A Day of Breakthroughs

A lot has happened since the last post.  Scott has moved back to the skilled nursing facility in San Leandro and has been recovering well from surgery.  His swelling from surgery is going down, and the fluid is draining properly since his shunt was readjusted.  For the most part he has spent the past few days resting and recovering since surgery.

Today, however, he showed significant progress and some major breakthroughs during his therapy sessions!  For the first time since the accident he read words from a flash card.  He also stood up from a sitting position on his own for the first time.  He apparently walked with minimal assistance from just one other person, responded appropriately to a series of questions, correctly identified colors (which he has done once or twice before) and followed multiple commands in a row.  This is all significant progress, and is especially amazing in that it all took place in one day.  It is such a huge relief to see such progress, especially after an agonizing period of regression just prior to his surgery.

Today Scott also asked Jen why people were looking at him funny.  I am not exactly sure what prompted this question but I wanted to post it because it is an important reminder to all of us who visit that even if it seems like he is sleeping or not paying attention, he is aware of what is going on around him, can see and hear you, and is sensitive to your reactions.  So, it is important to act natural and to not make specific comments about his appearance or your perceptions of his condition and progress while hanging out with him.