Home! Week 10

After 4 weeks in the piicu and 10 weeks in rehab, today was Caden's first full day at home! He woke up this morning smiling and said: "My bed! My window!" It was a busy day full of brothers, play and errands.

The therapists gave Caden homework to do each day until his outpatient therapy begins, so we made sure he fit that in too. Plus, he tested out his new 'going home' walker and wheelchair during a few errands. Maybe tomorrow he will work on some resolutions for 2011 ;)

We hope that you have a very happy and healthy New Year!

Snow day! Week 9

The winter wonderland came a day late, but boy was it a big one! Caden and I enjoyed watching the wind whirl the snow around outside the windows all day and into the night. The therapists brought a little of the snow in for Caden to play with, and fortunately big brother Conlan was on hand for an impromptu snowball fight :)

Caden had a busy week: there was lots of pool time on the schedule, and one of the therapists who has not worked with him for awhile noted how much stronger he has gotten; he did some walking with the casts on between parallel bars; then on came the shoes for some practice in a walker. The walker was a little scary at first, but by the end of the week Caden was much more confident. Now homework is two laps in the walker around the floor!

As previously noted, Santa was very good to all of the children here, but it appears Santa also brought Caden his voice. The rare single word was exchanged for multiple words on Christmas Eve and he is now coming out with big sentences. It is difficult to understand everything - unless, as one of his brothers said, you speak Caden - but we know practice makes perfect and it is fun to hear what he has to say.

Gifts and Visitors, Week 8

This holiday season we are counting our blessings!  Not only for Caden, but for our family, friends and supporters who have been so helpful on this journey.  So many people have done so many things, big and little, to help us along the way. We thank you.

Week 8 brought several special visitors.  Santa visited the halls, not once, but twice, and was very merry for all the children.  Caden also enjoyed a great ping pong game with his neighbor from home (ok, the ball was dented and Caden needs to brush up on his ping pong skills, but he had a wonderful time nonetheless).  And then there was a special visit by Officers Brian and Jason.  These two officers were among the first responders in September, and went above and beyond the call of duty.  Caden was thrilled to have them visit him in the gym:  Officer Brian plays a mean game of Uno and Officer Jason is not too bad of a soccer player ;)  As the officers said, Caden has come a long way since that September day.

We are starting to hear a little more of Caden's voice.  He mouths words, whispers several, and in therapy will occasionally vocalize some vowels and sounds.  We had fun this weekend singing Christmas carols and having him fill in the words - a couple of times we heard his voice come through.  In therapy he has been successful trying to say something at the end of a forced cough; and we found this weekend during some fun time with his brothers that the same thing works at the end of a giggle. So, "giggle, giggle, Mom" was Caden's gift to me.  Music to my ears.

New things, Week 7

One thing that we have learned is that the therapists are very creative, and even doing hard work can be made fun. In speech, Caden has been using whistles to improve his exhale. When he started blowing through the whistles a few weeks ago, he could barely make any noise. Now he easily blows out nice, strong musical notes. I told him they were going to graduate him to the tuba! Caden's physical therapist broke up the week by introducing him to the Wii Active. Caden got to play goal keeper and easily saved the rapid fire incoming shots with his arms, torso, head, and occasionally his nose. Good thing it is 'virtual' reality! OT saw Caden army crawling through tunnels and pulling himself on a net swing. And RT put Caden on his tummy on a scooter so he could pull himself across the floor with his arms.

Caden's wheel chair was traded in for a lower one that he can propel with his feet and hands. We did one lap around the floor last night - took us awhile but he made it all by himself :) He was also fitted with casts this morning to try and improve his gait. Caden was naturally disturbed by the idea, but was a good sport and chose one red one and one green one in the spirit of the season. His mood was much improved when they decided to make the casts the removable variety (phew!). He is also being fitted for a vest which he says is slightly more comfortable than the weighted one he and Kieran tried out before. Hopefully these new accessories will help speed up the pace to the big prize: walking!

Getting Stronger, Week 6

For those of you intending to make that New Year's resolution to head to the gym, make sure you persevere through week 6.  I told Caden that with all the intensive workouts he has had, I think he is now 2/3 of the way to those 6-pack abs! He has also gotten quite adept at arm wrestling with both righty and lefty - and to think we could only thumb wrestle a few weeks ago.  I'm sure your gym regimen will be quite different than Caden's, but here is a little of what he has been up to this week.

He proved such a soldier in the "stander" that he has graduated to a new one.  This one requires him to do more work, but is also much cooler looking and that has to count for something! Unfortunately, Caden's chest muscles have become very tight, requiring him to spend some time on a "prone cart".  Although I think this flat bed cart looks very inviting for a nap, Caden assures me it must have been a medieval torture device.  This week also saw Caden fitted in a jumper harness which holds him upright so that he can test out walking on his own two feet.  He got to take some steps on the gym floor and then go for a few minutes on a treadmill while the therapists helped him relearn the bio mechanics of walking.  Just when things were looking tough and frustrating in the gym, big brother Kieran came to visit.  Kieran was a great sport and did everything Caden had to do, including donning a weighted vest and doing sit ups and push ups. Caden's tip for your New Year's resolution:  get an exercise buddy!

Fun things this week included a Recreation sponsored "out trip" to a nearby Target with a couple of other patients; playing Connect 4 with Rory and deciding to change colors half-way through; having the Seton Hall men's basketball team chant his name as he lined up to take a shot; and indulging in chicken nuggets and french fries. Yum!  Boy is that Pediasure a distant memory now :)