"One day, I will conquer," said my dad this morning. And this is something we truly believe.


If we hadn't before, we certainly would now. Within these past couple of weeks, huge progress has been made. I feel like I'm on repeat, saying the same things every post. But it's all true! I forget how much progress has been made, then I look at a previous post a realize that the improvement is great.

Speech continues to be the most visible change every day. He is speaking so much more. Whole phrases and sentences are becoming much more consistent. It still takes time and much concentration, but it's coming! He has many phrases and sentences that he can consistently say, and many more sentences just pop up out the blue. It's so fun and wonderful seeing this progress. My dad is also understanding and comprehending things more easily now. We love watching movies, but with all the conversations going on and jumping around it was difficult at times for him to understand everything. Last night though, he was laughing with the movie and making small comments. After church yesterday he was talking about the sermon and writing down things he remembered. It was quite amazing. His comprehension is definitely improving.

We found out last week that my dad was accepted into the RIC (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) Intensive Speech/Aphasia program. This program is 6 hours every day(M-F) and works very intensely on just his speech and aphasia. This will be great for him. He'll have to work very hard, but it will definitely be worth it. We've heard only wonderful things about this particular program.

Geoff can now raise his right arm to just below shoulder level. It's really cool to watch. It takes most of his concentration, but it's becoming stronger. We have him shake our hands. It's hard work because he has to work super hard on raising his arm, but then has to try to relax his hand. It's not perfect, but it's getting there!

At therapy last week, they tested my dad on several reaction activities, and then worked with him a bit in a practice car they have in rehab. The therapist worked with him on several things that had to do with driving, and said that soon he could take a test to drive again. My dad was never a big fan a driving, so I don't think he necessarily wants to rush into this, but it's cool knowing that the therapist thinks he is soon ready to try to drive again. Maybe someday he'll decide to get back to work on his pilot's license again...