Some additional exciting news: My dad has been working on strengthening his leg and ankle, and today he made the change from his big plastic knee-high brace (that he got when he was in the hospital) to a little black ankle brace.  It's worn by volleyball players to prevent  ankle sprains. This is a HUGE difference, because the large brace restricted the use of many muscles, and now since they've been getting stronger, he is able to wear the smaller one which only restricts his ankle. He's not quite used to it and is still figuring out how much he is able to do with it but he wears it in the house and on flat surfaces now. Another plus is now my dad can wear some of his old shoes again.  :)

I thought you might like to see how much my Dad's writing has improved.  A week after his stroke, he tried to write something. But all he could write were a bunch of W's and E's which of course, didn't make sense.

This is how he is writing today.  He was describing the fruit bowl.

Hi everyone! This is Rose, now taking over the blog. My dad has been making
such progress, and I thought we should share.

My dad has been working out at Snap Fitness 2-4 times a week. He works on his
right arm and especially on his leg. He goes on the elliptical, pulls weights with both
arms and now he is able to go on the bike machine without the use of his brace, which is GREAT! Recently he proved to my mom that his ankle was getting stronger by taking of
his brace and turning in circles. Today he even started to tap his foot! He also has been working on mirror therapy with his hand, specifically trying to move a single finger at a time. This week, for the first time, he managed to twitch one finger a tiny bit! He also works his arm by punching a punching bag that now stands in the middle of our living room. The movement in his shoulder keeps getting stronger (as
does his punches!).

My dad continues working on reading out loud; now he is reading Cowboy Sam and the Rodeo. Speaking full sentences is still very tough, but more often now he is able to speak short sentences. At speech therapy he is beginning to work on question words like who, what, where, etc. It’s hard for him to keep them straight, but he is slowly getting better at it.

We had a busy Christmas, flying down to Costa Rica on Christmas morning for my sister’s wedding. My sister was married a few days later in a little outdoor ceremony. My dad walked her down the aisle. Of course it made every one teary. So did his speech, which he gave at her reception. My mom wrote it for him, based on his general ideas, and he had been practicing it for three months. It was about 30 seconds long, and he read it perfectly- not one mistake! My mom had lots of little diagrams and pictures above the different words, such as the position his mouth needed to be in for certain sounds, or other words that began with the same sound.

We enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful flowers and a tram ride through a rain forest while we were there.

Now Dad is back in therapy again, working harder than ever. His energy level has really picked up these last few months, and he can work a lot harder for longer periods now. He finished reading his first whole book out loud. He chose an old children’s book we have: Cowboy Sam. It is 63 pages long, and it took him several weeks to read it (out loud). He would read an average of 5 pages/day, a few days a week. It was really hard work for him, but it got easier as it went. Next read aloud projects: Cowboy Sam and Freddy.

At speech therapy, Dad is spending a lot of time working on blended consonants (sk, st, etc.) and small words (it, is, in, his, her, etc). Small words seem to be the most difficult because they are more abstract. When he can visualize a picture in his mind to go with the word, he can say it much more easily.

We pull out lots of worksheets for him to do at home. He is working on 6th grade reading comprehension skills (with quizzes; he almost always gets 6 or 7 out of 8 correct.).

He is also working more at writing. Writing single words is often quite easy, but putting those words into sentences is very difficult. His words get mixed up and often words that don’t really belong in the sentence sneak in there, throwing off the entire meaning. We challenge him by emailing him questions, such as: “List two adjectives that describe President Lincoln” or harder ones such as “Do you think NATO was right to intervene in Libya?” (We like to challenge his thinking, too!) Even friends of Dad’s are getting into this form of therapy with him. This is hard work for my Dad, and he usually waits a few days before trying to answer.

Not all writing is difficult, however. He did a good job writing up a list of chores for Rose and I to do, organizing them into daily, weekly, and monthly.

Dad is finally at a point where he can work at picking up a plastic cone with his right hand from a pile, lifting it up, and putting it into a new pile about a foot away. He can do about 10 cones now, but two weeks ago, he could do only 5.

Mom and Dad over Thanksgiving weekend.

<--- Dad doing his "mirror therapy"

It's been a long time since I updated my Dad's blog! Now that we're back home,
things just seem busier!

Dad is doing great back in Monte. He goes to speech 4 days/week, and PT and OT
2 days/week. He was first set for just two-months' worth of PT and OT, but has been doing so well that it has been extended- hopefully for another two months.

In OT, he is slowly working his way down his arm: beginning with his shoulder, then
his upper arm, and now concentrating on his lower arm. Progress seems to keep
happening, and he works real hard on this at home too- doing "rowing" exercises (a rowing movement mid-air), weight-bearing, e-stim on his wrist and fingers. It's cool because for a long time he was able to do the arm movements only in the pool therapy when supported by water. Now, he is able to do a lot of
them in the air, unsupported!

In PT, his therapist is really concentrating hard on his ham string and hip-flexor. It's still difficult for him to lift his leg. His therapist is great and very imaginative, and is trying all sorts of things to get that movement to kick-in. The therapist is also working with Dad on swinging his arm while walking. Even though he is getting a lot of movement with his arm, it doesn't swing freely while he walks.

Tonight for one of the first times, he was able to go up on his toes. That was exciting! He is also doing "mirror therapy" now. This is done by doing movements into the mirror with your good leg and arm, and trying to trick your brain into thinking that the reflection is the affected limb. Sometimes, this can actually initiate new paths in the brain to really move those limbs. My dad tries to do this for an hour each day. Dad's therapist did warn us,however, that since he is so smart, it may be hard to trick his brain.

In speech, his therapist is working mainly on apraxia drills. Dad has learned a
"key word" for almost every sound now (Maggie for the "mm" sound, key for "k," cheese for "ch", etc.), and is slowly able to sound out words. He is working at reading two-syllable words and short sentences out loud. He picked out one of our children's books the other day, and for the first time was able to read part of it out loud. His brain gets real tired doing this, but he has been able to read 12 pages at a sitting. At night, he is slowly making his way through Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms" before he goes to sleep. My brother thought this was one he could tackle, since the sentences are quite short. He reads this silently, not out loud. He is about halfway done!

Many people have commented on how much improvement my dad has made with his speech. Sometimes it's harder for us to tell, since we are with him every day. But other people notice a lot of changes. It's so wonderful, and we are encouraged by every little improvement he makes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My dad with his siblings and mother in October.