oops, guess i have been slacking. whats been going on the last 3 days?

its been a lot of little things. spence has been doing PT to try to build upper body strength thru his trunk. this will give him the basis to start working on his left side. he did take a couple of steps on tuesday though. (he is estatic about this). he is also been working with the speech therapist and he's moving both his left and right side of his mouth. it is much easier to understand him now. he still gets tired easily as the health workers try to push him, but its funny how he gets a second wind when his friends have visited this week. he told me to write a thank you to nana for his homemade heating pack.
by far his favorite thing to do in the hospital is when we read him the post's on this blog,the cards in the mail,or letters from his favorite 1st grade class or his 2 favorite classes from florida. i think just hearing all these people care for him,are pulling for him,and praying for him ,gives him just a little bit more strength to keep up the hard work.

so keep'em coming

not much going on medically during the weekend. a little speech therapy,a little occupational therapy. i believe there was alot of emotional therapy though. to the friends who visited this weekend that was wonderful, spence seems to perk up so much when you guys are around. but do forgive his bluntness. i guess we have to make a rule that what he says at spaulding rehab stays at spaulding rehab.
a couple of his favorites things (isn't that a disney song) are when his mother and i read him his cards or when we read the comments from the blog. spence can get into a wheelchair (in fact they encourage it) and make it to the common room where they have a computer. it is still dial up but he can't wait to hear the well wishes. that being said, if you haven't left a message in awhile now is a good time, and those who haven't please do so. if you are worried that he doesn't know you, it does not matter, a little message can explain. (i.e. from thelma's quilting group,etc etc).
and of course lastly,keep the prayers and positive thoughts going.

2/15/08. we can mark this as another begining point. during physical therapy spencer stood for the 1st time on his own. he had a couple of things to help balance him and he was on his right leg only but we will take it. he is trying his own version of PT too, he likes to constantly rub his left hand and move his left leg with the right one. i believe he is trying to speed up the process. we constantly have to tell him to relax and let the therapists do their job.
oh, and he did admit he misses school, i think the social part and not necessarily the work part or the getting up at 6 am part.

spencer was moved today to begin the long road back to recovery. he is now going to have an hour of physical,occupational, and speech therapy every day. plus whatever else they can think of to keep him going. he is in the mass eye and ear building, 10th floor now. room 17 i believe. if you plan to visit- between 6 and 8 pm is usually good,this way he is back in his room after all his sessions.
thank you again for all the cards and well wishes, and keep the prayers going

spence had his stitches taken out today and is no longer on the heart monitor. the plan right now is to move him to a rehab floor. if all goes well this will be done wednesday morning. he will be going to the spaulding rehab pedi unit. this is still part of mass general hosp but the unit is actually in the mass eye and ear building. his mom and i visited the floor today and its looks like it will be good for him. there is only 15-16 beds on the unit and there are 5-6 teens with similar injuries. they have different periods for the different therapies and they work to get the kids back on track with their schoolwork. i don't know if they have had anyone tackle AP calculus or Latin yet but we will soon find out.

spence made it from the bed to the chair and all the way to the common area today. i think those 4 walls were closing in on him. the common area is great,it has a view of the boston skyline in 2-3 different directions. he looked good today,swelling in his head is going down. its his eyes and his half smile that tell me he is headed in the right directed though.

weekends at the hospital- not much goes on,pretty much a skeleton crew only. Spence did get to sit in a chair today, they have to lift him up with a trapeze and swing him to go from the bed to chair. kinda funny the production it can take to go 2 feet,but we will take what we can get. he is starting to eat semi-solid food. mashed potatoes,pudding etc.

everyday we see a little improvement so we know he is trying his best. Once again, thank you for all the well wishes and keep them coming.