This is an email from our friend and fellow Brew Club member, Brian. He has vowed to go visit Jeff almost daily, since he works so close by. I will pass his emails on.
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I was over to see Jeff today and got lucky as I was able to sit in for two of Jeff's one hour therapy sessions. The first hour was speech therapy and he was being a bit of a lazy bum. He really didn't want to stay awake too long BUT... the therapist was able to get him to whisper a few words: yes, no, Ben (his son's name)... and he was making sense with his answers. While he was being a lazy bum, the good thing was it was more than yesterday. He's only been there for two days so in their, that's progress... and that's what he needs to show them. So, in the end, it was a positive session.
The second hour was physical therapy and that was great. They use a hoist and a harness to get him out of bed and into a wheel chair. When they do that, it wakes him right up. I got to see him open his eyes completely and focus. He absolutely knew I was there and knew who I was. Per usual, I was busting his chops and got a couple good smiles out of him.
Sorry to be all sappy here... and I can't totally explain why, but I left today knowing HE is in there. It's HIM. He's just gotta get his damn body going!
So... the good news on physical therapy.... they had him sitting on a therapy table so his feet were on the ground and they had him sitting on the edge by himself. They would steady him and ask him to lean one way or the other and he was doing about 98% of it with very little help. Then he had to simply keep himself steady and upright for a 10-count... which he was able to do. Grip his left hand... he did great. Raise his left arm... raised it but not all of the way (but still better than yesterday). He's still struggling with movement in his right arm although he's getting decent movement in his right hand. The therapist then put a wet face cloth in his left hand and asked him to wipe his forehead. ALLLLMOST got it... wipe his nose... got it... wipe his chin.. needed a hair of help because I think his arm was getting tired. Then a really cool part was she had me sit on one side of him and harass him until he looked at me. He had his eyes wide open, turned his head almost all the way to the side and looked me right in the eyes.
The therapist was really happy with ALL of this though because she said all of it was more than he could do yesterday. Again, the really important thing is that he continue to make progress while at the new rehab and both of his therapists today felt like he had.
The therapist was saying for right now he seems, even though it has only been two days, that he is making good progress but they need to just get him stretched out. She said his neck was really stiff (not surprising being in bed 22 hours a day)... so she would push his head to stretch the muscles all the while asking him if it hurt and he would instantly shake his head no. "Are you ok", quick head shake yes. "can I keep going", quick head shake yes.
Anyway, sorry for the long email. Yeah, yeah... I write long emails. You'll live. Like Frank keeps saying, keep up the positive thoughts and prayers. I was really excited leaving there today and I think everyone's thoughts are working.
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Topic: Babalu (Read 154405 times)
