It's A New Day!

Whoo hoo! It was a new day at Loma Linda Medical Center, 6200, Room 12. Today is most alert that the Bobbo has been since they gave him morphine on Friday night. Okay, he was still nodding off but he seemed to be more upbeat, alert, and participative. So here are his miracles for the day:
1) Dr. H and the neuro team came in while Bob was having PT with me. Bob sat on the side of the bed next to me without us holding him up and only occasionally using his left hand to balance himself for 30 minutes. This is important because he has to build his core muscles so that he can sit in a wheelchair.
2) Bob stood 3 times today for 20 seconds each, doubling his time from yesterday. Now we want him to slide his left foot forward so that he knows he can do it without falling.
3) Bob consistently stretched his good arm and reached across midsection to take a pen out of my moving hand and return it. (He has left dominance and doesn't recognize his right side so we're working on developing that.
4) He told me and Cathy that he loved us (individually at two different times) and he said "Where's Lauren?".
5) During lunch, he completed the sentence, "I want more soda." YEAH!
6) Bob is aphasic which means that he doesn't process/express language efficiently yet, but he is learning by watching verbal and visual cues. Bob's brain is like a sponge. It's pretty amazing to think that in some ways, his mind is as fresh as a child's and that he's learning not in regular growth time, but at the speed of light. We take for granted what it's like to eat with utensils and then it's pretty amazing to watch how his brain works: he studies the spoon, figures out how to hold it and use it (dip, scoop, lift), how to measure how much food the spoon can hold, how to adjust the quantity, tilting until it's just right, and holding it at just the right angle to move to the mouth. Pretty darn amazing!
7) Bob was transported to the LLUMC East Campus Rehab Center around 2:30 this afternoon! Yeah! And the critical care transport nurse was Natalie G., the same nurse who was on his Code Blue (Stroke Team) the night he stroked.
8) The Rehab Center feels like a resort (even Josh loved it)! It doesn't have that hospital feel and everyone smiles. His room is huge (no roommate yet) but his bed is next to the french doors AND he has his own beautiful patio with a fountain, garden, and hummingbird feeder.
9) His nurses, Gerald, Laura, and Kelty and the staff were so positive and warm. When they admitted him today, they told us that they see miracles there every day and they wanted him to reach his desire. I told them we were there with ONE mission: to have Bob talking and walking and they said, then leave it to God, work hard, be present AND "stop pushing the boat". Bob's whole presence seemed more relaxed (as much as it could be) for the first time. He actually reached out to take each of their hands when they introduced themselves to him. (They spoke to him, not to me.)
10) He was assigned a new neurologist and guess what? He's world renowned for his work with stroke patients.

Thank you again, dear friends and family, for sending prayers, positive thoughts, cards and messages our way. We love them!

If you want to write a message to the Bob, simply click on "comments" and go for it! We do read them and respond. Thanks again for allowing us to work smarter.
Take care,
Sharon