Ian's Dad posted this yesterday - a blissfully uneventful update! :-) Happy New Year!
December 30, 2006 at 11:42 PM CST
No real news today. HJ and I went to Reagan's BBall tournament and Ian stayed with Shelby, Erin and Meredith. When we came home, Ian and Erin were playing checkers. I'm not sure who was winning. Ian seems to be more relaxed and is getting used to being back in his noisy house--He sat in his favorite chair and watched Sponge Bob Squarepants (that's one cartoon I haven't missed in the background!) this morning. He was doing a good job of moving around on the floor today, pushing himself from place to place with one leg.
Tomorrow, we'll probably make him do some actual therapy stuff--most of the time, though, we just like to give him hugs!
Tom and HJ
Sounds great to me too!! Looks like the road ahead is getting smoother for Ian and his family.
May the New Year bring the best to all.... and especially to Ian who has fought so hard.
Blessings to all...
"TT", Beth & Nana
BTTT
What a great update....sounds like a "normal" day..and it also sounds like he is adapting to getting around with his cast...
Happy New Year to you and Ian's family...I am sure the New Year will bring much healing..
Prayers continuing...
sleuth
How about an extra hug from freeperland!
Tom gave us this update yesterday. BTW, if you'd like to be added to/removed from this ping list, please FReepmail. Thx.
January 01, 2007 at 10:16 PM CST
Happy New Year! Go Badgers!
Just a quick update. This morning, Ian woke up around 7:30 AM and announced that he was hungry. When I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, he said, “A pancake.” So, we made pancakes for everyone and Ian powered down five of them all by himself. It was impressive! We tried to get him to eat some eggs, but apparently he has remembered that he doesn’t like eggs (he didn’t know that in the hospital). For a while, we entertained fantasies of changing his eating habits, but those hopes have been dashed. Oh, well—it was worth a try!
Ian’s mobility continues to improve. He’s doing a much better job of scooting with his good leg while keeping his weight off of his cast (something the ortho guys say is extremely important). In fact, we now have to keep a closer eye on him so he doesn’t get himself into trouble. A couple of times, we’ve caught him getting a little overconfident and beginning to try things like sliding down off the couch—not something he’s ready for! He’s showing pretty good strength as well. He can hold his cast leg up for a good period of time (seconds, not minutes). I think he’s a lot stronger than we’ve given him credit for being.
Cognitively, Ian has shown some progression today. He spent a lot of time playing games with his sisters today (Uno, Magnetix, Chutes and Ladders), and actually exhibited an increased level of spontaneity in his communication. While he was playing with the Magnetix, he was making sound effects and showing some creativity in his thought processes. For the first time, we heard him talking to himself about what he was doing, and singing to himself as he played. He also spontaneously told Reagan that he wanted to show her something that he had made. He also pretended to call me from Australia, where he was apparently stuck in a cave. Of course, I got there as fast as I could and pulled him out. The calling game is something he used to do a lot prior to the accident, so it was great to see much more spontaneous play from him today.
Of course, all this play and activity still wears him down pretty quickly, so around 4:30 Ian scooted over to me (Tom) and let me put him in my lap. We watched the Rose Bowl (yecch!) for a while and Ian fell asleep on my lap around 5:15—I think that’s the first time he’s slept on my lap for a couple of years (I loved every minute of it). He didn’t even wake up for dinner. We carried him up to bed around 8 PM.
Tomorrow, the kids go back to school and over the remainder of the week we begin the process of outpatient therapy. We hope the progress we (think) we’ve seen continues. With your prayers and Ian’s hard work in therapy, we are confident that Ian will continue to improve. We hope all of you have a happy and prosperous New Year. We will keep you updated as we have progress (or lack of it) to report.
Tom and HJ