Craig Hospital Update

Monday, the 18th = Super busy schedule for Dean! He started at 9am, and every hour until 4pm, met with different team members from Craig. (He has a set team while he is here.)

The highlight of Monday was being off the vent all day & all night! His trach was capped, and he received a very little amount of O2 through a nasal canula.

Another highlight for Monday was learning to drive his wheelchair. He uses a sip n puff system to control the movements forward, backwards, to the left & to the right. He can speed the chair up with this system and you can come to a complete stop. Pretty cool. And, this sort of independence was fulfilling for Dean. Not to mention, he was able to leave his room again.

Tuesday the 19th = not as full of a schedule today. Dean was a little disappointed but found it was refreshing in the end.

A highlight from today (Tuesday) was having applesauce during his speech session. This is the 1st real food outside of tube feedings since before the accident. He can only have soft foods during speech. She is watching his swallowing and making sure food doesn't go down the wrong tube and into his lungs. Gradually, more soft foods will be introduced. He will not be able to eat anything other than through the tube feeds until his tummy situation clears up. Fingers crossed it's by the end of the week. The man wants a ribeye!

Another highlight today, although a strenuous session of testing, was with his PT & OT. I simply call them "the girls". They're young, and they work together quite a bit for these sessions. Anyway, they ran through the ASIA, or ISNCSCI testing. This tests for motor skills and sensory. Praise God! He has both! Sensory is subtle, but we'll take it! Motor is better, especially in his lower half. So many WINS out of this test. The Girls were very impressed, and shared that they'd never had guessed he'd make this much gains in so little time, considering their first meeting with Dean last Thurs. Dean did so awesome, and he tries so hard to move. I am so proud of him!

Another highlight for me, and sort of a bittersweet one was running into Karin, Chris & Bo Meier from Fargo. Bo is also a patient at Craig. Not how we want to run into each other, but I couldn't wait to see them and give them a great big hug!

Dean & I are in awe at the amount of fundraisers going on out there. We appreciate each and every contribution. It isn't an easy thing for either of us to do (accept help & gifts from others). Your outpouring of love and support for Dean & our entire family is unbelievable. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.