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.