First Full Day In The Windy City

Hello Everyone. This is Mike and I've been nominated(IE forced) to write the blog tonight. Just kidding. Happy to spread the good news to everybody. Dad had an awesome first day in Chicago. I arrived to his room at 10am(start of visiting hours). Those nuns at the front desk are sticklers on the visiting hours. Anyway, within about 15 minutes of my arrival, the occupational(upper body, everyday type of movements) therapist showed up and worked with him for about 20 minutes. He did great. Dad was able to do every move she asked and when she asked him to provide resistance when she tried to move him a certain way he showed pretty good strength. She said for all he had been through he was still pretty strong. After she left, the physical therapy(lower body movement) team showed up about 10 minutes later. They moved his legs around in all different directions and he showed good range of motion and no pain. After that, they sat him on the edge of his bed and had him do leg lifts and ankle movements. To their surprise, he was able to most of the reps on his own. They were in there about 30 minutes. After that, he had about a 15 minute break until the speech therapist arrived. She asked him a series of questions and he passed the test with flying colors. They also practiced really enunciating his words. That will help when he begins to talk again. Which brings me to some great news. The speech therapist thinks tomorrow they will be able to put add a piece to his trache that will allow him to speak! Of course, at first, his voice will probably be weak, but what a relief it will be for him to be able to communicate verbally again. So as you can see, they really worked him over today which is good. He needs to be pushed. I'm so happy I was there to help motivate him. The tables have turned now. It's payback time for all the years he coached and "motivated" me in wrestling! Just kidding. Actually, I'm not. He's gonna pay! Lastly, Amy and I were able to leave tonight on a high note. About 30 minutes before we had to leave, dad opened his eyes wider and for longer than anytime I've seen him since the accident. It was amazing. I'll leave you with a description of what we saw dad doing on our way out: laying in bed, eyes wide open, tv remote control in hand, channel surfing and happily waving good-bye to us. It was a beautiful sight...