I posted a new video clip above (video 3). This is a shot of Craig walking on the treadmill tonight. You should be able to see the difference from the first walking clip, in that he is much more stable and steady. In speech therapy today Craig was able to do basic math, counting, and picture recognition exercises. When finished, the therapist asked if she could get him anything. He responded, "A Dr. Pepper", and she got it for him!

Craig was not as talkative today, but he was certainly able to let us know what he needed and respond to important questions. He had a hamburger and fries for lunch, and requested pie for dessert tonight. We showed him a lot of the pictures we had in the room, and he was able to identify the people and places (and ducks) from the past. This would indicate that his long term memory is OK. He also occassionally throws out a comment not related to the current conversation, but linked to something prior to the accident. He was fitted with a new splint today designed to help his right ankle and foot flex to a greater degree. It appears that all of the time in bed has resulted in a severe tightening of the Achilles tendon in his right foot.

Exciting night tonight. After a fairly normal day, Craig had dinner and tooka nap. About 7:30 he woke up and began talking in complete sentences. He asked why he couldn't talk, where he was, and when he could go home. He told us about dreams he was having, his lack of memory, and his desire to be more awake. The rehab doctor happened to be on the floor and came in to observe the situation. We assured Craig that he was getting better and showed him some pictures of himself when he was back in ICU. He told us a lot that he loved us and wanted to make sure that we were going to stay with him. His questions and comments showed a pretty good understanding of the situation, and though still confused at times, he was able to express himself and share his concerns. He continued to talk and interact for about 2 hours, until he finally fell asleep. Overall a very exciting development which bodes well for the future!

Craig spoke today! It was completely spontaneous, while he was lying in bed after lunch. He said "dad" a number of times, "Ashley", "okay", and "hi mom", when Lori came back in the room. A very nice birthday present for Lori. The menu was also upgraded today to include pancakes for breakfast and salmon for lunch. They have decided to discontinue the tube feedings completely based on the calories he is getting from the regular meals. Overall a very exciting day.

Craig had a good day today. He was more alert than he has been for a while, and was responding to us well. This evening was interesting, as after his night workout he got out of bed onto the floor and started doing push-ups. We got him back into bed, and he immediately went back to the floor to do more push-ups. After three rounds of this we finally gave up, got a exercise mat from the PT room, and let him stay on the floor. It looks like he is going to sleep there tonight, which is interesting since he used to sleep on the floor a lot at home.

We took Craig home for a few hours this afternoon. It was the first time out of the hospital, and while it was really exciting, we were also pretty nervous. Everything went well, and we will probably make this a Sunday routine. It was great to have the whole family home together. Craig was very relaxed and seemed to enjoy the experience. We gave him the day off from any therapy workouts, but are looking forward to another week.

Minced is definitely a step up from pureed on the food chain. The meat actually looks like meat, and is much more edible. Taking Craig off of the tube feedings during the day was a good move, as his appetite has increased substantially. He is now able to stand from a sitting position on his own, although his balance after standing is still an issue. Last night we put him on the treadmill and he did pretty good. This could be a really good tool to advance his walking.