Paul's Update - 10/29/07

Dear Friends:

The last several days have been full of more improvements. Saturday we stayed home most of the day. Gradis came about 7:30 am and got Paul up and dressed. She always cleans after Paul gets his breakfast. The morning was spent mostly watching TV but Dad decided to try to have Paul stand up from his chair without any help. He had him sit forward and put his hands on the arms of the chair. He leaned forward and pushed himself up from the seat. Once he was out of the chair he stood straight while keeping his balance. Dad didn’t even touch him the whole time!! What a miracle this is ... even though he still has a long way to go to be doing this on his own all the time ... this was another FIRST!! He did that several times throughout the day. He still needs someone nearby since he loses his balance easily. Gradis was so excited ... she loves watching Paul do new things. Gradis had made lunch for us on Saturday. She loves rice with every meal and she usually fixes foods that are very spicy but she knows we don’t usually eat spicy foods so she made rice and chicken in a tomato sauce that was NOT spicy. It was pretty good and Paul seemed to really enjoy it. We didn’t go to the Mexican restaurant since Gradis had brought lunch. After dinner we headed down to the church for the annual Trunk or Treat activity. Carolyn brought Alysa and Chris dressed in their costumes ... they were so cute ... I think the cutest ones there ... but I AM a little partial!! Paul walked down and got to see the kids do their trick or treating. The outreach committee also had crafts for the kids and we watched a movie at 8pm. We were there until after 10pm. Everyone had a great time!

Sunday morning Dad, Paul, Gradis and I met with Bill & Ronda and Lew for breakfast. After we got to the house Paul seemed quiet and moody. Since he has felt bad over the last couple of days we thought he may be sick. Dad tried to get him to go to church with us but he refused to get up out of the chair. Max came around 9:45am so Pap-Paw stayed at home with Paul & Max during church time. Max is a very busy toddler these days. He is on the move all the time. Although Paul doesn’t “play” with Max he seems to enjoy watching him play. Paul was a little weaker and had a little more assistance to get up from his chair but he still did most of the work by himself. He forgets to lean far enough over his knees and loses his balance as he tries to stand. Once he is up he uses his cane and walks. Dad got out a collapsible cane for him to use. It folds up to about a foot long to store easily when he is in the car or not using it. It is pretty light weight and it is tall enough for Paul to stand a bit straighter when he walks. Occasionally Paul just wants to get up and walk around the house. This is good exercise and will make him more able to walk on his own. Paul seemed to feel better in the afternoon but was ready for bed by 10:30pm.

Monday Dora showed up about 7:30am. Paul got up and had breakfast. He didn’t have any appointments so it was a quiet morning. Dad & I headed out to do some errands but didn’t get far before Aunt Shirley and Uncle Wally showed up and called us to come back home. We visited for a bit and then we took their van out to take care of our errands with them. Dora made lunch for Paul while we were gone but when we came back we ordered pizza and Paul ate two pieces of it when it came!! The evening was quiet. Dora leaves at 7pm and we watched a suspense movie on the cable after we finished dinner. He stayed up until after 11pm. When Dad had him in bed he said “I’ll tell Mom to come in and say goodnight” and Paul said “thanks”! I love it when we have normal conversation (without prompts!). Dad should be taking Paul to physical therapy on Tuesday. This is so important since he is walking more and more.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 10/25/07

Dear Friends:

The last week has gone by very quickly. I cannot believe a week has gone by ... I was gone for most of it. I apologize that I’ve fallen so far behind. Last Thursday Paul was able to tell me his last name. I prompted the first name and he said the last name without ANY prompt. I love when he does anything without prompting!! Dad spent several hours digging up the stump in the front yard.
Friday Dad went out to buy a new TV for Paul’s bedroom. We had planned to do this for a while. Paul had some money coming from his tax return so Dad decided that was a good way to spend some of it on Paul. He hasn’t had a lot of time to watch it but I think he likes it. We went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s. The dining room was crowded and Paul’s walker was difficult to maneuver but Paul was able to get in to the table and we had a very nice dinner. He had lemon salmon but he really loved the strawberry cream puff dessert!! Later Paul had a stumble when he was coming back from the bathroom. He lost his balance and took at least 5 or 6 large unbalanced steps. The amazing thing is ... he DID NOT fall and Dad DID NOT touch him. He was able to recover from the stumble without Dad catching him!!! His walking is still difficult to watch but he is getting better balance all the time!

Saturday morning I spent some time getting laundry done and did some work in my office. Gradis got Paul up and showered before breakfast. I needed to get ready to be able to leave about noon time with Ronda. She and I travelled to be at her Mom & Dad’s house in Indiana. Her mother was having a pacemaker put in on Tuesday we were going to be there when she had her surgery. Dad, Paul, Gradis & Max headed out to the O’Dell’s for a Fall Festival that Marty was doing for the children. Carolyn brought Alysa & Chris too. They all had a great time. Dad said Max had fun playing in the sandbox and with the other children. Paul had to manage the steps in the house in order to go to the bathroom. They had about eight steps and He was able to manage them with Dad’s help. It is so wonderful that he is walking ... it makes life so much easier. I was just thinking about all the things Paul is able to do by walking that he couldn’t do in the wheelchair!! Just think ... it wasn’t that long ago that he was pretty much confined to his wheelchair!

Sunday Dad, Paul & Gradis met with Bill & Lew for breakfast. They headed off to church at 9:30. The rest of the day was pretty quiet ... a good football day!

Monday Dad had to go to Richmond with Paul. Dora went with them to help get him into the building. It is a bit of a walk. Dad & Paul met with Taryn (the counselor) while Dora waited out in the waiting area. They stopped at Thornburg for lunch on the way home.

Tuesday was Ronda’s mom’s surgery. She and I spent the day at the Heart Hospital in Indianapolis IN. Her brothers and sister came to the hospital too. Her mom came through the surgery well. Dad was supposed to take Paul to Physical Therapy but the office called and cancelled since the therapist had a sick child at home. They decided to go to the gym instead. Dad said Paul did real well on the bike. He didn’t want to quit!

Wednesday Dad took Paul to Occupational Therapy at 9:30am. He had to spend a bunch of time at the registration desk and missed most of the therapy session. Afterwards they went to the pool at the gym. Paul & Dad seem to be coming down with colds. Ronda & I headed home on Wednesday morning. I was able to speak to Paul on the phone when we arrived at our hotel for the night. He really talks well on the phone. I think he knows we cannot SEE him so he talks to us!!

Thursday PT was cancelled again. Dad & Paul spent the day at home. Ronda and I returned from our trip about 10:30am. I stayed home from work to get some things done at home that I’ve been neglecting. Ronda came over and I fixed dinner for her this week (she usually fixes dinner for us on Thursday!). Paul went to bed a bit early, his cold is making him a bit tired. Over all we’ve had a busy week. Paul continues to improve in his walking and every once in a while he responds to us in new ways.

Have a great weekend, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 10/17/07

Dear Friends:

Monday Dad got up early to get Paul started. Paul was still asleep and Dad had to wake him. Dora was off so Dad got Paul up and dress by himself. We headed out at 8:00am to go to Richmond. We had an appointment at 11am at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. The trip was going well. We stopped at the rest stop about half way to do a bathroom break. We got to the parking garage for the hospital and while we were going through trying to find a place to park Paul suddenly got sick. It had been more than two hours since he ate breakfast. We got him cleaned up as good as we could and took the car to the Valet Parking lot since there was no place in the garage. We had to walk about two blocks to get to the building we needed to be in. Fortunately we took the walker. Paul was tired when we got there but he did OK. We met with a lady named Taryn who explained the program and we got started. We did a couple of questionnaires (each) and answered questions about what we thought about how Paul was doing and how we felt our lives were most affected. Not much that we didn’t really already know. We will go again next Monday to continue and see if this program will be of any value to us ... or if we are of any value to the program!! After we got done we walked back to where the car was but this time we walked most of the trip through the buildings that are connected by overhead walkways across the streets below. It was LOTS easier! We headed towards Carl’s sister’s house to pick up our cruise tickets for the trip in December. Since we hadn’t eaten lunch we decided to stop at Hardees and get something to eat. Unfortunately Paul got sick again about an hour after we ate. We made it to Ann’s house and got some Dramamine for Paul (hoping it is only motion sickness causing him to get sick). Seemed to do the trick since we made it home without him getting sick again. Paul was VERY tired when we got home. Dad made him a frozen dinner and he kept that down. By 10:00pm he was ready for bed.

Tuesday morning Dora was back! Paul seemed to be feeling better. Paul had an appointment for Physical Therapy at 1pm. Dad missed most of the therapy because he was sent downstairs to re-register him. After a little time they realized that he DIDN’T need to re-register. He is now authorized to have 17 visits of Physical Therapy. The therapist said he did OK. Dad got to watch him walk down the hallway and back. She had him walk along the wall holding a handrail and then back. He did good with that. After they got home much of the afternoon was spent watching movies. Dad said when he was walking down the hall to the bathroom he was trying to take multiple steps with minimal use of his cane. He lost his balance a couple of times but he can recover from it by himself most of the time. The evening was quiet.

Paul had OT on Wednesday ... he only has three more that Medicaid has authorized. Even thought he is doing well ... he isn’t progressing fast enough for Medicaid!! Dad, Dora & Paul arrived at Fair Oaks at 9:30am. The therapist started with stretching. She worked on having Paul lay down and then sit back up. She had him lay on his stomach for a bit and massaged his back. She had him sit tall and raise his arms over his head. She wanted to see how far he could stretch them. Most of the hour was spent stretching and loosening him up. She had him stand by the wall with his back to it and while holding a basketball reach out and turn it from side to side without falling forward (or backward). They worked with some modeling clay. She wanted him to make a “P”, he liked spreading it out but he didn’t want to make a letter with it. She asked him if he would rather write and he said “yes”. She gave him a large pen and asked him to copy her “P” on a piece of paper. He actually did pretty good with that. After therapy Dad decided that they would head to the gym. They haven’t been much lately and are getting out of shape. They got into the pool (it was ICE cold according to Dad) and Paul walked with little assistance. The last time he was in the pool Dad had to assist him a lot. Dad said he did real good. He walks almost normally in the pool. He was lifting his feet up at the knees. Dad also had him do leg lifts while standing still. He got so good at it that he was going faster than Dad! After that Dad got behind him and had him kick while floating on his back. He didn’t do a lot of it but he did more of the kicking with his right leg. He also did a “scissor kick” while Dad supported him. They were in the pool for about 45 minutes. The pool is such good exercise. After they got out of the big pool they went to the little pool. Paul can walk into that one (the big one they use a lift for). It is only about three and a half feet deep and it is heated. They didn’t stay in that long before they headed out to the car. Paul was walking really well and Dad said he felt he could leave Paul while he was getting into the car. Dad looked up to notice that Paul was losing his balance. Dad got to him quick enough to prevent him from falling to the ground but he slid down the side of the car. Once he was up he got into the car by himself. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt. Dad said he was upset and when asked “are you upset about losing your balance?” he said “yes”. He usually doesn’t lose his balance while getting in the car. Paul had a late lunch since they didn’t get home until almost 1:30pm. The afternoon was spent watching TV as usual. After dinner Paul seemed to be feeling bad. I asked him if something hurt and she said “yes”. I asked if it was his stomach or his head and he said “yes”. I asked “which one?” and he said “I don’t know”!! He hasn’t been very talkative lately but every once in a while he “volunteers” something other than yes or no! I gave him some Tylenol and he seemed to feel better. When it got to be about 10pm Dad said “You look tired” and he said “yes” so Dad tried to take him to bed. He stood up and then refused to walk. He ended up sitting back down. About an hour later Dad asked him if he was ready for bed and he said “yes” but when they got to the end of the hall Paul turned around and headed back to the living room! He finally went to bed about 11:30pm. He was actually very tired but didn’t want to go to bed for some reason!! He was always a “late-nighter”!!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 10/14/07

Dear Friends:

The last few days Paul has done more walking with his cane. It is amazing how quickly he seems to be improving with this new activity. Dad said that the Physical Therapist told him to encourage Paul to walk ALL the time. It is the only way he will learn how to do it ... and he seems to be learning nicely. Friday night we went out to Logans for dinner. Paul used his walker since the walkway to the restaurant is a steep grade. Amazingly Paul seems to have a better walking stride which I believe is due to the balance he is getting from walking with his cane.

Saturday morning after Gradis arrived she helped Dad get Paul dressed and out to the living room for breakfast. Paul spent the morning watching TV. We headed out to lunch around 12:15pm. Up to now Paul has only walked in the house. He is doing really well. He tends to try to walk with the right leg a little stiff and that causes him to lose his balance from time to time. He uses the cane but sometimes he tries to take steps without the use of the cane. It may be in his hands but not really getting use. Dad decided to try to have Paul walk outside when we left to go to the Mexican Restaurant. This is a very different kind of walking since he has to manage the difference in the terrain. Our sidewalk has a down-grade to the driveway so he had to manage without going too fast. Dad assisted him some but has been trying to allow Paul to manage his balance by himself. He did pretty good getting to the van. Once we got to Warrenton he had to walk from the van to the restaurant. Again the sidewalk was slanted on an angle a bit and Paul had to manage the slant. He struggled a bit and lost his balance a few times but he walked all the way. He takes baby steps which makes it take a long time to get anywhere but we are patient and willing to take our time. After lunch we headed back home and Paul walked back into the house. We spent the evening at home. Paul was tired early and went to bed at 10:30pm. I think all the walking is wearing him out.

Sunday morning we went to breakfast. He used the cane again. He was walking a bit better than he did on Saturday. After breakfast we came home and waited for Max to arrive for church. I took Max with me when I went to get Joanne at the nursing home. Dad, Paul & Gradis walked to church. Paul used the walker for that trip. Again I think he walks better with the walker now than he did before he started with the cane. The afternoon was spent watching movies and the football game. Paul walked with the cane each time he went to the bathroom. He even took several steps WITHOUT the use of the cane. He was still holding it in his hand but he didn’t put it down on the floor prior to taking these steps. Another interesting this is ... he is trying to use the cane in his RIGHT hand (this is the weaker hand). He occasionally switches hands but really seems to like trying to use the right hand. Gradis gets so excited when Paul does new things ... you would think she was part of the family!! We spent a part of the evening preparing for Monday’s trip to Richmond. We are going to participate in a study on Brain Injured Patients and their families. This will be an opportunity for us to share our story and possibly learn about other people who have been down the path we are currently on. We have quite a story to tell. This program will consist of five two hour sessions over the next ten weeks with the Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital staff. We are looking forward to any insights we can get from this program! Please keep us in prayer as we work with this program!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 10/11/07

Dear Friends:

Wow ... what a busy week. Monday was a holiday. After breakfast my Mom, Cathy, Keith, Ann & I headed out to get family pictures done. It was a great opportunity since we were all together and that doesn’t happen often. We came home and got lunch for Paul and ourselves. Paul was having a really good day. Dad said he has been really good about getting his attention when he needs to go to the bathroom. He didn’t have any accidents all day. After lunch my family took a trip to Arlington Cemetery where our dad is buried. He passed away on October 7, 2000 so this was the anniversary of his death. It was quite emotional for us. Paul stayed home with Dad & Dora. Dad has been working on having Paul stand more by himself (with only a little a assistance). Dad said later in the afternoon Paul stood up ALL BY HIMSELF!! We can see that someday he will be able to do that all the time!! We look forward to that day! Monday evening Mom, Keith and Ann went to Cathy’s house to spend the night.

Tuesday morning Keith went to DC Convention center for the US Department of Army meeting. He saw some interesting things and got some “freebies”! Dad stayed home with Paul. We were expecting Comcast to come and install cable TV. Since Paul is enjoying the new big screen TV we decided to also get the High Definition and DVR features along with the Cable Service. Unfortunately the guy who came didn’t realize we didn’t already have cable ... he thought we were only wiring ONE TV ... not 4. He said he would have to come back with different equipment on Wednesday. Dad said Paul had another great day. Since Paul has been doing so well with the walker Dad decided it was time to try to use a cane! Amazingly ... Paul walked without the walker ... he used ONLY the cane! He had to walk about 40 feet to the bathroom. He walked very slowly and took baby steps but he made it without losing his balance or falling!! He even corrects himself when he gets off balance. He did so well that Dad encouraged him to use the cane for the balance of the day. It was AMAZING! He walked back and forth to the bathroom with the cane about nine times throughout the day! It is a miracle ... another miracle (we’ve had MANY)! Keith came home pretty early and spent the day with Dad & Paul. Cathy went and got Keith at the Metro in Vienna and brought him to our house. They went to get lunch at a Korean BBQ restaurant before heading to our house!! Keith & Dad went out and got Pizza for dinner. Tuesday night was pretty quiet ... we visited with Keith and watched TV.

Wednesday morning Dad, Paul, Dora & Keith headed out to therapy. He had occupational therapy. She had him do some stretching. Then she had him work on a shape puzzle. He had to put the right shapes in the puzzle. She had him try to pick up certain colors by telling him which color to pick. He didn’t cooperated so she asked him to tell her the color of the blocks he had in his hand. She helped him some and he was able to get the green block ... he didn’t do well with the other colors though. After therapy Dad took Keith to the airport. He was there a bit early but he decided to get some lunch before his flight. Dad & I had an appointment with a CPA to look at Paul’s finances and help us with book keeping for Paul. Paul stayed home with Dora. The cable guy showed up right after we left. He wasn’t suppose to come until after 6pm but he finished up an appointment early and decided to squeeze us in. He installed the cable while we were gone. It was nice to be able to watch TV in High Definition. I spent some time working in my office getting things straightened out and paying bills while the guys watched TV. Except for the time we were gone, Paul walked with the cane again all day! Sometime during the evening we had a gift dropped at the house (on our swing) that was for Paul. Someone left it along with a note (unsigned) that reminded Paul that he is thought of and prayed for each day! What a nice blessing. We are so grateful for our friends who pray and continue to be concerned about Paul.

Thursday morning Paul had an appointment with a Physical Therapist. She was amazed that Paul could walk with the cane. She had him walk about 200 feet which he did in about a minute and six seconds. She said he “skipped a step” though. Normally folks first learn how to sit and stand before they learn how to walk. That’s OK though ... progress is progress!! We hope to get a lot out of physical therapy. He hasn’t had any physical therapy for several months. Dad, Paul & I had an appointment with our case manager from Brain Injury Services at 2pm. This is actually a new case manager so we have never met her before. She stayed for about an hour. Ronda brought dinner since it was bible study night. We had Taco Soup ... and Paul really enjoyed it. During the study Paul had set his coffee cup on the floor. He was kicking it while he was turning his chair so I asked him to pick up his cup. He reached over and picked it up ... so I said “put it on the fireplace” and he reached up and set it on the hearth. Who says he doesn’t understand what we are asking him??? After bible study we had some dessert with Bill & Ronda. Paul stayed up until after 11pm. Like I said ... a busy week! Between Paul standing by himself, walking with a walker, seeing a physical therapist, meeting with a CPA, meeting with Brain Injury Services ... along with our regular daily activities…we have been busy. Our blessings continue to amaze us!

Have a great weekend, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 10/07/07

Dear Friends:

Thursday morning Dad took Paul to see the Therapy Specialist at Fair Oaks. Dr. Greysolvsky wanted to followup on Paul’s progress since he has been seeing the Occupational & Speech therapists and also check on the effectiveness of Paul’s new brace. Since we will not be getting speech therapy for now the doctor would like to have him start seeing a Physical Therapist. The Occupational therapist made this recommendation since she works on standing & balance a lot. Physical Therapy would be a nice compliment to occupational therapy. After Dad got home he got a call from my brother Keith who was coming into town to run in the Army Ten Mile Run in Washington DC. He was to spend some time in the District for the afternoon with his buddies that came with him and then wanted someone to pick him up at the Metro Train Station to come to our home. After work I headed to the Metro station and picked him up. Since Thursday night is Bible Study night he was able to share that time with our group. We enjoyed having him with us. Paul decided to spend the bible study time in our sitting room and watched TV back there. After everyone left we were able to spend some quality time with Keith but he had to head back into town to stay at his hotel since he had a big sight seeing day planned with his buddies on Friday. Dad took him to the hotel while Paul & I stayed home.

Friday morning Dad had some errands to run. My mother & sister arrived in the afternoon around 4pm. Paul was having a very good day. He has been very good lately with letting Dad know when he has to go to the bathroom. Usually it is a guessing game and you have to watch for his signals pretty close but he is getting better. After we visited with Mom & Ann for a bit we prepared to go out to dinner with Bill & Ronda. Carolyn, Chris & Alysa also came with us. Chris has become so much fun. He is smiling and paying attention to people. Paul ordered shredded pork with cabbage. I don’t think he liked it much ... he had a lot left over. Dad’s fortune cookie was humorous ... it said something like “your home will have no turmoil” ... hmmmm.

Saturday Gradis showed up at 7:30. Since we had people sleeping in all the rooms of our house she had to be quiet and she stayed in Paul’s room with him watching TV for a while. Once everyone was up she proceeded to clean as she usually does. Once everyone was dressed and had breakfast we headed out to Costco to get some groceries. We needed to prepare for Max to be baptized on Sunday. We spent a bunch of money ... you can’t go to Costco and get out of there cheaply!! Paul stayed home with Gradis & Dad. We decided to opt out of El Agave for lunch since Uncle Keith had to go back to his hotel by 6:30pm and he was going out to dinner with his running buddies. We spent the afternoon visiting with the family. Aunt Cathy, Carolyn, Alysa & Chris came and spent the afternoon with us. Carolyn, Ann & I took a trip to Walmart to get an outfit for Max to be baptized in. Tabby hadn’t had time to do that and Carolyn LOVES shopping anyway ... we got a very cute sweater vest and pants outfit. We spent the evening visiting with the family. Paul was up until 11:30pm.

Sunday morning was busy. Dad, Paul, Gradis, Ann & I headed out for breakfast at 8am. We met Bill & Ronda there with Lew & Serenity. Paul was HUNGRY ... he ate his eggs, homefries & toast in record time. Lately he has been eating slow and Dad has had to help him a lot but not this morning! After we got home from breakfast I went to get Joanne from the nursing home and Dad, Gradis & Paul headed to Sunday school at 9:30am. Carolyn waited at the house for Tabby & Max to come so they could dress Max and take him to church for the baptism. All of the family was there (except Uncle Keith & Aunt Cathy) for the baptism. Uncle Keith ran the 10 miler in an hour and a half. He said it was HOT and he didn’t push it for fear that he would get heat exhaustion. Paul was able to stand with the family during the baptism. It was nice to be able to celebrate a happy time for our family! After the baptism we had a reception at the church with cake and coffee. The family headed to our house afterward. The football game was on and Dad started the grill so we could have hamburgers & hot dogs. We were able to sit outside on the deck for a bit ... it was a beautiful day. Paul didn’t sit outside but he visited with folks in the living room and watched the Redskins win the football game!! We have several very busy days ... but we have been so blessed to spend so much time with our family. We certainly have been blessed with a loving family and great friends. Our God has been GOOD to us!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 10/03/07

Dear Friends:

Monday morning Dad, Dora & Paul headed out to see the Laser Eye Specialist. This is the doctor that our regular eye doctor recommended to look at Paul’s floater in his right eye. After dilating Paul’s eyes he examined Paul and said he couldn’t see any floaters at all. He isn’t sure what our doctor was seeing. This doctor is the top in his field ... only two doctors in the country even do the procedure to remove floaters by laser surgery. He didn’t even charge for the visit since he couldn’t find anything. I stayed at home (it was my day off) and did some cleaning. We have family coming this weekend and I wanted to take the opportunity to get the house in order. After they finished with the eye doctor they headed home and got lunch. Paul watched TV with Dad & Dora while I worked. It was a quiet evening. At 8:30 it is time for meds. Dad got the medicines and took them to Paul. Paul refused to take them. Dad tried to convince him to take them but he absolutely would NOT open his mouth. Finally Dad said “do you want to wait a little and tried again and Paul took them without a fuss!! He usually doesn’t do that but every once in a while he just needs to be “in charge”!!

Tuesday after breakfast Dad asked Paul if he wanted to go to the gym. He said “no”. When he asked “do you want to get out of the house?” he said “yes”. They decided to take a drive up to Skyline Drive. Uncle Jimmy came by for a little bit. He opted out of going on the drive since he would not be able to smoke in the car ... nobody smokes in our car. They headed out about 11am. They stopped at McDonald’s before going up on the mountain and got lunch. Paul has a pass for disabled folks and they get into the park for free. They rode for about five hours before heading home. After getting home Dad decided to take a nap. Dad said he thinks Paul napped a bit too. I didn’t have any meetings to go to so after dinner I decided to go to the grocery store and stock up on some foods. Paul’s snacks were almost gone and we were getting low on most of our dinner foods. Dad & Paul always enjoy shopping day ... we have lots of choice for snacking that day!! LOL Later in the evening Dad had the movie “Blazing Saddles” on. It is a classic and we enjoy it but at 10pm it is time for “House”. Dad asked Paul “do you want to watch the movie or House?” and without hesitation Paul said “House”. He really likes that show. At 11:30pm Dad was ready for bed. He got Paul up and headed down the hall but when they got to the entrance to Paul’s bedroom he turned around and came back to the living room. He really wasn’t ready for bed. Dad thought about leaving him in his recliner and going to bed but instead he waited a few more minutes and tried again. Dad finally got him to go to bed about midnight.

Wednesday is therapy day. He went to OT at 9:30am. She worked on sitting and standing. She hopes to strengthen his ability to sit and stand by himself. It also works on balance ... He sat at the edge of the workout table and had his feet were on a step. He had to lean over and pick up balls and reach up to hand them to Dad. This makes him bend, reach and turn. She has a piece of material that has snaps, buttons, Velcro etc. She had him unbutton all the buttons ... he did them ALL with ONE HAND! Then she had him do snaps. There were four snaps that she asked him to undo. Then she had him put them back together by folding the snaps over and doing them with one hand as well! She asked him to redo the buttons but he told her “no” Speech is right after OT and today was the last session that we’ve been authorized to get. She worked counting. She had him identify some common utensils, spoon, cup, straw. She asked him “what do you do with a straw?” and he took the straw and put it in the cup. Paul practiced writing his name ... she wrote his name backwards on a piece of paper and had him trace it on the other side. He did OK ... he is getting a little better anyway. She also had him trace a circle ... he did a little better on that. Paul no longer has private insurance and only has Medicaid so that will limit what therapy he will get for a while. The Occupational Therapist wants to get Paul signed up for Physical Therapy to encourage more physical activity. After therapy they went to lunch and headed home. Dad ran errands in the afternoon. When he went to pick up Paul’s medicines he was told that Medicaid would not pay since it is not listed as the primary insurance but the primary insurance was showing as “cancelled”. We had to put in an emergency plea to our social worker at the department of Social Services to get her to update the computer showing Medicaid as primary. Oh boy ... so many things that can be problems! We got the problem fixed and got Paul’s medicines. We all went to dinner at Yorkshire Restaurant. The special for the night was Pot Roast and we all had that. Paul worked hard to eat it all but the plate was too much for him! Bill & Ronda came over after we got home (they didn’t eat with us tonight :-( ) and we had coffee. Bill had to take a look at my laptop computer ... it got something spilled on it over the weekend and now it doesn’t work! It looks like we may be in the market for a new one! The rest of the evening was spent watching TV. At 11:30 Dad asked Paul if he was ready for bed and he said “no”. He went to bed about midnight again.

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 09/30/07

Dear Friends:

It turned out that Paul did not have therapy on Friday. Dad ended up running errands most of the day. He started out in the morning and went to the Social Security office to see if an error we noticed was important and needed to be corrected. As picky as Social Security is about getting all the right information on their forms, we noticed that they had put down that Paul did NOT have a legal guardian!! When Dad pointed out the error the lady said it really didn’t matter!!! Oh brother ... I hope it really isn’t! After he finished at Social Security Dad went to the Social Services office to give the social worker the documents to show the legal change of Guardian/Consverator for Paul. The social worker was out but Dad left the information anyway. In the afternoon Dad went to pick up a new prescription for Paul’s Keppra (the antisiezure medicine) and then came home. Paul spent the day mostly with Dora watching the new TV. He doesn’t give up his chair much but that evening he chose to sit on the couch. Dad told Dora she could sit in Paul’s new chair since Paul had taken her seat ... but she sheepishly said “no”. I guess she felt it would be inappropriate! We all went out for dinner with Bill & Ronda. We also had Alysa & Chris for the evening so Carolyn & Billy could go out to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Paul had the fish (he really likes that). He was pretty hungry and ate almost all of his dinner. Alysa spent the night with us. When it was bedtime Alysa went to give Paul a hug and kiss and he reached out and gave her a hug back!! Saturday morning I went out with Ronda. Paul, Dad & Alysa watched cartoons. You haven’t lived until you see cartoons on a 40” screen TV!! Later in the day we went to Warrenton for Mexican food with Bill & Ronda. They had Lew and Serenity (Lou’s baby sister). The kids wanted to go to the pet store after lunch so Dad drove Paul over. The rest of us walked over since the store is in the same shopping center as the restaurant. Paul walked into the store and walked all around to look at the pets. There weren’t many animals ... mostly mice & ferrets. The kids also enjoy the amphibians and the fish so we looked at them too. Once we got home the rest of the evening was pretty quiet. We all had ice creams later in the evening. Dad had gotten some ice cream cones and sandwiches at Costco ... yummm! Paul was tired and went to bed pretty early. It was only about 10:30pm but we all were pretty tired. Sunday morning we went to breakfast. The people at the restaurant all seem to know us ... staff & customers!! Dad overheard one lady commenting on how well Paul is doing! We had a large group for breakfast. Bill, Ronda, Lew & Serenity ... Carolyn, Alysa, Chris ... Carl, Paul, Gradis & me. Dad went out after breakfast to get some birthday presents for Uncle Wally & cousin Kaitlyn. We headed to Shirley & Wally’s house right after church. Max was with us today. He was very good as usual. He wasn’t’ suppose to be with us this weekend but we don’t turn down opportunities to have him!! He is such a joy! We spent about 3 hours at the birthday party before heading home. On the way home we made a stop at McDonalds. All the adults had fish filets but Max had chicken nuggets and the little guy ate all of them along with most of the French fries! After we got home Paul resumed residence in his new chair. He said he wanted to recline the chair so I helped him use the lever to pull his feet up. He was pretty comfortable and was watching TV while reclining! It seems like our weekends go so quickly. Monday we will be going to the eye doctor to see if there can be something done for the floater that Paul has in his eye. Since the doctor uses a laser procedure he wants to make sure Paul is a good candidate for it before he says he is willing to do it. Please pray for us to make the right decisions regarding this procedure ... it could help or it could permanently damage his eye!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl