Monday, July 19, 2010 7:08 PM, MDT

It was a Physical Therapy day! There weren't any big changes, but we are amazed at how much stronger Bill is! He is so determined and is a hard worker. He'll do just about anything to get out of the bed and back on his feet.

We took him outside again, and he was really enjoying it. He did, however, complain that it was too cold. Ha. It was in the 70's.

Bill stood up with the help of a walker and the physical therapist. It was really really awesome! He stood up 3 or 4 times. It just blows our minds at how much Bill has improved.

He was also doing a couple crunches while laying in bed and was moving his legs up and down.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 7:49 PM, MDT

Today was very much like yesterday except that Bill had dialysis. We took him outside for lunch, we ate, he napped. It was a lovely day for a picnic, in the 70's for the high.

Bill is stronger everyday and continues to amaze us and the staff with his progress.

Lollipop therapy is a favorite of the girls. He uses lollipops to help strenghten his mouth muscles. Every muscle in his body is weak, even the mouth. We are hoping that he passes the swallow test soon so he can start eating.


His sense of humor is certainly still intact. He has the nurses and CNA's  laughing. It is so good to see that.
Last night he even played a card game with the girls.

We love to read the messages you all send.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 6:30 PM, MDT

Well.... today was kind of sucky. Bill has a fever today and doesn't feel well. The doctors put him on some anitbiotics and they should kick in to remedy that any time now.

Despite the fact that Bill felt crappy today, he still tried to do some physical therapy. It takes a lot to stop him from working out.

The audiologist came in today. He thinks that Bill will be able to hear again with hearing aids. However, further tests are needed to fully support this diagnosis.

That's pretty much all that happened today.

Bill did really want to get better so he could go home. He kept telling us that he wanted to go home. He didn't really remember being home however. I asked him when was the last time he had been home and he didn't remember. His memory had huge holes in it. He didn't remember how old the girls were. He didn't remember Kayla's graduation from high school or leaving on our trip. He did remember every person that we asked him about. He knew our phone number and the number for work. He had asked me to call work for him. I felt pretty sure that his memory would all come back when we got him home.

We took Bill outside when ever possible. He liked it and we sure liked getting out of the hospital every chance we got. The weather was fairly cool in Montana we didn't have too many days where it was above 90. Mostly it was in the 70's and 80's.

He did get along well with the staff. He had the nurses and CNA's wrapped around his finger. He liked to tease and give them all a hard time. One CNA brought her husband in to meet us and Bill told him that he was bringing his her home with him. The girls and I came to love the staff as well, and continue to keep in touch with some of them.

Bill was able to play card games with us and read parts of the paper and we even watched a movie together. It was nice to do "normal" things with him. I had lots of hope that Bill would recover completely.

Fevers were scary, as we knew that infection could be really bad. I really wanted Bill to get off the anti-biotics too. I felt like the anti-biotics were messing with him and possible causing the seizure like activity that we were seeing.

There was some hope on the hearing side too. The dr. that saw him thought that hearing aids would be helpful for him. It must have been very difficult for him to not be able to hear anything. I really wanted to be able to talk to my husband again. Writing everything down is not the best way to "talk". I missed having a conversation with him. It was also difficult to translate the things that the doctors were trying to tell him. I did try to tell him what they were saying.

The messages and e-mails were our life line to the "real" world. We loved getting them.