August 27th Update

Josh Chandler - August 20th - Just chillin' with his new haircut

~~~ Josh and Cari ~~~

Hello to all. I bet you thought that I had forgotten about the updates, but no, I have just been a little busy. I hope that you like the pictures. I know it is easier to see progress when you can sortof see it for yourself. Josh is continuing to do well at rehab. This past week he has been working a lot with his arms and strengthening his legs.

Let's see. In speech therapy Josh has been working on making his speech slow and clear - annunciating his words. If he tries to say too much in one breath or if he is very tired it can be difficult to understand him. Also in speech therapy they have been working with Josh and his memory. Josh's occasionally gets a little confused with his timeline from about two weeks prior to the accident and on. For example he sometimes can't remember what he did the day before in therapy. But, his memory prior to the accident is still very much intact (in fact, he has corrected me on details from the past on several occasions!).

In occupational therapy Josh has really been working on his arms. He is whooping up on the little old people who have had a stroke when he is in his reachout therapy group. This is when they play checkers or stack blocks or something of that sort to help with their motor skills in their weak arm. Lisa has been focusing on working with his right hand; it is still a little tight to the point that he cannot extend his fingers all the way out. He still wears a splint to that hand and he follows a schedule of when it comes on and off. He doesn't really like it and is very happy when it is time to come off. I think he is about due for the splint to be changed this week which means they will make a new one that will extend his fingers out just a little bit more. He still has a fair amount of tremors to that right hand also. This contributes to his difficulty to try and use that right hand a little bit more. The doctor has been increasing his medications to try and alleviate this problem - some days you really notice the tremors and some days you don't. It is just playing a game of trying to figure out the right combination of medications that will help control the tremors.

In physical therapy they have been continuing to work with Josh's legs. They recasted his left ankle again on Wednesday and it is beginning to get back into alignment, but it is also causing Josh a good deal of pain. He doesn't sleep well because he can't seem to get comfortable most of the time. This is just something he is going to have to deal with for the time being. I thought that his ankle looked pretty good this week. Before they recasted the ankle they put Josh on the tilt table and put him up to an almost standing position for thirty minutes. Josh said he felt like his legs were giving out on him (obviously his legs couldn't give out because Ben and Amy were helping to hold his ankle and he was strapped down to the table), but he made it. Josh also worked on standing up and he was able to stand (with Ben's help) for about 5 1/2 minutes. He was also able to go from a lying down position on the mat to sitting on the side of the mat by himself this week. He was a little wobbly but he made it on his own. I can tell a big difference in his strength from last week to this week.

Okay now the big news. We have a TENTATIVE discharge date of this Thursday, August 31st. I stress tentative because they could decide to keep him just a little bit longer due to the fact that he is continuing to make pretty good progress. We should know tomorrow, Monday the 28th, after they (doctor, nurse, PT, OT, ST, & case worker) have their weekly care team meeting and discuss Josh's progress. I will let you all know with a quick update tomorrow on our possible discharge. They have been training mom, dad, and I on how to transfer Josh from the chair to bed, etc. They are just trying to get us prepared for home. I am very excited that home is in the near future, but we are all in agreement that if they decide to keep Josh a little longer it is okay because this is where Josh needs to be right now. If they decide to let us come home, then HOORAY, I think we could make it just fine. Josh really wants to come home this week, but home is all in God's timing.

Oh, I almost forgot. Josh is getting his feeding tube removed on Monday or Tuesday of this week. They watched what he ate for a couple of days (i.e. calorie count) and decided that he is eating enough by mouth and does not need the feeding tube anymore. Josh is very excited to get this out. He told me to tell you all "hey". Josh is in pretty good spirits most of the time, but he does get easily frustrated. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be so dependent on everyone for practically everything you do. He has his good and bad days. Josh had several visitors this week and it really seems to lift his spirits to see familiar faces besides mom, dad and I. It won't be too long until we get back home and Josh can see friends and church family on a more regular basis. My Dixie (yellow lab) is gearing up to see him as well. She will probably lick him to death because I know she misses him! Anyway, that is about it for this week. I look forward to telling you that we are on our way home. Have a wonderful week. We love you all.

Love ya,

Cari