September 9, 2008

This past weekend was a great visit with Curtis. When I arrived, I got to have my first face-to-face conversation with Curtis. It was wonderful! He looked up and saw me, smiled and said "Hi!...It's so good to see you." And I said to him.."It's good to see YOU!" (Of course I was just amazed that he was sitting there talking to me!) He asked me how I was doing, and how long I would be there. It is great that he can talk to us and answer our questions. But also, it is great that he is able to ask us questions, too. And he does, sometimes in a very Curtis-way, systematic and organized. He'll say "I have two questions...My first question is"... and then after that one he'll say "...And second...".

I watched his PT session on Friday, and he walked along the walking platform. He did this twice. The walking platform is about twenty feet long, and he stands and holds himself up with his arms on the rails as he walks. His physical therapist is also there helping Curtis with support and balance. Then Curtis used the walker and walked across the exercise room twice. He was able to take his steps, push the walker forward and take his steps until he reached the other side of the room. He did such a great job and I could tell at the end of each walk he was tired, but he rested and then got up again to do his next walk. I was proud of how hard he worked out.

Curtis has been ready to eat for quite some time now and has been telling us that he is hungry and wants to eat. At last, on Monday (yesterday), the speech therapist decided it was time to try Curtis on pureed foods. Of course, Curt did great, plus he really enjoyed his first meal. He kept saying..."this is sooooo good!", "this is sooooo good!." Then today, he got to try a little more food including scrambled eggs. Starting tomorrow, the speech therapist is going to let Curtis have three meals a day. It will probably be pureed foods and softer foods at first for a while, but eventually he will be solid foods again. I am sure it won't be long until he can get that In-N-Out burger and fries he's been looking forward to!

On Saturday as I was hanging out with Curtis, I asked him..."so what else have you been up to?" He said, "Well, I've been walking...and talking..." and I asked, "and singing?" and he answered..."not so much!" So I asked him if he would sing me a song. He said, "Sure". So I said, "Do you want to pick a song, or do you want me to make a request?" And he said, "You can make a request.." So I said, will you sing me "George Bailey"? So he just started singing the chorus of his song! It was super to see him recall the words of his song and sing me some of it. He did get to a part that he couldn't remember, so I sang for him when he stopped and then he mouthed along the words and chimed in singing when he remembered the words. Then, the next song I wanted to sing was "Bobby McGee". (Poor Curtis, having to put up with MY singing!) I started to sing the first verse of his song, and got to a part where I couldn't remember the next line. As I paused and told him that I was sorry I couldn't remember the next line to the song, he said "With my guitar we went so far.." which was exactly the next line!

I had wondered "does he know who I am?" The speech therapist, Bob, asked Curt on Friday, "Who is that?" as he pointed to me. Curt replied "Renee". Then Bob pointed to Mom and asked Curt who she was. Curt said "Mom". Then today, Sarah was with Curtis and Bob did the same thing and pointed to Sarah and asked Curt who she was. Curt identified her "Sarah". Bob asked, "Is she your cousin?" And Curt said, "No, she is my sister". There are some times, though, when asked who someone is, he'll respond with "I don't know" but other times he identifies them. So at least we know sometimes he remembers us!

Curtis can definitely read aloud. Today, Sarah was reading to him and asked him if he would read some as well. He was able to read out loud about 3/4 of a page of text to her!

There are some things he remembers and some things he tells us he does not remember. Many times he tell us "I don't know" when we ask him a question. And some times when he is trying to communicate something, the words come out in a way that we do not understand what he is trying to tell us. But I am not worried; I am sure this is a normal part of the healing process. He has made so much progress already in such a short time, and I am looking forward to seeing more of his recovery.

Renee