The January - March Miracles of Bob and Sharon

Dear Friends and Family,

January and February weren't total busts and Bob is quickly on the rebound. Let's recount Bob's  miracles:

1. In January, Cathy and Josh came home. Bob really enjoyed visiting with Cath and I loved Josh taking care of me and the house while I stayed at the hospital.
2. Bob was so ON during his admission to the hospital. He answered all of the doctors questions himself. I was in awe of his alertness and his passion to make sure he understood and they understood him. It was amazing to watch him engage again. He followed their directions and seemed to be able to do all of the neuro tests. As challenging as it was, he communicated with the hospital staff. Whoo-hoo!
3. Bob seemed to regress (speech, language, motor) but thank goodness, it was short-lived!
4. Bob is back to his daily exercise routine of walking and range of motion (which he does not love, let me assure you but is a way of life).
5. Bob is reading a novel with Shadi (she reads aloud everyday) but guess what? Now they are doing paired reading and he reads a page aloud to her and then she reads a few pages. It's wonderful to see and he's pretty proud of himself (although he said "I'm still not conversational." Pretty good, huh? His speech therapist, Cynthia, continues to be amazed by his progress.
6. Bob will be fitted with his Walk-aide tomorrow (an computerized electronic device that sends electrical impulses  to his leg and foot so that he will walk without drop foot). Our insurance denied this device saying that it is too "experimental" although it's what the Olympic and professional athletes use for rehab. So we say a special thank you to the Shadi and Bill Letson Foundation for donating this lovely tool to Bob.
7. Bob is walking on the treadmill at therapy. His new, wonderful PT, Lisa Z., puts him in special  harness hooked to the ceiling, and he walks at 3 mph for three minute intervals. Pretty amazing.
8. Bob attended Gaby C.s (one of his doctoral student's) dissertation defense in March. Bob was so happy to see his friends Mary T. (in the photo) and Dr. Tom Harvey. We scripted a few questions and Bob practiced and practiced and practiced and asked questions. We were so proud and when I asked him how he felt, he told us, and I quote, "I was hot!" And he was, too!
9. Bob is able to go up and down the stairs pretty efficiently now, but when Shadi first arrived, I asked him to stay upstairs until she got up (because he was still on that medication that made him wibbly-wobbly). One morning, she yelled to me as I was heading out the door to work and when I got to her room, Bob was in her bed (with his shoes on) and he had told her that he would wait there with her until she got up to go downstairs. So that's the photo you see. It's not me.
10. Bob is graciously dealing with the reality that his recovery will be, in his words, "a long time coming and therapy is laborious". He has good days, great days, and hard days but he handles them with grace. He wants two things desperately: to be able to speak fluently again and to be able to drive. So we are working on speech and language - Shadi makes all of us insist that he must speak and that he must do so in complete sentences.
Well, enough for now. I'll try to stay more current. Thank you to all of you for your continued prayers, cards, and words of encouragement. They mean a lot to us!

From the depths of our hearts, we remain yours,
Sharon