August 14th

Hello everyone!
It's been two weeks with dad home.  Lisa, mom and I have a our routines down. I'm there early in the morning because I live so close, mom makes sure he's fed, comfortable and takes his medications and Lisa comes in the afternoon. We have an in home care giver that comes at 9 AM, leaves at 12 noon then returns at 4 PM and leaves at 7 PM. Physical and occupational therapy come Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays while speech therapy comes on Wed and Fridays. Dad has really made some great progress. His muscles are gaining strength which is allowing us to transfer him from bed to chair easier. He thinks he can transfer himself without any assistance and tries. We now have to keep a loose strap on him while sitting in a chair because he tries to get up when we're not around. The other day I found him trying to get out of bed. He had both of his legs dangling off the edge of the bed when I asked him what he was doing. He replied, "I have to get up because I have a meeting at 4:00 PM". It was 9:30 in the morning and he had just awakened from a little nap. He tends to dream quite a bit, especially in the mornings, because he usually talks about strange, weird and funny things once he wakes up.  These are good signs that his mind is working properly and his brain is being stimulated.  He told me the other day that we were going to be late and not going to make it. I asked him, make it where? He said we weren't going to make it to the airport. I asked him, where are we going? He said we were going to a football game. I had to let him know that football season hadn't started yet and that he was dreaming.  He was a little bummed out because he could have sworn he saw the Wildcats playing on TV.
Today Randy and Ryan were able to get dad in his SUV for a ride around the U of A. It's funny because, we kept telling him we would give him a ride as soon as he felt he could transfer okay and was ready for the trip and he said he was ready. When they got to about St. Mary's and I-10, he fell asleep. As soon as they arrived to see the new scoreboard on 6th, they woke him up. He took a look at it and said, "ah huh", then fell back to sleep. Tomorrow, I'm going to ask him if he remembered the trip.  He probably won't but that's okay because we're stimulating his mind. As I wrote a while back, I can't wait for the day we can have a big party for everyone to come say hello. I'm sure he misses all of you.  It's just a matter of time.

Saturday Aug 6th

He's been home for 1 week and although very happy to be home, all of us are trying to get adjusted to a new  workload schedule.  We appreciate all of the emails, cards and food people have brought. The soups, chickens and tamales have been very delicious. This has helped mom out tremendously. As far as dad's concerned, he seems to be tired all of the time and his voice volume is still low. His left eye lid is still not opening. He is slowly building muscle strength in both left leg and right arm and can support his weight on his left leg while standing. He tries to read the newspaper every morning and tunes into the local news throughout the day. His spirits are high and his determination is so incredible.
My mom is incredibly strong willed and loving. She has phenomenal endurance and just can't sit still. Bless her heart! Lisa use to work for a physical therapist way back when and is enjoying applying her old skills to dad. She's a work horse minus the whip! I think she's working him harder than they did at St. Mary's. Little did he know, she'd be working him so hard. He's probably wishing he was back there. I'm blessed to have a mother and sister so strong and a family that's so loving.

Tuesday August 2nd

Dad was released from the hospital on Friday. It's been really rough on all of us. We tried to get the house in order and did a pretty good job but it never fails to forget something. Everyone is very tired because we've had to do everything by ourselves. The new therapists are just now coming to introduce themselves and assess dad to set up therapy schedules. It's just going to be a matter of time before mom drops from exhaustion. We just can't get her to stop, slow down and nap during the day. We have one more assessment tomorrow with the speech therapist. This will complete our group of therapist coming to the house to continue giving him his physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions during the week. Our in home care giver is Adam. We needed a male to help lift him from bed to chair. He's been great so far.
We would appreciate holding off on calling or visiting at this time until we're comfortable with dad's schedule and mom's been able to rest a little. He's basically going to endure the same therapy programs he was getting at St. Mary's, but at home. So you can imagine, instead of having the nurses change him and bringing food to him, we're now taking their places with the help of Adam.  We just don't know when the time to have visitors will be. Hold tight, keep on praying for a speedy recovery and the minute mom and dad are ready to have company, you'll be the first to know. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Friday July 29

I walked in this morning to wake him for breakfast and found him asleep on his right side. Some pillows were on the ground and parts of his covers were tangled around his legs. Before I woke him, I sat there looking at him and thanking God for giving me such a beautiful, special, and wonderful father. I thanked the Lord for giving our family such a special person. I also thanked the Lord for giving both Lisa and I, such an incredibly beautiful, strong mother.  I could tell he was dreaming hard because of the REM sleep. I just hoped he was dreaming beautiful dreams and nothing that has to do with work. There have been several instances where he has awakened only to say something strange. Yesterday he woke up telling mom that he had to go to City Hall. Some of you may be cheering after hearing this but I assure you, it was only a dream. He asked me the other day if I had walked around the 5th hole. And there was another time when he told mom that he had a report that was due. It's been a long 10 week journey and he's slowly coming around. His right hand and leg are getting stronger. He's now able to stand and hold his weight on the left leg, of course with the assistance of two therapist at his sides. He's raising his right leg about a foot during exercises.
The doctors scoped him this week to see if there was any damage to his vocal cords; all negative. It still goes in and out but we now know, it's just a matter of time before he regains his full voice. We're all very happy with dad's progress so far. He's a fighter!
I believe we're ready to close this chapter in his life and waiting to hear from his doctors what his new chapter will be starting next week. We're so happy many of you take the time to keep up with this blog. This truly shows the amount of love all of you have for him and he could not have gotten this far without this support, love and prayers.  Mom, Lisa, Karen, Randy, Ryan, Kevin, Joel, Katrina, Andrew, and I thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. I will keep all of you posted with what happens next. It's just a matter of time before you'll see JV walking the halls, hugging, kissing and smiling at all of you. He's on the wide road to recovery.

Tuesday July 26th

Good morning everyone. Dad is coming along just fine. His therapies are strong and his movement on his right side is getting better. He still does not have control of his eyelid which continues to remain closed. However, can see movement of the eye under the eyelid and very small movement sometimes when he blinks. His volume comes and goes. The doctors are thinking of releasing him by the end of this week. We shall wait and see what happens next.
In the meantime, we're getting his house handicap ready by placing ramps, rails, equipment, etc, ready should they send him home. Yesterday, I took him a cut off golf club shaft with the grip attached so he can begin working his right hand and getting the feel of holding a golf club. He really liked this. We also wheeled him outside and around the property. He seemed to enjoy this as well. And for the grand prize, we took him to the cafe where he picked what ever he wanted. He was like a kid in a candy store. It's really hard to believe that he'll be in the hospital 10 weeks tomorrow. I believe he's ready to continue his therapy at home. I'll keep you posted.

Friday July 22

We have decided to hold off on visitation for this weekend. We would like for him to rest and sleep as much as possible.  The doctors don't know why his vocal volume has diminished. He's back to mouthing words and speaking at a very low volume. Although he has vision in his left eye, he has no control of movement to the eye nor eye lid.  His therapy sessions are still going strong and his legs have gotten a little stronger. I'm happy to report that movement to his right hand and leg has improved exceptionally well since his arrival and he tries to use his right hand during his meals. Knowing that depression can set in during these circumstances, I ask him if he felt depressed and his response was no but disappointed for the fact he can't open his left eye and can't move his right side like he use to. I explained that time and therapy will heal his right side and only time will determine what happens to his eye. I also mentioned that he'd be going home soon. He said that he can't wait! I will try my best to keep a daily blog of his progress for next week because we believe it a matter of only another week or so before they send him home. Our goal, once again, is to have him on the golf course in November. This is a goal he's thinking about and working for while in therapy.

Tuesday July 20

Hello again!
Dad's left eye is still closed and doctors don't know why. Time will tell if it will get better or stay as is. He seems to be a little more tired than before. I'm working with mom and Lisa to decide what kind of protein or vitamin drinks we should give him for pep. He's doing very well in all of his therapy sessions. He's eating almost everything they put in front of him and they have stopped feeding him completely through his tube at night. The other evening, he awoke and asked me if I had walked around the 5th hole. We all know what he was dreaming about. I keep telling him that our goal is to have him golfing by November. We have to accept the fact he may never be the same as when you last saw him before May 20th. This is perfectly alright because he's still with us today!!!