Tony had his neurologist appointment today. I think he might have been the same kind of doctor we saw at. Rancho last Monday. He had Tony read the eye chart for the 1st time that I know of since the accident. he still has 20 20. His left eye still doesn't dilate as quickly as his right and he still has double vision. Tony says he doesn't see double when looking at his computer nor for very long distances, just in between. We are very thankful for the vision he has but are hoping his left eye fully recovers. we haven't had any calls to make an appointment with the neurooptamoligist yet but I will ask about that on Monday when we go to rehab. I will also ask about the orthopedic appointment for his finger. Please continue to pray for his recovery . Thank you Lord for all the recovery you have already given him.

Rancho called today and said Tony will start therapy on Monday. thank you all for your prayers. My sister-in-law lives in New Jersy very close to one of the top rehab facilities in the country so we were praying about getting Tony into there. We were getting a bit concerned because he has been out of rehab for a month and a half and still didn't have a date for out patient rehab. Since Tony is all set up for Rancho we will probably still send him there. We don't want to delay things any longer. the good news it that even though he has been with out rehab for a month and a half he has still continued to improve a lot. I think we will also continue to try and get information on what the New jersey facility may have to offer him that Rancho doesn't.
Tomorrow we have an appointment with a neurologist and I will ask him what he thinks.

I called Rancho today to see how the x-rays on Tony's finger came out. The doctor only comes in once a week and hadn't seen the results yet. She said it would probably take a few more days. We are still also waiting for them to call for his rehab appointments. Please continue to keep us in prayer. Another option in rehab facilities has come to our attention. We are weighing the pros and cons of changing our decision at Rancho at this point in the game. We want to make a decision that would be in Tony's best interest. Please pray the Lord will make it clear to us what that should be. Also please pray for his continued recovery.

Tony is still continuing to improve. This week was a good week for him. He seems to be having a bit more energy. He still tires easier than he used to but his self motivation to do things seems to be coming back stronger. Until recently it was necessary to give him gentle prods to get him off the couch and do some therapy. All week he has been taking the initiative to start projects on his own. When Tony was in College we really didn't need to stay on top of him to do his homework. He was really good at organizing his time and getting his studying done. I can breath a little easier knowing this is coming back to him.

Tony's doctor appointment went well. They ex-rayed two of his fingers on his right hand to see if there was something that could be done surgically. The tech told him he fractured his middle finger but it had healed it's self but didn't say anything about the one he has trouble with. I guess we will have to hear back from the doctor about that one. They also did a blood test to check anemia and some of the other things that were off when he was in the hospital.

Tony's aunt Maria has flown home to New Jersey but not without leaving all kinds of goodies in the refrigerator. We are all going to miss her. Tomarrow morning Tony has a doctors appointment at Rancho . I thought it was to go over the results of Thursdays appointment but since they updated us after the appointment I'm not sure what is for. Maybe it's to verify he is healthy enough to do physical therapy there. I guess we will find out in the morning.

Expecting Excellent Recovery

Tony had his evaluation at Rancho today. There was 1 doctor,2 physical therapists, 2 occupational therapists, 2 speech therapists, and a phychiatrist. The were all there to observe Tony as they asked him several questions for about 2 to 3 hours. After the group session was over we were told that they expected Tony to make an excellent recovery!!!! So fantastic to hear! I could tell he has made a lot of progress since he came home but it was good to hear the prognosis from a professional. After the group session he spent about 20 minutes with one therapist from each division. In those sessions he was given more tests in order to better individualize his rehab. Tony's therapy will be much more advanced than the therapy that is normally given because he is very intelligent. He is not suffering from depression or anger issues, nor does he have any desire to take drugs or drink alcohol so they decided the phychotherapy wasn't necessary. Tony is so happy and thankful to God just to be alive!
His therapy sessions will be on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8am until 12. They should last from 2 to 3 months and they will call us as soon as they have a start date on the schedule. Most likely that will be in 1 to 2 weeks. He will also be seeing a neurooptomolagist about his left eye. I want to thank all of you again for your prayers. We know they are the reason he is doing so well and we thank God for all that he has done for us. Please continue to pray for Tony as he enters this next phase of his recovery. May God Bless all of you!

Tony is doing well. He is looking forward to getting back to work. Tomarrow is his evaluation day at Rancho so hopefully we will get an idea of how much rehab he will need soon.

Day 77

Tony had a good weekend. Saturday he went to Disneyland with his friends for his birthday. He made it to around 3:30 until he got tired. Not bad considering what he has been through. Yesterday we had a birthday party with all Mikes relatives for him. Aunt Maia and everyone took care of the food and the planning so we didn't have to do anything but enjoy. It was a great party and very nice to see everyone.

Happy Birthday to my little brother!!!!

Tonys birthday

Happy birthday Tony!!! A very special birthday indeed. Thank you Lord for this day!

Day 75

Tony had an appointment with his GP yesterday and the doctor said he was doing well. His GP has a tentative date of October 25th to return to work. I had also talked to a neurophychologist who said he thought Tony would be able to do the job because his memory is intact. He just warned that Tony needs to take the time to heal before going back to work. Next Thursday we have an appointment for his rehab evaluation. Hopefully then we will have a better idea of when he will be ready. I think we will stick with Rancho Los Amigos for now because the doctor I just spoke to confirmed what we were told in Fresno. Rancho Los Amigos is known internationally for having a good rehab program. Please continue to pray for Tony's healing. He is still making progress. His left eye is looking better. he says he still has some double vision but I can see him focusing better. His doctor said that is something they will address in rehab and maybe put a patch on his good eye to build the mussle in his left eye for awhile.

Day 73

This Saturday is Tony's birthday. We plan on celebrating this year. Tony will be going to Disneyland on Saturday with some of his friends.and On Sunday we will have a party with a lot of Mikes relatives. It should be fun.

Day 72

Tony had another good day visiting with his Aunt Maria. He is getting around fairly well these days. He has his appetite back and has put some weight on. He is at a health weight for his height but he is at the lower end.
He did some logic puzzles yesterday and he did well on them.

Day 71

Tony spent a lot of the day with his Aunt Maria today. She is a great conversationalist and that is good for him right now. She also made us a wonderful dinner. She is very sweet.
While Tony and Maria were at the store I took my car to the car wash. The Good Will was near the car wash and I had some things At home I wanted to donate. I decided to walk over there while I was waiting for my car and see if the drop off was open today. I walked down a fairly long alleyway and when I got close the attendant said he had been watching me "from way back there and I had the biggest smile on my face so I must be thinking of something really great." I hadn't even noticed I was smiling but I was thinking about how fortunate I was that I would be able to see Tony later and see his wonderful smile. Yes, I was thinking about something great. God is good!g

Day 70

Tony's Aunt Maria got in this afternoon and he is having fun visiting with her. His energy level was pretty good all day. Next Thursday he has an appointment with his GP and the following Thursday he has an evaluation for rehab. I am anxious to find out what they will suggest for him.

Day 69

Tony had some friends over from work to visit him today. I know he enjoyed having someone to play portal with who actually knew how to make their man go somewhere. We live about 1.5 hours drive from their office so it was really a long way for them to come. Tomarrow Tony's Aunt Maria is flying in to visit him. He is really looking forward to seeing her.

Day 68

Tony's surgery left his neck very sore for about a day but he didn't feel the need to take anything for the pain. They entered his vein from his neck and followed it down with a camera to his vena cava to remove the filter. It was feeling much better today.

Day 67

So a couple of really nice things happened on our trip to Fresno. Sheryl from the YMCA family camp made arrangements for her parents to be at the camp on Tuesday so we could go there for an hour. All the sessions were over so it was just us. The YMCA family camp was were we were headed when Tony got in an accident. We have gone there every summer since before Tony was born. Tony looks forward to that trip every summer so it was really nice for him to get to go up there and get some pictures! It was as beautiful as ever with the smell of fresh pine trees in the air. We hated to leave.
After we left the camp we went to Terry's house to hi and to introduce Tony to the staff. They said they had room available for the night if we wanted to stay. Mike and I had been thinking how nice it would be to stay there again but we didn't want to impose. They were so good to us when we really needed it. It was really a great feeling to have Tony with us this time so he could see how nice everything was. He has very little memory of his stay in Fresno.
Once we checked in we went over to the hospital and said hi to some of the nurses and one of the respiratory therapists that worked on Tony. They really were wonderful and we wanted to thank them again. Who ever hires the personnel at the hospital (and Terry's house) really deserves a lot of credit. I didn't run across a single person there that wasn't compassionate and professional and hard working . We spent a lot of time there so we got to meet a lot of the staff. We will never forget them. As wonderful as they all are we are happy to put that chapter behind us.