On December 2, 2015 I posted a video of my dads toes moving. In the video you could hear what I would do with my dad every morning that I was in the hospital with him, point to his toes, move each toe and tell him that they all still worked. With a lot of concentration he could make those toes move. But it was just his toes. And this was something the doctors didn't think he would do for quite some time. We were happy that his toes were moving. In case you missed that video - this was from 12 days ago.
This is video that I took from today. He has been moving this foot prior to today. In not even two weeks time, look at the improvement from the video above and this video. He is not only moving his right foot up and down, he is also talking as he does it. And they said it would probably be a year before he said a few words and quite some time to walk....its only been 24 days. Turn the volume up and you will hear him speaking!
During occupational therapy today he was able to brush his teeth, actually brush them. Prior to today, even just comparing it to last Friday he would chew on the brush. Today he was rotating from one side to the other and using that brushing motion. His occupational therapist was very pleased, and so was I. Did you brush your teeth this morning? Did you think twice about doing it? We take so much for granted. The next part of occupational therapy took us to the gym - they strapped his arm to a board with wheels and he practiced pushing and pulling his right arm. There was slight movement. He would look at his arm and say push, and I would encourage him and tell him to keep telling that arm what he wanted it to do. Then his therapist started moving his arm and she asked him if it was hurting and he said yes and then she said are you in pain and he said yes, since his yes's and no's have not been consistent I asked him does this feel good....to which he replied no. The therapist gave him a break and then asked me if I wanted to do the exercise with him. I wasn't sure I could do it but I was willing to try. So I held his arm and we rotated it out and up and back, to keep the shoulder lubricated. While I was doing it she asked him if it hurting and he said no and then asked if he was in pain and he said no and then asked if it felt good and he said yes. Then she said do you just like when your daughter helps you to which he said yes. This probably made my day.
After occupational therapy it was right on to physical therapy. He definitely got a workout today. He went almost a mile and a half on the bike, he was on it for 10 minutes. And the motor only worked for just under 2 minutes of the total time.
After that they took him to stairs where they were working with teaching him how to shift his weight and he went up and down a flight of stairs.
After that they hooked him up to a zero gravity walker. There is a track in the ceiling and they put a harness on my dad so that he doesn't have to worry with leaning on anybody or anything. They then would push his right leg along as he moved with his left. They were happy with his balance, he was able to stand on his own while they put the harness on him. His physical therapist feels that he is young and strong and can be pushed more! He even got an extra physical therapy session this afternoon so that he could continue to practice his balance and start walking. The therapist said that this afternoon he was actually pushing off and trying to step forward with his right leg. This was pretty incredible to see. I have a short video of him using this.
This afternoon my grandparents came and he got his face shaved again! When grandma walked in and said hi and said I love you, he responded with I love you too. He didn't have to be prompted and responded beautifully! When I walked in this morning he said 'hi'....its so good to hear him using that voice. Vaughn and Vanessa were with him for music therapy which I hear he responded well to and was singing silver bells, he even started singing it in the room when he got back. Rebecca and Uriah stopped by to say hi as well. Also in between my brother and sister leaving and my grandparents getting there I asked him if he remembered Mrs. Mary from church, he shook his head yes and I proceeded to share with him the bible verse Isaiah 41:13 "For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear, I will help you." She shared that on our facebook page last night and followed it up with a reminder that He has my dads right hand and a reminder that He is not finished with my dad. He shook his head like he understood everything I was saying.
Another day is done. I look forward to tomorrow, and walking with my dad every step of the way. I love my dad so much! I am so proud of all that he has accomplished!
"Sometimes God delivers us from suffering, and other times he sustains us through suffering. Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes he calms the heart." Randy Alcorn
1 comment:
Anne Thomson This brought joyful tears to my eyes. So awesome to see his improvement. Your husband's stroke brought back floods of memories of my stroke. It really helped me truly see how far I've come. I needed to see that. I get frustrated with myself when I drop and break glass after glass because my grip is still weak on my right side, I panic when I can't remember where my car is or what day it is. But... watching your husband's journey has opened my eyes. I can deal with these minor issues. I've come along way Thank you for sharing your family's journey!!
recording here for printing purposes
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