Merry Christmas!

It came and went so quickly! But it was the 4 month mark on Pete's stroke recovery, which in the grand scheme of stroke recovery is a long time.

He's come so far! This week, we had 2 rehab sessions at TOTS and finally got more sessions scheduled for next week. We have been working on his arm and shoulder and they are loosening up a good bit and he's got the ability to move his left elbow out (away from his body) a bit and that will help those muscles get stronger. He's also able to move his left ankle to lift his foot a bit and the wiggling toes are getting more wiggly. On the whole, I take this as excellent progress. He needs to work on his standing balance and work on standing on both legs, which he has not been doing much of, he's using the right leg for almost everything and that is really no way to walk.

We went to the the neurologist on Tuesday and he's quite pleased with Pete's progress. He has prescribed some medicines to help with the pain that is associated with the feeling returning to his left side. Pete is not one to take medication for pain, but that is not really something he has the option for right now. The doc also told him he needs to get out more, so we'll be doing that. There are some issues with intermittent swelling of his left hand and foot and the doctor wants to rule out any sort of blood clot in his leg by doing a test on Tuesday and otherwise, there is a study going on right now about edema and Pete will be enrolled in that study.

One other thing is that Pete's blood pressure and heart rate are completely under control. The BP at the neuro was 120/70 which is about what they say is "perfect" and his heart rate was in the mid 60's, also pretty darn good. Before the stroke, his BP was running in the "Oh my God" range and his heart rate was all over the place. He is taking no medicine to make that happen at all and the only change was quitting smoking. If you need any more encouragement, I'll be happy to give it.

Right now we have the plague in our house, so we're all sort of recovering from that. For all of you who have followed Pete's story, please know you have our many thanks for your support and prayers. His recovery is progressing well, but there is still a long way to go. We will need you all for a good time to come. I'll try to post more often, but know that if there is no post, it means the status quo is in effect.

If I don't post before then, everyone please have a happy and healthy new year.