Mike Eats, Sits and Stands For the First Time

Mike made great progress today. First we/he worked with his speech therapist and he was able to say a few more things today. Today's words were a little more clear but still quite soft and muffled. Mike is able to repeat words that are prompted to him but is having difficultly answering questions with words (anything more than a yes or no). This is normal for his injury, they say it will hopefully improve with time.



After speaking he tried a swallow test. He passed it. He successfully was able to swallow a jello-applesauce combination. When he was asked how it felt and tasted he responded with, "It's good." Next he tried chewing on ice chips and then cranberry juice. He was able to swallow it all. I don't think he wanted to stop eating. Tomorrow we will try a few more things.



Next came in the physical therapist. I was excited for her to come in. She asked Mike if he was able to pull himself up and sit in the bed. (I have been working with him and he's getting pretty good at it.) He nodded yes. After sitting himself up she asked him to swing his legs over to the side of the bed. The last time we tried this we was unable to sit without help. We helped him get into the position and let go and he sat with his legs over the side, head up and without any help. (I asked the nurse if I could please take some pictures and she said of course. I had wanted to show the kids since they weren't here to see it for them selves.) Before I knew it she was asking him "Are you ready to try and stand?" He nodded yes and she helped him up. He stood for about 5 seconds and then she helped him back to sitting on the bed. She did this a few more times allowing him to stand a little longer than the time before. On the 4th time she let go, he stood a little wobbly by himself, holding with one hand to the bed. I was so excited to see this. She sat him down, let him catch his breath and then asked him to stand one more time and this time to take a few steps in place. He took about 2 steps with each foot. We were both so amazed. She said she would continue to push him until he couldn't go any further. He was so exhausted by the end, and we had only worked with him for about 20 minutes. After he got back in bed I leaned over and gave him a hug and a kiss on the check and told him how proud I was of him. He looked back at me and rolled his eyes with a "big deal" look on his face. It's a good thing he still has his sense of humor.



A few minutes later I met Dr. EsTell his physical medicine doctor. She gave him an assessment and let me know that she was amazed with his progress. We talked a little bit about the rehab. center in Vallejo and she said she would like to start the paper work to get him there as early as the beginning of next week. She said it would take a few days to get the paperwork ready and wanted to have it all in place so they could move him as soon as he would be physically ready.



It was sure nice to have a positive day today. It's hard to believe that 3 weeks has gone by already. Mike has made so much progress in such a short amount of time. I keep hearing from doctors how remarkable or miraculous his recovery has been. For example, I spoke with the ENT doctor, Dr. Chen on Saturday and after comparing Mike's right and left side he stood up and said that's interesting. I asked what he was talking about and he explained to me that he had looked at the CT of his head just before coming in (especially the right side by the ear because that is where his fractures are) and told me that his right ear canal was collapsed and his jaw was dislocated on both sides. (I let him know that no one had ever told me this, it was new to me.) After doing his assessment and exam and expect to see this in person. He said for that injury to heal so quickly was remarkable. He said the paralysis on the side of the face was due to the nerves being damaged from swelling and irritation from the fractures and that was to be expected but never thought he'd be looking 2 1/2 weeks after the accident and find his collapsed ear canal and jaw intact and in alignment.



I immediately thought to myself "Wow, all the prayers and blessings are working. It's truly amazing to see the power of prayer and faith first hand. I know this is the work of our Heavenly Father. Only with him are all things possible.