Day 131 - Oct 9, 2008

My mom and my sister, Dawn, came today to spend a few days. It's such a big help because Breezy is in PA for a week or so. And we went and had a nice dinner tonight, which was great. And Kev made out because he got more cheesecake, lol.

So...let's see...Kevin was fitted again for his helmet. Once it's complete, he can get up on the parallel bars and walk (with the help of a brace for his right arm and leg). He will actually have to wear this any time he goes anywhere or does anything. It's just to protect his brain as he has no skull on his left side to do the job. To give y'all an idea of what it's gonna look like, here are some pictures. Mind you, this is just a soft template, but you will get the gist. Oh - and Kev is being a smartass in these pics. In the first one he was pretending to be scared and in the second he was acting like he was Joe Cool. He is such a dweeb, lol.






If you notice in the second one, you can see the top of his new arm brace. His right arm is perpetually curled up to his neck in a spasm. It won't even straighten out at all - even with applied pressure. So we have a new brace that has a gauge on it that you turn to force it over a long time span to straighten out. It's actually pretty cool that something like this can be done, but it does bother Kevin to wear it for too long. We started out with an hour today and want to get up to overnight.

And I am pleased to tell you that Kevin has already graduated to regular meals. No more soft solids. Yeah - 2 days and he is already eating so much food. Obviously we can't give him chips or anything like that, but he gets a normal tray now. I do have to cut all of his food up, but he is doing so well!

I did learn something today too. I figured Kevin had a lot of problems with his lips because they had to grow back, but that's not the real reason. It turns out that it's because his neck was so badly burned. Just like his eyes, as it is healing it is getting tight. And as it tightens, it is pulling his lower lip down and down causing it to be dropped from his mouth. It looks like he will need surgery to correct that. I am hoping they can do it when they do the lower lid release. Every time he goes under I get physically sick. I hate it!

And to end out the night, here is a pic of Kev pretending to be asleep. He does it to see how much he can get away with, lol.



And while I am thinking about it - I want to thank everyone again!! We really appreciate all of the support that y'all have given us. We have received so many beautiful gifts - like the quilt that so many people from all over the US made together (started by Holee) and the other blankets and CDs and learning toys and two Terrible Towels (which you have to see Kevin swinging around like he is at a game and he is chanting "Steelers, Steelers, Steelers", lol) If I can figure out how to get a video of it - I will post it. It's just so funny! But I digress - I do want to thank everyone. Even the financial support has made it possible for us to be here. I gotta say - we really just couldn't do this without all of you.

I thank each and every one of you from the very bottom of my heart. Our hearts, really, as Kev and Breezy would say the same.

Once again, a HUGE THANK YOU!