Paul's Update - 02/28/08

Dear Friends:

It is amazing how fast our weeks go by. Most of our days seem pretty much the same however Paul continues to improve. Tuesday the 19th was a therapy day. The Occupational therapist was not in and cancelled Paul’s session. He went to Physical Therapy at 1pm. Paul worked on walking. He also did his knee bends and working with the bar. Wednesday was a quiet day. Thursday the Occupational therapist was back. They arrived at the hospital at 9:30. They started out with working on finding the middle of a line. She would draw a line and he had to draw across the line to the middle. She worked on having him hold a pencil and draw things. He really doesn’t like doing that but she helps get him started and he actually does OK. Then she got out some “snap-beads” and had he put them together. He seemed to enjoy doing that. He started by using both hands to snap them together, then started holding both pieces in one hand to snap them together. She has a piece of cloth that has buttons, zippers, safety pins and eye hooks on it. She had undo the buttons which he also enjoys doing with one hand. Then she had him undo the small safety pins that are attached to the cloth. Paul was able to undo them with one hand, pull them out and then put them on the table. After he got them out he had to put them back. He had to stick the pin into the cloth and hook it. He seems to do very well with small tasks! Thursday night was bible study. Ronda brought Shepherd’s Pie … YUM! Paul usually eats pretty slow but he really enjoyed dinner! Friday we didn’t have a nurse since the weather was forecasted to be icy. Dad had Paul get down on the floor and crawl down the hallway to his bedroom. This is the first time that Paul was willing to do this exercise. It was slow going at first but once he got started he did really well. Once he got to his bedroom he used the side of the bed to stand back up. He walked back to the living room and did some work on the floor. They did leg lifts and tummy crunches. Dad is trying to work out some of the muscle stiffness that is making it hard for Paul to walk normally. Of course we were able to go out to dinner Friday night. The weather was really just a false alarm and we only got rain. We went to Yorkshire Restaurant (only a mile from home) and had a great dinner. Saturday we were not able to go out for Mexican. Dad & Paul had an appointment to be fitted for Tuxedos that they will wear in Bobby’s wedding. The wedding is just a little over a month away!! We went out to dinner at the Chinese Restaurant instead of Mexican. Mayah went home a little early since we were going out. Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of Liam Ford, Alicia & Lee’s baby! We went to their church in Gainesville which is about a 30 minute drive. Mayah went with us. We had Max with us and he stayed with us during the service. He did really good. Chris and Alysa were with us also since Carolyn is the Godmother. Chris was chatty during the service but what a joy to hear a happy baby in church! After the service we went to Mary Lou’s house for a reception. Max & Chris were able to play together. It is so fun watching them play. They are really good together! We didn’t get home until after 4pm. After dinner I was in my office and Paul decided he wanted to come in and visit with me. We worked a little on names. I asked him what my name and prompted him with “Ly” and he said Lynne. So I proceeded to ask him all of the family names. He was able to say Carl, Lynne, Bob, Carolyn, Max & Tabitha with just a little prompting. The interesting thing is that we always call Tabitha “Tabby” but when you ask him what his wife’s name is ... he ALWAYS says “Tabitha”!! Mayah was fascinated that Paul wanted to spend time in my office. We were in there until after Mayah left at 10 pm. He decided to stay late to make up some of the time he lost last weekend when his Aunt died. Monday was a quiet day at home. Dad worked on Paul’s exercises. We met with Kristin from Brain Injury Services that evening. She is very helpful in getting information related to resources like therapy, Medicare & seminars for caregivers. Tuesday Paul had PT at 1pm. She had Paul show her his tummy crunches and leg extensions. She wanted to see him do them since he doesn’t do that kind of exercise with her. Dad had him roll over on his stomach and do leg lifts. He HATES being on his stomach but he did it! They went out to the hallway and had Paul walk holding onto the rail with his right hand. He actually does better holding the rail with the right hand since he tends to grab the railing more tightly with his left hand. He doesn’t have the strength in his right hand so that hand just slides along while he walks. They didn’t have Occupational therapy on Tuesday again this week. Wednesday Paul stayed home and had a quiet day. Today was Occupational therapy 9:30am. What an amazing day! Just when we think Paul is doing only mundane things … he does something amazing. The therapist took a deck of cards and asked Paul if he could arrange them in order from low to high. He said “yes” so she laid the cards “2, 3 & 4” on the table. She asked him “which is the lowest card?”. He pointed to the “2”. She moved the “2” over and then he moved the 3 & 4 into order. Then she put the “5, 6 & 7” on the table. He picked up the “5” card. The therapist asked “What card do you have?” and Paul said “five”. He put the cards in the right order behind the 2, 3 & 4. She laid the rest of the cards on the table. The first two were “9 & 10”. Paul picked them up and put them next to the “7”. Then he picked up the “8” and looked over at the other cards. Instead of putting the card at the end of the line, he reached over and slid the “7” in between the “6 & 8”!! He finished by putting down the Jack, Queen, King and Ace in the right order!! Dad was just flabbergasted!! Only a few months ago Paul wouldn’t even acknowledge that he knew what numbers the cards were … but now he seems to recognize them and can put them in order!!! There was only about 20 minutes with the Physical Therapist since Paul had to see the Physiatrist (Physical Therapy Specialist). She hasn’t seen him for a while. The therapist keeps recommending that we put Paul on a mild muscle relaxer to help with the tone in his muscles. The specialist agreed that a low dose of a muscle relaxer is worth a try. She prescribed the medicine that Paul took once before. When he was at Mount Vernon Rehab Hospital he took this medicine and it relaxed him so much that we couldn’t get him to do ANYTHING! He was also just beginning to recover from the injury and not very responsive even without any medicines. We are hopeful that now he will tolerate the medicine better and it may actually help. We will watch him VERY closely and if it causes him to digress we will stop giving it to him. We had bible study tonight. After Bill & Ronda left Paul was pretty tired and ready to go to bed about 10:30. He’d had a pretty busy day!

Paul's Update - 02/18/08

Dear Friends:

All of us seem to be feeling better and Paul has been able to function better this last week. Thursday was Valentines day and he had therapy that day. The occupational therapist handed Paul a pair of scissors and a paper that had a heart shape drawn on it. She told him to cut out the heart which he did without any help. Then she helped him write “Mom” and “Dad” on the outside and “Paul” on the inside of the heart which was folded in half. It is very special!! She also had him work on spelling his name. She wrote the letters of his name on post-it notes and put them on the wall in random order. He reached up and took the “P” and put it in front of him. He reached for the “L” and put it near the “P” but left a space between them. He picked out the “U” next and put it next to the “L” but there was only a small space between the “P” and the “U” so he reached up and MOVED the “P” over then put the “A” in the space!!! He spelled his name!!! Physical Therapy is more of the practice with walking. She also has him work on knee bends. Now that he feels better he seems to have much better balance. Friday Paul and Dad stayed home and had a quiet day. Saturday morning we had Carolyn’s children for a couple of hours. She has a dance class so we get to watch Alysa & Chris for her. We were able to go to El Agave in the afternoon. This was the first time Mayah has gone with us. I think he enjoyed it. Paul did well and didn’t get sick. Dad gave him some Dramamine before we left ... that may have helped ... it certainly didn’t hurt! After we got home Dad got in a nap. Mayah got a phone call from his cousin in England and was told that his Aunt had died. He managed to finish out his day but he decided to take Sunday off. Paul went to bed pretty early (about 9:30pm) which may have be a result of taking the Dramamine. We went to breakfast with Bill, Ronda, Lew & Serenity on Sunday morning. Max came in time to go to church with us. He has decided that he doesn’t really like us leaving him in the nursery and cries when we try to leave. He ended up staying in the sanctuary with Pap-Paw during the service. Pap-Paw noticed that he really enjoyed singing with us!! We spent the afternoon relaxing and playing with Max. Later in the evening Carolyn & Billy brought Chris & Alysa over so they could go out to dinner and bowling. It is so wonderful being able to enjoy our grandchildren! Max left about 7pm. When Mommy told Max to give Daddy a kiss goodbye he climbed up on Paul’s lap to give him a kiss. Paul bent over and gave him a kiss and then got the biggest smile on his face. He really enjoys this interaction with his son! Not many things make Paul smile and nothing makes him smile that much! Monday we had Max for the day. It was a holiday and the babysitter wanted the day off. Since Mommy had to work, Max spent the day with us. It was a beautiful morning ... almost 70 degrees. Carl, Paul, Dora & Max spent about an hour outside. Pap-Paw got out the wagon and took Max for a ride around the front yard while Daddy watched. When it was time to come in Paul used his cane and walked mostly by himself. The terrain in our front yard is not very even and it is a struggle for Paul to manage but he was able to recover well when he would lose his balance. Once the weather is warmer Paul may be able to practice walking on this uneven terrain more often. Max is busy the whole time he is here and loves bringing toys and other objects to Daddy. Paul will take the toy then give it back to Max. It is real nice to see them be able to interact even though it is on a small level! Max stayed until about 6:30pm ... we enjoyed our day with him!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 02/14/08

Dear Friends:

I hope you have been well. We have been fighting the flu for some time. Paul finally needed to go to the doctor on Tuesday last week. He had been fighting a cold for over two weeks. Dad asked him on Monday night if he was OK. He shook his head “no” so Dad asked if something was hurting. When he said “yes” Dad asked him to show him what hurt. Paul shook his head “no”. Dad told him “I can’t tell the doctor what is wrong if you can’t show me”. He thought for a minute and then pointed to his mouth. Dad looked in his throat and found that there was swelling and white nodes in the back of his throat. Tuesday Dad took him to the doctor and she put him on Antibiotics and a powerful steroid to tackle infection. It took a couple of days but he is feeling better. He had to cancel therapy on Tuesday. Paul has had so much trouble walking lately anyway! Wednesday Dad & Paul stayed home. Thursday Paul went to therapy. He had Occupational Therapy at 9:30am. The therapist wanted to work with Paul & Dad to plan what they will work on for the next few weeks. This took most of the session. She wants him to work on personal care more and do some errands at home. The Physical Therapist had Paul do some walking with his cane and walker. She hasn’t pushed him to walk without the cane since he has been having so much trouble with balance. He walked down the hall and did a bit better than he did the week before. Friday was another quiet day at home. Saturday Mayah came around 8am. We had a day at home since we were planning to go to the church for the Sweetheart dinner sponsored by the United Methodist Men that evening. Dad wanted to make cookies. They went to the kitchen. Paul had to turn on the oven and set the temperature. Dad had bought frozen cookies that you break apart and put on a pan. Paul had to pull them apart and put them on the cookie pan. He stood at the counter without holding on to anything and carefully put them on the cookie pan spaced apart so they wouldn’t run together. Some of them were a little close and we adjusted them before putting them in the oven. Paul did it mostly by himself! Since Paul’s therapist wants him to do more chores, Dad had Paul work on loading the dishwasher while the cookies were baking. He did a great job. He was careful to dump out water that was in the cups in the sink and then put them on the top rack of the dishwasher. Then he loaded the bowls, pans & silverware in the bottom of the dishwasher. He was careful with the dishes and balanced himself at the sink very well. He had to bend at the waist to put dishes on the bottom shelf. He only lost his balance a couple of times. Dad & Mayah were right there to catch him. After they were done ... we got to eat cookies!! Yumm!! Sunday Mayah came at 7am to help get Paul ready for breakfast at Yorkshire Restaurant. Once we got to the restaurant Mayah left to go on a trip for the day. He planned to come back in the evening. Since he had told us before that he needs the money we were willing to allow him to take part of the day off and come back to finish out the day. Max didn’t come since he was out of town. We had a very quiet afternoon ... we all took naps! Mayah came back about 5pm and stayed until 10:30pm. He was going to help Paul get ready for bed but Paul didn’t want to go to bed that early!! He ended up staying up until about 11:30pm! Monday is my day off and we spent the day at home doing household chores. It was a freezing cold day ... we weren’t interested in going out!! Tuesday Paul went to Physical Therapy at 1pm. Paul walked without his cane or walker. He walked down the hallway and back. Then they went to the rail on the wall and walked the 40 feet down the hall. Dad said he was walking almost normally and remembered to move his hand on the railing at the appropriate times. Sometimes he forgets to let go of the railing and ends up turning himself around but not this time. He walked all the way down the hallway and then he had to walk backwards to come back. The therapist has to remind him to take small steps instead of large ones. He tries to go to fast and take steps that cause him to lose his balance. Then they walked to the end of the hallway to a corner in the wall. She had him stand with his back to the “V” of the wall with his hands at his side. She gently pushes him from side to side and he has to correct himself without losing his balance. After that she tried to get him to do deep knee bends. Controlling his lower muscles and bend to sit are difficult for him. He still has weakness and tone in his muscles that cause him to have difficulty using them correctly. He also had Occupational therapy. He worked on puzzles that are “sequential”. The first one was a sequence of cutting bread. The first piece is “the knife & bread”, the second was “cutting the bread”, third was “cutting through the bread”, fourth was “the bread cut all the way through”. He did really good with figuring out the sequence. She had two other puzzles but Paul wasn’t interested in doing them. By the time therapy was over it was sleeting outside so Dad headed right home. I came home early. When I came in I asked Paul how he was. He said “fine”! Usually we go through a routine conversation ... I say “hi”, he says “hi”, I say “how are you?” he says “good”. This happens almost every day so for him to say “fine” was really interesting!! Every once in a while he says things that we don’t prompt and I love those times!! The weather turned back quickly and we sent Dora home early. The night was cold and icy so we stayed home where it was warm!! Paul went to bed about 10:30pm. He had a pretty busy day! We are thankful that he is feeling better!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 02/03/08

Dear Friends:

The weeks seem to fly by and most of our days seem so routine and I apologize for allowing so much time to pass without any updates. Dora returned from her trip to Ghana on the 21st. We are very glad to have her back. You may remember that Dora has been our week day nursing aid since the time Paul came home from the nursing home in April 2006. She has been through a lot with us. She enjoyed her trip and got to visit with all of her family who still lives in Ghana. Her husband’s family is there also so the children got to visit with both sides of the family. It was very hot there ... in much contrast to here!! Paul has not been feeling very well for the last couple of weeks and has not been very productive. Paul started out with a sore throat on the 21st and became very hoarse. He didn’t talk much for a couple of days and was a bit unbalanced in his walking. Dad hasn’t been pushing him and has been allowing him to use his cane quite a lot. On Tuesday (the 22nd) Paul had an eye doctor appointment. He did very well for the doctor and she said his eyesight appears to be about 20/30 as best she can tell. She had him do the “E” chart and was amazed at how well he was able to do with it. She didn’t see any floaters in his eye this time but still feels that he may have some double vision from the right eye not functioning correctly. On Thursday of that week our washing machine broke down. We cannot do without our washer since Dora does laundry EVERY day! Since Paul wasn’t feeling well Dad cancelled the therapy for the day and went out to shop for a new washing machine. He found one that could be delivered “next day”. It came by noon on Friday! Thursday we found out that Dora spoke with Gradis on the phone. Apparently, Gradis is moving to Maryland. We don’t really know what happened but it appears that she won’t be our weekend nurse anymore! It looks like Mayah will continue to come on the weekends ... at least for now! Paul had his voice back by Friday but he has been coughing and has had a couple of nose bleeds during the night. Dad was planning to go to the gym with Carolyn that day but since the washer was coming they cancelled that plan. Dad wants to get back to the gym on a regular basis ... they’ve gotten out of the habit. Friday Dora had the day off. Mayah said he couldn’t come on Saturday so Dora volunteered to switch with him and come on Saturday! Dad, Paul & Mayah stayed home on Friday. After Mayah left for the evening we went out to dinner. It was just Paul, Dad & me. Ronda & Bill were out of town. We went to Sweetwater’s in Centreville and Paul had (I bet you could guess this ... ) FISH! Saturday was another day at home. Ronda & Bill were still out of town so we didn’t go to El Agave. Sunday Paul was feeling a bit better. We went to church as usual. Mayah came with us. The afternoon was spent watching movies. Max came over about 1:30pm. Paul still has some trouble with balance but Mayah is very good with him and anticipates his every move! We let Mayah go home early so we could meet up with Bobby & Jen for dinner at Logans Steakhouse. Carolyn had spent the afternoon with us and went out with us too. It was Dad’s birthday. Bobby had a birthday a week ago so we were celebrating both birthdays at once. We took Max home after dinner. Monday I spent the morning cleaning. Dad & Dora took Paul to get a haircut. They went to the barber shop instead of the Hair Cuttery. I think he actually got a better haircut! He seems to like it! Tuesday was therapy day. Dad took Paul about 1:30 but the Occupational Therapist had cancelled for a sick child at home. He went to Physical Therapy and did some walking down the hallway. He walked down and then back holding onto the railing in the hall. She had him walk backwards holding onto the railing and then she had him walk backwards with his cane. Dad said he actually did better with the cane than by holding onto the railing. Wednesday Dad, Paul & Dora went to the gym. They spent about 2 hours there. Paul worked on the weight machines and also got into the pool for about an hour. They saw Carolyn & Billy there too. Thursday I was home sick. Paul had Occupational Therapy at 10:30 am. The therapist had Paul play Tic Tac Toe with her. They had a board with plastic X’s and O’s. Paul chose to be “X” and he either beat her or tied her at every game. He was watching and wouldn’t let her get more than two in a row ... even if he could win with another play!! Physical Therapy was challenging. Paul is still having lots of difficulty with balance. He has been using the cane for more than a week and even uses the walker some. I had a sore throat on Thursday morning and stayed home for the day. Dad has been suffering some of the affects of a cold too! I felt better on Friday and headed off to work. Dad, Dora & Paul stayed home for the day since it was raining. We met up with Bill & Ronda for dinner at the Olive Garden. Paul had Fish but he got sick on the way home. There is some suspicion that he may have some problems with his inner ear since we are having balance & sickness problems. Saturday we started out to El Agave and Paul got sick before we could even get there. We had to turn around and come home. Sunday was a really good day. After breakfast at Yorkshire Restaurant we had Max for Sunday School & Church. After church Carolyn went out with Bobby & Jen to help them do the bridal registry. Their wedding is only two months away!! We kept all of the grandchildren for the afternoon. Paul really enjoys watching the kids play. We spent the day watching TV & playing with the kids. Max has a school bus that plays the alphabet song and he was singing the alphabet with it ... then I heard Paul saying “I”. I think he was trying to do it along with Max! We spent the evening watching the Super Bowl game. Although we haven’t had many improvements lately we continue to be thankful for Paul’s progress. It amazes me when I think about where we were just two years ago. I cannot really believe that two years have gone by and Paul has progressed so much. Our God has been so good to us!!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl