Monday

Well it looks as if Steve's strength is going to improve some everyday. Each day he walks for longer distances with less and less help and does more physical therapy than the previous day. In fact, his physical therapist said he did better with his afternoon workout today than he did this morning. When she asked Steve to step up onto the mini staircase, he stepped up, and then when she asked him to take a step backward, he stepped up onto the next step with a little smirk on his face that seemed to say "I'm just going to do it my own way." That seems to be the way he feels about a lot of silly commands or requests nowadays. He's always eager to get up and do something productive, like go for a walk, but if you ask him to hold up a hand if he understands you, he either will or won't, depending on what he feels like doing. He is definitely aware of what is going on around him and who is present and can focus better than he could a day or so ago. Today his trach was capped, meaning he is breathing 100% completely on his own, through his nose/mouth. This means he can also talk, if he wanted to, but he's not quite there yet, though he did mouth "bye bye" when his pulmonologist said bye to him today. If he continues to breathe well through his nose the trach will be taken out within a few days.