Still no driving, but more independance

Yesterday was a day full of ups and downs for dad. Dad has been very determined to drive again. I think that he will be given this privilege eventually, however he is not quite ready yet. We took dad to get the plates on his car renewed and dad tried to renew his drivers license as well.  Once they heard of dad's heart attack and brain injury, they told dad that they would not be allowed to renew his driver's license until he was cleared from the doctor. Dad was very disappointed, but he handled the news well.

After being taken to the secretary of state, Tom took dad to Chelsea for his therapy. Because, this was Tom's first day back in the US (he went to Haiti for a while with the church), he asked a lot of questions and tried to get a better understanding of where dad is at in his recovery. It was determined that dad has been granted some more "independence" around the home. This means that we are transitioning from a very rigid routine for dad, to dad creating and following a check list for his daily routine. This also means that he does not have to be supervised for every single activity that he does around the house. However, it does mean that once dad finishes an activity that we need to look over what he did and correct any mistakes that he may/may not have made. Even though dad has been granted some more independence, he still has not been cleared drive, use power tools, guns or ladders.  Because dad no longer needs 24/7 supervision, Nathan and I are going to be transitioning out of my parents home. We are going to stick around to help dad get into his new self monitoring routine, help mom and Tom transition into the new routine, then we are moving home. (Dad is VERY excited about us leaving!! He loves us, but he knows that by us leaving it means that he is getting better!)

At least 50% of dad's in home therapy is going to be done online now. There is a reading program that forces dad to read at 100 wpm (words per minute), then tests his comprehension of the subject matter. The last two times we did this at home, dad has scored a 70% in comprehension. Through this same program there is a branch of the program that tests his memory through numbers. There are several other online programs that we will be accessing through the Internet that will help to work his memory and making those connections in his brain.

Today (2/12/13), dad will be getting the feeding tube in his stomach removed. He is very excited about no longer having to flush the tube with water or worrying about it getting infected (dad and I got in to the nightly routine of cleaning and disinfecting the area around the stomach tube...he will be very happy to never have me do this again. To be honest, I am not going to miss doing this either!)