Easy Rider

Neil on Glen's Harley last Sunday.

Every day as we walk down the hall to therapy, the nurses, aides, and therapists all comment on how good Neil looks and how well he is doing. We are thrilled with his progress and hope to be bringing him home within a couple of weeks.

This is some of what Neil is still working on, and will be for some time:
Vision—His right eye is still affected by third nerve palsy, and both eyes are struggling to work together.
Left hand—The left arm is able to move more, and we're waiting for his fingers to wiggle. He daily wears different splints to keep the tendons in his hand and arm from tightening up.
Attention span/focus—It’s getting better, but it’s still short.
Short-term memory—It can change from one minute to the next, but we work on it every day.
Left side inattention/neglect—His brain struggles to recognize things on the left side. It affects his vision, his left arm and leg. He doesn’t always see things that are on the left, so he sometimes just guesses what words are by looking at the last few letters.
Speech—His whispers are quite articulate now. He can intone very low rumbles with occasional words.
Emotion—A friend told a legitimately funny joke last night and Neil broke out into a grin. It was awesome—the grin, not the joke. :-) Hope we can get some more of that.

Here’s a little of what Neil’s got going for him:
He’s getting great care.
He’s young and healthy.
He can walk.
He can communicate and has a good grasp on language.
His long-term memory is intact.
He’s polite so everyone here likes him.
He has supportive family and friends.
He wants to get better.
He has faith in the power of prayer.

I think the scale weighs pretty heavily in his favor. Don’t you?