Updates - 1/27/10

Yesterday my parents were able to do some shopping to get Michael some new clothes so he can be ready for his transfer to California, and so he can finally get out of those hospital robes!  They also bought him some nice sunglasses so my dad said he looked pretty slick today as he lounged in his new clothes and new shades. 

Today Michael got some really good exercise and it started on the way to the gym.  Rather than taking the elevator he asked the therapist to let him take the stairs and he flew down all three flights.  My mom said the therapist kept telling him to slow down.  Once they were in the gym, Michael did the exercise bike, the tread wall, and several sets of leg lifts.  He kept pushing the therapist to let him keep going and she seemed to be impressed with all that he could handle.

Tomorrow my parents will have a video conference with the team at the rehabilitation center in Palo Alto.  I think we are all looking forward to the move (especially Michael!) because it means he will be that much closer to coming home!  My dad was saying today that from what they have heard, it will be anywhere from 6-12 weeks just to learn the basic skills involved with living life without vision.  From there, there may be additional time added if he is going to get a dog because time must be spent on "training" Michael to depend on the dog.  So we are unsure how soon he will be able to come home, but we are anxious for him to progress and make steps towards coming home and beginning his new life.

My parents said that they were able to hear Michael snoring today and that it was really neat.  Now that he has the trach out, and he has that large boulder removed from his nose, he was snoring and they really got a kick out of that.

And lastly, the updates on his ears:  He had an audio test and his right ear has some fluid behind the ear drum, but he passed with normal hearing range and they believe the fluid will clear up on its own.  For the left ear though, the ear drum is perforated and will not repair itself.  He will either need a hearing aid, or surgery to correct this ear drum.  Doctors say this isn't something that needs to be fixed right away, and that is definitely good news because right now Michael is so done with the surgeries and the hold-ups in DC.  He just wants out of there so fortunately this is something they can follow up on at a later time.