Trike from Tammie and Tristan

Thank you so much Tammie and Tristan for the Trike! We are Totally Thrilled that Kevin can spend Time on it to ride around our neighborhood and Town. We will Teach him to steer and hope he will Triumph with Tons of practice. It will be a fun way to Trick him into Therapy exercises on nice days. I was Touched by your Thoughtful act of kindness for this Treasure. You are Truly a Terrific friend! Let's get Together soon. Toodles!

Home from the Hospital - September 8, 2017

I was very happy and pleased with Kevin's 5 weeks of intensive therapy...my only problem was that they discharged him a week early. The rehab team had initially told us Kevin would be inpatient for 6 weeks but because he progressed well and was functional by hospital and insurance standards they weren't able to keep him the extra week. Initially I was worried...I wanted the extra week of 20 hours of "free" therapy...while being an inpatient his therapy doesn't count toward our limited insurance therapy visits. Kevin still has a lot of work and strengthening to do to improve his walking and I am worried if we will have enough therapy time through insurance for the remainder of the year. I made my opinion known to the team and I finally came to peace with it after talking with the right people in my life. I decided I didn't want this decision to be mine or theirs but I would trust God that it will all work out. 

Having said all that...Kevin is doing well and looks great. I am so proud of the really hard work he did in therapy and that he kept his winning smile. He also slept really well in the hospital and we didn't get sick! I would guess Kevin is nearly at the level of walking he was before surgery. I will continue to work with him at home between our physical and occupational therapy visits. 

Thank you for the many cards, balloons, flowers, books, activities, and prayers. They were much appreciated and it was nice to know you were thinking about us. 

We stayed for a full day of therapy on our last day. When we got home it was after 5pm and Kevin immediately made his way down to the basement to play with his toys. He eventually came back up to eat and then back down to play some more. It is good to be home!

Inpatient Rehab

Occupational Therapy
Kevin has learned a lot of new skills and has gone back to some old skills like creeping. We've worked on some left hand activities but I am most impressed with his activities of daily living and self care. Now we have to carry that over to our home life.

Pool Therapy
Working on strengthening hips and core with water resistance...but it hardly feels like work for this fish...he's just happy to be in the water.

Physical Therapy
Kevin wowed me his last week of PT. They had him using a treadmill, elliptical, and stair climber...he wasn't happy (he kinda had this squawk sound he made...I think it's his scared sound) but he did it! He was even actively following and participating in hip exercises....I hope and pray he will cooperate and participate with me during his home program.

Speech and Language Pathology

I was so happy that Kevin got weekly SLP with his outpatient therapist.  She's been working on higher expectations with Kevin. In the past, Kevin could say PLAY to hear some of his favorite music during a therapy session but now he has to say MUSIC. It took just one therapy session that he didn't say it for him to say MUSIC immediately at his next session. In fact the next day he kept saying it...LOL....so I had to reward him after PT with some music time. 

New Friends

We met many new friends during our five weeks in the hospital. Kevin charmed a lot of our new friends by playing with their hair and giving them his winning smile. 

Kevin did really well with the therapy dogs. He often requested DOG on his Talker during therapy sessions, they were a good motivator for him...just no touching because of allergies. 

I love this cutie we met across the hall from us...she brightened my day to see her big smile. I hope our paths cross again. 

Sleep

I've taken a lot of photos of Kevin sleeping during his recovery this summer. It is such a rare opportunity to watch him sleep and he slept a lot. Nearly every night reaching across me for his Talker to say TIRED SLEEP BED before 8pm. I finally had the nurse's trained to come in before lights out to their check on him. I also wanted to prove that he does get covered up every night but he pulls them up while sleeping. 

Art & Music & Books in the Hospital

Kevin had the opportunity to have a few visits with the hospital's art therapist and music therapist. Sometimes they came to his room and sometimes he went to a group. Our hospital stay also gave me a nice opportunity to read chapter books to Kevin...I never had a chance to open the book I brought to read...but I very much enjoyed reading with Kevin. And of course, I love reading books with Kevin's Talker so he can participate.

ART

August 23, 2017 - Modeling Clay in room

August 30, 2017 - Dinosaur Garden in a group with Grandma

September 1, 2017 - Circle Painting

September 6, 2017 - Name Water Color Painting

MUSIC

August 29, 2017 - Music Therapy in room

September 7, 2017 - Music Therapy Group with Child Life Specialist

BOOKS

Labor Day Weekend

I think we had a more enjoyable Labor Day weekend with Kevin still being inpatient than we would have had if he was not in the hospital...of course getting a pass to leave for a few hours during the day makes you grateful for the time you have away and use it wisely.  

On Labor Day Monday, the Child Life Specialist gave us tickets for the RubberDucks baseball game. It was a beautiful day to spend with Grandma and our friends. We were able to walk over from the hospital because this ballpark is literally in their backyard.

On Sunday we went to church and out to breakfast with friends.

On Saturday, Jon arrived at the hospital at 6am so I could travel to Columbus to see my niece in her cross country meet. After Kevin's morning therapy, Jon brought him home to watch some football and play with his toys. 

And this was Kevin's thoughts at the end of the weekend...before 8pm.