Mom and I decided to go to Dad's morning therapy session today since we are both back to work full time next week. Mom arrived first and Dad was with Barbara, his speech therapist. Barbara told mom t
hat she can't believe how verbal Dad has gotten in the last week or so. She was laughing because Dad told her she should take something for her allergies so she wouldn't have to blow her nose soo much! Typical George Luker, right?!? Physical Therapy had him next, and Kelley had the day off, so Carolyn put Dad on the "bike" for 20 minutes at Level 7. Carolyn was impressed, she said, "you must be a strong man!" She had to belt Dad's right foot onto the pedal; it wouldn't stay on there very well, but other than that, he did great until the last minute or two when his lower back really started to hurt him. So, she moved him to a mat and put a heatpack under him and let him lay down to work his legs. Once the heatpack got too warm, she had him sit up and do reaching exercises with his left arm while balancing himself with his right. As you can tell, Carolyn gave him a really good workout, so by the time he got to Rachelle, his occupational therapist, he was pretty worn out. She told him if he would work just a little bit for her now, she would let him finish with her after lunch. Dad agreed and they went to work on his "catch and release." All of you who have visited with Dad, know what we are talking about. He can now grasp an object with his right hand, but has a hard time letting go, whether it is your hand or a blanket or a cup ... you are in his clutches!! Rachelle isn't sure if it is some time of reflex or if Dad is concentrating too hard on the grip, so she tried rubbing a ballpoint pen over his hand to find the reflex, and then tried distracting Dad another time, and both seemed to work well in lessening dad's grip. In fact, when he was holding Mom's hand, he unconsciously started rubbi
ng the top of her hand over and over again with only his thumb(see video at bottom of blog entry), and that is something he had not done since before the stroke ... it was just a natural move for him, and when we all noticed it, Mom and I started to tear up and Rachelle went crazy (in a good way!). Rachelle decided it was a good time to stop and let Dad rest for a bit before lunch, so we put Dad back in bed and Mom & I ran an errand and had lunch with Carol Humphrey who had stopped by to see Dad. After lunch, Mom went back for Dad and Rachelle's afternoon session, and she was sure glad she did. Rachelle strapped Dad's right arm to some sort of "table skate" and then worked with Dad on trying to push it in toward his belly. Rachelle helped him the first few times get the hang of it, and then she bear-hugged dad to prevent him from using his trunk to push his arm, and slowly but surely dad used his bicep to move that scooter toward his belly! That wasn't all there was to celebrate either ... after witnessing Dad move only his thumb earlier and then be able to release the grip on Mom's hand, Rachelle gave Dad a towel and told him to grab it with his right hand. Dad inched his
way toward the towl and grabbed it with his fingers, and then Rachelle said nonchalantly, "okay, that's it, you're done, you can let it go." And, HE DID!! It seems that when Dad isn't so intent or focused on a specific action, he has a better result, so we are adopting Nike's slogan and saying ... "Just do it!" Mom said Rachelle was super pleased and Dad seemed to be pretty proud of himself too! So, keep those get well wishes and prayers and cards coming in his direction; they are working and keep his spirits up. Thanks to Mike & Pat McKenzie too for their visit Thursday night!
hat she can't believe how verbal Dad has gotten in the last week or so. She was laughing because Dad told her she should take something for her allergies so she wouldn't have to blow her nose soo much! Typical George Luker, right?!? Physical Therapy had him next, and Kelley had the day off, so Carolyn put Dad on the "bike" for 20 minutes at Level 7. Carolyn was impressed, she said, "you must be a strong man!" She had to belt Dad's right foot onto the pedal; it wouldn't stay on there very well, but other than that, he did great until the last minute or two when his lower back really started to hurt him. So, she moved him to a mat and put a heatpack under him and let him lay down to work his legs. Once the heatpack got too warm, she had him sit up and do reaching exercises with his left arm while balancing himself with his right. As you can tell, Carolyn gave him a really good workout, so by the time he got to Rachelle, his occupational therapist, he was pretty worn out. She told him if he would work just a little bit for her now, she would let him finish with her after lunch. Dad agreed and they went to work on his "catch and release." All of you who have visited with Dad, know what we are talking about. He can now grasp an object with his right hand, but has a hard time letting go, whether it is your hand or a blanket or a cup ... you are in his clutches!! Rachelle isn't sure if it is some time of reflex or if Dad is concentrating too hard on the grip, so she tried rubbing a ballpoint pen over his hand to find the reflex, and then tried distracting Dad another time, and both seemed to work well in lessening dad's grip. In fact, when he was holding Mom's hand, he unconsciously started rubbi
ng the top of her hand over and over again with only his thumb(see video at bottom of blog entry), and that is something he had not done since before the stroke ... it was just a natural move for him, and when we all noticed it, Mom and I started to tear up and Rachelle went crazy (in a good way!). Rachelle decided it was a good time to stop and let Dad rest for a bit before lunch, so we put Dad back in bed and Mom & I ran an errand and had lunch with Carol Humphrey who had stopped by to see Dad. After lunch, Mom went back for Dad and Rachelle's afternoon session, and she was sure glad she did. Rachelle strapped Dad's right arm to some sort of "table skate" and then worked with Dad on trying to push it in toward his belly. Rachelle helped him the first few times get the hang of it, and then she bear-hugged dad to prevent him from using his trunk to push his arm, and slowly but surely dad used his bicep to move that scooter toward his belly! That wasn't all there was to celebrate either ... after witnessing Dad move only his thumb earlier and then be able to release the grip on Mom's hand, Rachelle gave Dad a towel and told him to grab it with his right hand. Dad inched his
way toward the towl and grabbed it with his fingers, and then Rachelle said nonchalantly, "okay, that's it, you're done, you can let it go." And, HE DID!! It seems that when Dad isn't so intent or focused on a specific action, he has a better result, so we are adopting Nike's slogan and saying ... "Just do it!" Mom said Rachelle was super pleased and Dad seemed to be pretty proud of himself too! So, keep those get well wishes and prayers and cards coming in his direction; they are working and keep his spirits up. Thanks to Mike & Pat McKenzie too for their visit Thursday night!
