Another Day in Paradise

Hello there everyone. This is Carlie again. Ill be posting for the next few days. Today has been a day much like any other here in rehab. Therapy went quite well this morning. Dad is doing more and more for himself every single day. Looking at him today, I notice that his increased strength is becoming visibly evident. He has muscle tone in his arms and legs, and it is obvious in his more purposeful movements. It is truly amazing how fast atrophy of the muscles took place when Dad got sick. Sadly, it is a lot harder to get back than it was to lose it! Physical therapy has been working Dad very hard to regain his balance. Sometimes they really push, but it's so worth it to see the improvement in his mobility! He has been working on walking a lot, and he needs less and less help all the time. He is going longer distances with each session as well. Today he is planning on braving the crowds in the main lobby of the hospital (we know how much Dad loves those Utah crowds!) The only problem with all this increased movement is that he thinks he is a little steadier on his feet than he is. his wrist band for the hospital states that he is a fall risk because he is a "little impulsive." (That is a bit of an understatement.) We will definitely need to work on getting him to slow down a bit. :) He is also working hard on cognition and problem solving exercises. He is doing exercises and games that are meant to strengthen his critical thinking. I have to say, some of the things he was doing would have been difficult for me! He is really making huge strides. He did tell his occupational therapist that he wants to be doing exercises on his 4-wheeler. Oddly enough, she said she couldn't deliver. :) Being able to eat has made Dad a chipper fellow the last day or two! He was finally served mashed potatoes and gravy at lunch today! They came with puréed corn and some sort of mystery meat loaf. He is such a good sport and tried everything on his plate. His comment... "Whew, that meatloaf is horrible!" Che and I got a good chuckle out of it. It's nice to know that he is still pretty hilarious. He also got ice cream with the meal. By the time he got to it, though, he said it was mostly cream. Oh well, it was delicious creamy sugar either way! I promised him a nice, proper, non-mystery meat Sunday feast for conference this weekend. All in all, I couldn't be more proud of my Dad. I am amazed by his great attitude and his willingness to give this his all. He is very motivated to get home, but I think he realizes that this is very necessary for a great outcome once he gets there. The same can be said for my amazing mom. She has been there all day every day since the second this happened. My dad never wants her to go, and he always requests that she stays and takes care of him over anyone else. They're really in this together. I'm so glad I have them, and that they have each other.