Paul's Update - 04/23/08

Dear Friends:

The last couple of weeks have been pretty quiet. The week of the 7th – 13th Paul wasn’t able to have therapy. Bobby & Jen were on their honeymoon … having a great time from what we heard. I went back to work on Wednesday. All of my family (Mom, Ann, Keith & Alma) had left the day before. Thursday was quiet since there wasn’t any therapy. I had a doctor appointment that afternoon so I got home a little early. We had bible study that evening. One of the girls in our group had a birthday recently so we had a birthday cake for her. Ronda had made dinner and also made a special cake for us! Paul really enjoyed the cake … it was angel food but it had a peppermint/cool whip frosting! Friday night we were finally able to go out to dinner with Bill & Ronda. It seems like our routine has been pretty goofed up lately. Saturday was a busy day around our house. Dad began to work in the yard to clean up the brush & weeds. He spent most of the day working. Mike (Bill & Ronda’s son) came over and helped. Dad started working with the chipper he rented and was able to chip up a lot of the wood in one day. We had a dinner to go to at church in the evening. It was a multi-cultural dinner with the two other congregations that share our church building. Paul came and enjoyed the dinner. Sunday was much the same ... now that Dad has a project he stays pretty busy with it. He had cut down several small trees in the back yard and was making a pile of brush that would need to be hauled away. Mike came over and helped again. It was a beautiful weekend. Paul was able to go outside and watch some of the work from the deck. Carolyn & I went to pick up Bobby & Jen from the airport. They had a great time and shared some of their adventures with us!! Monday morning Dad & I took a trip to Fair Oaks hospital to register Paul for the therapy evaluation. He had a scheduled appointment for Thursday but every time you get another approval for therapy you have to re-register at the hospital just like a new patient. We did not take Paul … he stayed home with Dora. Later that day I called a landscape company to come and take a look at the job to see how much it would cost to have someone clean up and haul away everything. A fellow came on Tuesday morning to look at it and it turned out to be VERY expensive. Dad decided he had enough resources to get the help he needed without that kind of expense. Most of the week he spent working with a fellow that my nephew employs to clean the yard, load the neighbor’s truck and haul brush to the dump. I’d much rather pay him a little on the side to do the work. He was a hard working guy and they got a lot done on Wednesday. Dad had therapy on Thursday with Paul. This was just the evaluation but they did some work as well. Mostly this is to determine what they want to be the goals for achievement over the next few weeks so they can send it to Medicaid. Paul seemed to be feeling a little under the weather and sounded stuffy so Dad ran the vaporizer in his room during the night. Friday night we went out to dinner at Red Lobster with Bill, Ronda, Mike & Tracy. It was a nice relaxing evening. Something I’ve noticed that Paul has gotten really good at is going in and out of our front door. We have a small step that he has learned how to manage without Dad’s help. It’s just another example of the improvement in Paul’s balance. Paul rarely uses the walker any more ... which is wonderful and gives us much more freedom in where he can go! Saturday was another absolutely beautiful day. Dad started working early with Daniel (Tony’s employee). They worked hard all day but got LOTS of work done. The shed in back is now gone, the sheds in the upper part of the back yard are now in the lower back of the yard. They took several loads of debris to the dump. Since we don’t have a nurse on the weekend anymore, I was in charge of making sure Paul had what he needed and I would get Dad when he needed to go to the bathroom. Carolyn was doing a birthday party for Alysa that day … her 8th birthday was on the 7th of April. I kept Chris for the afternoon so Carolyn could do the birthday party without having to worry with the baby. That afternoon we went to the church for a 40th Anniversary Party. Paul stayed at the house since Dad was still working in the yard and I cannot handle Paul by myself. Sunday it RAINED!!! We skipped breakfast since it is challenging to get Paul from the parking lot to the restaurant when it rains. Dad stayed home from church with Paul while Carolyn took Max to church for Sunday school. After church the weather was a bit better so we went to lunch with Bill & Ronda. We didn’t get to go to El Agave on Saturday so we went there for Sunday lunch!! It was a nice treat. Carolyn & Chris came with us and of course we had Max. We had quite a large group ... eleven of us all together (fifteen when Alysa showed up with Mike, AJ & Nadia). Monday Dad & I went out to lunch and headed to Costco to get some things ... laundry soap, dog food, snacks etc. Paul stayed with Dora. He has been suffering from what appears to be allergies for the last several days but seems to feel better. It was a good day to stay in. Dad worked in the garage to organize some of the stuff that came out of the shed in the yard. My car has been out in the driveway for the last couple of days ... I’d like it to be able to go back inside the garage! Tuesday Dad and Paul took a walk up the street. Dad hopes that if Paul begins walking more that he will actually walk better. Paul used his walker and walked for about ¼ mile. Just as they got home it began to rain but they didn’t get very wet! Dad worked in the garage some more. Wednesday Paul walked again. He does really well with his walker and enjoys getting out of the house. Dad made several trips to the dump this afternoon. Paul stayed with Dora. Thursday Paul will start a therapy routine again.

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 04/08/08

Dear Friends:

Last week was mostly busy with preparations for Bobby & Jen’s wedding.

Saturday we went to get Paul’s taxes done ... whew, I’m glad that is done! Since we don’t have a weekend nurse Paul went with us. Later in the day Dad & Paul went to be fitted for their Tuxedos for the wedding. Paul seemed to enjoy the preparations for his brother’s wedding. He looked really sharp in the tux too!

Sunday we had Max for Sunday school & church. Max spent the day with us. He usually goes home around 7pm. Paul decided during the worship time that he wanted to sit in the front of the church. Typically he sits in the back where it is close to the door if he needs to go to the bathroom. When Dad lead him in, he headed straight to the front pew, walked into the row and sat down. He sat throughout the service without having to go out.

Monday I headed back to work. It was going to be a short week since we had family planning to arrive on Thursday.

Tuesday Dad & Paul went to pick up their Tuxedos. Therapy was cancelled for the day. Dad & the therapists decided to start having therapy once a week to extend the time that Paul has authorized by the insurance company. He only has five sessions left ... might as well make them last as long as possible.

Wednesday Dad decided to take Paul to the bike shop where he used to work. A lot of the folks are not there anymore but he did get to see his friend Brian. They took a trip to Classic Iron and visited the guys that work there. Paul was friends with several of these guys and was there the day of his accident.

Thursday morning Dad started to the hospital at 9:30am for what he thought was supposed to be a 10:30 PT appointment. Apparently the receptionist scheduled him for 9:30 instead and so they missed out on Physical therapy for the day. He was able to have Occupational Therapy since it was scheduled for 10:30am. The therapist continued to work on throwing a ball. She has Paul free-standing while he throws a ball to her. She then throws it back to him. His coordination is getting better and he is actually able to catch the ball better. She is also trying to get him to tie a rope. He used to be really good at knots and she can get him to do part of a knot ... it will take some more practice but I think he will be able to get it done soon! She also suggested that we start using more sign language with him ... or at least encouraging HIM to use more sign language. She showed Dad the hand sign for “yes” and suggested we encourage him to use it when we ask him if he needs to use the bathroom. He doesn’t seem to like doing it but he usually does pretty good with “yes” & “no” verbally. Thursday was also the day that my family started arriving for the wedding. Mom & Ann arrived early in the afternoon. Keith & Alma arrived later in the evening. Cathy went to the airport to pick up Keith & Alma and she delivered them to my house. We spent a good part of the evening visiting. Mom & Ann went home with Cathy and stayed at her house. Keith & Alma stayed at our house. Dad went to pick up Max at the daycare. He spent the afternoon with us. Carolyn also brought over Alysa & Chris. The kids play so nicely but it sure was noisy in our house!! LOL Paul enjoys watching Max play.

Friday was a rainy day but Keith & Alma wanted to go to Arlington Cemetery and do some sight seeing in DC. Cathy met up with them after she had a business meeting in Manassas. They spent several hours in DC. We had the rehearsal at Foxchase Event Center where the wedding was going to be at 5pm. We were able to get back to the church by 7pm for a dinner of Red, Hot & Blue BBQ. A few of the ladies from our church decorated the social hall and set out the food for us. Everything was so nice and we were able to have a nice fellowship time with all of the folks in the wedding. Alicia had made a cake that looked like the Redskin’s Football Stadium … since Bob & Jen are big fans and the wedding colors were Burgundy & Gold!!

Saturday morning all the girls met at the beauty parlor to have our hair done for the wedding. It took five hours to do all of us. A limo was to pick up the girls at 2pm and we got to Jen’s mother’s house at 1:45pm to get dressed ... needless to say we were running behind at that point! Once the limo took the girls to Foxchase he went to our house to pick up the men. A photographer was there and took pictures of the guys in their Tuxedos. Paul enjoyed standing with his brother to get his picture made. He loves getting his picture done and this was a very special occasion for that. The wedding was to start at 4pm and we only ran about 10 minutes late … not bad! Paul walked down the aisle and stood near Dad along with the other groomsmen. The coordinator had a chair for Paul in case he couldn’t stand throughout the wedding but he didn’t use it!! The wedding was BEAUTIFUL ... and there were lots of tears! There were 215 people on the guest list and most of them were in attendance. The reception was wonderful and the food was DELICIOUS! Jen & Bob looked so happy. The “gift” of the night was when the DJ announced that the Washington Capitals won their game and were going to the playoffs (that’s important when you’re a fan!!) The limo left with Bobby & Jen at about 10pm. Since it was rented until midnight the driver took them on a tour of some historic sites in Fairfax before taking them back to the apartment. They got up early on Sunday morning (3am) to catch a flight to Florida where they left on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean for the week. Last word was that they were having a great time!

Monday the family did some more sight seeing and visiting. Paul was suppose to have therapy but it appears that the insurance that he had has been cancelled. Medicaid will pick it up but we need to have prior approvals before they can do the therapy. Hopefully that will be worked out by the later part of the week. Paul was tired from all the events of the weekend since he had done LOTS of walking. Dad, Paul and I stayed home and did some resting.

Tuesday Ann & Mom headed home. Keith and Alma had a 6pm flight back to Alaska.

Wednesday ... it’s back to business as usual!! What a blessing this last week was. It was so nice that all of our kids were able to be in Bobby & Jen’s wedding. Having Paul be there and participate was important to ALL of us ... including HIM! We now have a wonderful new addition to our family ... Jennifer Johnson!!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl