He Calls Me Taskmaster

Hello Friends and Family,
I’ll bet you’re wondering where we’ve been and how we are. Terry Taco (Bob’s outlaw) said that she’d be going nuts now if nothing new was on the blog, but she’s been living our schedule for the past few days and knows that our butts are pretty whipped by the end of the day. So, sorry if I alarmed you and here’s the latest with the Bob (and it's pretty long so you might want to read in increments):
Every day continues to be h-a-r-d work but we see little miracles and we know that little miracles will result in BIG miracles so Team Bob just keeps plugging on. We’re dealing with the ups and downs (which can be day-to-day or even hour-to-hour because Bob’s brain is healing and the swelling is subsiding) but we’re starting to see more ups than downs. I wish that all of you could witness Bob’s positive attitude and tremendous effort in physical and occupational therapy sessions. Bob is so “in the zone” and focused on doing everything that the Loma Linda angels tell him to do. They have built an incredibly trusting relationship with Bob and he believes and trusts them implicitly and follows their directions. When they see a quizzical look on Bob’s face, they’ll ask him, “Are you worried, Bob?” and he’ll say “Yes”, to which they’ll say, “You don’t have to worry, Bob. We won’t let you fall. We have your knee/leg” and then he’ll stand, step off, shift, and reach at their direction. Arnie told Bob to watch his chest, to be a “macho man” and Bob stuck his chest out (oh no, not macho man!)
We had “Family Training Day” all-day Tuesday in preparation for Bob to come home. I was frantic when the hospital scheduled the training since they said they were requesting an extension during the time most of my family is in NYC for Josh’s graduation. So Terry Taco, (Bob’s “little sister-out-law” from Oregon), Sonia, and Jeff showed up for the training. Well get this, we learned to transfer Bob from the bed to the chair, chair to bed, chair to toilet, chair to car, AND, since I’m the primary caregiver, Jeff and I got to do most of the transferring. OMG!! No wonder Bob is so tired from that kind of work. It’s heavy work! Initially, I was terrified because Bob is twice my height and weight (although he’s lost 20 lbs) but the PTs taught us to squat and rock when we’re holding Bob. It’s almost a rocking chair motion and guess what??? We DID it and I didn’t drop him! Yeah! (Bob rolled his eyes when I said “WE” because he really had to do the lifting and pushing and I was just his counter balance. But I like the “WE” part). Jeff was much better that I was at transferring Bob. Poor Bob was tolerant of us during the car transfer which was pretty tricky because we have to be careful to support his immobile leg and move the foot so that we won’t damage his ankle. Jeff forgot to put Bob’s head into the car so Bob will have his life in our hands when we start driving him around. Sonia’s focus on Family Training Day was finding out when we could take Bob to Disneyland. My mom was there trying to give the PTs advice (since now she’s also a PT expert and emotional therapist) .☺
The PTs and OTs report that Bob is making good incremental gains with his right side. He continues to get stronger and is able to wheel himself 150’ in his chair but not without fatiguing so they’re working on building his stamina. He has right side neglect so we have to remind him to pay attention to the right or he’ll ram into things. The OTs predict that our walls will be pretty banged up so maybe I’ll have to talk Jeff into putting bumper pads on all of the walls (temporarily, of course). PTs said that on Monday, they will put him in the harness and onto the treadmill. Can’t wait to send pictures.
Speech/Language continues to be hard work. The good news is that Dr. B. (neurologist) said that they’re pleased because Bob has full cognition (of course he does and his intellect is intact). The toughest part is that he can’t make the words come out and it’s apparent that he wants to talk so badly. Regardless, Bob’s language is improving but “Yes” and “No” are the words that he can initiate freely which frustrates him (but he is so graceful and uncomplaining). The other night he took his lips and tongue in his hand/fingers and tried to make them form the words and still only “yes” would come out. That made my heart hurt for him but it will happen. I'm so grateful that the stroke didn't take his sweetness. Some stroke patients become angry and mean but Bob’s sense of humor is intact and his use of facial expressions and tone of voice reflect his feelings: humor, sarcasm, joy, sadness, frustration. Carol - we LOVED the shirt ("Dr. Bob - Don't Mess With Lorp). We'll send a picture!
My family had Mother's Day in the parden so that we could be with them. Bob ate some meat-like substance (restricted diet) so we ate turkey burgers (almost meat) in alliance.
So here are some new Bobbisms” for the week:
 Last Friday we were walking through the halls and one of the nurses said, “Hey Bob, it’s good to see you”, and Bob responded as clear as before, “Well it’s good to be seen”.
 The good news is that Bob isn’t calling himself “Elizabeth” anymore but last Thursday, when asked his wife’s name, he said, “Naomi” whoever she is. Dang, and Sharon is working so hard with him.
 On Monday, he told me his wife’s name is “Taskmaster” (which, in his case I wear proudly). When Terry Taco arrived, he called us “Taskmaster 1 and Taskmaster 2”.
 Leslie O and Maya stopped by to visit on Monday and asked, “How ya’ doing, Bob?” and he replied in his wry voice, “Peachy keen”. (Thanks for the Ipod, he loves his music.)
 When the nurse asked him if he wanted to go to the bathroom, he scooted over toward the chair and said, “When . . . you . . . are . . . ready”.
 He told Jeff that he liked his new tennis shoes “mucho gusto”.
 He’s put together two 70 piece puzzles.
 He is able to recognize numbers and order them.
We're still singing alot.
Okay, enough tonight. Oh, thank you, thank you for your continued love, cards, support. I can not thank you enough for all that you’ve done to life our spirits and nourish our bodies. Pray that the insurance concurs and grants Bob the 2-week extension that the doctors are requesting. We'll know tomorrow?? Please keep your prayers coming in. We need them. G’night.