Richard posting again

I left a comment in the last post, but wanted to share that I had a chance to speak to Christie at the hospital that she was transferred to. Yesterday afternoon one of the nurses was able to take the time to give Christie the phone. It was nice to know she could hear me and was mouthing words back to me. I told her that the nurse desk told me that she was doing alot better and would be able to go back to FINR late last evening or first thing this morning. The nurse told me she was nodding also and understood what I was saying. Which is good since some medications have a confusing effect.( I'm sure anyone who has been hospitalized can attest to this comment)
I am glad she has been well cared for and will continue to make sure I do everything in my power to keep her on the road to recovery. Thank you all for helping her.
Richard

This is Richard for the first time

Christie and I have been through alot! I am very thankful to all that supported both of us. I have made enough progress healing to have the chance to go back to work. Christie has made tremendous progress and more of herself shines through on a regular basis. We were even able to play Connect 4 a couple of times.
I just wanted to thank all of you that know of the "Martel" fighting spirit and kept us in your thoughts and prayers. It will never be forgotten.

Sunday

Richard and I spent the weekend with Christie. We played tic tac toe with her and yes...she won. We watched some animae movie her friend brought to my house. We also brought Cheyenne and Christie would call her by making a kissing noise. Christie had the ever annoying hand mitt on today. She pulled out her feeding tube again so on went the mitt. We wrote notes to her about not pulling out the tube and she kept saying she didnt need it. Then she wrote when is lunch? She made several noises this weekend also but no words. Her left vocal fold is paralyzed. It might correct itself...might not. Time will tell. I also had some gum in my mouth and she was encouraging me to blow bubbles then she she would try to smack it on my face. Then I blew real bubbles from a wand and she was catching them on her hand. All in all, it was a good weekend. Richard spent some real quality time with her.

Thursday

We went up to FINR today and did all of Christie's therapies with her. She played connect 4 with Richard 5 times. The first time, he blatantly let her win. Then he realized she was actually good at it. She won the next two times and then He won the last one. When she won Richard joked with her and said that he won. She got serious and said no I did. Richard turned the board around to act like red was his color. She turned it back around and said NO, I WON!!! She even pointed at herself and then Richard and said NOT YOU!!! Then she got on the computer and did some questions but she was really tired. We really enjoyed being there, She wrote us a long note today. It took a while but she was asking where Lee was. So she remembers her brother which we thought was awesome!

WEDNESDAY

This week has been great. Richard is doing well in his outpatient therapies and has added some extracurricular things he does everyday. He spends as much time as he can with Christie which he enjoys immensly. She seems to just fight each day to improve. Richard will spend the day with her tomorrow in therapies to encourage her. We take one day at a time....thats our motto.

Saturday

Today was a wonderful day. We went up first thing this AM to see Christie. She gets so excited to have visitors. She waves here hand and mouths HI! We tried our best to get sound to come out of her mouth today. I would make a sound with my mouth and she would try to mimick me. She was trying so hard...you could see it in her eyes. We could hear air coming out so I guess thats close. We wrote notes back and forth. She also would tickle me when I turn my back from her. Then she would pretend she wasnt doing it when I turned around. I brushed her hair for quite some time because she said that it felt really good. She asked me where her hair went so I told her that they cut some at the hospital. She asked why would they do that. I told her they fixed her head and she asked what was wrong with her head. I told her she hurt it but its getting better. She said oh, I see! Her words are so cute. This week we will visit during afternoon therapy so Richard can participate with the therapy. He enjoys seeing her improve.

Thursday

Sorry I havent updated lately. Richard and I have busy with so much stuff. He has visited Christie twice this week. Both times she was awake and excited to see him. They have conversations with the magna doodle and its really cool to see her write stuff. Yesterday I told her I had big muscles and she flexed her right arm like a body builder. I didnt realize what she was doing at first. She kept doing it until I figured it out. We felt her muscle and she really was flexing it. It was getting late last night and she said she was tired and for us to leave so she can sleep. We got a kick out of that also! Richard has dramatically improved just from being home. Its a different enviroment so his brain is used more. There is no monotony of days. We make everyday different. His neuro doctor said he is doing phenomenal and he doesnt have to see her again for two months. And even that is just for a check up!!!

Sunday

Richard was able to go spend the weekend with Christie. She was writing on the magna doodle. She wrote the word 'question' and drew a flower. We wrote sentences to her and she would answer appropriately with her mouth. We watched TV with her and drew her pictures. It was fun...Saturday and Sunday. The nurses were also excited to see Richard and see how well he is doing. You would almost never know he was a patient there. This weekend, Richards hermit crab miraculously came back to life (dont ask) so we went to the pet store and got a cage set up for it. We had got rid of all the old stuff because it 'died'. It was kind of nice because Christie bought him that crab for Christmas and I was upset when it 'died' because I thought I killed it. Okay...short version...the crab apparently moltted its skin...I thought it died because I saw its 'body'....I got rid of everything....put the crab shell in my flower bed....four days later I was outside and thought I saw it crawling.....thought I was crazy and seeing things....saw it crawl again day.....picked it up.....crab still inside. So Im blonde..what can I say!!!

Friday

Today was a busy day! Richard had speech therapy eval this AM and he called Richard higher functioning and said there wasnt much to work on except strengthening his tongue so his words arent slurred. My mom and step dad are in town so we all hung out and had a great day. We ordered Chinese food and had strawberry cheesecake. It sounds silly but these are things Richard hasnt had in so long. He savors every bite. He called Christie to tell her goodnight but she had visitors so he didnt interupt. We'll go see her tomorrow.

Thursday

The last two days have been really busy. Richard is getting into his therapy program and were looking forward to him returning to work. We went out to his office the yesterday and he hung around with the guys for a little bit. He was very excited because he remembered the five digit code to get into the sheriffs office door. He has had a lot of personal victories this week. He visited Chrisite today and she enjoyed her magna doodle. My mom said she drew a smiley face and said she was writing words. Im amazed at how well she is doing. God is good!!!!!

Hello everyone

I plum wore Richard out today. I took him with me everywhere and he had two doctors appointments for therapy. Then we went shopping at Walmart tonight. It was a riot with him on that little scooter. He could have walked but I didnt want him to tire out so he drove around. We laughed pretty hard. He helps me around the house and helps me cook. Im really glad he is doing so well. He calls Christie every night and talks to her. He also bought her a magna doodle he will bring her tomorrow so they can write back and forth. You never know, maybe she will try to write. Have a good night!!!

Sunday

Today was a good day. Richard went to church with me and was excited because he remembered most everyone's name. He helped me cook all the meals today. Its funny how he has a new appreiciation for food now that he can choose what he wants to eat. Tomorrow starts all his therapies so he'll be busy this week. He called and spoke with Christie today for a while. He enjoyed that! Talk to everyone later.

Saturday

Today was interesting. Richard helped me make blueberry muffins for breakfast. He savored every bite. He also had milk for the first time. Then we went driving and he recognized most everything. We went to the storage space where his things are and he got a couple of things he wanted. We got home and cooked lunch together. Then he napped for several hours while I worked in the yard. He kept coming out to check on me because he was afraid I would overheat. Then we got in the pool. He sat on the second step and stayed there. Then we cooked dinner together. Now, its 730 and his meds have kicked in.....he is going to bed! Tomorrow he is going to church with me. I know this probably sounds like a boring day but for him it was full of fun and now he is exhausted!!! Good night!

He's Home

So, we picked up Richard this afternoon. He was really excited to come home but nervous also. The ride was fine. He slowly started to remember Port Charlotte as we drove through it. He even told us where to turn on our street and he told us which house was ours. We gave him a tour of his new place and he loves it. He was very overwhelmed so we kept it simple. He helped me make pizza for dinner. He walked me through every step and then once it was in the oven he said...Why did I just tell you how to make a pizza. He is used to being at FINR where they make him explain his every move to make sure its a safe one. We got a good laugh out of it. Now its 8pm and he is asleep. He says he gets up at 6am at FINR. I told him this wasnt FINR so he could sleep in. We'll see. Anyway, glad to have him home.