October 6-13

Day 236-243
Today marks 8 months since Glenn's stroke, and wow, what a lot I have to report. You may have noticed a lack of posting, but it has been busy again, and with the holiday, a short week.
I must admit I had no idea where we would be at this point in time last February, but have gained a lot of knowledge about recovery and rehabilitation. I was hoping to be back to normal, or perhaps walking and eating, so I was not very close to the mark. However, now that we have come this far, I know that we had to do a lot of work to get here, and are doing really well. Hind sight is 20-20.
Last weekend we went for dinner at my Mom's and did really well. The kids met us there, and had Glenn in the house before I even had my stuff out of the car. They are so willing to help, I forget sometimes. Anyway, Glenn had a good visit, and everyone noticed that his speech is clearer, so it is not just me. We ate lots, had a good laugh, and generally recharged away from home, so it was good for us. Monday was a holiday, and was really a nice day, so we worked in the yard and got a few things put away for winter. There's more to do, but it was a good start. There was no therapy that day, so I was concerned that Glenn would be a little stiff on Thursday. He wasn't, in fact he did well. His physio was elated, and told me that he had pulled his right leg through when he was walking! That's the first time he's been able to do that, and he did it more than once. She was really encouraged by that and I was a bit astounded. We went to OT next, and lo and behold, his right arm worked better too. She gave him a ring which he passed behind himself, from his left to his right, and then brought his right hand around in front of himself and put the ring back into his left hand. He did that over and over, needing help only to get his right hand behind his back to catch the ring! She too was elated and called me over to watch. (I had been chatting with an older lady who was waiting for her hubby too). I told Glenn that he should have more days off, if that is how he is going to catch up!
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, and we went to do his blood testing. It was a bit miserable on Thursday, but Glenn suggested that I go by the CAA car lot and see what they had on the lot that day. They had a Caravan, so we decided to try it and so stopped and got Glenn into the wheelchair. The salesman remembered me, and was good enough to get a key. I was surprised and a little dismayed to find that the van didn't work, we couldn't get Glenn into the seat. Another salesman said "Have you tried a Rav4?" and I said no, did they have one? Well, yes they did, so they got the key for that too, and we transferred Glenn into it. It went pretty well, so I started to ask questions and Glenn said we should take it for a drive. I don't know if everyone does this or not, but I get the feeling of right when I get into some vehicles or machines. As soon as I headed down the street, I knew this was the one. We went back to the lot, and I asked the salesman how big the back opening was, and he got a tape measure, measured it for me, and we found it to be 38" which should accommodate the power chair. Oh boy, it met all of our criteria, except it is silver. I bought it. It is a 2007 Rav4 Limited, 4 cylinder (2.4 l) engine, with power locks, windows, tilt, air, cruise, all wheel drive, with 23000 kms. (That's pretty new for us, but it felt right!) We brought it home yesterday, and Glenn was surfing the net all evening to find customer feedback on the performance and mileage people report. It should get between 25 and 30 MPG, so we'll keep and eye on it for a while. Dale was disappointed, but he hasn't seen it yet. Glenn was almost giggling all the way home, and boy are there buttons for him to push! We also got a CAA membership, free oil change, a Mr. Clean car wash system. and one of those handy tools. It doesn't have remote start, but I will get one installed ASAP.
So that is another big decision made, and I hope that this vehicle stands up to its reputation. CAA undercoated it again, so it should be good for a few hundred thousand kilometers. It handles really well, and I couldn't believe the size of the tailgate. We haven't actually tried to load the power chair yet, but I think it will go in. How exciting, and what a day it was! I didn't even want to go shopping, so really it was Glenn's fault!
Mom and Dad went to visit Elaine this weekend, Wendy is in Las Vegas, and Ken, Bill , Fred, Kent and Chris all have birthdays this month. There are a bunch of anniversaries too, so Hallmark will do well by us this month too.
Next post should not be quite so full of news, but who knows? Glenn likes to drink chocolate milk through a straw, and he is doing more mouth exercises than before, so maybe there will be a breakthrough there too. Keep praying, it is absolutely working!
'Til next time,
Louise