Paul's Update - 03/02/06

Dear Friends:

Well ... not a great day. Paul was pretty tired most of the day. He wasn't much interested in OT this morning. The therapist tried to get him to respond to her but he just refused. She decided to try to brush his teeth and she asked Dad if Paul could spit. He told her we don't really know if he can so she took a little water and gave it to him. Well ... he took it alright ... and the SWALLOWED it!! LOL He really isn't suppose to have water yet since he has the trach but he did OK with it! Speaking of the trach ... the doctor came in this morning and said that since Paul has done real well with the plug in the trach for the last two days and nights he plans to come in on Friday and take it out. This is great news! One more piece of hardware will go away. PT went a little better. The therapist put Paul's wheelchair in front of a bench that can be raised up to waist height. She had him put his hands and arms on the table and try to stand himself up. Once standing he was able to stand for a little and then sit back down. Speech was at 1pm and it was the best. He made a little sound with encouragement. Then the therapist tried to give Paul a little taste of a popsicle. He really liked it and ate about 3/4 of it by spoon. He even used his left hand to feed himself with the spoon. Today was a little discouraging for us. The social worker talked to Dad today and she told him she didn't think we would be able to get the full six weeks of therapy we were hoping for. She wants us to start preparing for when he will be discharged ... things like where he will go and what we will need for his new environment. She did seem to think he would still be there until at least after the family meeting that is scheduled for March 16th. The hospital does weekly evaluations of each patient and makes decisions based on whether they are progressing to the next level of recovery. If they don't progress then they recommend discharge. We are praying that they will see enough improvement to keep him there at least four weeks Unfortunately it appears that we are helpless in this situation AGAIN!! We still believe Paul will recover ... God has brought him this far and won't abandon him ... but the hospital holds all the cards!! Please continue to pray ... God has worked out other situations that seemed bad to us ... maybe this will be a blessing in disguise! Have a great Friday!

Love, Lynne & Carl