Monday-Wednesday, January 28th-30th, 2008

Some video from the past three days!

David has had an amazing few days.

Monday, January 28th. David had a ENT appt. to find out if there was any damage to his trachea before speech works with him on his voice. (Today we heard that there is some separation that causes an airy sound, and makes him tire easily when he talks. This is fixable though.) In the afternoon, the dr. gave us permission to take David to San Francisco for dinner. What a blast to get him out of the hospital, out of the city, and by ourselves with him. We went to the Blue Mermaid Chowdar Bar for some great food. We ran out of time to see some of the sights, and will have to return again.

Tuesday, January 29th. (Happy 2nd Birthday to Brea, who is now a proud big sister). Aquatic Therapy was exciting and fun, as you can see on the video. David walked all the way to Optometry, in Building Five, for an eye appointment. His vision has changed and may need glasses, but we will try some eye exercises first. He is getting very confident while walking with his quad cane. Sometimes, he picks the cane up while walking several steps, and laughs! He finds it very funny to scare me to death. In the evening we came over to the Fisher House and made some cookies together. We are really starting to work on independence. OT assured us that David should be getting dressed totally by himself, even if it takes 45 minutes to start with. They also want him walking everywhere now with his cane. The wheelchair is just about out the door.

Wednesday, January 30th. Awhile ago, David and I made a guess at when he would be walking by himself. One of our predictions was the end of January! Today, he walked many steps without anyone holding on, and without a cane! What an amazing moment. We also practiced walking with his cane, on grass (and was it soggy!), up and down hills/ramps, and up and down stairs. Se (PT) thinks David is ready for a regular cane since he only puts the front legs down anyways. I was learning how to walk with David on the stairs, when he fell on his butt. It was a scary moment, but he was fine. It really showed us that he is still needing someone with him. We were also gettting too confident about his mobility.

This afternoon, we had a chance to meet with several of the guys in the Polytrauma Rehab Program, which is one of the places we are considering for David. It looks like he will finish this phase of rehab in March. Then he will be have a 30 day convalescent time at home. After that he will return to a Transitional Living Program either here in Palo Alto VA, or Casa Colina in Pomona. It was exciting to hear about the program and what the guys liked about their program. Tomorrow, Steve and I meet with some of the staff to discuss their program. Please keep this in prayer, as we plan for the next step in his rehab. Thanks, Patty