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