Day 179 - Nov 26, 2008

Today was a slightly better day. We still had our 'off' moments, but we had some good ones too. We did learn today that Kevin is able to read more and more as time is going on. He still has trouble putting words to pictures/meanings sometimes, but it is getting better.

We also had PT down at the house today. We practiced transferring Kevin from his wheelchair to a comfortable recliner. Y'all should have heard the sigh that came from him when he landed his butt and sunk down in that easy chair for the first time. It was like he was in heaven!

And let me say, he did very well. I barely had to lift him up from the chair - he did the bulk of it himself and he also pivoted himself so that he was turned to go into the other chair. We are going to work on transferring to the bed on Friday if all goes well. If it does, he may be able to stay here for the night!

I am going to just answer some more of the questions for the night as I need to get to bed.

First, Jessica - you asked how Kevin was able to 'tell' me that he had been moving his arm on the sly...well, I can pretty much always read his facial expressions. When he showed me his arm moving, he first said "hey" in a matter of fact way. That was my first indication. If he woulda sounded shocked, I would have known he was. Second, he had this look after he did it of pride and guilt and just plain devilment. As soon as I saw it I asked if he had been moving it for days. I could just tell, lol.

Kathy - you asked about the therapy on his arm vs leg. He actually gets more on his leg because she is a faithful therapist. OT (arm therapy) has not been as good about being there every day. We also just lost Kevin's usual therapist about 3 weeks ago or so and Kevin is just not 'relating' to the new one. I think it's just because we really liked Jeremy.

An anonymous poster asked about a communication board or book and NO - he doesn't have one. We can pretty much tell what he wants - it's only on occasion that we struggle. The last couple of days he has been making this little "O" with his fingers - kinda like an A-OK sign and I just couldn't figure it out. Tonight - Breezy finally did. He was actually telling us that his show was over and it was time for his pills. The little circle he was making represented a round pill. We sure love it when we figure out something new, lol.

So I am going to end there for the night. I am still scouring the web for homes and want to get a half hour or so in before shut eye. It's my goal to narrow the search down to 5 or less and then take Kevin to each of the homes and see what he thinks. We have been showing some of the ones we like online and so far he really loves one of them. It's a bit more than I am hoping to spend though so we will see. I also have to see if there is some sort of temporary ramp that I can borrow to get him into these homes. Every single home here has steps to get inside.

Anyway, have a great Thanksgiving everyone!