to the Mexican Restaurant. Paul doesn't eat the Mexican food since we are concerned that it makes him sick. It is a 40 minute ride in the car so it could be car sickness but since we started having him eat chicken, hot dogs or grilled cheese from the menu he hasn't gotten sick. He ate a grilled cheese and it must have been pretty good ... he ate it pretty quickly. After we got home we were able to sit outside for a bit. It was a beautiful evening so we had coffee out in the front yard. It was a quiet night and Dad put on the movie National Treasure. It is a pretty long movie but Paul wanted to watch it. When it was bedtime Paul started down the hall but got to the bedroom and turned back around and headed back to the living room. Dad said he stayed up until 12:30am. Finally Dad made him go to bed but he sure didn't want to!! Unfortunately even when he doesn't want to go to bed he ends up falling asleep in the chair which makes it hard for Dad to move him.

Paul was up early on Sunday and got showered and ready for breakfast at Yorkshire Restaurant. After breakfast Max arrived for Sunday School & Church. Dad headed out with Max, Paul & Gradis at 9:45am. Paul held Max in his arms all the way to the church and then repeated that coming back home after worship. Paul knows he needs to hold on tight and Max does really good at sitting still for him. Max is trying to do more walking but still only takes a few steps before sitting down and crawling. He is such a busy child and I guess he doesn't want to lose any time getting to where he wants to go!! LOL Max didn't stay for the afternoon. He left about 1:30pm. The afternoon was mostly uneventful but Bobby & Jen came by to visit. We grilled steaks on the grill and ate outside on the deck. It was nice to visit with them. Billy, Carolyn, Alysa & Chris came by after dinner and visited for a while. Carolyn said she weighed Chris and he is already 8.5 lbs. Monday will be busy with OT and the dentist in the morning. We will have a substitute for OT so it will be interesting to see how Paul does!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 06/28/07

Dear Friends:

Paul's "progress" continues to amaze us all the time. Dad got up this morning and got Paul ready for his day. Once I had left for work Dad, Dora and Paul headed to the Freedom Center to work out in the gym. They charged Paul the normal $7 fee but only charged Dad the $3 fee for an observer and nothing for Dora. Dad had Paul start out working on calf & leg muscles. He did some flexing of his feet to work out the calves. He pushed with his legs 30lb weights and did that ten times. They moved to another machine to go back extensions. After that they went to the cardio room and worked out on the exercise bike. He worked out on it for eleven minutes. When the panel flashed "peddle faster" he peddled a little faster. Dad didn't have to tell him ... he just seemed to either recognize what it said or understood what it meant! After he was done with the bicycle he went back to leg machine and did leg extensions with 60lbs five times. He didn't want to do any more but when Dad asked him if he wanted to try more weight he said "yes". Dad moved the pin and Paul pushed the weight out and slowly (and with control) allowed the weights to go back down. Dad asked if he want to do more and he said "yes" again so Dad kept moving the pin each time Paul would achieve pushing the weight and letting back down. Finally Dad got the weight up to a whopping 210 lbs. WOW!! He is really very strong. They also did some workouts with his arms. He did the arm "fly's" and weight pulls. His arms are not as strong as his legs but he was able to do about 30lbs on each machine. He also sat on the exercise ball and worked on some balance. Dad said one of the employees came over while he was having Paul stand on a teeter board and asked him if he was a trainer!! LOL ... He said "no, I'm his dad". I think she didn't like the way he was using the equipment!! Oh well ... After Dad got home they proceeded to fix lunch. Dad wheeled Paul up to the table. He was going to make grilled cheese. He handed Paul the bread and said "Paul, can you take the twisty tie off the bread please". He immediately went to work opening it. Then Dad asked him to "please take out two pieces of bread". He worked the plastic bag down on the bread until he could get his fingers inside the bag. He worked his fingers until he got three pieces of bread....two regular pieces and the heel (which of course he wasn't going to eat!). He started to eat the bread but Dad stopped him and said "no, we are going to make grilled cheese" so Paul stopped. Dad asked him to put some butter on the bread. He took the knife and stuck it in the butter but he got a big glob of butter. Dad took the knife and put butter on it but then got a little butter on the knife and asked Paul to finish it. Now ... remember I said that Paul was very particular about how he made grilled cheese ... he was the BEST at it. He took the knife and went all the way out to the edge of the bread and started spreading the butter. This is sooo like Paul! Dad also handed him the cheese and asked him to open it. He found the edge of the plastic and got the cheese partially unwrapped but he wasn't able to keep the cheese from folding over itself and get the plastic off of it. Dad had to help him but he really tried hard. I think Paul enjoyed "making" lunch! After lunch Dad allowed him to have a quiet afternoon. He was pretty exhausted. During Bible Study Paul was falling asleep in the recliner so he went to bed soon after everyone had left. It is so amazing what Paul is ABLE to do when we ask him to! It certainly gives us much hope for his continued recovery!!

Have a great weekend! Lynne & Carl