Day Thirty Five - Another Great Day

Today was a great day for a number of reasons. He started out with a nice walk half way around the unit this morning. He is going further every day. Dick felt well enough today to have his baby brother give him a trim too. Jer cleaned up his mustache and shaved-- just a little of the scraggly looking beard Dick has decided keep.

He also had his trach removed!!! Yeah! They came in and removed it this afternoon and then they placed a gauze pad over the incision and told him that it would heal in about 2 weeks. He sounds the same but if he wants to speak a little louder he just has to hold his fingers over the pad and his voice will be stronger.

He is now on antibiotics for his bladder infection so hopefully that will be gone soon and he will again be rid of the cath. And speaking of things he is rid of... he is finished with his speech therapist. Not that we won't miss Kristin, she was one of our favorites. She has done all that she can do for him here. He had an oral test today where she asked him some questions on 'what he would do' scenarios and he did well. Again, she said that he has done remarkably well in the short time that he has been here and she is impressed with his progress.

He may be headed back to Peoria and St. Francis Hospital by the end of the week or at the beginning of next so if you have plans to visit here you may want to check with Amy or Mike to see where he is. He is anxious to get back to the Peoria area to be closer to his friends and family. Although, he did have a couple of visitor's today other than me and Jer. His cousin Susie and her husband Hawk, and Don Able his riding buddy came to see him.

One thing that we're encouraging Dick to do is to eat more. He is only eating about 25% of his food on his tray per meal and they would like to see him eat at least 50% to get the calories in to increase his strength and stamina. Jer and I left Dick in Susie and Hawk's care while we went to eat and Susie said she would be sure to get him to eat his diner. Now you all know that Dick thinks I pick on him and you know that I would have made him eat...but when I got back he actually told me that I couldn't hold a candle to Susie. I knew I had left him in good hands. The report back on his meal was that he had eaten 75%. Way to go Sue!

So you see, today was a great day. Walking farther, getting a trim, no more trach, no more speech therapist, eating better, and wonderful visitor's. With the prospect of coming to the home turf he feels like he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Every now and then I go back to the beginning and read the blog and am amazed just how far he has come and how blessed we all are.