Update #106 from Rob

Hello to all of you that read this blog. Hope life is good for you! Linda is getting some sleep so I decided to update this time.

As you can probably tell by the span of time between updates, things are happening slowly at this point in Steve's journey. But they are still moving in a positive direction.

Steve seems to voice in longer sentences when at home in a relaxed environment. Especially when he first wakes up. Some days are better than others and we hope we can keep stringing more good days together. Steve is getting used to the Dynavox machine and can carry on a conversation well. They say this will help with voicing also.....time will tell.

Steve definitely has more movement in the left arm and hand and we re working in OT to get him to fine tune the fingers and thumb so he can pick up small objects and ....... play the guitar his loving sister got him for his birthday!

We have found in PT that Steve seems to be better at walking with stand-by assist rather than with the walker. His weight gain however is hindering this progression and Linda and I are working to figure out the best plan for nutrition without putting on the pounds.

He had a wonderful birthday. We celebrated one weekend at our house and had a great time. The following weekend he celebrated with a crowd of friends at a restaurant in Ann Arbor, and then went with many of them to a Red Wings game. People came from all over the state and country to see him. I hear this is evidenced by pictures on Facebook. To all of you who sent cards and messages, brought food and gifts, and visited...thank you from the bottom of all our hearts. We've said this so many times, but the support he gets from friends and relatives is beyond amazing and so important to his motivation and recovery. We know this just by our own observations, and it's backed up by the medical people.

Please continue to think of Steve when you can.
Thank You all,
Rob