Continued Improvements! (Update: Aug. 19)

Greetings to all. I hope that everyone is having a pretty good August so far. I am sorry that I haven't written in a little over a week, but right now weekly progress seems to be the best when updating.

Josh is doing fine. We got the news on Monday that Josh's stay has been extended until August 31st - that means HOME! Josh was a little bummed about it because he wants to go home now, but it is good news in the fact that he is indeed making progress. They will continue to work with him as long as he is progressing. This August 31st date could also be extended so we will just have to wait and see how it goes.

Josh continues to eat on his own and only occasionally needs to be fed through his tube. His appetite still could use a little work, but I believe it will come in time. He is trying to feed himself, but his right hand tremors a lot so it is difficult for him to do this. They are still trying to adjust his medications to help with the tremors. Some days are better than others. Please pray for the tremors to stop and stiffness to his right hand to get better. In occupational therapy they have been working all week with Josh on feeding himself, brushing his teeth, and washing his face etc. They are trying to get better movement with his arms. They also having him using the arm bike to help with strengthening.

Speech therapy has been working with Josh in math and reading comprehension this week. He does pretty well. He was only off by $1 when he was adding up the money in his head. He also reads a paragraph and answers questions appropriately on what he has read. His speech is still doing pretty well as long as he remembers to slow down. If he gets to trying to say too much in one breath it is difficult to understand him. He still is laughing a good bit though (thanks to dad) and that is always nice to see.

Physical therapy has been working a lot with Josh on his legs. This week his left ankle was recasted on Wednesday. When the cast came off on they felt like his ankle was beginning to give a little. Praise the Lord. It hurt Josh a lot, but if it will get his ankle back into alignment it is just something he is going to have to put up with. They will recheck the ankle again on this Wednesday and hopefully he will only need one more cast until they can begin working on strengthening that ankle. This week Josh almost sat up from off of the mat by himself - he was so close. Also this week, Ben with PT, had Josh stand (with help of course) for 5 minutes. It hurt Josh's legs to do this but it was great to get weight into his legs. This gets the muscles firing so they can get used to this motion. I am hoping by the end of next week that Josh will be able to sit up to an upright position on his own and stand for maybe 10 minutes.

Please also pray for Josh because he is getting a little frustrated with himself at times. He knows what he used to be able to do and a lot of times I think he feels trapped in his body right now. It is only temporary, but at times it is difficult for him to see the end of the road of rehab. Josh has had several visitors over the past couple of days and I know that it helps to cheer him up along with several phone calls from friends. This week Josh also got a haircut from yours truly (my first one ever!). I think it looks very good. I will have to get a picture of it out soon. Dad liked it so much he had me cut his too! Josh will be mad at me if I do not tell you all "hey". I forgot with the last update. Thank you for your continued prayers, love and support. We love you all.