Wednesday, December 10th ... Tis the Season for Miracles

Mom went to visit Dad today during her lunch break and she called me crying that a Miracle had happened... Dad had squeezed her hand with his right hand (which is his affected side). Thank you Jesus!!! This is the first sign of movement that Dad has shown in his right arm. She called me crying with tears of joy as she was leaving the hospital sharing the great news with me!

Then, Dave called me shortly after I got off the phone with Mom and said he had finished his inspections early today and was going to go visit Dad. I then told Dave about the wonderful news Mom had just shared with me! When Dave arrived up at Dad's room he wasn't there, he had already started his afternoon physical therapy training session. Dave decided to join him in the physical therapry workout room because they allow guests to observe while they work Dad out and Dave was curious as to what types of exercises that Dad was doing everyday. As soon as Dave saw Dad, Dave grabbed Dad's right hand, shook it, and Dad wouldn't let it go, it brought smiles to everyone's face. Next, the physcial therapist did some compression exercises on Dad's shoulder and elbow joints because she was trying to stimulate the nerve endings...she worked him for a good 45 minutes, and all of sudden she says "I'm feeling muscle tone in Mr. Luker's bicep!!" She then set his upper arm on the mat while holding his hand up, she then let go of his hand and Dad was able to hold his hand up on his own for about 5 seconds! Everyone was ecstatic!!! The last exercise they put Dad through was allowing him to sit up on the side of a bench (while supported by the therapist) and the goal was to bend down to the ground and pick up a small cone, sit back up, and then place the cone back on the ground. Dad did this for about 10 minutes and got pretty tired, so the therapist allowed him to rest for a few minutes while sitting up with both of his arms trying to support them selves. She then stepped away from Dad and he supported himself with both arms for a few minutes...awesome! Both physical therapists were so happy with his progress today, and thought that this was a miracle. Dave could definetly tell that George was very happy with the amazing strides that he had taken today and is now beginning to see for himself that his hard work in therapy is starting to pay off :)