Dad's physical and occupational therapy have ended, they said he was able to keep it longer than most. He still has speech therapy twice a week and his therapist says he is continuing to make great progress. We notice improvement too. There are fewer words that he gets hung up on. So it is up to dad and the rest of us from here on out with physical and occupational therapy. He got a special cane from a friend of ours that was designed specifically for stroke victims, it has two small half moon shaped pieces of rubber covered metal on the bottom of it, and we can't believe the improvement in his walking. He has put away his hemi-walker now and has a more natural looking stride. Last week, our brother, Ryan, had sat dad's new cane over on the other side of the family room from where dad was seated. Dad got up and walked over to where it was, picked it up, and walked back over to where he had beeen sitting. He is also able to get up off the couch now without having to hold onto something to get his momentum to stand up. He just pushes off with his left hand on the couch or wherever he is sitting. These probably sound like baby steps, but they seem huge to us, each new piece of mobility he regains brings him that much closer to full recovery, which we have still not given up hope on. They are going to be giving him some botox injections in his arm that they hope will loosen up his hand, wrist, and arm, so that he might be able to get some mobility back in them. Everything has tightened up in his hand to where movement has completely ceased. Please continue to remember him in your fasting and prayers, we so appreciate it! We went out to Park Valley again this weekend and dad asked me to go through his therapies with him. He was moving right along on some of his leg exercises and I told him to stop and take a rest, and he said. "He (his therapist) gave me a goal and I want to go past it." He continues to be a great inspiration to us all.
