Sunday, March 29, 2015

Update # 194

8 Years

Sunday, a quiet day of rest. Sort of.

Jeff does not have any official therapy sessions today but was requested to do a few arm and leg exercises to keep his muscles moving.

And Jeff has been moving muscles the last 3 days that he has not moved in weeks.

OT has Jeff helping more with moving from bed to wheelchair. He is pressing more with his hands and using his hips more in sliding. Jeff is brushing his own teeth and even using his razor a little without help to shave. He has struggled with socks but after a while succeeded. Same with shorts and shirt. Difficult but getting there. Friday he even did 3 buttons on his shirt! While flat in bed Friday night, Jeff raised one arm up and scratched his head! He practices putting his arms over his head when flat in bed. One of these days, he’ll be able to do that while sitting up.

PT keeps Jeff working on arms and legs. He used more resistance when using the “bike”. Jeff has also started using the arm machine similar to the bike. He stood up 3 minutes in the standing frame one day. Jeff’s fingers are able to do a bit more so feeding himself with metal utensils is becoming easier. He is able to sit on the edge of the bed and balance using core and back muscles. Sometimes Jeff is able to move his legs more in bed.

When Jeff is finished with 3 hours of rehab each day, he is ready for rest. Mostly he’s ready to rest in bed but sometimes will stay seated in the wheelchair for a while.

I forgot to mention that Monday the 23rd, my Wednesday morning Bible study group came to visit Jeff and the rest of us. They were thrilled to see him. We ladies then grabbed some lunch and caught up on life.

This weekend has been especially fun for Jeff. The cousins from Chicago (2 plus a wife and a fiancée) came to see Jeff. It worked out perfectly that Jeff had been moved to a larger room. The 8 of us had plenty of room to talk and, of course, eat. Uncle Ken had to take the girls to experience Ted Drewes for the first time. They agreed it was special. We were sorry to see them leave a few minutes ago but it was a fantastic time for everyone.

Jeff feels a bit better after late morning when someone came to the hospital and cut his hair. This lady comes here and was nice enough to work Jeff into her schedule. He said his last hair cut was January.

We are so pleased with the improvement we daily see in Jeff’s movements. Sometimes small but it all adds up to more than we thought we’d see in less than a week in rehab. Those physical therapists at Barnes were right when they felt Jeff could handle 3 hours of rehab per day. The different rehab teams here at Mercy have a weekly meeting on each patient and discuss the level of improvement they and the doctors notice. Jeff’s weekly meeting is scheduled for Thursdays. We’ve decided to now send out weekly updates on Thursday. So look next month on the 2nd.

Thanks for all the emails. The cheering section grows and grows! We appreciate all your prayers and love. Not sure when but Jeff knows he’s on his way back to Iowa!

love,

Marcia