And Douglas continues to improve ...

Well it has been a fairly busy few weeks for all of us, particularly Douglas.
He has been working hard at the business of getting from wheelchair to car and back again without using the bulky and heavy Sam Hall Turner. The new way uses a banana shaped plastic board that bridges the space between seats and Doug has to master the art of sliding himself across this.
So far he has done really well - so much so that we all had our first real day out last week end with a visit to a Roller Derby in the Medowbank Stadium, a shopping trip to the O2 store for a new phone and a few hours at home!!! Absolutely brilliant :-)

I think he felt a little out of place at the Roller Derby, partly because of the seating arrangements (a flat hall floor with banked seating on one side only) which meant that we had to sit close to the exit door (wheelchair issues) but also because everyone there seemed to 'normal', healthy and active. Never the less he enjoyed the time particularly since the two competing teams were all young ladies all togged out in outrageous gear (some fairly scanty!!) :-)))

Oh ..... and he got his new phone too!!

Physio and Occupational Therapy continues apace but, since (in Dougs words) he is a 'lazy git' it is never fast enough for him. He is working on the walking using a small zimmer frame and seems able to manage a reasonable distance although he does tend to veer off to the right a bit - all to do with having a strong right side I'm told. However practice will doubtless straighten things up - it has done with his wheelchair manoeuvres.
He also seems to have mastered the swallowing and chewing side of eating and has progressed from pureed food, through 'minced' food and is now eating normal consistency meals. As a result his PEG feed has been reduced to water only just to make sure he does not get dehydrated.
I suspect the PEG tube will stay in until they are quite certain he can be sustained by mouth.
A great boost is that he now can mix consistencies - no more thickened coffee!!!! Whoopee .....
(Apart from that, Baileys does NOT thicken well at all!)

He is seeing a slow return of feeling in the left hand side of his face although there is a long way to go and the other day he said that he heard me whisper into his left ear! If this is really the case it is terrific news since earlier hearing assessments indicated no hearing at all in that ear!
However we are trying not be overly optimistic about this (chickens and eggs and all that!)

His left eye condition keeps good although he still has one stitch in the lid. He is pinning a lot of hope on its removal and I do hope that this comes true although I have a feeling that the effect of the stroke on the optic nerves may take a lot longer to fix itself. I'm not sure how he will deal with this ...............

Plans are afoot for his attendance at a friends wedding in late February so I guess we'll be getting a flood of instructions shortly regarding suitable dress etc.! He is nothing if not particular in sartorial terms (mind it will mean that he has to comb his hair unless we can get it cut before then!!)
In the meantime the Saturday home visits continue and hopefully we'll be able to go further afield now the car transfers have been sorted.

A big thank you to DavyP in the antipodes who gave him a call the other day ........ he didn't stop talking about it for ages afterwards. It meant so much to him ............. although I'm not sure just how well Davy could understand Doug on the phone since his voice can get pretty raspy when he is tired. Thanks big fellah!!
And big thanks to all his friends who continue to visit (despite being subjected to a film or music quiz when they get there!!). Sometimes you just have to tell him to shut up and listen for a bit :-)

Iain