Busy day. Colin started with PT as usual. Naomi got him on the treadmill at 9:00 am. He was strapped into a harness that made me joke with him about jumping out of an airplane. Colin looked like he was buckled to a parachute. Anyway, the harness carried most of his weight, but allowed him to put his legs into motion on the treadmill. This was exciting because he was initiating the movement in his right leg with his thigh. Naomi guided his lower leg and foot movement. Aunt Bridgette, Uncle Joe, Joey, Julia, Jenna and Great Aunt Amy visited with Colin during lunch. Of course they spoiled him with a vanilla milkshake from McDonalds. Joey and Colin played a marathon game of BIG Trouble, and Quenten begged them to start a new game so he could play. When I returned, after taking Megan and Brendan to the dentist and voting, I practically ran over the Duffy family in the hallway of the hospital. I helped them find their way to Colin and we forced him outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. It was a short visit because Colin had OT, but I’m so glad they came.I had a conversation with Kathy, the nurse practitioner, while Colin was at OT. I was commenting on Colin’s giddy behavior when he has visitors. I explained that he smiles and laughs, but refuses to do things – like go outside for example. She said that unstable emotions and mood shifts were common with brain injury and trauma. Kathy went on to say that some patients with brain injury display irritability with everything, or anger toward everyone and some may cry or laugh at inappropriate times. She assured me that Colin would probably gain better control of emotions and mood as time goes on.I should have been working on homework for my class, or putting grades online for my students, but I chose to watch a movie with Colin this evening. We watched The Incredible Hulk. It wasn’t bad; I’ll give it a few stars. Now that he’s sleeping I can journal, and do my homework…Schedule week of 11/1: For those that have inquired about visiting Colin during the week, his open times are as follows: Mon. 12-1, 2-4, 4:30-8; Tues. 10-11, 12-2, 3-8; Wed. 12-1, 3-8; Thurs. 12-2, 3-8; Fri. 12-1, 2-8
