On the Move!

Luke continues to amaze us with the strides he is making. On recommendation from the NACD, we ordered Luke a recumbent bike off Amazon.com. He loves to ride it. It is really good for him. I only wish it weren't 110 degrees because there is only a short window of day that it is not too hot for him to ride. He continues to do his "scooting" to get somewhere, little Lacey is a big motivator for him, he loves to come and hold her. Things have been going well at the Neuro Institute for Therapy. I think they are starting to see what Luke is capable of. This week they had him up and walking, and have been doing some great things with lefty. Luke is starting to bear weight on this hand when sitting down...huge step in the right direction. The countdown is also on for our next trip to Napa. We leave a week from Sunday...pray for great things to happen during the 3 weeks we are there. Luke also has an MRI in the morning to check the aneurysm and shunt...please pray for positive things here also. We appreciate all your prayers and support so much!!! Here are some pics of what Luke has been doing:

Giving the thumbs- up he wants to scoot.

Testing out his new bike after dad put it together...doesn't he look great on it!

Working lefty in therapy.

Walking with the walker in therapy.

Dust

Well...there is a saying...some days are diamonds and some days are dust. Let's just say for Luke, this week has been dust. I have mentioned many times before how I am always surprised Luke does not get frustrated more with his "situation." He definetly has his days where he is mad, but this week so far he has been horrible. He has been angry, pinching, hitting, kicking, you name it he has done it. One example...today after I dropped Lyns off at my sister's to bring him to therapy he decided he was not going to leave his seat belt on. Luckily I was close to home so I was able to get something to keep his good arm restrained so he would be safe. I have read a lot on brain injury, and in cases of traumatic brain injury, the patients will become very angry and hostile. I have seen this too while sitting with Luke and observing other patients at therapy. Who can really blame them? I mean one day they are fine, and the next they are trapped in a body that will not work like it once would. I would be frustrated too. So, please pray that he will use all his "angry energy" and put it to good use, let his frustrations serve as a motivator to bring his healing to the next level. The good thing is, I have not seem him "act out" like this in therapy. I will grin and bear it if he only does it to me, I will be his punching bag, as long as there is healing on the other side.

"Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying." Romans 12:12

What a week!

This has been a crazy busy week....but with some NEW things from Mr. Luke. It started last week when Luke decided he could get out of his wheelchair by standing up. Good thing we were there when he decided to do it, because I am not sure what he thinks he going to do after he gets up. So, we have be careful to watch out for that. Then on Monday I stopped by Lowe's to get some flowers. I picked the kids up at Mike's mom's house...left there and not a few seconds from their house Lynsey is screaming and climbing up the seat that there is a frog climbing Luke's leg, apparently an unwelcome bonus that came with the flowers. I am not a fan of creepy, crawly things so I turn around to let Mike's step dad get it. Well, by the time I had ran up to their door and came back Luke had grabbed the frog off the window where it hopped to and is holding it. So, frog gets bottled up to come home with us. Later that night we are in the family room, and Luke is about 6 feet away from frog. He is looking at it, and I tell him to move over to see froggy. Guess what..he started scooting over to frog on his bottom, while pushing with both hands. This is the first time he has shown any interest in getting from point A to point B on his own. Yeah Luke!!!

Luke had his annual check up with his pediatrician this week also. She has not seen Luke in a year, and told us over and over she was so impressed with how much he has changed since his last visit....always encouraging to hear. Today we had our quarterly meeting with the head of the NACD. He too was impressed with Luke. He wants us to get Luke a Taos Walker and a special kind of bike he can ride outside. He also wants us to make Luke use his words when he wants something. I am always amazed at how well he can perform when someone else is watching. This week he had his PT eval. Greg had set one of his goals to do 15 sit and stands from his chair....Luke did 20!! I can barely get him to do 5 at once! He also wanted his to walk (with assistance 20 feet,) Luke did 40 feet! Today I told him to say, "Hi, Bob, " to the guy from the NACD, he did it (although very laborious)...yesterday could not get the kid to say a word.

So...we give thanks for these new things, and continue pressing forward, praying for continued and restoration. Thanks for praying along with us on this journey and believing the best is yet to come!

Happy July 4th!

This has been a busy week as we finished up the last of the birthdays with Lynsey's on Tuesday. Luke started therapy at the neuro-institute this week. I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised at the therapy he is getting here. Next week we are going twice also, and the week after I am hoping to switch to three days a week. We have a super crazy week next week FULL of appointments. We will be going to the kids annual pediatrician visit, dentist, visit with the NACD, and all regular therapy appointments.

Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable July 4th weekend. We are heading up north...glad to be getting out of this heat:) Thanks for your continued prayers and support!