Good rehab day today. The PT people put Craig into a seated elliptical cross-trainer machine, and to their surprise he was able to work the unit by himself for about 10 minutes. This will be very good for his muscle development and coordination. It will also be something he can build on, and that we can measure his progress with in a more objective way.

Craig has been kind of tired today and his blood sugar has dropped a bit. The doctor has increased his feeding level and thinks that the increased therapies are probably burning more calories. This is something that we will have to watch over the next few days. The mashed potatoes went well, and we should be able to continue with different food types, eating a little more each day.

More chocolate pudding and apple juice today, mashed potatoes and gravy scheduled for tomorrow. The speech therapist is hopeful that shortly he can begin getting some regular food each day. More small advances in PT as well. Thanks to former Utah head coach (current Weber State HC) Ron McBride, who stopped by today and spent some time with Craig.

The occupational therapist has made Craig a splint to help his left hand relax. He is supposed to wear this on and off during the day, so we will see how it goes. The PT doctor increased the dosage on the symmetrel Tuesday, and he was much more relaxed during therapy today. We are somewhat concerned that he is not moving his right leg much, and he can't begin any walking exercises until he does. So if you need something to pray for this week, that would be a good goal. Thanks again to everyone for their continued support for Craig and our family.

Today we had a meeting with all of the different people involved with Craig's care, the nurses, therapy specialists, nutritionists, etc. I guess they do this once a week to make sure everyone is on the same page. All involved have been encouraged by his progress this week. He had some chocolate pudding today as part of his speech therapy. We would very much like to see him eating again, but they don't want to rush that part his recovery as it is important to protect his airway until he can swallow well.

As I mentioned earlier, Craig has lost a lot of weight that he really never had to lose, and he is looking pretty thin. We are working with the speech therapist on his chewing and swallowing to get him to the point where he can eat again. Today he had ice chips and grape juice by spoon and did quite a bit better than the first attempt on Thursday. We will continue this each day until he can advance to great things like Jello. A liitle more each day.........

Even on Sunday, Craig had a full therapy schedule. We assume that at some point his progress will plateau as he passes through different stages, but each day we are still seeing improvement. The therapists are pleased with the progress as well, and are able to build on his treatment each day. Today we noticed a significant improvement in his balance while sitting and standing, and he seemed to anticipate the movements necessary for the various exercises they have him do.