This is a photo of Gene giving us a thumbs up. Showing he is determined to get better and walk, talk and move his arm again. Our sister, Maureen is with him.You can also see the glass of cloudy looking water. It looks that way because of the thickener in it.
Gene has his "funny glasses" on.
I brought this little monkey to Gene on my first visit. I told him it was to remind him of me when I wasn't there. I was going to be a like a monkey on his back, reminding him to try hard and never give up.
This was taken for our sister Patty. She was not able to go visit Gene at first because she was recovering from surgery. So, Gene thought it would be funny to take a picture of him looking like he was crazy. He said to bring it to her and say "Here's your brother". Gene has always been funny and even with having a major stroke he still had his since of humor.
The photo isn't the best because I was laughing when I took the picture.
Gene and Robert practicing how to sit up.
Robert reminds Gene to always look at his foot and make sure it is in the right place. When someone first has a stroke they often ignore the side that is paralized and don't look at it. Gene can really get hurt if he doesn't look at his paralized side. If his foot or leg is twisted it could get broken and he wouldn't even know it. Plus it's necessary to look at the placement of his foot before he tries to transfer into the wheelchair. Otherwise he could fall.
Here, Matt is working on moving Gene's paralized arm. Gene can feel pain and touch but has no movement at all in his arm or hand.
It's important to move his arm so the brain can try to reprogram itself to move the arm down the line. Plus if he doesn't move the arm the muscles will freeze up and become very painful.
Stretching the arm and fingers and wrist becomes something that must be done several times a day.
Matt makes Gene look at his arm. He needs to try to remember to pay attention to his right side.
Katherine is teaching Gene how to talk and swallow again. The exercises seem funny at time but they really work in getting Gene to be able to talk again.