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Wednesday Update: 10/12/05

Blessings for the day:
Matt took his first REAL steps today!! He spent over 2 hours with the physical therapist this morning and she had him standing up between the parallel bars again, then this time he took some steps. He had his brand new Nikes on and took three little walks…about four or five steps each time! He did really well and was standing up nice and tall pretty much the entire time. The best part is, that Matt really WANTED to do it! Usually when we ask him if he wants to do something, he’ll shake his head no…but when we asked him in between walks if he was ready to stand up and do it again he’d shake his head yes and get his hands and arms ready to go. He’s getting so much stronger and so much more balanced!

In OT (occupational therapy) we practiced putting his shirt on and off again, and he is getting better at that all the time as well. He can pretty much do it all by himself. He’s been helping to comb his hair and brush his teeth also. It’s these little things that we take for granted being able to do everyday, which he is learning to do all over again. His muscles are really starting to ‘fire’ up and get going. He has been working on reaching and grabbing and trying to get his coordination working again. He has made improvements on all of those things and all the therapists are thrilled with the progress that he is making! Kudos to Matt!

I met with the people from Younker Rehab this afternoon and discussed their programs and took a tour of their facility. I instantly felt at peace while I was there…I truly believe that is where he needs to be. I came back here and have asked the social workers here to send in their referral to Younker. Hopefully they’ll review his progress and approve him for admission by the end of the week. I don’t know for sure how long the approval/transfer process should take, so it could be early next week before we go…but everyone seems to agree that he is ready and they should take him without any issues! We are SO excited for that move. Of course, I’m sure with that change will come a new round of stress, but I am more than confident that it will be a much easier transition than the one here. I have been talking about it a lot to Matt and I think he’s ready to get on out of here and into an environment more suitable to him and his injury. Please keep us in your thoughts these next few days and we prepare for the next big move!

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