Karwoski Life

Blessings for the day: Wow…where do I begin? Thanksgiving was just AWESOME! Matt had a great time…we all did! I’m pretty sure he ate more than I did! It was so great for him to show everyone how his speech and swallowing have really come along. We didn’t have any problems getting home, or around the house. He sat in our office chair while eating, and we were able to wheel him down the hall to our bedroom for a nap. We both cuddled up in bed together for a while…with the cat at our feet and the doggies curled up on their bed of course. It felt so…natural and normal. Matt enjoyed his dinner and LOTS of dessert…the apple pie I had made and the wonderful chocolate/peanut butter cheesecake a friend from church made. (He had 2 helpings of both!) We got back here around 8:00 PM that night…just in time to settle in for bed. He didn’t want to come back, of course, but is now doubly motivated to get even stronger before coming home for good. Once we got back and I told the therapist h...

Blessings for the day: Matt IS coming home for Thanksgiving tomorrow!! I can hardly wait! It has been over 2 months since he was at home…we are so excited to just BE at home together! The fact that he’ll be able to partake of the Thanksgiving feast, is just icing on the very sweet cake. Matt has been doing so stinking great…there isn’t anything that he won’t be able to eat tomorrow! YAHOO!!! He’s been working so hard on swallowing and it is just going SO well. They have officially started him on one soft meal a day – lunch. They will be counting the calories he takes in orally, and will adjust the tube feedings as necessary. In the beginning the speech therapist had set a goal for him to be eating 50% orally, and the other 50% through the tube…well she said yesterday that he’s going to blow that goal out of the water! I have no doubt that Matt will leave this place without the feeding tube!!!! YA- Stinking- HOO!!! : ) His eating is getting faster and more natural as well. Yest...

Blessings for the day: Matt has been doing so great these past few days…working his tail off in order to come home on Thanksgiving. We’ve been practicing the stairs and getting in and out of the car. I got him in and out OUR car by myself! Having his dad behind us to make sure he’s stable will be just fine. He’s been working hard in all of his therapies! He’s been eating a lot more too. This weekend he ate an entire cookie (with M&M’s), some ice cream, applesauce, milk, ensure, and coke. He’s been swallowing so much better and talking more as well. He actually gained a few pounds this week, so they are going to cut out his midnight tube feeding. That should also help him sleep better as well, not having them pop in to do that at midnight. He’s excited for that. Things are continuing to go well for him here! We are so lucky to be here!

Blessings for the day: Matt had a FANTASTIC day! I don’t even know where to begin. He just rocked in all of his therapies…did SO much better than I have ever seen him do! He was focused and driven…he worked his tail off! He had mashed potatoes and gravy today! He ate almost half of the serving and washed it down with some milk. He is still eating small quantities…but is getting better and better at moving it to the back of his mouth and swallowing it down. He also had a bite of graham cracker (which had been softened in some milk)…but he chewed it and got it down as well. YAHOO! This afternoon, I took Matt down to the cafeteria and we shared some vanilla ice cream. He just did really, really well. The speech therapist thinks it won’t be long and we can start counting calories and seeing how much he can eat on his own…coupling it with the tube feedings. I can’t wait! We also talked to the physical therapists and the physiatrist about the possibility of Matt coming home for a few hours o...

Blessing for the day: It’s my Dad’s birthday! Happy birthday Dad!!! Can’t wait to celebrate with you over Thanksgiving! I know it’s kind of stinky to spend it alone, but I am so grateful for you and Mom and your willingness to sacrifice being together to help me out. I will always, always be so very thankful. It’s snowing here today! Hard to believe it was warm enough to sit outside in a t-shirt just a few days ago, and now it’s snowing and COLD! It’s weird to think of how my life has changed over these past several weeks…like the changing seasons. I think back to the day of Matt’s hemorrhage and how it was a warm, sunny, September afternoon. He was running around Boone with his Dad, wearing his new Leach Lake Minnesota t-shirt that I had just bought him on vacation, and a new pair of shorts. I’m sure he had the sun roof open on his car and was enjoying the beautiful weather. I like to picture him like that…enjoying his afternoon. I can’t wait for next summer when he can do mo...

Blessings for the day: Matt passed all of his short term speech goals today!!!!!!!!!! He over 2 oz of Coke and egg nog with only 1 cough! (The goal was 2 oz with no more than 3 coughs) He held out a vowel sound for 23 seconds (the goal was 15 seconds). He moved a life saver out from each cheek and over to the other 12 times on each side. He just did awesome! His weekend therapist was thrilled and said that his regular therapist will just be WAY excited when she comes in on Monday! He’s also been vocalizing so much, that we hardly need the letter board anymore. We keep it handy in a pinch if we can’t figure out a word, but most of the time I can understand him! He’s saying his t’s and s’s SO much better. He said ‘My name is Matt’ so well today! I made him say it for everyone who came in today! Matt has also been in such good spirits! He had 2 hours of therapy today (OT and speech). Tomorrow he has 3 hours! (OT, PT, and speech!) He wasn’t thrilled with having to work 3 hour...

Blessing for the day: MATT HAD HIS FIRST BIG MEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It consisted of: 5 bites of chocolate ice cream 3 bites of sugar cookie 7 drinks of Coke 7 drinks of egg nog He was SO excited! It went really well, and he had a big smile on his face when he was done! I think he could have gone on eating and eating, but the therapist only has so much time to spend with him. She gave me the ok to try other soft things with him too, since we have suction in the room to help out in case he can’t get something down. She’s very encouraged with the amount of progress he’s made just in the past few days. He’s been swallowing these things so well, and has been vocalizing MUCH more! Here are a few of the things he’s said that were very clear: · I feel a draft · You owe me (a bite of cookie) · I never fell asleep · The nurse spilled on my underwear (don’t ask!) · One, two, three, four, five · I can’t wait for tomorrow (for the Botox injec...

Blessings for the day: Matt’s sense of humor and cocky little attitude are returning!!! I told the nurses and therapists to watch out…they’re about to get to know the real Matt. He did so well this morning in OT that every time the therapist would say good job he’d nod his head and smile…like ‘yeah, I know’. He actually started saying ‘damn right’…as if to say ‘yeah, I’m awesome’. It cracked everyone up. The speech therapist was so excited to hear he’d been working on saying real words, since she’s mostly working on sounds. The therapists, nurses, and doctors had their weekly meeting today to discuss Matt’s progress. They all agree he’s doing really well. They want to work harder on his balance and strength in his trunk muscles. So, they are still going to have him up walking, but will concentrate more this week on doing balancing exercises. Getting all the balance he can in his upper body will help him do everything better. I was glad to hear that, because I was worried they...

Blessings for the day: Matt had a really good day today. The past few days have been really good actually. He’s been in pretty good spirits and has enjoyed visits from a few friends and family. He spent most of the afternoon today watching football with his dad and our brother in law Chad…shooting the breeze and laughing…just what he needed! Matt’s swallow test went really well! He was able to swallow thin liquids pretty well and has been given the ok to start drinking more and trying different things in therapy! Yahoo! He was a little bummed afterwards cuz he can’t just go and eat his Silvestrini’s pizza just yet…but it was a positive test which gave the therapist confidence in trying to work on the swallowing more. He has been enjoying small drinks of Coke…and will say ‘more pop, please’ when he wants more. The therapist here over the weekends said she could tell a big difference from last week to this week in his vocalization as well as his swallowing. I was pretty happy to...

Blessing for the day: My co-workers are awesome! These past few days back have been so good for me. I’ve enjoyed catching up with everyone, as well as the actual work part of my job! Who knew? It really helps me feel a little bit more like my old self. I’ve missed her! Matt has been doing well with the e-stim on his right cheek. The therapist thinks he’s going to have really good movement there in time. Already I can see his lip curling up more when he smiles! He is having his swallow evaluation today! They will take him down to radiology and take an x-ray to see his swallow from the inside out. He will have to demonstrate a good enough swallow to start him eating more foods. Please pray this goes well and he’ll be able to get more calories through food SOON! The first thing he really wants to eat when he’s ready is a Silvestrini’s Pizza! I can’t wait to bring that to him! The therapists had their weekly review meeting on Tuesday. They will get together each week with the ...

Blessings for the day: I had my first scheduled day back to work! I came here at 7 to greet Matt and help him get ready for the day with his occupational therapist, and then headed over to work around 8:30 when they came to get him for physical therapy. It was harder than I thought it would be, leaving him. We had talked a lot about me coming back in the mornings and Matt was ok with it. Then, yesterday, he told me that he needed me here. I told him I would still be here…a lot…just not all day long anymore. This morning the nurses came in to get him up and asked him if I was going to work today and he said yes…though he didn’t look very happy about it. He realizes the good in me working half days and I think his confidence/comfort level here is increasing all the time. It was just so nice that all the therapists and nurses KNEW I was going back to work today. Communication…what a concept! It’s so great to have the right hand talking to the left hand. That was something that w...