Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday, Oct. 21

Go Cats! Dad enjoyed watching his cats beat-up the Bruins. He stayed up to watch the entire game.
Well a whole lot has taken place since my last post. With assistance from Lisa and his physical therapist and his walker, he's been slowly walking. His longest walk has been from the dining room to the front door twice. This is about 16 steps for him. He's been standing longer periods of time in his stander and his right leg is moving much better than ever. Still slow but with more control. He's been enjoying his wheelchair walks around the neighborhood during the morning and neighbors stop to say hello. Lisa planted some flowers in the backyard and he loves to set outside to suck in some sunshine and smell the roses.
All tubes have been removed including his G tube from his stomach. His doctor says he's doing just great health wise. We're working him hard everyday only because he's asking us to do so. He wants to stand all the time but gets extremely tired after standing for 15 minutes at a time. He's slowly building his muscle strength and his determination to walk and talk hasn't diminished one bit. He's bound and determined to get back to where he was at before the stroke.
We're thinking about having a mass for him where he'll show up for everyone to say hello. I'll keep all of you posted for when this takes place.
Have a great weekend.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Friday, October 7

This was a busy week for Dad. He went in for a cortisone shot in his right shoulder on Tuesday.
He had been complaining about pain especially when he'd raise his arm. The therapist thought this was a result from his stroke. I kept saying that he's always had problems in the past with this shoulder so we set up an appointment for some x-rays. Sure enough, it's a combination of arthritis and non-use.
Today I raised his arm higher than before without any pain. This will help him with his therapy exercises.
On Wed, with this assistance of Lisa and Adam, his care giver, he took 7 steps with his walker. This is phenomenal!  He's also standing in the stander I made him for up to 15 minutes at a time. Everyone that visits him gets to sign his stander.
Tomorrow, we're set to take him to eat breakfast at Lionel and Stella's house. He's very excited for this.
He's doing just great! Have a great weekend!

Monday, October 3, 2011

October 3

Good Monday morning to all of you!
This past week has been very good to all of us. Although we didn't get to go out of the house or out to visit family, we have decided to try again this week. Dad did, however, take his first step forward and backward with both legs with his walker. His progress increases each day and we're amazed with how much he's moving his right side. The surgery has proved so far to benefit dad's recovery rate. He's staying up longer periods of time, reading longer periods of time and exercising with greater strength. He's just about able to stand up on his own from a sitting position. We're very proud of his accomplishments.
I finished his stander and we tried it last night for the first time. With just a couple more adjustments, he'll be able to stand for long periods of time. This will allow him to learn what if feels like to transfer his weight from hip to hip.
I'm going to learn how to post photos and videos on the blog so you can see how good he looks.  Thank you for all of your continued thoughts and prayers. We also want to thank everyone for the cookies, muffins, calabasitas, posole, menudo, banana bread and all other goodies that have been brought by the house. Although dad could use about 5 lbs. and loves all of these goodies, I've gained some unwanted weight.  It's just a matter of time!