3/28

Oops. Speech tells me that they haven't given him the green light for water yet. Consider it noted. He might move off of "mechanical soft" foods tomorrow, however. Good news for me because I've been bringing him daily McDonalds cheeseburger Happy Meals to replace the food the hospital offers -- and eating (or enabling someone to eat) Happy Meals goes against my every fiber of being. But mechanical soft they are. You could eat them without teeth.

Mike's hitting his benchmarks. He is now expected to eat one meal at a table in a wheelchair, as opposed to bed. He started that today. He's being asked to hold more of his weight during bed to wheelchair transfers which he is doing. His fine motor skills are getting better. He can manipulate his remote control much of the time and bring small foods from table to mouth. He is a natural in the wheelchair (maybe all that kayaking helped).

As promised, Mike is starting to "wake up." He is taking a combination of drugs that is supposed to reorient his circadian rhythm and it's having a dramatic effect. We all feel like Mike is returning to us from a dark fog.