Craig has a day pass this afternoon and won't back at the hospital until this evening. I apologize in advance to any visitors that come by expecting to see him. We went down to the hospital cafeteria for dinner last night and let Craig choose whatver he wanted to eat. Dinner consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup of clam chowder, raspberry lemonade, and some ice cream. Interesting mix, but it seemed to work.
Craig had a much improved attitude yesterday regarding his workouts. He seemed anxious to get started and work with each therapist. I think he is realizing that the sooner he gets better, the sooner he gets out of there.

Not much new to report today. I actually spent the afternoon working on some home projects to get ready for Craig's return. We are adding some additional handrails on the stairs, some support rails in the bathrooms, and converting the basement into an exercise room. While there is really no way we can duplicate the amount of intensive thgerpay he is getting in the hospital, we hope to be able to get him on a regular workout schedule in addition to out-patient therapies, which will be scheduled 3-days a week.

Craig had a good set of workouts today. The PT people spent a lot of time working on his balance, and this is improving day by day. We think that his walking will greatly improve as his overall balance does. They removed the feeding tube connection into Craig's stomach tonight, which means that he is 100% human again (no tubes, wires, springs, etc) for the first time since the accident! We played blackjack with the boys this evening, and while we won't be turning Craig loose in Vegas any time soon, he did quite well. It seems that no matter how many times you tell your kids not to hit a hard 17, they just don't listen.

Craig's accident was 3-months ago today. It sure seems like a lot longer. I can remember in week 2 or 3, wishing that I could have a look ahead 3-months to know if he was going to make it back. Looking at Craig today, I think I would have been at least satisfied knowing that he would reach this point. He still has a long road ahead, but we are on the right road. We met today with the doctor's and all of the support people working on Craig's case. Everyone seemed pleased with his progress, especially during the past 2-3 weeks. We have a lot of positive momentum right now, and we just want to keep it going. Looking forward, we are probably 2-4 weeks out from his coming home, although we will be evaluating things each week as we go along.

Craig walked 23 steps today, all on his own down the hallway! He also did a number of flights of stairs (in the hospital stairwell) and was able to do a full workout afterward. This is a great improvement in his stamina and endurance level. His is now on a full regular diet, which means we can bring in real food and supplement with whatever he wants. His voice is getting stronger and it is fun listening to his phone conversations with friends. His vocabulary is expanding and we are hearing more emotion and natural expressions. He still gets confused and agitated at times, but we are seeing more of of old personality start to come back.

We had Craig home again today, which while always great, makes it difficult to go back to the hospital in the evening. With his increased awareness is a growing dislike for the hospital. This is something that we are going to have to take into consideration as we move ahead. While still the best place for his physical recovery, it may not be the best for his emotional recovery. Grandma Peggy and Gene came up tonight, and we walked with Craig out to the 2nd floor elevators to greet them. This was the same general area of the hospital where we spent so much time while he was in ICU, and the contrast of experience was a little bit emotional. Craig is feeling a lot better today, and we are looking forward to a good week.