Sunday, March 22

Overall, Tommy continues to improve, although he was unusually tired this week--why, I don't know. He is still going to physical therapy three times a week, and he didn't do any walking this week, which is a definite slowdown from the progress he has been making in previous weeks. Hopefully, this week he'll be up to speed again. The weather is turning to spring, and several times over the past couple of weeks we have gone to the boardwalk at Bethany Beach, where I usually walk a mile and a half while pushing him ahead of me. But today, Tommy spent most of the day snoozing on the back porch.

Saturday, March 7

My blog entries are not as frequent, and that's because everything is going well. Last week, Gaie came to visit during spring break at Eastern Michigan University, where she teaches nursing. Her visits are always wonderful; she teaches me so much about how I can help Tommy better (plus the end-of-winter sales at the Rehoboth outlets are under way).
Last week, Tommy "graduated" from Beebe's outpatient occupational therapy with Jennifer, because she says that he has met her goals for him. They include dressing himself (top half), grooming and other basics of everyday living. Jennifer is a terrific therapist and helped Tommy a lot in learning those tasks. Tommy continues to go three times a week to physical therapy, where he spends a lot of time walking with the walker (under the supervision of either Tim or Jenna). He is getting stronger and, two days ago, with me assisting, he walked with the walker from the dining-room table out to a chair on the back porch to sit in the sun. We go out for errands together every afternoon, and we sometimes go up to the Bethany Beach boardwalk for an ocean fix.
A couple of days ago, we called Tommy's daughter, Karen, to wish her a happy birthday, and Tommy had a long conversation with her about boats and engines, an interest they share. Talking on the phone is a really good thing for Tommy, and he enjoys his frequent phone calls with his kids, sisters and friends. If you haven't called him lately, please give a call one of these days around dinner time (302-539-8079). Promise: If you call him, we'll make the next call back to you!
On the last Thursday in February, we attended the first meeting of a newly formed stroke-survivor support group, which was organized by Beebe speech pathologist Holly Sullivan and held at the Tunnell Center, up near the Rehoboth outlets. Mary and Al were there, as were a dozen or so other stroke survivors and their caregivers. It was a good meeting, with everyone getting to know each other. When Holly asked everyone to tell the group what their hobby is, people said things like gardening, reading, taking care of their dogs...until it came around to Tommy, who said "sex." Oh, Mr. Long--behave!