DAY 126

It was a beautiful day here. The kids and I went into McKinney for lunch and then tried to make it out to the Heard Museum to see the Dinosaur Exhibit, but they decided to close 30 minutes early today at 3:30 instead of 4:00...we got there at 3:35! Oh well, maybe next time. Darrell and Lauri and Aunt Chyral made it today, and were so happy to see how good Rick looks. He was a pig today...ate 2 helpings of ham, beans and cornbread at lunch, about 6 cookies, a rice krispie treat, some oranges and big ole bowl of beans and cornbread for supper. Guess what he's doing now...yep...sleeping!

I'm so thankful for a good day...Rick's healing is so obvious and inspiring, and I'm always so glad when other people get to see it first hand...it's healing to their hearts, and we all need that.

Love y'all!
Crystal

DAY 125

TGIF! Glad to have another week behind us...that means we're one week closer to going home! Rick was a trooper today as always. His walking this morning was really good...good gait, speed, and control. His ST made it back today, but I'm not sure what all she worked on with him...she didn't let me know. I did work with him on some writing. He made capital A's that weren't too bad, but his lower case A's did not make a passing grade! He also wrote his #'s 1-10 and they were all legible. We had more visitors today. Don and Susan Grant from Vernon stopped by "on their way to Fort Worth". I don't know if y'all have looked at a map lately, but Anna is actually NOT "on the way" to Fort Worth. It was so great to see them...and Susan baked cookies and rice krispie treats for us. More cards and letters arrived today as well and are such a good reminder that God has angels here on earth. The other thing we (the kids and I) keep telling each other is "this won't last forever". That's something that Lauri Colbert told Riley one day this summer. Riley was asking her a lot of questions and Lauri said, "I don't know the answers to all your questions, but I do know that this won't last forever."

The kids will be here tomorrow...yea! So excited to see them. I miss them terribly. And every time I see them I think..."how did you change that much in a weeks time?". But, the kids believe that the Lord will heal their Daddy and understand that it may take some time, and all of this sacrifice will pay off in the end.

Please pray specifically for the baclofen pump placement to go well, and for it to be the answer to our prayers. The Lord sees the good people and listens to their prayers. 1 Peter 3:12

Thanks again for everything.

Love,
Crystal

DAY 124

We finally had our team meeting today. I'm getting better and better at handling these initial assesments. The meeting was with the neuropsych dr., Rick's therapists and our case manager. They gave me their evaluation based on Rick's first 5 days here at Pate, and he's made lots of progress since then. With that being said, they say that he will not discharge from here until April. He could possibly be ready for outpatient in December or January, but will need some type of rehab until April. With all that being said, the baclofen pump will change everything anyway, and Rick has always proven everyone wrong up to this point and he will do it again. And that's exactly what I told them...they said they liked my attitude and they hope the same thing, too. Our God is an awesome God!

Glenn and Kimbrew came to visit today. I told Rick they were coming and I asked him "what is Kimbrew's first name" and he said "Robert". Then he said "what about Rae?". Rae is Kimbrew's wife. He also talked to the kids loud enough tonight that they could hear him. Rick's initiation continues to improve. When he drops something he leans over to pick it up, when I push him up to the sink he reaches up to turn the water on. Zakk, one of the techs, taught him a handshake on Saturday, and on Sunday when Rick saw him he initiated the handshake and remembered most of the moves. He can now sit on the edge of the mat or bed withouth anyone behind him. He can hold himself up perfectly, and I make him do it every night when I put him in bed. I sit him on the edge and after he's sat there for a minute, I tell him to lay hisself down. He leans over and puts his head down and then swings his legs up. I've noticed more facial expressions which means his face muscles are getting stronger.

Thank you for your prayers...God Bless You All.

Love,
Crystal

DAY 123

I just got Rick out of the shower and in bed...he is really tired. He got an extra 30 minute session of PT today, but his primary therapist was out sick, so he got no ST and only the cognitive that I was able to do with him. His OT time was only 30 minutes...he should be getting at least an hour each day. The baclofen pump surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct 27th. He has to be at the hospital at 7:30 am, but they can't tell me exactly what time his surgery will be. The surgeon practices at a hospital not far from Baylor called Mary Shiels. After the pump is placed it will have to be adjusted be ensure that Rick is getting the right dosage of medicine. Each surgeon that places pumps works with a doctor of Physical Medicine (like Dr. Carlile) to adjust the pumps and the doctor that will do it for Rick is at Baylor Rehab. So, what that means is that after the surgery he will transfer to Baylor Rehab until the pump is adjusted properly. Hopefully, this will be on Tuesday as well...Dr. Konen said it would be considered an outpatient surgery, and I'm not sure how long we will be at Baylor.

I e-mailed pictures to a lot of people today of Rick's visit with Hank yesterday. I will try to get some posted to the blog as well. My FB is not working for some reason. I can read your comments, but I can't reply to them, or read a message, or confirm a request. I sent the e-mail out to a lot of people, so hopefully most of you got to see it.

Thanks for all the love and support that continues to be shown to us. It is amazing to me all the great people out there that are willing to do something nice for us...it means the world. Please keep praying for Rick. Hope to see you all soon.

Love,
Crystal

DAY 122

Today was really good. Rick did well in all his therapies AND we got to see Julia his OT from Baylor. She came out with a group from Baylor that was touring Pate. It was so good to see her...I miss the Baylor crew ALOT! Rick also got a little something extra today. He got to see the therapy horse this afternoon. We had actually already come back up to the house when one of the techs noticed that the horses were here. So we went back to take a look. One of the patients that is discharging on Thursday actually got to ride. Balie Inglish White came to us and got to meet "Hank" as well. "Hank" is pretty impressive. He is a 4 yr old double bred Hancock horse that is so extremely gentle and willing to do whatever is asked of him that's it's unbelievable. Rick didn't try to jump out of his chair or anything, but he did certainly seem interested in him. He kept pulling on his nose as if he was looking at his teeth...maybe he didn't believe he was 4 either!

We talked to the kiddos who have been staying with my mom and dad the last 4 nights because my sisters girls are sick. They are doing well...really missing us, and we of course are really missing them.

Jesus will heal Rick...he will heal him in every way.

To grant consolation and joy to those who mourn in Zion-to give them an ornament of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a heavy burdened, and failing spirit-that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61:3

Love,
Crystal

DAY 121

Rick got some good stretching and some walking today. He also did arm bike, leg bike, and standing frame. His primary therapist's last day was Friday, so we met his new one today. She will also be his speech therapist, but he didn't get any ST today because she was trying to figure out how to fit in her new patients. I also found out today that his primary therapist is also supposed to be the cognitive therapist that sits in the office with him to help him with cognitive tasks. However, today I checked on him twice and both times he was in the office alone...how long he'd been alone I'll never know. We met the doctor that takes care of patients out here. His primay job is at Zale Lipshy's in Dallas. He just went over Rick's meds and suggested we not change anything until after the baclofen pump has been placed. He was happy to hear that Rick had already had a baclofen trial and was close to getting the pump placed. He can actually manage pumps after placement and said he would be happy to manage it when he comes out to Pate so that Rick would not have to make any trips into Dallas for adjustments...suits me! He also believes Rick is ready to have his tummy tube out, but wants to wait 'til after surgery just to make sure. We will switch him from the canned feedings to Boost drinks during the day to make sure he still gets enough calories, and his meds can be crushed and given to him with applesauce.

And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God constantly. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that it is granted to you and you will get it. Mark 11:22-24

Still standing on faith and still believing every day that "this could be the day". And when it's not, at the end of the day I say, "well, it must be tomorrow!"

Love,
Crystal

DAY 120

It was a pretty lazy day for Rick. He slept late, ate breakfast, took a nap, ate lunch, took a nap, ate supper and is now in the shower and said he is ready for bed! His Aunt Doe-Doe and Uncle Bobby came by with their g'kids Kay Kay and Chanceton. Kay Kay fed Rick the majority of his supper and I told him he better enjoy it because she won't be here tomorrow! When they got ready to leave, Linda took Rick's hand and kissed it, so he kissed her hand back and made her cry. It's been awhile since they've seen Rick and even though they read the blog every day, it's not the same as seeing it in person, especially the way Rick has been gaining.

The house was pretty calm for most of the day...I guess everybody was sleepy today because most of the patients stayed in their rooms, but right now it is crazy. There are 2 new trainees on tonight...boy are they in for a surprise! I was really proud for Kelly C today...her son came to see her. There are 2 Kelly's in the house right now. Kelly C is 42 and had a stroke. The only words she can say are "uh-huh", "huh-uh", and "shit". I'm not kidding...and I never knew how many different meanings the word "shit" had, but Kelly makes it work for a lot of things. She is so cute, but she is terribly lonely and was so happy to see her son today. Kelly P is from Amarillo. She is 40 and had an aneurism. Either her mom and dad or her husband have been with her the whole time, but she has a 2 year old son at home. He will be here next weekend. Both the Kelly's are really sweet girls and I say lots of prayers for them to get to return to their normal lives. Kelly C and I stayed up last night watching Medea, and laughing our butts off...it was good therapy!

We're ready for another week here at Pate. Things are going better and I'm very thankful for that! Hopefully I'll hear some more specifics on the baclofen pump this week.

Keep the faith!

Love,
Crystal