Thursday

So tommorrow is the big day. Richard is really excited about coming home. He will miss not seeing Christie everyday but he knows he needs to continue to getting stronger so he can take care of her when she is ready to leave. We will be home around 3pm so if anyone wants to stop by in the evening and say hello, feel free. We are not having a big get together when he gets home because I dont want to overwhelm him. We are however eating pizza with black olives and portabella mushrooms with salt and vinegar chips and deviled eggs because thats what he wanted!!!!!! For those of you that dont know, he is on a regular diet now and can eat whatever he wants!!!!! The blog tomorrow night will be from Richard...Yeah!

Wednesday

Sorry I havent written in a while. My computer got a virus and we couldnt get rid of it. Now I have a new one. My family was down this weekend for Christies birthday. We had a great time. She held the balloons, opened her presents (sort of) and tried really hard to blow out the candle. Richard enjoyed it immensly. Christie was really interactive at the party. She has a new wheelchair that helps her sit correctly and will be beneficial in her recovery. Also, FINR will be fitting her for her leg braces so she'll have them in a couple of weeks. Her antics are cute. When my mom typed on the computer to her that she was leaving, Christie pouted really big. Then she wrote BYE and Christie waved. This week has been a busy one with getting everything set up for Richard to come home Friday. His days will still be full with therapies and appointments. Hopefully after a couple of weeks we can get to some consistency with the routine. Ill update more soon. Have lots to do!!!!

Coming Home

Im extremely pleased to announce that Richard will be discharged from FINR August 1, 2008. Yes, this is next Friday!!!!! Im a little nervous to have that responsibility of caring for him so I need all your prayers. He still is wobbly when he walks so he cant be left alone. He still speaks very slowly and has a hard time remembering things currently and from the past. Also his diet is still soft foods so Ill have to be creative in the kitchen. But Im so happy he has progressed enough to not be under direct supervision of a doctor. Three months ago we werent sure he would live. He still will attend therapy everyday at Fawcett's outpatient sports and rehab center. Eventually (hopefully) he can wean those down to not as often. We added a room to our house for him specifically so he can feel like he has privacy but I can keep my eye on him. Luckily, Im off school for 9 days ( Im between semesters) after his discharge so I can reacclimate him back to the community. Please keep my family in your thoughts. Adjusting to full time care of a loved one is scary but I know he would do it for me. Christie will remain at FINR for awhile. Hopefully one day she will return home also.

Monday

I went up first thing this AM. Richard had just started therapy so I went and watched Christie's therapy from afar. I didnt want to distract her. She was blowing a whistle and bubbles. They worked on words and they tried to get sound to come out. Her therapist just got back from Sweden on vacation. She brought Christie back a stuffed sheep. Its really cute. When I came around the corner her eyes lighted up and she mouthed HI and smiled big. It totally warmed my heart. Then she left for a doctors appointment. I went back with Richard. He was now in PT. He was getting his shoulders worked on so I didnt interupt. I ate lunch with him and then came home. It was a great visit.

Sunday

Just a quick note. Me and little Philip went up to see them today and brought them a big surprise. We brought Cheyenne! (thats Richards dog) We walked into Richards room and his eyes just lit up. He played with her for about 30 minutes nonstop. She licked him all over and actually she was so excited to see him she busted his lip a little from jumping all over him. He didnt care though. He said it was the best day of the week. Then we took her over to see Christie. She jumped in the bed with her and licked her hands. Christie pet her on the head for a minute or so. Then when Cheyenne would walk away Christie would call her by constant kissing noises. We stayed in there for about 30 minutes. Then we went back to Richards room and he walked us to the car. We didnt stay long because we had the dog but it was worth the long drive to see them light up around Cheyenne.

Thursday

Philip and I went up today. Richard was in therapy when we got there so we didnt interupt. Then we went to lunch with him. After lunch we chilled in his room and talked. He was aggravated today because they are weaning him out of his wheelchair. He had to walk everywhere today until 2pm without his chair. He was not happy but he did it. Next week he wont be able to use it at all. He isnt looking forward to that but it really is a good thing for him. After lunch he had to walk to the other building for therapy. He did shoulder stretching. He has been wanting to learn to type again so he asked could he work on that today. So off he went to the computer room. He typed a letter to a friend, printed it, addressed the envelope, and mailed it, Then they gave him some homework to do sometime in the evening because he didnt have balance group today. It was like a word unscrammble. He was mad. He says he feels like they are trying to make him an Olympic star. Christie was not very interactive today. She did give us kisses, stuck out her tongue and answered questions by shaking her head. She is really funny with Philip. He makes faces at her and the looks she gives him are priceless. I cant go back until Sunday so Ill update then.

Tuesday

Today was Richards field trip. We left really early this morning. We first went to a zoo. Each client had a task to do because this was in place of therapy. So Richard was in charge of organizing group and individual photos. He had a camera which he was to use at his leisure but he had to include everyone in the photos. We took a group photo in front of the zoo by some blue flowers (his idea) then he took a picture of each animal we encountered. He took some candid shots of people. One of his therapists was camera shy and refused to turn around the whole trip. He told her she wouldnt like the alternative for not taking a picture. So he took a picture of her butt. After he gets them developed, he has to make a scrapbook with captions I think so He will label the butt as Sarah. I kind of encouraged him to do it because he thought he would get in trouble. Everyone got a good laugh at it. We left the zoo and went to a park to eat. After our picnic we went to a museum. We walked around and took more pictures. We got back to the facility around 2pm. We went to Christies therapy with her. The therapist was telling us of all the things she did yesterday in therapy. They gave her objects to she if she would use them appropriately. They gave her a wet washcloth, chap stick, and a tooth brush. She used them all correctly. Becky has pictures of it on her website if you need to see it to believe it. Richard was so happy for her he cried. I snuck out during her therapy today. She was kicking the ball to Richard and he was enjoying it so much!!! He keeps telling her..."I cant wait until the day we walk out of here hand in hand together!"

Monday

I spoke with Richard last night. He was watching a movie and was excited because my husband told him the shows he used to watch all the time (because he couldnt remember them) and set his remote to turn to those shows on. He said he has a hard time remembering things for himself but once you remind him he can remember everything about it. He is going on a field trip on Tuesday from 10-2pm. His PT is leaving FINR so they are taking her clients to a park for a picnic kind of as a good bye party. Im going with him.
Richard wants Chrisite's birthday party to be on Saturday the 26th. Time doesnt matter to him but since most people go to church on Sunday's he figured more people would be able to come on a Saturday. If anyone has a conflict with that please let me know. It would really warm Richards heart for some of Christie's friends from school to be there. If any of you want to go, you can ride with me or follow me there. My car seats seven...just call me. 628-6206 See you there.

Saturday

Today Philip and I went up! Richard was on the porch hanging out with his room angel. We hung outside for a while then we went with him to see Christie. She was really happy to see us. She was blowing kisses and sticking her tongue out. Then...she starting talking but with no sound. Her mouth was moving a mile a minute and we were all trying to figure out what she was saying. Some of it was obvious like Hi... I love You...Where am I...and the funniest was WHAT? Philip asked her something and she said WHAT? with the funniest look. She went on for about 1 minute speaking in clearly mouthed sentences but we didnt know what she said. We went back to Richards building and just talked for several hours. We ate dinner together then went back over to Christies room. She was moving her mouth around again and the respiratory therapist said sometimes when she moves her mouth sounds come out. As we left she was blowing us kisses!

Friday

I went up this morning right after breakfast. Richard was in with Christie. She was very interactive with him. When he tried to leave she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. And of course, she stuck her tongue out at me. Richard drank thin coffee again in therapy. He cleared his throat twice so the therapist gave him pointers on swallowing. He did crazy stuff in PT. You would have thought he was in an aerobic class. He was doing squats (for balance), lunges with his eyes closed, and riding the bike at a fast pace. We ate lunch together and just laughed together. He isnt looking forward to the weekend. Its boring to him because he is used tothe structured days of the week. I thoroughly enjoyed his visit and cant wait to see him tomorrow.

Tuesday

Gabrielle, little Philip, amd I went up this morning. We got there right after breakfast. It took a little while to find Richard. We caught up with him at his first therapy. It was speech which does memorization and such. He did excellent. Then he did swallow exercises. He drank a cup of thin coffee and she pointed out ways to swallow better. He savored every bit. Then we went back to his room real quick to show him video I made of his dog. He was amused by it. We went for his second therapy. He rode the bike for 10 minutes, did balancing on his knees, and then.....we played Twister. It was a hoot! Richard only had to play with his feet but we had to use hands and feet. It was a mangled mess. Then he had to walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes and play Blurt at the same time. Little Phil played Blurt with him and Gabby and I went with Christie. She was looking around when we came in. I asked her to blow me a kiss and she did. Then just for fun I told her to stick out her tongue at me and I demonstrated. She did it immediately. It was hilarious. So I did it back to her and she did it back to me. Then I put my thumb in her face and moving it quickly up and down...I told her to do that. I was just trying to get her to move her thumb. She went one up and me. She put her hand in my face and moved her thumb all around. Then she smiled really big. I said Oh you think your a funny guy...she stuck her tongue out at me. I went back and got Richard when he was finished because I wanted him to see. She was sleeping by the time we got back. I tried to get her to do it again but she just smiled and blew kisses at Richard. We all ate lunch together. We left after lunch! I wont be back until Friday with them. Ill update then!

Sunday

I went up this afternoon. Richard was sleeping, but I was pleasantly surprised to find my grandparents there. I played cards with them while he slept. Apparently he had a busy day prior to my arrival. One of the sheriffs's deputies came to visit, he hung out with Christie and had lunch with my grandparents. He doesnt get daily pain meds anymore...only when he asks...so he did today and got really drowsy. After he woke up, we played Skip-bo. He said he is tired of playing cards but he knows it helps his mind. We walked Memere and Wayne to their car. Then I cut Richards hair. I ate dinner with him then we went to the SMRC to hang out with Christie. She was really sleepy and not really interactive but we got kisses. We went back to his building and talked for a while. He wanted to shower so I left. I'll see him again Tuesday. This coming week he has an EEG scheduled and they might start letting him eat crunchy foods.

Happy Fourth

I visited Richard and Christie all day Thursday and the morning of Friday. Thursday was a great day. I went to all his therapies with him which he did pretty well in. Christie did good also. She did the ball kick again. And she did object recognition. Then we headed back to his building and played a mean game of scrabble. He beat me like 312 to 140. It was a massacre. And just so everyone knows, I didnt let him win. There was a huge storm that night and we lost power for about an hour. So we all sat around the common area listening to the storm because we couldnt do much else since there was no power. After dinner, we ran (me pushing him) over to the other building so he could kiss Christie goodnight. We hung out for a little bit. Richard was joking around with Christie and she made a noise that sounded like a small laugh. We were tottally excited. Richard went out to the nursing desk and told everyone. I stayed until it got dark.
Today, Phil and I only went up for the morning. All his therapies were squished into the morning because it July 4th. We got there SSSOOO early he was just finishing breakfast. He was sitting on the back lanai enjoying the morning sounds. He was astounded we were there that early so he offered us breakfast. We brought him some things from his past to try and spark his memory. It helped and he enjoyed the walk down memory lane. During his therapies, Christie was right beside him, so we got to watch everything. They did some stretching with Christies arms and legs. She didnt like it. She was giving the therapists really dirty looks. One of the therapists said if you dont like this, you can punch me in the face. Christie hit him! It was gentle but she understood. I havent blogged a lot about her because I will never put anything on here that someone told me. I have to see it for myself. Her therapists have told me of the things she does but Im a visual person and need to see it to believe it I guess. So with that said, Im really excited about what Ive seen her do this past week. For Richards therapy he had to walk around almost the whole FINR campus starting from in the gym, out the back door, around the lake, down to the basketball courts, and then back but a different way. He had to go at a 1.6 mph rate and had to maintain good posture throughout and swing his arms accordingly. Then he did balancing exercises on one knees with his eyes closed. He said he doesnt like it because the darkness makes him feel like he is falling and it scares him. I brought little presents (4th of July lollipops) for him to give to his therapists and it was cute to watch him walk around and give them out. We left at lunch because we had a church activity. I have school tomorrow so I wont see him until Sunday. So if anyone wants to keep him company, it would be great! Just be prepared to play games.

Wednesday

When we got to FINR today, we couldnt find Richard. Come to find out he has three appointments this AM so we didnt actually see him until after lunch. So we went and hung out with Christie. She really was interactive with me today. She kissed me and made a loud kissing noise. When I tried to get another one she gave me a zerbert (thats what I call them) then she shook her head no. I began to tease her about it and she smiled really big. Little Philip recorded a message for her on her computer thing. Jose came in for a while and hung out also. Paula and Aaron also showed up later in the day. I took Richard in there to meet them. We (me, little Philip, and Richard) also watched her therapy sessions. She kicked a beach ball. It only went a few inches but Richard told her to keep trying because when he first tried it it didnt go far either. Its cute to watch him encourage her.
Richard missed most of his sessions today because of his appointments but we had a date with mac n cheese. He cooked it by himself and it was really good. He said it was a bit starchy and bland but I enjoyed it. It was funny to see him in the kitchen because he kept arguing about cooking techniques. He wanted to do it one way and they wanted him to do it their way. Then while he was cooking it, he licked the spoon then realized what he did. He had such a fit of laughter he had to sit down. For speech this afternoon, he did memorization things. He did excellent. Then he taught little Philip had to play Racko. We played a whole game then 5 minutes later, he couldnt remember what we played. His memory is really strange. We enjoyed out time there today.
SPECIAL PRAYER: Some of you might know this already, but Philip (my husband) needs prayer. He was involved in a car accident on I-75 last night also. He lost control in the rain and fishtailed around multiple times before the truck finally came to rest on the bridges guardrail. He is extremely lucky to have walked away. He is just really bumped and bruised up. But now our other car is totalled. Some of you might recall, my brother was driving my car when he wrecked. Im sure our insurance company is just loving us right now. Im afraid to say what else could possibly happen!