Bob had a strong start to therapy on Monday. His speech therapists, Ashley and Alyssa, arranged for the therapy dog, Kentucky, to have a session with him.
Bob had to focus on remembering multiple commands to give Kentucky as well as facts about the adorable canine. Bob later told me that Kentucky knows over 100 commands.
Nope. No way. Not getting a dog anytime soon. I sent Ashley an email asking her to let Bob know that. She said that Bob had already talked about how he was going to convince me to get a dog. Ashley very kindly redirected him and they had a conversation about how now would not be the best time to add a four legged friend to our household. I did say, however, that I would allow him to bring Kentucky home with him.
Bob wasn’t really himself for the second part of our visit on Sunday or on the phone Monday. My mom and dad met me in Deptford so that they could take Mikey for the rest of the day and I could spend time with Bob. We played SkipBo and had cheesesteaks for dinner with his friend, Sam. He had a very low grade temp (99.2) in the late afternoon and his left arm and hand were shaking during dinner. He was complaining of being cold. I was worried. I checked in on him a few times Monday over the phone and he just didn’t sound right to me. He was mixing up days that people had visited or thought that people who live multiple states away had been by. I haven’t heard talk like that in a few days. I learned that he didn’t sleep well from Sunday to Monday and that they were adding a new med to help with the bladder issues. He also had a chest X-ray and additional urinalysis this afternoon after he was too wiped out to finish his OT with Brian. Those results come back Tuesday. He also has another conference on his progress today.
On another note, I’ve been having pain in my right elbow for weeks now. Brittany has a similar pain in her shoulder which has been described to her as “single mother chicken nugget shoulder”. You’re the only one in the car handing things to the kids in the back. I must have “single mother choo choo, tiger, binky, tissue, apple juice elbow”. After speaking with the resident MD (Joey) and checking google, it’s probably tendonitis, aka tennis elbow from overuse and repeated strain. I’m sure picking up a car seat, Michael, or dragging luggage back and forth across a distance at least twice a week isn’t helping. And the protocol is rest and ice. So this was my text exchange with Joey after I was *supposed* to go to bed at 9:30 since my tiny baby friend likes to party in the middle of the night. Yes, it is 3:30 am. (We just wrapped up the rave.) I had also been up waiting for a call from Bob’s nurse because I was concerned about him and wondered if I needed to rush out to Philly to check on/advocate for him.
So that Joe Joe got me a little teary. Bob talked to Joey on the phone tonight and thanked him for taking all of us in. Joey said that they love the kids like their own. (I’m just part of the package). We are beyond blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends who have become family and now our landlords. We often discuss which one of the three of us would be evicted first. The consensus is usually Michael. He can be a stinker. C’mon, he’s cute and sweet, but he’s TWO.
Please pray for healing of Bob’s brain as well as his bladder issues. I KNOW your prayers are working to heal him and make him whole. He will see a urologist in the next couple of weeks. Pray for my elbow too if you can sneak that one in there. Thank you all!
Love, Karen and Bob xo