Playing Games and Walking Laps

Today was Daddy's busiest day since the stroke; he had two occupational therapy sessions, two physical therapy sessions and four speech therapy sessions. He's getting lots of extra attention from his speech therapist since verbal communication is currently his biggest obstacle. She took a picture of him smiling yesterday to document any improvement in his “face droop”  (which is really only noticeable when he smiles). I’ve become very attached to daddy’s half smirk - it’s very endearing!

Daddy spent one of his ST sessions playing UNO. He got confused with some of the cards (i.e., skips and wilds), but I was able to see his hand and he played the right card about 80% of the time. The therapist asked him to say the word “pass” when he didn't have a play; he often struggled but got the word out each time. At the end of their session daddy had four cards left and his therapist had two. She asked him how many cards he had and he counted to four. (We’re learning that it’s a lot easier for someone with aphasia to go through a sequence (i.e. counting up to 4) than just saying the number by itself). She then asked him who won the game and he gave her a laugh and a half smile, replying, “you won.” We know that had to drive his competitive spirit nuts!

The PT had daddy walk around the gym using a chair as support while she stabilized the right leg as he went. He made about ¾ of a lap around the gym.  It was a lengthy distance and I was quite impressed! You can tell that the PT wears daddy out, but it’s the highlight of the day. He’s such a natural athlete!

In unrelated news, daddy’s hair is getting pretty long (we figured he was due for a haircut about the time he had his stroke) and he messes with it a lot. We’ve asked him multiple times if he would like a hair cut and he answer with an convincing “no”.  He obviously thinks his shaggy style looks good, and this is the only time us girls will let him get away with it.

We've had requests for an encore presentation of the aphasia video (referenced in a previous post) tomorrow at 10:00 am. Anyone is welcomed to come watch it if you like!

Thank you for continued prayers. Right now we are asking for focused prayer for daddy’s spirits and that he will stay uplifted and determined. Also, that he makes and recognizes continued improvements in his speech.

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