Paul's Update - 02/05/05

Dear Friends:

Today was a quiet and mostly uneventful day but Paul was awake much more today. He spent most of the day awake and was awake when we left tonight at 10pm. Dad was able to exercise him quiet a bit. It is very difficult for him to lift his arms but Dad is able to work with him to loosen up the joints. His legs move pretty easily but the arms are stiff and painful for him to move. Dad repeated the work with him to reach for the stuffed kitty and have him hand it back. Dad also told him to pass the kitty to Tabby who was sitting on his right side. He actually reached across his body with his left hand to give it to Tabby!! Wow ... how great is that! He was very active on his own as well, he was moving his covers on and off of himself and kicking his feet a lot. When he has his boot off he seems to like pushing his feet against the end of the bed. He also had the cap on his trach today for about 1/2 hour. The cap actually makes it a talking trach. The goal is to get him to tolerate breathing with it for about 2 hours a day. He didn't do as well with it today ... tomorrow he will try again. Tabby has started introducing a wet sponge into his mouth. He does a chewing action and then swallows the water he gets from the sponge. This will encourage him to be ready for more foods by mouth. Tabby wants to check with the nutritionist on Monday to see if she can start giving him small tastes of popsicles. Monday will be a great day ... we can finally get back to the physical therapy. He hasn't had any real therapy since last Monday. I think he will be ready since he's had four full days to recover from the surgery. Keith (the physical therapist) will be glad to see him back. All of the therapist at the nursing home seem to take a sincere interest in Paul and his recovery. Work, work, work ... no results without hard work!! I'm so thankful for them!! Have a great week. :-)

Love Lynne & Carl