1/15 - Sam's Journey - Day 34

I really don't have too much to report. Sam continues to have more mini-triumphs every day. The movement of his right arm has expanded to raising it on a regular basis and lifting up his shoulder. In fact, he nearly pushed himself out of the chair today because he was moving it so much. (This is also why he always has a spotter.) His left arm is moving a little, but it's taking a little longer to wake up. The fact that he's moving it at all is promising to us since the main injury was to the right side of the brain. His right leg has been moving as well while he is in the chair, which overall is going really well. He has tolerated being upright for the last three days, and they continue to increase the time he's seated and/or angle at which he is upright. This is promising as we move forward toward more intensive rehab.

He is still not as awake as we would like to see him, but they are working on weaning his pain medication. As those slowly come off, we are hoping to see him more alert more often. He's been "watching" some of his favorite shows. Today he dabbled with Futurama and The Tick. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Also, we're trying to establish kind of a normal bedtime routine since we're thinking he might have his days and nights confused. After bath time or his last evening respiratory treatment, I've been reading him the first Harry Potter book in Spanish. I'm hoping it might trigger something for him, and even if it doesn't, it keeps me plugged in so that I'm not too rusty when I go back to work. (Even if "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" isn't in the curriculum.)

Other than that, we continue to wait. In the meantime, we get more and more hands-on with care, and we had the chance to visit this evening with a college friend we haven't seen in a while. God is good and continues to bless us with positive signs from Sam and good people in our lives. Thank you for continuing to lift us all in prayer.

Tonight's picture is from Sam's days on the DI team at Carlisle. Good times!