Guitar Zeros!

We had a few people over for dinner and Wii night. Here are some pictures of Matt and Dave playing Guitar Hero!

No PT on Thursday

I did not make it to PT on Thursday. I was feeling pretty bad but I am much better today. Other than that I am not doing to much. Just doing my Mr. Mom job. Keeping the house clean.

-Neal

Wii are Thankful

Our Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful. After Thanksgiving, Neal, Austin and my arms were so soar from playing video games. Denise was smart and did not play all day. My bowling score took a severe hit. Neal claims we played for 10 hours on Thursday. I cooked a half way decent meal. We got a great surprise on Friday when my mom, Mike and Uncle Jim fought the crowds at Walmart to get us a 42" tv! Friday night everyone came over to play the wii on the new tv. It is wonderful. UJ seems to be the guy to beat.

We made a trip up to see my dad for his birthday and had a nice day. Everyone kept staring at Neal not believing how skinny he is! This is really the first trip out of town Neal has made since the accident. We are hoping to make it to the Machovina Christmas this year in December.

UJ, Mom and Mike raked leaves at our house on Tuesday and it did not take more than a day for the yard to be filled with leaves again. Sunday during the Browns half time and after the game, Neal and I did another clean up. We still have one tree that has quite a bit of leaves left. It is wonderful to have Neal outside doing this! This week is busy with dialysis Monday, Wednesday and Friday and physical therapy the other 2 days.

Thanks again to Stacy, Leslie and Mom for driving Neal to dialysis, I really appreciate it. At this point, we do not think Neal will be cleared to drive for 3 months. He should be able to drive after the transplant.

Physical Therapy Again

I had Physical Therapy again. This time I was able to complete the therapy. I did alot of the same exercises and some new ones. Needless to say I am really tired.

Physical Therapy

Today I had physical therapy again. I am tired. I did the elliptical machine, 3 different kind of leg lifts on a set of stairs, toe raises on the stairs, heel touches on the stairs, stepping up and down on the stairs, leg lifts on a machine, toe raises on a machine, hip flexes, side hip flexes, and I was doing pull downs on a machine when I told them I was done for the day. I was there for about 45 min and did not rest much. Needless to say I am extremely tired. I have not worked out this much in years. I will be doing it 2 times a week until my transplant. They gave me a workout to do at home but I know that I would not do it. So I am going to go in and do it. This way I am motivated to do it. Hopefully this will keep me healthy. I plan on doing it after the transplant as well. We went grocery shopping afterwards I was so tired I took a motorized cart. I don't care I was tired and could hardly walk.

Out Patient Therapy

Neal had his first outpatient therapy. It was a little awkward. When we arrived we were put in a room with 8 different therapists asking a variety of questions. At the end I believe they looked at Neal and Neal looked at them thinking, why are you here? Neal then had quick individual sessions with each therapist and all pretty much concluded he could use exercise to increase his endurance, however it is his choice whether he go to the facility or do this at home. He has one more appointment if he chooses to go over some exercises. He is also being scheduled for a follow up swallow test so that he can stop modifying his diet and thickening his liquids. That should be in a week or two.

The one good thing that did come out of this is that he needs to obtain written permission from a doctor to drive. Apparently there could be some legal ramifications given what his diagnosis was the last hospital visit. So Neal did get to drive there, but I drove home! He feels comfortable driving, but we are going to get a doctor to sign off on it. Until then I will continue to ask Stacy and Leslie to be on call and even Matt on his day off. Too bad we cannot afford a limo so Neal could travel in style.

Getting Better

Not much is going on. I am getting better each day. I still don't have to much energy but I am able to get around ok. All I am doing is taking care of the dogs and doing the dishes. Michele has been a saint. She has really been taking good care of me.

Later
-Neal