100'

Sometime over the weekend my mom got a little bug or something that made her feel a little sick. Monday for her was a rough day but Tuesday was a great day. She was feeling really good. My dad rode in with me since he left his car there the night before and rode home with Heidi. Gunnar was spending the day with Heidi, which he loves, at Wings where she works. I believe one of my cousins asked what she did. She is the program director over the preschool portion of Wings, which incompasses many different things in and of itself. Gunnar fits right in there. He loves it. I am extremely grateful to my sister for her willingness in taking him when I am in a little pinch. I am also so thankful for my many friends who have watched Gunnar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They are such lifesavers.

When we arrived at Elks, my mom was in physical therapy. My dad brought their really nice Nikon for me to use so I had fun taking a few pictures. Her day overall was a little different so this was one of my only opportunities for pictures. The last few sessions, I have been the little PT assistant in that I would have to push the wheelchair. It made it hard to take pictures. This time my dad pushed the wheelchair and I got to walk around with the camera. It was fun. PT is always fun because Kristi, the PT, and my mom always have such a great time. My mom was able to 100' with 25% help using a large quad based cane. It was awesome. She usually gets tired and has to take little breaks but she didn't do that. It was great. My dad cracks me up. Most of the time he really wasn't falling behind my mom like he was supposed to. He was sitting in the chair scooting himself along. Kristi has been working with my mom on standing up with no assistant and no help from things around her. She really doesn't like it but needs to do it. We are really trying to get her to realize that she does most of the work on her own and that all of us are just standing by. With practice she will get better. She is also working on strengthening her right leg overall. The ability to move it is still fairly new so she needs to work quite hard at getting it stronger.Every Tuesday the social worker, Heidi, meets with all of the therapists and the neuropsycologist to discuss my mom's progress. She reported back to us that she is doing so well. Everyone has been thrilled with her progress. She is able to get a shirt on 100% on her own, she can walk with 25% help, she can get in and out of bed with stand by help... Kristi was hoping to get her to the point that she can go home with a normal cane but she is thinking that a small base quad cane will be the way to go. She will most likely use a wheelchair temporarily for community purposes. She was going to be fitted with a lower leg brace this morning. With this, her walking may just take off. The 20th of February is still the target discharge date. My mom is so excited.

Our plan is to have her go to Nampa North for her continued outpatient therapy. It is located near the corner of Cleveland and Karcher Road. On the same corner as the Karcher Mall. We will miss the therapists that she has been working with so much. We have really loved what they have done thus far. However, traveling 2-3 times per week for therapy to Elks Downtown gets pretty challenging. The cost of gas definately doesn't help. Going to this closer facility will be pretty nice. I am pretty confidant that they have competent,c aring people there too. We were testing out the camera and happened to get a pretty good picture of what her room looked like yesterday. Many people have given her really pretty flowers. She loves flowers. They bring some of the outdoors in and that always makes her happy. We were waiting for Kristi, the PT, to get some things in order and I realized that I hadn't taken an updated picture of my parents. Over the weekend, I actually realized that Gunnar has been the only one in the pictures. It made me realize that it looks like Heidi and Mindy don't exist in this entire situation at all. I am going to have to change that. I regret not getting a picture of my mom with Brent and Noelle before we left. Anyway, I love this picture of them. One of my very favorites to date. They both look fantastic.

We were also lucky to have a visit by Uncle Ken and Auntie Jewel. All adults in our Hawaiian family are refered to as Uncle and Auntie even if they biologically are not. We just adore these guys and really loved their visit. Auntie Jewel can easily relate to my mom. Several years ago she contracted spinal meningitis and almost died. Her recovery was very similar to a stroke survivor. She had to overcome all of the same things. They are such great friends.

Heidi brought Gunnar with her for a little visit and then we left. Gunnar was exhausted. I forgot to mention that Gunnar had a sleepover with grandpa the night before. They (my dad and Heidi) picked him up around 9pm coming home from Elks and they went to bed around 11pm! And he woke up around 7:30am. He didn't get a nap so he was exhausted and he easily went to bed.

Oh ya, I forgot to mention that my mom is getting some movement in her arm. It is so small but it is still there. Pretty exciting.