Sue's First Full Day with Todd, August 4th

I arrived in Salt Lake on Sunday late afternoon and went right to the hospital to visit Todd. Not really knowing how the strokes had affected Todd until I could see him with my own eyes, I had decided it would be better to prepare myself for the worst scenarios rather than thinking the opposite. After spending about an hour and a half there with Todd, Amelia, Oliver, Jenny, and Carl, I left the hospital knowing that Todd is on his way to recovery. We all hugged and talked and laughed. Todd struggled trying to find some words, and some of his sentences didn't end in the way that he started them, but we could understand all of his words, he was animated, and we saw that he still has his sense of humor. When all of us were talking at once, he stopped and listened, and when we'd stop talking, then he'd continue on with what he'd been saying. I left the hospital with an uplift in my heart.

Today I was at the hospital from 8:30 this morning until 9:30 tonight, and it was one wonderful day. Amelia was also there until about 3:00 this afternoon. Todd's speech, physical, and occupational therapy were at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, and 11:30, one after the other, starting over again until lunch time, and were exhausting. They continued again at 3:30 and 4:30. I learned so much about how the brain works, I could see how the strokes have affected Todd, and I could tell how dedicated the therapists are in what they do.

One of the things Todd is going to have to really work with is staying focused and not getting distracted. Noise out in the hall or with someone else talking in the room, or even someone dropping something in another room distracts him from completing sentences or from doing his therapy. At times, too much stimulation (noise, lights, etc.) makes him nervous. There was a big breakthrough today of discovering that Todd's eyes don't focus quickly when looking from something in the distance to something close or vice versa, and how to work with this. This is going to be ongoing while that part of his brain continues to repair itself. We started figuring out how to work with this. It takes Todd time and persistence to make his eyes focus so he can see objects plainly, read, and even see what he is eating. What a great blessing it is to learn of the miracles that happen with the brain.

Late this afternoon Todd made brownies as part of his occupational therapy to check his skills on reading, following a recipe, his reasoning in fractions, setting the stove, and following through. Except for sharing 3 large brownies with a motorcycle accident victim and his mom (and a couple of small brownies with Jenny and Carl), Todd and I ate the whole 9x13 pan of brownies. They were delicious with cold milk. We laughed about eating the whole thing.

Todd and I had a wonderful hour and a half talk tonight where we discussed things dear to us.

We also learned that his discharge from the hospital is still on track. The staff at the hospital feels like there's not much more they can do to help with his recovery that can't be done with outpatient therapy. His discharge could still be Wednesday, although Todd wants it to be tomorrow because he feels that is the next step to his recovery.

This afternoon in his physical therapy, we were given many papers with exercises for him to do when he first comes home. The outpatient therapy for all three areas will be intense, and there will also be lab work done at least twice a week. So, when he's home, our time will be kept even more busy than now, because besides taking him to appointments, the more activities we can do to keep him focused, and even the good sleep he can get will help his brain recover faster.

We want you to know that we are so thankful for all of your prayers being said for Todd and for all of us, and that the prayers are being heard by our Heavenly Father, and we feel the affect of them on each of us, and especially on Todd. There is no doubt in our minds about this. And we are so thankful for meals that are being brought to the house. After intense days, being able to sit down and eat something that has been so kindly prepared has touched our hearts. Thanks to all of you. Please keep remembering Todd in your prayers.