The Chair

Each morning, Taylor has physical therapists come in to help him work his muscles. Today, he stood beside his bed, with help, for the second time. That is a really big deal right now.

We had planned to take him outside today in "the chair". This chair looks like an understuffed electric recliner. It folds flat and when Taylor's bed is lowered to the same level, it makes moving him to the chair very easy. Then, the Staff changes the chair to the sitting position and Taylor can then go outside.

Taylor's bed is like a big "transformer" toy. With the press of a couple of buttons, it folds into the biggest chair we've ever seen. Yesterday, the bed was reconfigured into a chair and he sat upright for 1/2 hour. A pretty big accomplishment.

Today, he was to take his third trip outside in The Chair. But, when we woke up from a nap this afternoon, within moments he mouthed the word "chair" and made it clear that he couldn't do it today. We need to keep him motivated, and don't want to make him do anything he's not ready for, so we passed on taking him outside today.

This afternoon, one of the trauma Doctors stopped by to tell us that Taylor will probably be getting moved from Medical Intensive Care to a room upstairs in the next day or so. That means, of course, that he no longer needs the constant care that he receives in Intensive Care. It's another major milestone in Taylor's progress.

We talked to Taylor a lot today about the progress he has made, and how well he is doing. He does not really have a firm grasp on what has happened. The medications he is on keeps him pretty foggy. We know that once he learns how far he has come in such a short time, that will help motivate him to really kick it up a notch in rehab. We're already seeing his drive. Throughout the day, he asks us to exercise his right arm that is substantially weaker than his left.