March 20, 2011 - Spring Time has come

With Spring comes new life and it seems to be very appropriate with the advent of how Jason is doing. Today marked a number of miles stones for our Marine Hero. Jason can now speak fairly clearly and hold a conversation with people; Jason can now move both of his arms by crossing his chest and lifting them up (about 5 inches) without causing him much discomfort; he can move his fingers on his left hand and even touch his thumb to his pinky, and he even showed the doctor that he could "flip him off." That last part was actually a part of the exercise that the doctor wanted him to do. Now the big thing... he was able to plant his arms down on the bed and push off at the elbow and lift himself up slightly off the bed. That is huge in the recovery process. I'd rather he not do it too often, until after they close up the wounds, but it is nice to see that he has the strength to do it.

On top of all those achievements, they have allowed him to begin eating "solid" foods, and drinking. The VERY first thing he asked for was a lemonade, so I went out to the store and found some real lemonade and brought it back to him. The nurse said it would be kept in the refrigerator, and that as long as it was okay for him to have it, they would bring it to him. His attitude is pretty positive, though I can see a great deal of discomfort on his face, and sometimes I worry that he is trying too hard to get out of the I.C.U. I want him out as quickly as possible, but I don't want him to cause a set back by showing how strong he is. Perhaps that's a parental thing, and I'm being too concerned, but none-the-less, it was good to see him up to the challenge.

Thank you, for all the continued thoughts and prayers, and it is good to see that we are getting hits on the blog from people from all over the country.