Everyday I witness miracles.  Today was no different.  Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles needs to come spend a day with Marty.  We are only 17 days post stroke.  After losing his ability to speak, use of his right hand and nearly all memory, he has been able to regain a lot of memories (some most everyone else had forgotten), relearn to do basic life skills, and relearn an ever expanding vocabulary.  Today was one of those days that gave me hope and was a lot of fun to watch.

Marty started his day today with quite a fun surprise.  He noticed the porch light was on and went to shut it off.  He peaked out the window and saw this:

He then went outside, followed the arrow and saw this:


He came back inside and got me and literally pulled me outside.  He was SOOOO excited.  He then ran back inside and woke Addyson up and drug her outside.  (it was 7:30 on a non-school day)  We had a bit of a rain storm blowing through and many of the post-it notes had already blown away.  He didn't want her to miss the message due to the wind.  However, there were plenty more PROM notes if she'd missed that one.





As excited as Marty was, you'd think he was the one that had gotten asked.

Marty had an hour long speech assessment and a 45 minute occupational assessment.  His speech assessment was broken into 3 sections: verbalization, reading, and writing.   

During his verbalization section she asked him basic questions and asked him to verbally respond.  She asked him his full name.  He could say Marty.  She asked him if he knew where he lived.  He nodded yes, but she asked him to say it.  He said "si".  She asked his address, he couldn't say it.  She showed him different colors and asked him to say the colors.  He couldn't do it.  She showed him a pictures and asked him to describe.  (it was a pictures of a family doing dishes with water running all over the floor and the kids climbing on the counter).  He was able to verbalize "mom" & "water".  She would say words and ask Marty to repeat them.  Single syllable words he could repeat after many tries.  Multiple syllable words were not successful.  The longer the questions went on, the more frustrated I could tell Marty was getting.  He was just wringing his hands and trying so hard to think.  I couldn't hold back the tears.  It was agonizing for me to watch. 

The reading section was more promising.  There were words on a page and she would say one and he had to pick it out.  He got them all right.  Then there were sentences with a blank inserted and multiple choices to fill in the blanks.  He got all but one right.  That one his missed cracked me up.  The sentence was something like "Roads and schools are paid for by _________"  Marty chose houses instead of taxes.  She then would have him read a short story followed by reading some questions about the story.  He then had to point to the answer from a selection.  He did not do so well with that section.  She then read him a story and asked him yes/no questions about the story.  He didn't do so well with that section either.  It looks like he can read, but comprehending or retaining that information is a little different story.

Writing skills is where he really shined.  She asked him to write his full name.  Perfect!  She asked him to write his address.  Perfect!  She repeated several words, numbers, phrases, etc.  Every one he got perfect.  He even spelled them right which is a feat with him, and with some of the words she gave him.

Afterwards, she told us what she thought was wrong.  I can't remember what she called it, wish I'd written in down.  Basically it's that he's slow to initiate.  Once he gets started, he's okay, but getting started is difficult.  She said that is why he doesn't remember to eat, or brush his teeth, or other common tasks.  When Marty does say a word, he'll repeat the first sound over and over again and then suddenly the whole words rolls off his tongue.  He almost speaks with a stutter.  She wants to start with therapy 2 days a week and then assess where we are.

Marty then moved into occupational therapy.  They have these really cool devices that test hand and arm strength.  They would have him grip, pinch, pull, etc on these devices and measure his strength.  They measured both his left and right side.  His left side is super strong, much stronger than normal.  In contrast, his right sides is super weak, sometimes as little as 10% of his left side.  She also tested his fine motor skills by asking him to put pegs in holes. She timed him. He is 3 times faster with his left hand than his right. Those brain signals are just slow to the right side. He is also complaining of his fingertips hurting.  He described it like frost bite.  She did a test with these little rods with what looked like different strengths of fishing line attached to the end.  She would gently touch Marty's fingers to see if he could feel it.  There is a difference in his touch sensation from one hand to the next, but only a small difference.  She then noticed how Marty was holding his shoulders.  His right shoulder was much more forward than his left.  She thinks he's probably leaning into things to try to give him more strength.  That misalignment is probably pinching a nerve which is causing the tingling and loss of sensation in his fingertips.  She gave him some strengthening exercises for his shoulders as home work. 

Marty now has appointments for the next month already scheduled.  2 days a week speech therapy and 1 day a week occupational therapy.  The speech therapist actually stays late on Mondays and Fridays so I was able to schedule those appointments after normal work hours.  We weren't so lucky with the occupational therapist so we will try to get them in during an extended lunch.  This will really help to be able to extend out the amount of FMLA leave I have available.  I have been worried that I would run out of hours.  However, with this therapy schedule, plus the ability to work from home, I will probably only have to use a few hours a week.

I can't thank work enough for their flexibility.  Over and over again I am told to stop worrying about work and take care of Marty.  I am grateful for an extremely understanding team.  I know that the more energy I put into Marty the quicker he will be back to his own independent self.

After work, I met Marty, his parents and the girls at one of our favorite restaurants, Marketplace Grill.  When they took our drink orders, without even thinking, I said, "he'll have a water and so will I"  I didn't even give Marty a chance to order his water, even though that's a word he can say.  I decided then that I would help him say his order for dinner.  He wanted the Prime Dip Sandwich with a side of French Fries.  We practiced saying "Prime" "Dip" "Fries" over and over until the waitress came.    When it came time for him to order, he was able to slowly say it on his own.  He was so proud of himself.  He is gaining back his Independence. 

On the way home, it was dark so I couldn't really see him.  I would try to talk to him, but he really couldn't answer in a way that I could understand.  I told him we need to practice "yes" and "no" so that I could at least ask him questions that I could hear his answers to.  He didn't seem too interested, so we turned the radio on and finished our 35 minute car ride home in silence.  When we rounded the corner for home, the girls were getting out of their car.  I asked Marty if I should hit the girls.  He quickly said "NO".  We laughed and laughed.

When we got in the house, Marty called the girls over and wrote, "Can You Help Me Talk If I know the word or it is a Easy word Ask me to say it"  Marty wants so desperately to talk.  He acted out a few examples for the girls.  He said, "good" instead of giving a thumbs up.  He said "no" instead of shaking his head.  A few minutes later he came over to give me a hug.  I backed away and said "hug".  He leaned in and I backed away.  He then said "hug" and I gave him a great big bear hug!  He then tried to kiss me.  I pulled away and said "kiss"  He quickly said "kiss" and I rewarded him :)  Jessica then came and asked for a hug goodnight.  I asked her to have her dad say it and he did.

Just for fun, here's a list of everything Marty wrote today.  No explanations to go along with them as I wasn't here most of the time, but it's fun to see the things he thinks about.

• How is Addy telling him yes
• I could Bring Him a plate of treats with a note from Addy that says Ask my Dad for the Answer
• I can text.  I just have to write it down first It takes a few min But I can do it
• We could set an Alarm that says Eat Stupid
• I forgot to put on my other shirt
• Are they going to do something that might kill me
• I don't have to write it out first  - (this was after he had typed his first message on his IPAD.  He was excited at how much faster that was)
• I can do almost everything But I have to think hard to do it with my right arm and hand and I get tired
• At the end of the day
• Like Frost Bite
• The store is over there But is is Hard to turn Left
• Mon-speak  Wed - OT  Fri - Speak
• I think I can drive or at least I think I know how to drive, But it's Hard for me to stay focust - pay attention
• Do you Know How to load more stuff on it
• Just the one strip
• I think Mom said only around our town at first - You need to talk to her (Jessica wanted to drive into Bentonville herself today)
• Do you Know where it is
• Do you want me to come
• When will you be back
• If it's okay with you I think I will nap and Be ready to go to Dinner
• Please Don't fight
• I Dont know what Exit
• It's a little Bit way - market place
• Exit 72
• We should have them change the oil to consecrated oil
• It's a little Bit away from stuff But it's a nice place to call Home
• Today is the first Day of the rest of my Life
• It's always like this.  Get down about a mile it will open up
• When we get off you will want to turn left from the right lane
• I'm very Happy His is doing Better - (Roberta's husband Lloyed has been sick.  I told Marty I had talked to Lloyed today and he is feeling better)
• Was that the same time I got the sucker stuck in my hair
• Mom stopped a Van from Rolling Down Hill with no Driver
• You Girls leave Connor alone :)
• Don't tease

We are a long ways from being through this, but days like today give me hope.  Days like today give me the strength to push on.  Days like today make me know that God answers prayers.

5 Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.

If you don't believe in miracles, now is a great time to believe.  God is GREAT!  God performs miracles every day.  I am able to witness this each day as Marty's thinking becomes clearer, his writing becomes better, and his will to learn more grows.  Thank you everyone for your continuing prayers and faith on our behalf.