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