Thursday, April 29, 2010

Week 45 : April 20 - April 26

Johnny,

You've had a productive week!!!
You stood in your standing frame at various degrees for a total of 28 minutes. You got to 50% and did very well!!

Mom made some terriyaki chicken (Mickey's recipe) and put it in this really cool holder that you can chew on but won't get choked on. You really enjoyed that!


You also had a sucker today. Mom said you chewed it off the stick. She said she thinks you enjoyed the stick the most ... ha! You had a few spoonfuls of food also but you didn't do too good with that. The main thing is, you trying and that's terrific!!

Mom said that she took you outside and you watched her and Robert dig up Red Oak trees and put them in pots. This of course is courtesy of a forgetful squirrel who stashed his acorns and then didn't dig them up so now there are baby trees in the yard. Mom said ya'll "gotta little mud on the tires" caused by the rain the night before and tracked it all in the house from your room to the kitchen. That does not sound like fun to clean up!


Buddy and Tammy came out to see you and spent about 4 hours. Johnny, you are so blessed to have such good friends! They are taking great care of your dog Abby too!


Mickey, Cody and I came out Sunday after church to see you. When we got there, Dad was spending time with you while mom, Robert and Jackie were at church. We had a great visit and it was so hard to leave Sunday evening. At one point, there was you, me, mom, Jackie and Cody all watching a movie in your room. It was great!

Your new wheelchair deluxe arrived finally. It is built for comfort and speed (as Jackie found out rolling you down your ramp) Mom says that is a story for another day...I haven't heard it yet but will blog when I do, I'm sure it's hilarious!


Well, your having your swallow test tomorrow (Tuesday April 27th). Your speech therapist, Diana and Mom are all going. I'm sure you'll do great! I'll report on that next week.

Love you so much!! And, I am so proud of you and your progress!! XOXO Jen

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Week 44 : April 13 - April 19

Johnny,

What a busy, doctor visiting, week you've had!!
Tuesday you had a dentist appointment with Dr. Stevens. You did so good!! You bit down on the x-ray wings to get pictures of your teeth with no problem at all! Your going to need some fillings in the front on the teeth damaged in the accident but you have nothing going on in the back of your mouth...good news! On Thursday you had an unplanned visit to a GI doctor, Dr. Ostricil. Mom noticed that your feeding tube was leaking and you were groaning as if in pain all afternoon so she got you in to see the GI doctor. They did a temporary tightening of your feeding tube and scheduled you for surgery to have it replaced and to do a little exploring around your stomach lining. Saturday, Valerie brought her twins to see you...it was the first time you've met her kiddos. Brandy and her kids stopped by too. Your surgery was scheduled for Monday. We had you there at 10:30 and surgery was scheduled for noon but it was after 1:00 before you were taken back. Your surgery lasted about 30 minutes and then you were in recovery. You were so funny before they took you back, you kept sticking your tongue out at me and you were cracking yourself up. You were being really funny! After your recovery time, we loaded you up in the wheel chair and mom and Robert headed home with you. When I checked on you today, mom said you didn't sleep much that night but you seemed fine. Dr. Ostricil said she didn't need to see you again until next year unless something came up ... she doesn't realize that it's not going to be too long and we'll be removing that feeding tube for good!!

Your wearing your new shirt and shorts. You really like the eagle on this shirt.

Your meeting Valerie's son for the first time

Your outside the GI Services department waiting for your turn

Your getting a pep talk from mom

Before surgery

Smiling ... I love it when you smile!!

Your cracking yourself up

After surgery


Love you!! Xo Jen

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Week 43 : April 6 - April 12

Johnny,

Your standing frame came this week. You used one while you were in Baylor Rehab and you did very well with it. This one seems to be top of the line but like everything, it has it's good and bad. It doesn't seem to be very user friendly to get into. I guess if you were able to get in by yourself it would be easier but if you were able to do that then you wouldn't need the standing frame...would you?


Your therapists did some back stretches with you.

Mom took you outside to get some sun...is that the camera or the bright rays bouncing off your white legs? My eyes, my eyes...ha, ha!

Thursday you gave mom a scare. She came into the check on you around 6 am and you had a river coming out of your mouth. You had thrown up in the night sometime between 2 am and 6 am. It was a lot and it was everywhere. Scarey! We never did figure out what happened although we all have our own theories. Mine is that you had a coughing fit and it made you throw up...happens to me sometimes : )

Saturday I came to see you and ended up staying all day. It was a great visit. It gave mom time to work on your garden outside while Robert worked on your porch and walkway. We went outside and sat most of the day on the swing on the front porch...well, I sat on the swing, you sat in your wheel chair. But, the day was beautiful and you really seemed to love being outside.

Your giving me a wave

Petting Izzy

Jackie with her work tools on...I think that was the hardest she worked all day, putting those tools through her belt loops...ha!

This is a picture of the flower bed mom is making you. There are roses, bricks, rocks and monkey grass all transplanted from your yard.

This is the window to your room

Beginnings of the ramp

Door to your room

Porch & ramp


Sunday afternoon mom, Jackie & I took you to Wal-mart. Mom had a list of things to get and we thought you might enjoy looking around the store. You did so good, I was so proud of you!! You pointed out things and seemed really alert!

While we were gone to Wal-mart, Cody, Mickey and Robert worked on the porch/walkway. They made great progress!
Jackie & Cody nailing in boards for the walkway

Monday you had a doctor appointment with the trach doctor. Mom and Diana took you and had a list of questions from Lisa, your speech therapist. The doctor said you are a good candidate for trach removal. That is, if you start swallowing and eating on your own. This means that you still have a lot of work to do but you will have a great reward at the end!! The doctor also ran a scope down your nose and said that your vocal cords looked great. That's good news too!!


Love you!! Xo Jen

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Week 42 : March 30 - April 5

Johnny,

You had some special visitors this week!! David and Melinda came from California and spent the afternoon with us. It was so good to see them and you really impressed them with how good you look and how well your doing. It was a great visit and we were sorry to see them leave...wish they could have stayed longer : (

While David and Melinda were here, Lisa did electrode therapy on your throat. You were telling us that you were okay in this picture.


Mickey, Cody and I came down this past weekend and spent the whole day. We took you outside because the weather was so great. You really seemed to enjoy it. Mom had mentioned that she wanted to get the bricks from your yard and put them around the flower garden she is planning on making after your porch is built. Of course, I said let's do it! So, we did.

Your giving me a wave...we are about to go outside.


Your watching mom work in the garden. She was telling me about the bell peppers she was about to plant when she noticed that she didn't have green bell peppers, she had jalapenos. You were forever trying to get her to plant some before your accident...she's been trying to figure out how you got them in her shopping basket. You are amazing! ha!


You really enjoyed being outside.



We were heading down to your yard to gather bricks and took you with us. In this picture it looks like your fed up and your going home.


Your watching us work. It took about 4-5 trips to gather all those bricks and we still didn't get them all. I caught you laughing at us a few times...wonder what you thought was so funny?


Cody's walking you back home, it was time for your meds and food.


Meeting of the minds : )


1st day on the porch construction.


Mom and Diana took you to Dallas to see Dr. Thomas on Monday. Dr. Thomas is the baclofen pump doctor and he is so nice! He refilled your pump, increased it 10% and agreed to do Botox injections on 5/3 at 9 am. He gave mom a doctor's order on the theracycle so she can try to get insurance to pay some of that. That would sure be nice! He went over all your medications with Mom and Diana. He stopped some of the medications and cut some of them in half. The antidepressant your taking is really a sleeping pill and mom is going to decrease it each week until it's gone...unless you stay awake. All in all, it was a very beneficial visit.

Love you so much!! xo Jen