Saturday, September 01

Last night, Nora and I went into the city to surprise John – and surprise him we did! We saw him for dessert (she brought him a box of chocolates from the South Bend Chocolate Company – all cherry and/or coconut, arranged in the box according to her specifications), and then she and I headed over to a hotel 2 blocks from the hospital for the night. Then, this morning, we were able to be in his room at 8:00 AM for kickoff and breakfast!

We just watched the ND-Navy game together -- we even managed the 8 AM kickoff!

We had a great time watching the game with Daddy (yay for an Irish win! And double-yay for all of those glimpses of Dublin!), and then spending a quiet afternoon together, including PB-&-J for lunch (his first since sometime in July).

OK, maybe not so quiet once she was pushing John in his chair down to the lab for PT -- I was afraid she'd go right through the glass wall in front of them instead of using the door...

 

Nora got to watch him do his PT again today:



Nora's watching Daddy up on the treadmill and cheering him on: "Come on, Daddy! Just a little more!"
 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This afternoon, he worked on the treadmill for about 40 minutes, trying to increase his speed, and then on the bike for about 15 minutes. The bike was really cool – it kept track of how much of the effort came from his left leg versus his right leg. Another update on the PT front: yesterday, he worked on the set of steps in the lab. His legs are getting stronger each day, so only seeing him every couple of days is amazing, because the progress is noticeable.

When we left for the dinnertime train back to South Bend, John headed down to OT to practice daily living activities, with hopes of a nap afterward.