Paul's Update - 03/18/06

Dear Friends:

I have been having lots of problems with my email account. Please bear with me and let me know if you are missing any updates that I can forward to you when I resolve these problems. Today started out so much better. The nurse gave Paul his medicines at 7:30 am and by 9 am when the speech therapist came in he was awake and able to participate. She put some chocolate pudding in his mouth behind his front teeth. He was able to retrieve it with his tongue from there and eat it. He wouldn't get his tongue past his teeth. She also let him bite into a popsicle. He took much too big a bite and she had to get it back out of his mouth. He did swallow better with small pieces of popsicle. She worked to message his tongue and cheeks. PT was at 1:30 today. The same girl that worked with him yesterday was there again today. She is apparently the person at Mount Vernon that orders wheelchairs for patients and she spent a bit of time showing Dad & Me the types of wheelchairs she would recommend for Paul. In the world of wheelchairs ... these were Cadillacs! She wants to order a customer fitted wheelchair for him so he will have the maximum amount of comfort and adaptability to his needs. Once she was done showing us the options she wanted to make sure Paul had an opportunity to walk today. He walked about 20 feet today. Not one of his best days since he was pretty tired by then. Most of the day he was tired but he was awake most of the day. By tonight he was perked up and was watching TV when we left. He managed a smile when I joked with him about Dad saying "WE like the history channel"!! Best of all ... I got a kiss before leaving! Much work was being done at Paul & Tabby's house today. Many of the men from the church came over along with friends & family to work on the ramp to the basement door and start the work on the bathroom. They also worked to make the basement more open and accessible by modifying the wall in the middle of the basement. Thanks from us to all those who helped!! Sunday will be a quiet day ... no therapy! Have a great day!

Love, Lynne & Carl