update #94 from Linda

Hello! I just got home after spending the weekend with Steve, and wanted to tell you about the good things that have been happening!

First of all, we had a great weekend. Uncle Dave and his family, Aunt Gail and Uncle Don, Rachel, and Uncle Rick and Alyssa (from Georgia) all visited. We celebrated Grams' birthday...thanks, Beth and Ed, for sharing your condo!

Some med changes were made late last week...we were hoping this would result in Steve being more alert. This morning he woke up talking and had the best day ever in Speech, despite the fact that it was at 9 AM, which is normally way too early for him. He was able to do lots of talking and also used the loudest voice we've heard since February! So amazing.

His OT (Patrick) continues to work hard with Steve's left hand/arm. He has been trying to use it more lately to do things like turn a faucet on or pull paper towel out of a dispenser or play cards with Grams. He doesn't have the strength yet, but we're excited to see that he's trying so hard to use it. There's a good chance they'll inject botox tomorrow to try to loosen things up and make it easier for him to move his arm.

PT was so much fun today. I told Tim that Steve was doing some serious talking, so we had him go up to Mike and say, "Get to work, Mike!" Mike has been saying for months that he can't wait for Steve to be able to talk and tell him off. It was quite a moment. :) They had Steve walk the parallel bars with lots of obstacles to step over and he did a great job. The highlight, though, was that they had him walk (with a therapist on each side) unaided. He was unsteady and constantly looked like he was going to fall over, but he walked on his own part of the way around the gym, out into and down the hall, and back into the gym. "Amazing" doesn't begin to describe it.

Steve is having a swallow study this Wednesday. At the present time he relies on tube feeding for nutrition, with small amounts of some regular food just for "pleasure." We would love to reverse this situation...please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

The medical people meet tomorrow to decide if they want to keep Steve there longer, but as of right now his discharge date is Friday. Equipment is being delivered to our house this week (despite the fact that no home modifications have been started yet!), and we meet on Wednesday with someone to learn about the tube feeding system we'll use at home. Also on Wednesday we're meeting with the people at an outpatient rehab facility in Ann Arbor. It's a long drive, but is under the U of M "umbrella" and the therapists at the hospital know the people there and speak highly of them.

Take care, everyone!
Love,
Linda