Had a good Speech Therapy session today with Megan. He is sustaining his voice a lot longer than he was even a few days ago. So that is one positive for today. Also, he is officially is on chunky foods for all meals. Small steps!
Our final Saturday as an inpatient. Yay! M is doing his one hour of OT right now with our buddy Jean from Haiti. He rocked the bike thing again for 20 minutes this time. He had another entirely choke-free lunch and had me laughing a couple of times with his facial expressions..reactions to a couple of things that happened while there. He is expressing his excitement to go home. The nurses are already telling him they are going to miss him. ☺
Things are going well. We just hit the FOUR year post-stroke mark last week. IN-FRICKING-CREDIBLE! Seems like a lifetime ago but other times it seems like last year. Michael continues to do well. He had a CT of the brain last month and all looks good. Doc just wants to repeat every few years to be sure blood flow is normal and the stent in the vertebral artery is holding up. Gym, twice a week and walking are our main activities. We went nearly 3 miles just today. M is strong and wonderful!! Most importantly he is happy and positive. Here he is on a recent walk in our neighborhood. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. We LOVE our slice of paradise.
When I arrived this morning, Michael was much more awake. He had both eyes wide open and gave me a great smile. His voice sounded even better than yesterday. As with all hospitals they continuously poke and prod all day and night long and he's such a champ through it all. He is still often sleepy and needs lots of rest. Ups and downs...that is the norm. They did an Echocardiogram this morning and did not see anything abnormal. They want to do another type that is more thorough. Clots originate in the heart, so we need to find anything that might look suspicious. They will compare all of the Echos he has had (we are going on 4). His vitals are maintaining normal readings. But they have all the time, so that's nothing new. He is on blood thinners, so hopefully the clots stay away. They have also recommended him for acute physical care, so when he can be released medically he will most likely enter a facility for intensive treatment due to his age and good body strengt...