Up and Moving

Today's theme was getting out of that stinking bed and moving a little bit. First thing this morning Terri, a physical therapist, came to help Kameron begin to strengthen his muscles again. She had him push her with his feet, pull her with his arms, lift his bum up so a stuffed bunny could go under the bridge. He got up and practically took off running across the room. We're all scream, "NO!" cause his tubes won't go very far, but he was way into it. It was nice to see him want to get up and move a little bit. Terri was fantastic! She was fun and Kameron really liked working with her. Someone will come back tomorrow to work with him again.

Later this afternoon, Mom and I took Damon, Keely, and Briton to the Denver Zoo. It felt so good to get out of this hospital! Of course I thought of Kam the entire time, but it felt good to be outside and walking myself! It was a pretty nice zoo. Whatever you do, don't ride the train. Not worth it! Took a bunch of really great pictures.

While we were gone, Kameron and Steve ventured out and walked two laps around what Kam called the "block." (Kameron was in his wheelchair) Our floor is set up in a big rectangle and you can walk all the way around. He was very proud of himself. I can't figure out how Steve pushed the wheelchair, the oxygen tank, and carried the chest tube machine by himself. It took three of us tonight to carry everything.

Steve and the kids drove home to Casper tonight. They will get back to school, and hopefully the next time they come, they'll be picking us up!!

I've been bringing projects back from the activity room all week and Kameron finally expressed some interest in seeing this mystery place. So Mom, Kathy (our nurse) and I pushed and carried all of his gear to the activity center where he checked out the video games, some toys, and picked another art project to bring back to the room. When he gets his chest tube out, it'll be much easier to go places, maybe even to the first floor, where there are entertainers almost daily.

This evening a musical group came into the room and sang and played. Guitars, shakers, harmonica, tamborine, and vocals. They were pretty good. Kameron smiled so cute like he couldn't believe they were doing this just for him.

As for his health: slowly but surely he continues to make progress. He had a mild fever this morning but none since. He is weening just a bit off of his pain meds. His tube is draining hardly anything anymore (I think that's good now cause there's not much more to drain). His breathing is so much better, so much more slow and deep, and not distressed. His doctors and nurses can hear air movement more and more each day in his lower right lung where they could hear NOTHING at first.

Today was a good day! Love to you all, Joey