Progress Report

I received an excellent progress report on Sam yesterday afternoon from the facility. Apparently Sam is the "darling" of the facility and has charmed everyone who comes in contact with her. In physical therapy they reported that Sam is doing what is called step level 1. She is working out on a kind of step/bicycle machine. She had in the past needed constant attention on the machine, but now happily does it on her own. Her retropulsing is receding and slowly going away. In occupational therapy, she is now intentionally reaching for objects which is a very good improvement. She has been upgraded in her cognitive class from the "arousal awareness group" to the "reasoning group". Overall, all of the therapist agreed that she is less restless, less distractable, and showing more appropriateness. They too have seen that she is much more emotional, crying a lot and I was told that this is a very good sign. They now have a neuropsychologist working with her a couple of days a week as well. In terms of her swallowing, she is able to take her medicine by mouth and is eating 3 pureed meals a day. They still need to get her to eat solid foods and thinning liquids, check her nutritional counts and then, finally they will be able to remove the g -tube. It still might be a couple of weeks away, but we she is getting much closer to that goal.