Our Day

Today Randy continued to work on his balance and his walking in his physical therpay sessions. One therapist had him walking through the cones again and he did much better this time at turning. When walking down the hall with another therapist, she had to barely hang on to him ~ he only lost his balance a couple of times. He continues to improve with his walking every day.

In occupational therapy, that therapist had him put pegs into a board. She didn't give him any pattern to do. She just wanted him to use his left hand to put them in. Of course, Randy had to put them in a pattern, but he did great with using his left hand. There were a couple that were rather difficult for him to get in. I was so proud of him ~ he didn't get frustrated, he just kept trying over and over until he got them in.

In speech, the therapist really worked Randy's brain today. She started by giving him words and then he had to tell her opposites. He did very well with that. She then gave him a list of words and his task was to find what they had in common and give an object that would fit in with the list. He struggled at first, but towards the end he seemed to be really getting it. She then gave him a list of words and he had to say which one didn't fit and why. He correctly identified which one didn't fit on all lists but had difficulty with explaining the why. She then read him a paragraph and asked him questions about the paragraph. He did better on this than he has in the past ~ he averaged about 8 out of 10 correct. The last thing she did was give him logic problems (like the ones you would find in the crossword puzzle books). He struggled with doing those ~ most of the struggle was with following the directions of "x"ing the incorrect ones and "o"ing the correct ones. His mind was just having a hard time grasping it.

He continues to have headaches every day, which I guess is to be expected with his injury. Pain medication isn't making them go away, it just dulls it a bit for him. I am hoping those fade with time. All in all, though, he seems to be doing well medically. At Harborview, we came across quite a few people who went on to rehab and then had to come back to the 3rd floor because of medical issues. I feel that Randy has really been blessed. He continues to make improvements and really, the only issues he has had to deal with have been his eyesight, his headaches, and the left side (which continues to get stronger every day).

Also, Kelli called me tonight with an update on the benefit. She ordered a lot of food and it all sounds wonderful!! She has also had quite a few more people donate items. There will be food from a variety of places (Greek, Italian, and Pizza just to name a few of the different types). She also had a place donate 2 rounds of golf and a lunch from the nearby restaurant (the Firecreek Grill). She has had jewelry donated (a variety of types) and even had a dentist donate a toothbrush that isn't on the market yet. Lots of stuff to auction off!