July 28, 2017 9:10 pm

It was a busy day for Josh, but not much exciting or new happened. In the morning he had OT, a neuropsychology session, PT, and recreation time. He did a lot of writing in OT. It started with the therapist instructing Josh to write a line of Os across the page. She demonstrated then gave him the pen. He wrote an excellent "O," but then completed the word by writing "ORYGYN" (Oregon).

He fell asleep halfway through the class, so the therapist and Mary wheeled him back to his room and put him to bed. He napped for 90 minutes before he went to neuropsychology.

Dr. Schraa gave Josh a piece of paper and said, "Write your name." Josh wrote, "Dr. Screw." Mary was super excited because the doctor's name is "new" information; something he would have learned after the accident. She said, "Hey! He got your name!" The doctor said, "Not quite. He wrote Dr. Screw, not Dr. Schraa." She said, "It's starts with Dr. S. Close enough." He ended the writing session and brought out some puzzles that had between 5 and 8 pieces. He was unable to assemble a single puzzle, even with help.

In PT he stretched his legs for about 10 minutes then spent the rest of class playing X-Box Adventure on Kinect. He LOVED it! He needed his therapist to help him play, and he hardly understood what was happening, but when time was up, he didn't want to go back to his room. That's the first time he's wished he could stay in any class.

In recreation time, Josh and Mary played Foosball for a half hour. He seems to really love Foosball.

After the morning activities, Josh ate ALL of his large lunch (pot roast, mashed potatoes, and cooked carrots) and then took a nap. He was so tired that it took both of us about 10 minutes to wake him enough to get him to his speech pathologist at 2:00. After ST he went for a walk (ride in his wheelchair) outside with his BA and then we took him to play more Foosball.

After Foosball it was dinner time. Again, he ate ALL of his food (chicken pot pie and green beans), which is quite a lot, so this is a good thing. He was very bored after dinner and seemed somewhat anxious, rapidly bouncing his foot up and down. We put on a movie, which seemed to calm him down a bit. He keeps pointing his finger out the window like he is shooting something. We don't know why he is doing that.

Josh had to speak on the phone today with a court-appointed visitor in connection with our attempt to establish a guardianship and conservatorship. We had warned the Court Visitor that Josh isn't much for talking (before, but especially after the accident), let alone on the phone with a stranger, but he did remarkably well, answering most of her questions as best as he could in a voice that was mostly audible. We were quite surprised and pleased with this accomplishment. It's the first time we've heard his voice (not in a whisper) in 6 weeks.

Also, Josh's right eye has opened a little (see bottom picture). We are not sure this is a good thing since the eyeball doesn't track - it has rolled to his right and it stays in one place.  Against the odds we hope and pray that eye will recover to a usable and not unsightly state.

Josh got a wonderful present from his colleagues at LAM. It was two large get-well cards in a very large envelope that had been signed by about 30 of his work colleagues along with a gift for Josh's supporters. We read the entries and names to Josh in hopes that it would help him remember. He said he remembered his work yesterday when Paul asked, but we didn't get much of a response today. We both appreciate the thoughtfulness of Josh's work friends and co-workers as they have offered their love and support in so many ways. It's comforting as parents to see that our son made such deep and lasting relationships with the people he knew.