Walk to Dance

My dad has been doing much better recently! He has even taken a few steps here or there. He's good at lifting himself up from the wheelchair by pushing off from the arms of the chair, which means that I hardly have to do any work at all to get him up. On Sunday of this week, when he stood up, my mom, brother, sister, and brother-in-law were gathered all around. It was great. He balanced himself by putting his two hands on my mom's shoulders, and then he said, "I'm dancing!" With his jelly legs bouncing a little and his body swaying, he really did look like he was dancing; it was a happy moment.

Then yesterday afternoon, Ian came to visit and my dad had a good conversation during which he (my dad) spoke pretty proudly of his most recent "BM," as he called it. My dad was really excited to see Ian, though, and I think it was the first time since early October that my dad has spoken more than two words about how he's feeling.

I think his main complaint about his stay at Birchwood is that he's always surrounded by women who are trying to control him by not allowing him to get up and walk around whenever he feels like it. Although he's been taking a few shuffling steps, he still should have someone spotting him or holding onto him a little bit. After Ian left, my dad and I took another little walk, and my dad started doing an animated, bouncy little dance step and humming a little waltz. I walked beside him, holding his waist, doing the little bounce step, too. It's really been a fun few days here.

Because my dad is regaining some strength, he's also getting a little bit more feisty, too. As I mentioned earlier, he's been "arguing" with the nurses more. He really resists having to wait for someone to assist him now; for example, when he's ready to get out of bed, he'd prefer to just get up and walk to the bathroom to himself, even though he's really not steady enough yet. When I wheeled him to the dining room, I walked down the hall to leave, and when I turned around, my dad had sort of scooted himself out into the hall to follow me.

It was actually a pretty happy sight for me, since he hasn't taken control of his own "transportation" in about a month. He was just re-evaluated today to see if he can begin physical therapy again, though, so I hope he'll start physical therapy soon and be able to walk with just a walker or something. Keep your fingers crossed!