Well, we're back from Costa Rica! It was a wonderful trip and it was so great being able to spend 2 weeks all together!
The last week at therapy in Chicago wrapped up well. My dad was very happy to be done with therapy and receive a long break! Mom and Dad were home for one day to pack and the next day we left for Costa Rica!
Dad received quite the workout while in Costa Rica. Walking in the jungle, walking on the beach, walking up to the volcano, walking up and down stairs with no railing, and just walking in the busy downtown San Jose streets are just a few of the challenges he had while walking. He did amazingly well! Nothing was too hard for Geoff! On our first day back home he kept on saying how easy everything felt to him now. Of course, this was no surprise to us as he made a lot of progress with his walking!
Speech also improved while in Costa Rica. I think that my dad ordered his own meal at nearly every restaurant we went to! Sentences are so much more frequent now with Dad's speaking. The length of the sentences are also increasing. We'll go around the table and all ask him a question. He has to answer the question with a full sentence. Maybe 1 out of 4 times he needs a little assistance, but otherwise he does great! He takes a minute or 2 to think about what he wants to say, but when he says it, it comes out very clearly. It's amazing looking back just a month and a half ago and seeing all the progress he has made. Dad will be continuing speech therapy this summer at the Sister Kenny Rehab. Institute, and we will continue working with him at home, too.
Right arm therapy was mostly put on the hold for the past month or so, but we're starting to work on it again. He continues to use the E-Stim on his arm every day. Progress is being made, even though we haven't been working on it so much. We all notice more movement, and a more relaxed position when at his side.
For the summer we'll be working with him on everything. As mentioned, he'll be continuing speech therapy at Sister Kenny, and also continuing with the aqua therapy there as well. Dad takes a walk every day that is always at least a mile long. He works hard, and tries to remain positive through everything.
