He's on a roll

Ilan played backgammon three times this week.  He is able to comfortably lift both dice, throw them and then move each of the pieces by himself to the right (count) spot, all with his left hand. Tonight he completed a whole game, and won!!

Ilan is now using his hand to direct traffic by telling/reminding us what to do.  For example, when he is being changed and we have not yet finished pulling his shirt over his head/arms, he already points to his feet to remind us to (get our act together and hurry up) to put on his shoes! 

Last evening he had another first.  He has refused to be fed by mouth with the delicious purees

(apple, peach, etc.) that his bubbe and mum make for him.  Well last night we gave him chocolate pudding and he ate 4-5 times more than he has ever eaten thus far.  We are not sure if it was the taste or the texture that spurred him to eat so much.

This afternoon mum took him after therapy and they had lunch together with dad in the park as it was a beautiful day.  In the evening, Ilan and dad went to a Sinai family's house as a visitor/healer from Israel, that has prayed daily for Ilan's recovery since the accident, was in town and wanted to meet Ilan.  He feels that Ilan will recover almost completely but it will take some time?!  

Late this evening Ilan showered his affection to his sister (when she wished him goodnight) by hugging her tightly and also caressing/stroking her head and hair!!

 

Additional Progress

Ilan has had quite an exciting week.  He did his regular physical and occupational therapy classes during the week where he sometimes chose not to participate - he came home and showed us where it was bothering him (his cheekbone) and that is why he would not participate! However, he did very well when he did participate.  So much so that the therapist is looking to add a piece of equipment to their inventory that will assist Ilan in learning to walk again.

Ilan excelled with multiple flash cards in Math, English, and general logic type items scoring 100% in most everything.  He seems to be unsure of himself in spelling. Also, he has agreed to play backgammon and chess when time permits?! 

One of the Milken parents, Susan Kaye, who has so kindly come regularly to help Ilan with therapy since his accident, came on Saturday morning and she mentioned that she found Ilan helping her quite a bit with his "lazy" right arm.   

On Saturday late evening we took Ilan to drive his sister to a Bat Mitzvah in Westlake; we decided to stay in the vicinity till we picked her up.  We asked him if he would join us for dinner at BJ's restaurant and we were overjoyed when he responded yes.  After we were seated, he had a very interested and excited look on his face - he looked around a lot, "conversed" with us a lot, and checked out the TV screens.  This lasted for about 20 mins and then he got a bit restless. As soon as we left the restaurant he perked up again.

On Sunday Jarone was home and exercised him a lot.  We stood him up and tried shifting his legs alternately to duplicate walking.  It did not go very well as Ilan favored only his left leg since his right leg is still quite stiff and immobile.  The good news is that while Ilan was standing we asked him to give us the victory sign and he did.  We got a great picture of this and will try to post same in the near future.

This afternoon (Monday 2/23) Estelle said that she worked with Ilan in the transfer of tennis balls from one basket to another.    She asked him to use his "lazy" right hand to do this exercise and was happily surprised to see that he did this exercise four times with his right hand for the 1st time since the accident!!!   

Good results

Last Monday, we took Ilan to Casa Colina Hospital in Pomona for his evaluation.  Ilan was quite shy of the doctor at first but came on strong in the latter part of the checkup (after he was prompted by phone by his older brother David!).  The result of the evaluation was that they were quite pleased with Ilan's progress and felt that he is a good candidate for a stay at their hospital to help and teach him with his recovery; they suggested various additional meds that could also help him with specific needs.  The holdup at this point is getting approval from our health insurance, HealthNet.

Later in the week Ilan went to the school district for a speech evaluation.  This entailed asking him many different questions using flash cards; he managed to correctly point to 9 out of 1o!

Ilan continues to have a smile on his face thruout the day like a newborn child discovering his surroundings.  He accomplishes all his tasks with twinkly excited eyes, even when he does not like what he is doing or is in discomfort.  He amazes us with his tenacity to try new things.  He utilizes his left arm and leg to maximum benefit.   Jarone has him doing 'circles' by holding his hand out wide and moving his hand in circles (similar to what is done in aerobics).  Ilan manages to do so by himself with his left hand and Jarone helps him with his right arm.  

His right arm and leg are currently immobile and relatively stiff, similar to how his right arm and leg were prior to him achieving controlled movement.  We asked the doctor about this and he confirmed that the stiffness could be a prelude to his developing control of his right side?!

The other day he looked quite tired and looked at me like he was trying to communicate with me - I asked him many different items he wished to to tell me.  Turned out that he wanted the TV turned off and for me to leave the room.  Well I told him he needs to use his hand to tell me this. So he pointed to me and then pointed to the door, for me to leave!!!!   

Ilan has also been trying to speak.  He realizes that this is not yet going very well but upon a little coaxing agrees to try.  We try to break down the words into only  2 syllables.  For instance, we say 'la' and he responds the best he can and then 'ni' and he responds.  We do this several times and sometimes he will combine both syllables with a tone inflexion, and then smiles extremely proud of his accomplishment.  When he does combine the 2 syllables we ask him if he said 'lani', he nods emphatically and gives us a shy yet proud smile.  

This weekend we took him to the Westside Pavilion for a brief visit, against his complaints.  Once there he was cheerfully looking around at the stores and the people.  We took him to the puppy store on the 3rd floor and he was totally absorbed in watching the puppies playfully rolling around with each other.  When we returned home and asked him about the trip, his observations were that he was disappointed he did not meet any of his friends and also he did not see any pretty girls there!!!

Ilan is making strides

Since the last posting Ilan has made many strides forward in his desire to improve.  He is moving his left leg and hand on request; with his left hand he shakes hands, he grips a ball and places the ball from one spot to another,  he stacks cups (in color order repeatedly), he reaches and points to his shirt selection for the day.  On request by his brother he now lifts his head high off the pillow.  His right hand and leg are making slight improvement so far.  Also, Michal taught him to shake and nod his head for no and yes and he will very often give us 'no' in answer to everything and then laugh. 

This has led Ilan to a lot of mischief.  He throws the covers off him in the middle of the night even though it is cold and then loudly calls out "Ma" for Estelle to replace it;  while he is in the van he lifts off the safety hat restraint  from his head even though he is requested not to do so; he refused to swallow during a recent crucial swallow test and laughed when the doctor gave up and said to reschedule; and last weekend he pulled out his feeding tube in the middle of the night which later caused him a lot of pain and discomfort when the doctors took a while replacing same the next day.  This led us to make Ilan start to eat "foods" and have started him on a daily routine of a small amount of pureed fruits - he puts up a fuss but gives in and eats his alotted share!

Last week, Ms. Greene and Mr. Pennay from Sinai Akiba visited with Ilan one evening after school.  They are Ilan's favorite teachers.  Even though Ilan later said that he enjoyed their visit, apparently he was very quiet during their visit not making much eye contact.     

Just a few days ago Ilan went to see his  neurologist who he had not seen in 2 months.  She was amazed and excited at the improvement in all arenas that Ilan showed her.  Ilan confidently shook her hand and nodded to many of the questions she asked him.  She was very glad to learn that Ilan will be going next week for a rehab evaluation and, like all of us in the family, she is anxious to learn the results which could put Ilan on a faster track to better recovery.  She also suggested that, due to his recent progress, she would check into a new program for Ilan of magnetic brain stimulation at USC Medical Center.

Please do us a favor and inform us if you know of, or can suggest, any new exercises or routines that will help Ilan in his recovery.