Change of Scenery

Saturday was a big day! Alistair got a day pass to leave campus. He had therapies in the morning and then we opted to wait until his 2:00 meds were given to leave. He worked hard in his therapies in the morning, Gillian and I arrived and we all had lunch together. Then Seth and I helped him take a shower in his room. So much easier than how we had to do it before!! My parents showed up in time for us all to head out the door.

P-51 Mustang

We used their Lincoln for Alistair's transport and Seth rode in the back with him. My mom, Gillian and I followed in our car with his wheelchair. Alistair decided he wanted to go to the Flying Hertitage Collection at Paine Field, Paul Allen's air museum. Yes, he has been there before many times! We arrived and successfully extracated Alistair from the car and into his chair. We spent a couple of hours walking around and looking at all the planes, tanks and helicopters. We took in a few short films about WWII and the roles of the airplanes on display in the fight. Then we loaded everyone back up to go home. We had to make sure Alistair understood that we couldn't go IN the house before we went there. Truth be told, we could carrying him into the rec room. But it wouldn't be safe to help him step up the steps. We really didn't want to have him fall on our watch (or at all anytime!) and get our privleges revoked. He was cool with hanging out in the backyard. 

P-47 Thunderbolt

We arrived home and I let the neighbors on either side of us and across the street know we were out front. I have never seen them move so quick! They came out visitied with us and him for quite some time, taking many opportunities to hug him. Nancy next door has been especially heart broken about Alistair, so I think it did her a lot of good to see him! Then we rolled him into the backyard and set up our deck furniture in the only flat-ish space in the yard...the usually swampy space right in the middle! A few more friends came by to visit for a bit until dinner was ready. Alistair really enjoyed seeing familiar faces and of course being in a familiar place!

My mom made an Alistair-friendly meal that we could all eat - meatloaf and baked sweet potatoes. He got a little sad that he couldn't have salad, but he had a few more stuffies instead (stuffed clams). Alistair ate his weight in meatloaf and potatoes. My Dad was helping him and sharing his horseradish with him...Alistair absolutely LOVED it! He has been eating a little better at the hospital now that he gets food that is formed, but obviously home cooked food is WAY better! We ended our meal with peach shortcake, which he also enjoyed! We quickly cleaned up and had to head back. We wanted to go say Hi to more people, but ran out of time! Next time!

Alistair had a fun day! He got a little sad about having to go back to the hospital. Seth told him we wanted him to stay home too, but we wanted to do it when he could walk around the house and get everywhere on his own. In order to be able to do that we need to go back to the hospital and do more work. He seemed to understand that. We got back and raced around to get him ready for bed. Sounds like he may have had a restless night last night. I am thinking so much stimulation and activity yesterday had his mind active most of the night! Today will be more of a quiet day, he can rest up for Monday and getting back to work!

Gillian was ready for bed before we headed back to the hospital, complete with slippers. She is holding the Rainbow Dash Pillow Pet Alistair chose for her at the gift shop! 

Today was a good demonstration of our determination to get him walking again, which he will! We were all wiped out from the day. It was a lot of work getting him from place to place, to use the bathroom, everything is more difficult. Obviously we will get used to whatever we need for him, but being in a wheelchair permanently will dramtically change our way of life for sure! I know he will be walking again. In PT yesterday he stood at the parallel bars for 3 minutes very tall and strong. We need to work on stamina and soon he can work on taking steps. I think once he gets a big stronger, it will come back quickly!