Back To Baby Steps

Jackie’s night was fairly peaceful. He could sleep in a little but had to be up for an 8:30am ADL session with Paula. After a little stretching Jackie did a nice job of helping with getting dressed. With his left  side impaired it limits what he can do.  Paula teaches him tricks so that he can help as much as possible.  Paula also continues to educate Jim and I on muscle spasticity and the domino effect it has on literally every muscle group. Stretching helps but the need to find the right medicine for Jackie continues.

After getting dressed Jackie had a late breakfast which took him right up to his PT session. Mark did sitting and standing exercises with Jackie. Other Magee staffers stopped in the gym to check on Jackie during his work out.

Jackie took a nap after PT since he was going to have speech from 1-2pm. Becca was going to evaluate his swallowing again. Becca kept the atmosphere very casual during lunch to simulate what a lunch would be like at 19. This approach worked well. Jackie ate all the chicken salad out of a chicken salad sandwich and also ate Cheez-Its and drank more than he has in a while. PTL. Jim and I took over when the session was over and Jackie had a lite bit of dessert with his meds. Becca stopped by Jackie’s room later and told us Jackie could go back to a ground diet. One step closer to getting back to a regular diet. PTL

Even though Paula had worked with him in the morning she took him to the gym and did a little bit of stretching. Jackie came back to the room and took another nap.

Jackie ate a late dinner and then we watched a little TV with a Cheez-It snack. PTL He was getting tired quickly so we helped him get ready for bed. More IV fluids ran overnight.

Slowly we are beginning to see the return of baby steps in Jackie’s recovery. PTL Prayer, positive thoughts and patience continue to keep us moving forward.