Update #33

TGIF! :) I think Ryan was thinking the same thing today. He had such a productive week and today was no different.

Speech therapy visited Ryan first thing this morning. They did an assessment of his capabilities (verbalizing, following commands, reactions to stimulus, etc.). He had much higher scores today than he did last week. They were very impressed by his improvement.

Ryan followed every command for action and verbalization and had appropriate responses to pain and noise stimulus.

Occupational therapy and kinesiotherapy put Ryan in a standing position using this cool looking contraption. He was in a standing position for about five minutes. They kept taking his blood pressure while he was standing. They told me that it is common for patients to get dizzy, sick or be weak when they are held in a standing position for longer than a minute. But, Ryan did great!

They asked him a couple times if he was tired or wanted to sit down. He kept indicating "no." Finally, they just sat him down because they felt he'd been up long enough.

Today was such a pretty day, I decided to take Ryan outside. We sat in the sun under a pretty cheery blossom tree. I positioned Ryan so his head was in the shade since the sun seemed to be a little bright for him. But, the rest of his body was in the sun. I asked him if he liked being outside and he indicated he did. :)

Physical therapy worked with Ryan in the afternoon today. The had him lay on a mat with support under his knees and kick his legs up. They added a weight band around his right ankle. Since, he has no problems using that leg they decided that it would be good to build up its strength.

They attached an electronic stimulation device to Ryan's left thigh. This causes the muscle to contract and helped Ryan kick his left leg up. (I made sure to ask if it would hurt him or make him uncomfortable. The therapist told me that it just feels tingly.) Ryan did well with this stimulus. He was able to kick his left leg up a few times.

When we got back to the room I asked Ryan if he wanted to go back outside and he indicated he didn't. I asked him if he was tired and he was. So, I had the nurse help me get him back in bed. He didn't go to sleep, but he looked a lot more comfortable.