Thank You and Thank You and Thank You

We've officially made it through the first 48 hours! It has definitely been a learning experience for us all, especially my mom as the "lead caregiver". There is still a lot of trial and error going on as far as getting him ready in the morning but so far we've muddled through. We did experience our first wreck yesterday; mom and I were getting Daddy in the car after a doctor appointment and weren't as diligent as we should have been about making sure he took all the proper steps. He ended up in the floorboard, but it was a very graceful fall (sorta), there were no injuries and he was able to practice getting up so I call it a win.

We've been using some online resources to keep Daddy in speech therapy, and he's been doing really good. He is about 90% on repeating words when spoken to him, the other 10% he needs prompting (watching someone else mouth the words). Every once in a while he can complete a sentence or phrase without having to hear the word. The exercises get gradually harder as we go, so I expect he'll get more challenges in the coming days. Yesterday we worked on saying thank you (well, I'd get in his face and tell him to say thank you and he'd eventually get it out) and today when we sat down for breakfast, after a few fumbles and us trying to figure out what he wanted, Daddy busted out the prayer: Thank you and thank you and thank you! I've heard him pray thousands of times in my life and that one was by far the best.

He's not getting much physical therapy this week while we're in between in patient and out patient therapy (out patient will hopefully start on Monday) but he's getting PLENTY of occupational therapy. In fact, we all are: getting in and out of the wheelchair, in and out of the bed, in and out of the bathroom, etc. The biggest "challenge" we've had so far is Daddy's determination to get in the bathtub. He REALLY REALLY wants a bath (I definitely screwed things up by suggesting it) but it's not a safe option right now so we've (i.e., mom) have weathered a few "disagreements". The chairlift will hopefully be installed tomorrow which will give him access to the second floor with a better setup for bathing. Fingers crossed he gets up there sooner than later before someone blows a gasket.

ACTION ITEM: We've gotten a lot of "let me know what I can do to help" so here's your chance. The daughters are organizing a meal drive to get mom and dad stocked up for the next month while dealing with the transition. There are three ways to participate:

1. Drop off a frozen meal at any of the three drop off locations:
• Nowata Reid Veterinary Clinic (Tarra is there during normal business hours and Saturdays until noon)
• Mom and Dad's House (someone is usually there but just shoot a text to confirm!), 321 North Maple, Nowata OK 74048
• South Broken Arrow Life Church, 5801 S. Elm Place Broken Arrow, OK 74011 (Jessica is generally there during business hours but if she's not someone else will be!)
2. Sign up to provide a hot meal on a specific day via Meal Train. You can drop off at the house or the Vet Clinic https://mealtrain.com/y625mk
3. Send a gift certificate for a local eatery or grocery store, some good options are Wal Mart, Reasor's and Sams. You can drop it off at any of the locations above or mail it to mom and dad's house.

We are doing some marathon cooking at the Thayer house this weekend to get the freezer stocked so feel free to send recipe suggestions! Daddy is on a "soft" diet for now, but most foods are fine so long as he's taking his time and appropriately-sized bites. This daughter would of course love to see him consume as many vegetables as possible while his brain continues to heal!

Thank you and thank you and thank you!

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