February 28, 2008

Hello, All! It's a beautiful, but cold day here, but a relief from all the strange weather we've been having lately; tornadoes one night and snow flurries the next day, but praise the Lord for sunshine!

Now that Danny is regularly going to therapy on Mondays, me and Corbin are able to spend the day together and it's so much fun. In the picture above, you can see how thrilled Corbin was to have his first salon haircut. This picture is actually an improvement from the big alligator tears while his hair was being cut. As soon as she was finished, the tears dried up and he took advantage of the sucker and the car. It was a fun experience and luckily, it is short enough he won't have to be "tortured" like that for a while.

This is a first for us as a family; Corbin is reading and playing cars in Mommy AND Daddy's bed. He was just so cute sitting there, half naked and in his own little world. It's these kind of moments that Danny can now be a part of that make this whole condo experience worth it. Not that I'm saying I'm not enjoying the new condo, but it is more work for me staying with Danny each night, getting everyone fed, keeping the house somewhat clean and organized; you know, life as normal as possible. But, I love it and wouldn't trade it.

This past week for Danny has been great therapy-wise, although he still "sees no end in sight." Last Wednesday, Danny became a star! Bioness Inc. is a company that designs medical devices to aid people with neurological disorders. According to their Web site these, "products use electrical stimulation to help people regain mobility and independence, to improve quality of life and productivity." Well, Danny's therapists have used the Bioness products for him since Day One of Beyond Therapy and we've seen how they've helped in his improvement. Bioness happened to be at Shepherd last Wednesday and who did they use for their promotional video? Danny! So, Danny was walking again with the Argo and did two and one half lengths of the basketball court. Bioness will send us a video and link to the Web site when they have Danny's addition completed. If you're interested, you can see their Web site at http://www.bionessinc.com/.

This past Monday, Danny walked again and Loida said he was "sprinting" he was walking so quickly. In the pool, he did sit to stands all by himself and did more walking with Lisa, his therapist, behind him while he steadied himself with floating dumbells. All in all, he is doing "phenomenal" according to this therapists, but there is one big problem that they feel is holding him back; his weight.

Becky, the BT Coordinator, pulled me aside last week and began to tell me about their team meeting that week. All the therapists are excited to see how much Danny is improving and they all agree that he is doing spectacular. That being said, they feel like Danny could be ambulating with a walker, at least at home if he were to lose the weight. Danny has always carried his weight around his middle and that is what is giving him the most problems; trunk control. Obviously, if Danny lost the 30lbs. it would be less weight for him to have to balance and control. We've been working on the weight issue, but it is a battle with Danny.

So, we're going to work on the weight issue harder. And, I think Danny is beginning to understand how much better it would be if he were to lose the weight. However, Danny also always had to exercise to lose weight, so we're going to work a cardio program into his BT therapy on his off days. Basically, he'll be doing cardio three days a week and strength training/BT three days a week. More movement means more calories burning!

In order to get Danny to Shepherd gym the other three days a week, we bring in the care giver. And, our hot lead has come through and he starts on Monday, March 3rd. We're excited to have him on board and I know Danny is excited to have a guy around; he gets tired of all us girls. So, it'll be great for Danny to have a basic schedule each week of BT Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then cardio workouts at Shepherd on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.

Please pray that the weight will begin to fall off Danny and he'll see the benefits of it so he is encouraged to keep going. Also, please pray for our new caregiver as he comes in to help us with Danny. My prayer is that it is more of a friendship and assistant relationship that forms out of their time together. It is also a blessing because he is a young, Christian single man that will be able to help encourage Danny spiritually.

Well, that is all my news today. I'll let you know next week how much more we have to be thankful for. Praise to the Lord for it is His glory that is being revealed and He shall received all the honor. God bless you all this week!