Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Thanks for posting an update on the 26th, Aunt Janet!

Christmas was awesome. Home Sweet Home... My dad was in his own home for the first time since 8/23/10. Kim & I, all the grandchildren with their significant others, were in attendance. The mood was festive, the food was delicious. The first thing my dad wanted to do was go through all the rooms. So while the food was receiving it's final touches, Joe wheeled him in/out of every room. He said all rooms looked a lot smaller than he remembered them , but that everything else looked the same:) I told that despite our busy schedules, we (Kim, Kristie, Joe, myself, etc.) have tried to keep everything up to snuff!

Therapy is going really well. Good news, each day my dad does an exercise to stregthen muscles that havn't been used in over 4 months. Bad news, there are a lot of muscles that weren't used. In 2 weeks I can see a huge improvement in knee bending, getting out of chair, standing up, balance, leg mobility and arms. We have every reason to believe he will improve that much more over the next 4 weeks when Kristie arrives. I told her to "get ready!"... Dad will be ready to move!

We are planning on going out for lunch or dinner on New Years Day then every weekend thereafter. We will incorporate home visits as well. All necessary to prepare for the day he moves back home for good.

Happy New Year to all! Praise God for this miraculous recovery!

Dinner out

We had a great time on Wednesday. The four siblings and spouses plus two of his daughters and son-in-law met with Tip for dinner. I hadn't seen him since October and he looked great. He seemed to enjoy himself and was probably a little tired by the time we left at 9 o'clock. He said he took a nap in the afternoon. We saw the pictures of the car he was driving at the time of the accident. It's very hard to believe he survived that crash!

I haven't talked to Kim or Kay but I know he was looking forward to Christmas at his house yesterday. It's amazing how well he is doing and the effort he has put in to recover completely.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hello Everyone!

I am so happy to report yesterday's outing to Tom's life celebration was a HUGE success! Not only was my dad able to go, he was able to get himself in/out of my car with basically no assistance. We were gone 4 1/2 hours, staying at the event over 3 hours. There were so many of my dad's old friends (grade school & high school) there and everybody was so happy to see one another. It was really a heartfelt event on all accounts. The drive alone was such a pleasure for my dad, to be in a car, sitting in the passenger seat, riding along in "normal" transportation. He was very calm and so was I (for some reason:).

Today in therapy my dad continued to make huge progress. I wasn't there to count steps, but from what hear, I estimate he walked the 50+ steps back & forth twice, with a break in between sitting. The "break" is really sitting down in a chair then having to get back up from the chair and continue walking. The final walk was from one end of the therapy room all the way to his room! I would estimate that well over 100 steps! Total steps around 300! He reports he felt the steps to much more complete, he was breathing & talking:) He laughs about how he was holding his breath just last week! The biggest milestone though was at the end of therapy when he was given "independent" status which means he can get in/out of his bed/chair, go to the bathroom, etc. all by himself without assistance! Hooray!! The aids, by the way, report they will still come hang out in his room!

We are looking forward to our next outing Wednesday night, dinner in Waterville with the sibs.

A happy & blessed holiday to all!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Today my dad took 2 rounds of approximately 23 good steps using the walker. His steps were much more complete steps where earlier in the week they were shuffles. He is working on transporting himself from the bed to the chair, chair to exercise bike, chair to walker, chair to toilet (sorry folks:), etc. This is huge progress in the life of rehabbing. He gets a little discouraged at the s-l-o-w-ness of it all, but feels/looks good & appreciates that he is getting better everyday!

He is definitely "on" for Sunday's outing, then Christmas, then dinner with his siblings.

Thank you God!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

At this post, I am happy to report my dad is making progress with his new therapy. He is able to stand for longer periods (3-10 min.) with breaks, taking steps down the walkway holding onto the bars. These steps are very slow, but no complaints...ya gotta start somewhere! He was able to make three trips down the walkway today, which is about 12 steps each trip. He said it was easier today, but not "pretty". I told him nobody is expecting it to be "pretty" just yet!

Therapy is also working on my dad transferring himself from the chair to the bike, which will assist in his transfer from the chair to the car! There are several people who just can't wait to get him out for the afternoon, maybe lunch, a stop at his house or just a drive! I am beginning to think we are more anxious than he:-)

Hopefully, he will be able to attend the Tom Wodarski's life celebration on Sunday. Then Christmas!

Keep praying!

Friday, December 10, 2010 part 2

I just talked to my dad... He stood for one minute holding on to the bars on either side of him. He is so excited, said he couldn't believe it! He was worried he would be dizzy and was glad he was not. His knees were, however, shouting at him when he sat down, but that is/was to be expected. Also, he's happy to be going back to therapy this afternoon!

Whoohoo new chapter!

Friday, December 10, 2010

YES!!!!!!! My dad was given full weight bearing status on all limbs starting right now! Yay yay yay!! Thank you God!

P.S. My dad was the only patient in Dr. Jaeblon's office today! I think he came in just for my dad:) Soooo sweet:)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Today we hoped would be a big day for my dad at the orthopedic doctor's office... Not at all. After being transported from Waterville to Sylvania, lying on a stretcher & waiting over one hour in a crowded waiting room, a technician opens the door to tell us all that the x-ray machine is not working. Normally they would send patients across the hall to St. Anne's Radiology Center, however, that center is closed today! Grrrrr....... We will try again tomorrow morning. The machine is supposed to be fixed and if not, the center across the hall is scheduled to be open. Just another bump in the road...