Paul's Update - 11/13/07

Dear Friends:

Sunday started with breakfast at Yorkshire Restaurant. Bill, Ronda, Lew & Serenity were already there. After breakfast we headed to Sunday School and church. Max came just before we left. Pap-Paw made sure Paul & Max were at Sunday school on time. After church we headed home and had lunch just before watching the Redskins game ... another disappointing game. Alysa was spending the day and came home with us. Max was at our house until almost 8pm. He had a little rash on his face that we were not too concerned about. He had it all day but after he went to bed he woke about an hour later with it all over his body. Mommy took him to the hospital to be checked out. We had a pretty quiet evening. Alysa stayed overnight with us since Monday was a school holiday. Paul was ready for bed pretty early. He doesn’t seem to be adjusting to the time change yet. By 10pm he is ready for bed.

Monday Max came early. The doctor decided that since he was taking an anti-biotic for an ear infection last week that he may have had an allergic reaction. He stayed with us for the day. His daycare provider took the day off. Pap-Paw got him breakfast along with Paul. After breakfast Aunt Cathy called and was heading over to go shopping with me ... actually I was going shopping with her ... well you know what I mean!! LOL Dad was busy with Max mostly ... good thing Dora is here! Carolyn came over with Chris and spent part of the day. Paul was very entertained watching the kids and Pap-Paw play on the floor. Dad put together a rocking Harley Davidson Motorcycle (like a rocking horse) for Max. He had gotten it for Christmas last year but was too small until now to play with it. Max was trying to help. He picked up the wrench and screwdriver and was trying to use them on the motorcycle. He’s just like his Daddy!! Paul was practicing his words more. Some days he is more willing to talk than other days. He normally will say “hi” and when asked “how are you?” he will answer “good”. We encouraged him to ask “How are you?” and although he did it slowly ... he said “how ... are ... you?” He only needed a little prompting to get him started but he was able to complete this three word sentence by himself. Later I asked him if he wanted something to drink. He had his mouth full of carrots and was trying to chew fast and swallow to answer me. I had asked him “do you want soda or tea?” He finished up chewing ... I waited for him to finish ... and then he said (without me asking again) ... ”Tea”. The significance of this is ... he remembered what I asked him while finishing what was in his mouth to answer me! Wow! Max went home about 7pm. Carolyn stayed with the kids until about 8pm. Paul was tired and ready for bed about 10pm.

Tuesday Paul had a doctor appointment with his neurologist. It has been six months since this doctor saw him last. Can you believe that?? A LOT has happened in six months. The doctor was first amazed to see Paul walk into the office. The last time he saw Paul he was still using the wheelchair. He asked Paul to reach out and touch his hand ... which Paul did without trouble. Then he asked him to touch his nose, then touch the doctors hand again ... he repeated this a couple times. Then he asked Paul if he could touch each of his fingers with his thumb. Paul said “yes”. When the doctor said “WILL you do it?” ... Paul said “no”. The doctor showed him what he wanted him to do and he was able to do it. He asked Paul “can you straighten your fingers out?” which he did. Dad said “Paul ... can you do the Vulcan sign?” Paul did that ... not only with one hand but BOTH. The doctor was so amazed ... he said that all these activities are fine motor skills which according to the doctor, Paul should not be able to do. He said most people who have strokes or brain injuries take MANY years to recover these skills. He took Paul’s arms and moved them freely and was impressed that Paul doesn’t have any stiffness. He checked all of Paul reflex areas and was impressed that they appear to be normal. It is so gratifying to hear the doctor be so impressed with Paul’s improvements. Dad told him that his goal was to have Paul walk at Bobby’s wedding in April but now the NEW goal is to have Paul walking WITHOUT a cane. The doctor said “THAT WAS A POSSIBILITY”!! The amazing thing about that is ... the doctor thought Dad was crazy a few months ago when he said he wanted to get Paul walking. I think the doctor has become a believer!! Now he wants us to start working with fine motor skills by using something like an erector set (which we have) and other small exercises like puzzles. While Paul was in the office the nurse drew some blood to test his Keppra & Trazadone levels. The doctor was concerned about the Lithium that Paul’s General Practitioner has him taking. This drug causes Kidney damage and doesn’t believe that any benefit is worth the risk of taking it. Dad called the General Practitioner’s office to have blood drawn again on Wednesday to check on the Lithium levels. After leaving the doctor’s office Paul had an appointment at Fair Oaks Hospital for Physical Therapy. They arrived late since the doctor’s visit lasted longer than anticipated. He was only able to get about a half an hour of therapy. They worked on walking in the hallway again. She had him walk backwards along the rail. They spent the whole visit doing this. After PT, Paul had Occupational Therapy. Paul had to take a soda bottle out of the crate and take the top off. He didn’t have any problem with that. She had him stand without touching anything and toss a ball back and forth to her. He did that without losing his balance!! They worked on nuts and bolts ... taking them apart and putting them back together. One of the bolts had a wing nut and a nut. The wing nut got in the way and locked the nut into place ... Paul was able to unscrew the wing nut ... freeing the nut and making it possible to take the nut off. He thought of that ALL BY HIMSELF!! The therapist didn’t even pay attention to it ... but was amazed when she realized what he did! They worked with taking the plastic clips off of the vertical rod again. He had to do it from a sitting position this time. He had to reach pretty far up to reach the ones at the top which made him have to reach as far as his arms could reach. She asked him to take the yellow one off. He said he didn’t know which one was yellow so she showed him another yellow clip ... after which he was able to find the yellow clip and take it off. She asked him to take the red one off. She asked him if he knew which one was red and he said “Yes” . She tried to trick him by pointing at the blue and green ones and asked “Is this red?” He wasn’t going to be fooled ... he KNEW which one it was and said “yes” when she pointed to the red one! She took Paul over to a cabinet that has shelves in it. She had him stand in front of it and he had to take the soda bottles and put them on the top shelf. She had him put them up with one hand and take them back down with the other hand. He had to fold washcloths and put them on the shelf. He is VERY particular about how he folds things ... this was not exception. He was like that before the accident!! She thought it was funny that he was so picky! It had to be PERFECT before he would put it on the shelf ... all the seams had to match and if it moved…he started over!! LOL Dad, Dora & Paul had to make a long walk back to the car ... Dad had forgotten to bring the walker (actually it was in the trunk of MY car!). It took a long time to get there but Paul walked the whole way! Unfortunately Paul didn’t get lunch until almost 4pm since they had so many appointments. We also had an appointment with the case worker from Brain Injury Services in the evening. She is working to help us understand the Medicare information since Paul will be eligible for Medicare in April next year. We had a nice visit with her. Paul was exhausted and was ready for bed about 10pm. He was having trouble walking ... probably from all the activity of the day! It is not surprising for a patient with TBI to wear out easily but we often push him pretty hard during the day!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl