March 28, 2011

Monday March 28, 2011 7:30pm

This morning Garren started out with physical therapy. Emily had him stand. Using a harness to help raise him into a standing position, feet on the floor, Emily stood behind him and helped him work on head control. Garren's neck muscles are getting a little bit stronger each day.

Wren (speech therapy) joined us and worked with Garren's mouth and tongue movement while he was upright. His trach was capped for a part of the time as well. Wren put a piece of ice in his mouth, and we told him to spit it out. We could see his tongue moving. His shoulders and neck would tense up as he tried so hard to push the ice out of his mouth. He didn't quite get it out, but he sure worked hard.

Garren went to school today. There's a teacher in the hospital who works with the kids to keep them going in their studies. Today was her first time working with Garren. She would show him two words, then take the words away. When she held them back up she would say one of the words, and ask Garren to look at the word she had said. He did great with this.

This afternoon, Tara (occupational) used something called e-stim. E-stim is a type of electro therapy. She put two sensors on Garren's bicep. When she turned it on, it would cause his muscle to contract, causing his arm to move (just like if you contract your bicep, your arm will move). By the way, she made me try it first. It doesn't hurt, it feels like a vibration on your arm. It was awesome to see Garren watching and participating. You can see his muscles flex as he tries to move his arms.

We're off to a great start to this week. Garren's eye continues to stay clear. And his cough is getting stronger. Thanks for continuing to pray specifically for these two things.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Way to go, Garren! We'll keep praying for strength, encouragement, cough & eye. P.S. - your room is looking great!
Anne McManus

Anonymous said...

Lord God,

We lift up Garren before You praying and interceding that his eye remains clear and the blinking returns to normal, we also pray for the cough to be stronger, strengthen his respiratory system please. Thank You so much that we can come and ask in Jesus' name and expect a wonderful answer to our prayers. Amen.

Lynn Rogers said...

"God gives strength to the weary & increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired & weary, and young men stumble & fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run & not grow weary, they will walk & not be faint."
This is our prayer for Garren.
Love in Christ,
Kaitlyn Rogers' Family

wendypoovey said...

Keep up the good work Garren. We pray for stength and comfort, healing, and patience.

Anonymous said...

Garren has to be exhausted, but we're so proud of him for continuing to work hard and move forward. Thankful the eye is getting better...we will continue to pray for more coughing and strength. In for the long haul, The Sisk Family

Michelle Singleton said...

You've got it... today we pray specifically for the eye and cough... Keep it up, Garren! We are pulling for you!

Love & Blessings,
The Singletons