I visited Roger yesterday, and the good news is he is back on solid foods! They have taken the feed tube out of his stomach. His drinks are no longer thickened to prevent swallowing problems. When I think of how I first saw him post accident, and how he is now I see a miracle. He has come so far and works very hard, and it shows.
He's up early every day and does about 4 hours of physical therapy and occupational therapy. They work on standing, walking, transferring from the bed to the wheelchair, using a walker and all sorts of strength exercises. There are exercises for muscle building and hand eye coordination, which is still excellent. By the time they get him back in the bed about 2pm he is exhausted and sleeps hard till 4pm or 5pm. Then he is up and has dinner.
During my visits I work with him to challenge the weaker parts of his body, and reawaken various parts of his brain. When we "stroll" the hallways in his wheelchair I have him to use his left hand and arm to pull himself on the wall railings. Yesterday I asked him what his favorite movies were, and then tried to get him to tell me the story line. I spoke to him in Spanish and his eyes lit up. We had a good conversation in Spanish. It really impressed the Latina nurses and I asked them to speak to him in Spanish from time to time.
When dinner came I watched Roger feed himself, and I almost cried with joy. The only thing I helped him with was opening the vacuum sealed fruit cup as his left hand could not grasp the cup firmly. But his right hand was able to lift the flap and slowly peel it back. He was able to break the food up into bite sized portions and use a spoon to eat.
And the comical Roger still comes out. I said, "Roger, finish this sentence: You can lead a horse to water,..." He sat there for a moment than said "But you can't make him pee", I busted out laughing and he smiled.
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Topic: Trapper dog (Read 66164 times)