Big Rich and GT visit-part II...

So, I left you all hanging on Tuesday night and now I will take you into Wednesday! Ben tried some new things in PT today! PT and OT teamed up along with Rich and GT to try Ben out for the first time in over a year on his hands and knees! First it was Ben rolling onto his stomach and getting himself situated. Next it was up on his hands and knees. Ben did alot on his own and then just needed a little help on the way up. Can I just say that despite the fact that Ben has been in rehab for over a year he still has some nice looking muscles! When he was using his arms to hold himself up his tricepts were buldging out!! I think the hardest thing for Ben was to hold his head up! What a stretch for him...but he did great! He said his reward for all that hard work was kisses and yes he got a few!
After being on his hands and knees the got just on his knees and then balanced himself with the ball. With this placement he needed more help with the trunk balance but doing it for the first time he did great! Following the time on his knees he then layed on the ball for some more stretching and balancing! Finally Ben got to just lay on his tummy and do what his PT calls a spread eagle!









Ben was pretty tired after all the new things he tried so while he went back to his room to rest Rich and I went to the Stanford store to get some gear! After getting a few things we went back to see Ben so that Rich could say a good bye to Ben! When we asked Ben if he wanted Rich to come back Ben said, "No!" We were a bit surprised by that but when I asked Ben why and he said, "because I don't want Big Rich to leave" it made sense! I took Rich to the airport and that was not a fun trip! Tried to hold back the tears all day long! After I dropped Rich off I went to REI to see if I could find a special treat for Ben for all of his hard work. I found some t-shirts that he might enjoy and when he saw them his face brightened! He did inform me that one of them was the wrong size...I guess I will have to go back!
Later that afternoon Ben had a Speech/Rec group. He did very well in this session and it was the second one that I went to. He was able to recall everyones names when they asked him and he was also able to say them (out of turn) if another patient was struggling! It was quite humerous and I was proud of him! They played Go Fish and seriously all the patients tied!

On to Thursday! Another full day of therapies! It was GT's turn to get in the pool with Ben! PT again had Ben in the other pool for walking. First came some stretching and then some sit-ups with a styrofaom dumb bell under his legs. This was followed by some amazing walking and his PT actually took her hands off of Ben and let him do it on his own for a bit!!! Ben loved it....you could see how proud he was in his face! After walking he did side stepping followed by mimicking biking movements on the side of the pool. Of course it was a competition with GT who could go longer and faster!





Following PT Ben ate lunch and took a quick snooze! We then jumped on the bikes! I don't know if I told you how heavy those bikes are but they are heavy!! Ben pedaled by himself so he was baring the weight of his body, GT's body and the bike weight! We doubled our distance today and Ben and I had a race as me and another therapist were on another bike! I almost had fighting words with a guy in a HUGE, old cadilac who came speeding through the parking lot! GT had to slam on the breaks to avoid this guy taking them out! Oh man...thank you Lord for your protection and keeping me from taking someone out! Back for an afternoon snooze for Ben!





GT was able to go with Ben to neuro psych and I stayed back to lessen the distraction. GT said they did some memory games and went over how much progress Ben has made!!

Thank you Rich and GT for taking time out of your busy schedules and away from your families to come spend time with and encourage Ben! It means the world to him!!