These Boots Are Made For Walking

And that's just what he did. Mark walked across the room, out the door, down the hall and back to his bed. Twice! Ahhhhhhhh! The nurse was so impressed with his improvement, they are possibly going to move him to rehab tomorrow. He was very vocal today, too. Here are some of the highlights:

Dr. Watts: "Hi, Mark."
Mark: "Hi. How are you?"
Dr. Watts: "Good. Can you shake my hand, Mark?"
Mark: Shaking hands says, "Thank you for your kindness."

Mark: "Scarlet, I need to go to the bathroom. Pull me up."

Mark: "Scarlet, I need to go pee!"
Scarlet: "Well, just go. You have a catheter."
Mark: "Come on, let's go."

Mark: Mumble, mumble, mumble, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Mark: "Scarlet, come here. This is what I want to do. I want to get out of my bed, say my prayers, get cleaned up and go home."

The speech therapist visited while I was there and put a piece of ice in his mouth. She's looking for a reflexive swallow, which is triggered by having something in your mouth. When she tested him two days ago, the ice just melted and ran out of his mouth. Today he maneuvered it around and swallowed. When she asked him if it was gone, he stuck his tongue out and right there in the middle of it was the little pebble of ice. He ended up swallowing all of the water. He's one more step closer to removing his feeding tube.

The occupational therapist came in right after his walk down the hall, so he was a little tired. She gave him a wet washcloth and asked him to wash his face. He washed his hands instead. She then gave him a swab that they use to clean out the patient's mouths and asked him to clean out his mouth. He needed help getting it to his mouth, but was able to swab it himself. That was cool. She also had him lift his arms and moved them across his body. He needs to regain his upperbody strength to use a walker. I can even work with him when I'm in there.

I can't believe the VAST improvement he's made over just these last few days. Monday they took out his respirator and Thursday he's walking down the hall and telling me he wants to go home. He's not ready to go home, but at least he knows he's NOT at home and has a desire to be there. Days like today do my heart good. People keep asking me how I'm doing and my response is and always will be.....If Mark is having a good day, then I'm having a good day. Today was a GOOD DAY!