Day 142 - Oct 20, 2008

We had yet another great accomplishment today. While in the gym this afternoon, Kevin was able to sit up himself, without any support, for a full minute. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? But let me assure you, it is a struggle, not only for his muscles, but also for the sense of vertigo that seems to appear when he moves in a way he is unaccustomed to. Now this doesn't mean that he was able to pull himself up, it just means that while already in a sitting position, the therapists pulled away and allowed him to hold himself up. All in all though, he did sit pretty straight up for a full 25 minutes and I credit the new chair for helping him to be able to do it for this length of time already.

We love our new chair!

It has already given us so many freedoms. Tonight was the third night in a row that Kevin came to my house for dinner! (Chinese, yum!). It is my goal to have him down every night to add some normalcy to our lives. It also gets all three of us out of that hospital room, which is so needed.

And tomorrow morning, we are going to a cafe of sorts that it located in a far off section of the hospital. I guess tomorrow is 'Panera Bread' day so that will be great.

I have to say, Kevin is eating like a horse. I would say he safely passes what both Breezy and I eat combined every day now. And he is also eating everything. No soft food or even mediums any longer. I will admit that I haven't given him chips or anything like that yet, but I would bet he can handle them.

As for his sleeping habits (Kristen, I know you sorta asked about this) - he is doing somewhat ok. Last night, I think he over-tired himself because he didn't go to sleep until 2:30 am. And that was with the help of a sleep aid, pain killers and an agitation medication (not all at the same time). It was just one of those nights where he couldn't sleep at all. He has actually asked for a sleep aid every night for the last 4 or 5 nights now and when he asked tonight I had to tell him 'no'. He is starting to rely on it and he hadn't even tried to fall asleep on his own yet. I am so happy to say that he did manage to fall asleep within a half hour of me saying 'no' so I am glad I played the meanie.

So since he is sleeping, I am going to head home. For those that are local to Butler, PA - check the Butler Eagle over the next few days. They are planning to do an update on Kevin's condition for their readers.

Goodnight all!