Praise God ... our days just keep getting better. Today was no exception. Dad & I got there late today. Saturday is a day that Tabby has lots of help. This morning started with Paul's breakfast that included applesauce with his meds in it. He did great! At this point Tabby is ready to talk to the doctor about having the feeding tube removed. That would be so nice and we believe Paul wants that too. At dinner time tonight Tabby was going to give him some Ensure through the feeding tube and he wouldn't let her have the tube. She told him the option to that was for him to drink the Ensure. She gave him the can and he drank every last drop!! When we got to the house this afternoon Carolyn was there and Paul was eating some fruit. After he finished Dad spent some time exercising Paul. First they walked from the bedroom to the kitchen and back. Tabby bought some weights (2 1/2 lbs) that strap onto his legs. Dad had Paul exercise with them. He kicked his left leg about twenty times and the right about 15. Then he did the march in place while in the wheelchair. He did that about 10 times with each leg. After he finised Dad asked him to "walk" his wheelchair across the floor with his feet. Paul actually got the wheelchair across the room but the good part is...he made the wheelchair turn to miss some obstacles in the way. It was apparent that he knew he couldn't get the wheelchair past the table or the cabinet in the kitchen so he maneuvered it around them!!! Then dad told him to back up and come forward again. Going backwards was pretty easy for him once he got past the obstables again. After he went forward to the kitchen the second time he turned the wheelchair all the way around to go back to the bedroom. Tonight some friends came by to visit. The neighbors across the street who have been extremely helpful and supportive for us ... especially Tabby!! While they were visiting Paul was eating fruit and then had two freeze pops. After he ate he developed the hiccups. Tabby went to the kitchen to get a spoonful of sugar & some water (home remedies really work) and while she was doing that Paul took a deep breath and then closed his lips to HOLD HIS BREATH!!! He held it for about 30 seconds then started to breath. He hiccupped again so he took another deep breath and held it!! OK ... I say again ... that seems like problem solving to us!! How great is that? But ... I saved the best for last ... Tabby told Paul today "I love you" and HE SAID "love you" back to her!! Then she said "I'm going outside for a few minutes, is that OK?" and HE SAID "okay"! Of course it is still like a moan but you can tell he is forming a word! It actually sounds like a word!!! When I left this afternoon I said "I'll be back" and he said "alright"! OK ... since we came home ... we came off the muscles relaxers & the parkinson's drug, began moving both arms and legs more, he began eating baby food then progressed to regular food, he now eats and drinks by himself, he uses problem solving skills, and TALKS! That is more than he has done in the last five months!! How exciting is that? Tuesday Paul is going to see a new doctor, a neurologist. This doctor will followup for Dr. Azzam. It will be interesting to see what his evaluation of Paul's condition is! Remember the Ranchos Los Amigos Scale? Well .... I believe he is now about a 7-8 on a scale of 1-10 (he was probably a 5-6 when he left Mt. Vernon). Tomorrow Tabby, Dad and I are going to look at a Handicap Equipped Van that is in Baltimore. Pray that it will meet our needs. We will be taking Paul back and forth to doctors & therapies for a long time and dependable handicap equipped transportation will be very important. Thanks for continuing to pray ... it's working!
Have a great day! Lynne & Carl
Rancho Los Amigos Cognitive Scale
- Level I: No response to pain, touch, sound or sight.
- Level II: Generalized reflex response to pain.
- Level III: Localized response. Blinks to strong light, turns toward/away from sound, responds to physical discomfort, inconsistent response to commands.
- Level IV: Confused/Agitated. Alert, very active, aggressive or bizarre behaviors, performs motor activities but behavior is non-purposeful, extremely short attention span.
- Level V: Confused/Non-agitated. Gross attention to environment, highly distractible, requires continual redirection, difficulty learning new tasks, agitated by too much stimulation. May engage in social conversation but with inappropriate verbalizations.
- Level VI: Confused/Appropriate. Inconsistent orientation to time and place, retention span/recent memory impaired, begins to recall past, consistently follows simple directions, goal-directed behavior with assistance.
- Level VII: Automatic/Appropriate. Performs daily routine in highly familiar environment in a non-confused but automatic robot-like manner. Skills noticeably deteriorate in unfamiliar environment. Lacks realistic planning for own future.
- Level VIII: Purposeful/Appropriate.
- Level IX: Purposeful, Appropriate: Stand-By Assistance on Request.
- Level X: Purposeful, Appropriate: Modified Independent.
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