Blue Jean Baby

Paul gets ready to leave, with Abby and her stuffed bear right behind.




















No assistance needed, thanks.






























These past 2 days have brought so much hope to us. Paul has said and done things that seem to indicate that a few rays of light are breaking through. Tuesday was a great day. I wanted to write about it right away, but he was on a roll and I didn't stop doing things with him.

First, he chose to wear his blue jeans. We are backing off trying to do everything for him. We were doing it mostly because it saved us time, but it is really not doing Paul any good. It is so much like raising a child and realizing they need to experience things on their own to gain independence. This would not be hard for me to do, except that his falling some weeks back terrorized me so badly that I surely became overly protective in my response. I am now 'standing by' and letting him experience his day. He couldn't decide what to wear, so I mentioned that he had blue jeans or sweat pants. He made the choice. I was so happy to see him wearing the clothes we normally saw him in. He looked so much like Paul and I kept expecting him to act like everything was normal again. He was putting them on and said he was not sure he could wear them because they were the tight ones. I reminded him that he lost almost 50 pounds and he said "then they will fit". Well, sort of. He definitely needed a belt.

We made it to Mass and Paul did something that surprised me. We were kneeling after Mass was over and Paul nudged me. I looked at him and he pointed to my friend, Patty Palmquist. She was walking down the main aisle and was looking at us. He recognized her and wanted to let me know she was coming. That is something he would have done before.

On Tuesday, I followed the same pattern of physical, occupational and speech therapy. After a brisk walk, we continued with the food/drink excercise to help increase his ability to swallow liquids easily. Then we did the excercises with the yard stick and theraband. During these excercises, Paul stopped right in the middle and said, "Why did you move my computer?" I noticed he was looking at the dining room. I asked him where he thought his computer had been moved to and he said, "It used to be in that room." He was referring to the dining room. He was right. In his senior year of high school, he was giving guitar lessons and needed a 'studio'. We turned the dining room into his bedroom/studio and put french doors up for privacy. I replied that his computer used to be in that room and that it had been his studio. He responded with "of sorts". He was right - it never looked like a studio but a messy dorm room! I asked if he remembered giving guitar lessons and he said he did.

We finished his excercises and he asked why we were doing these. I explained that he needed to build endurance and strength. I tied it into the fact that if he wanted to play guitar, he would need the strength to stand up and hold his guitar. The electric guitars are heavy. I decided to show him why he needed to get stronger. I pulled out his favorite guitar and as I was going to open the case he said more loudly than he has talked before, "No! Not that way." I looked down at the case and realized I had opened it with the face of the guitar down. I quickly closed it and turned it over and apologized for not noticing it was upside down. It was terrific though that he noticed so quickly what was happening, even before the case was completely opened. I got the guitar out and the strap and said it was a good excercise to see if he could stand while holding the guitar. He put the strap on and then by himself stood up with the guitar. He played for about 15 minutes. I left the room so I would not be a distraction and I got the camera and quietly took pictures of him. I knew his dad would not believe it. Paul has not wanted to even hold his guitar for the last week. ( Sure enough, when Jon got home and asked Paul if he wanted to play, Paul said, "No, thanks, I already did." I showed Jon the pictures to prove it.) When Paul was finished playing the guitar, I offered to help him put it away. His immediate response was that he would do it himself. Shows his memory is improving - he remembered that I had opened it upside down! He didn't need any more of that kind of help.............smile. He sat down on the couch, then got a pillow to rest his knee on as he got down onto the floor by himself. All this while he continued to hold his guitar. I let him solve all the problems and did not offer any help. He then sat next to his case and put his guitar away. He sat looking at all the things in his case - some music he had written on a piece of paper, some picks and envelopes of new strings. After checking out the contents of the case, he closed it and made his way back up without any assistance. Again, big news in our house! He then played the piano for about 10 minutes.

Tuesday evening, Paul's friend, Karen McMichael came by and continued her reading of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. She comes by once a week to do this and Paul really enjoys it. She and Paul used to do this once in awhile before his accident. They would take turns reading to each other. After she read until Paul fell asleep, she told me that he was asking questions this time. He was asking things like, "who is saying that?" and "That's the end of the chapter isn't it?" She was able to read 3 chapters before he slept. What a wonderful blessing from God that Paul has such good friends. It takes a lot of patience to visit Paul, but it seems he is getting better. That will make it easier on his friends, as time goes by.
Tuesday was the best day for all of us. Paul was very alert and talked a lot more than he has. The weather has been warm and sunny, which is allowing us to get outside everyday. It is a great benefit to Paul.

Wednesday, the physical therapist took one of Paul's hands, I took the other and we reassured him that he would not fall as we started him on a very faced paced walk down the street. At times we were almost pulling him along so that he would keep the pace we set. He said he was afraid of falling and was resisting at times. When we were walking over a part of pavement that had some sand on it, Paul said, "Slow down, you don't go fast over sand". We both smiled at Paul and slowed down over that area. Not sure where he got that from, but it was good to see he was very aware of his surroundings. He was not out of breath when we finished. That is a good sign about his lung damage. I was slightly winded because we had just gone up a hill, but he was fine. (Maybe because I was doing the pulling!) The physical therapist feels that she needs to come only one more week. She thinks Paul is definitely strong enough to do an outpatient program and is going to discuss this with the other therapists to see how he is doing in the other areas. She said that while he may not be ready for Pathways, he would benefit from a hospital outpatient facility where he will be more challenged to gain balance and deal with obstacles in his pathway. He will need to learn to do this if he is to be totally independent.

Please pray that the right avenue for Paul's recovery is found.

Opening prayer for today's Mass -
Father in Heaven, without you we can do nothing. By your Spirit help us to know what is right and to be eager in doing your will. We ask this hour Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened. (Mt 7:8)

God bless you with His peace and love in this day,
Jon and Rebecca