James came home for the weekend for the first time in 7 months last weekend!  He enjoyed himself greatly!  He wanted me to take pictures of him with all the pets so he could show them to the hospital staff.  We got pictures of him with some of the pets and then I just started taking pictures without James in them!  He also went to church for the first time since his accident.  He did very well and enjoyed seeing everone again! 

He is doing great in his therapies.  He is walking with just one person assist using the wall rails in the hallway.  His balance and his core strength are starting to really return.  He is taking a writing class and loving it.  His printing is getting quite legible.  He is starting to really text and use his facebook messaging without assistance and a few people have recieved messages from him.  He is doing well at his speech and language therapies,  progress there is slow,  but it is progress!  He is starting to dress himself.  He is able to get his shirt on and off himself and needs just a bit of assistance with pants.

We are heading home again this weekend and looking foreward to a long weekend!  The plan is to go home for the weekend every week now!

We bumped into the neuro surgeon who did James' surgery today!  It was really cool because he recognized us right away,  and was very pleasently surprized!  He may come up to visit James tomorrow morning!  He said that he might make it for physio tomorrow! After the surgery he really didnt think that James would wake up and told us that he would be paralyzed on his right side,  so I am super pleased that James was able to prove him wrong!

We had a fantastic weekend with James.  All his sleep over passes went great.  We decided on Saturday to see if we could transfer him into the truck.  I got him standing by the passenger seat and had just commented that we wouldnt be able to get him in because the seat was too high.  Next thing I know he is in the truck trying to close the door!  He came for a drive and went to Walmart   with us!  The smile on his face did not fade for the hour that we were out!  We went for another drive on Sunday.
James started a group hand class this week.  It is his favourite therapy!   Although when I asked in front of his occupational therapist,  he told her that OT is his favourite and that she is his favourite therapist!  What a teacher's pet! 
He has some more physio time added to his scheduel now too.  They work on walking with the walker in his morning session and balance in the parellel bars in the afternoon.  He is doing great!  His movements and reactions are still quite slow,  but I am seeing a difference in the speed of his movements.  His balance is definetely getting better too. 
He restarted speech and language therapy too.  He seems to be enjoying those sessions too. 
Next week there will be a therapy assistant working with him in the mornings to help him become more independent with self care.  He is already brushing his own teeth and washing his own  hands.  He is starting to help with dressing as well!
He is now spending weekend passes with me and in two weeks we are planning a weekend pass home!  His next rehab review date is September 12th and hopefully we will have a clearer picture of when discharge will be at that point.  I am not in a rush though!  Outpatient rehab is pretty much nonexsistant in the valley,  so the more we can utilize here the better.

James is still doing awesome at his therapies.  On Friday he did a full lap around the unit with the u step walker during physio!  His therapist said that that is about 90m.  He was quite tired afterwards though.  His Occupational therapist is going to see if she can get him into a group therapy too.  He seems to be losing his fear of people,  so I think a group would encourage some social interactions.  He is super excited about Wednesday this week too,  he is going to spend an overnight at Jeneece place with me and his brother!  Then this weekend when his Dad and sister come to visit,  he will spend the whole weekend at Jeneece place with us!  The nurses will do some training with me over the next couple of days around the tube feed and medications.  I am pretty comfortable with them already,  but just need to officially have some training.  He has a new speech therapist now too.  He will start working with her on Tuesday.  He is starting to move his mouth,  wanting to talk,  but is unsure how to form his lips and tongue and is having trouble making sound when he wants to.  He has a great vocal laugh now,  and does make some sounds when he is working hard at something.  Just no actual speech yet.