monday evening

gen had a good day today. she worries about having enough progress to warrant another week, each week. i reminded her that God is in control and that He gave her a spirit willing and eager to meet new challenges from the time she was a little girl. He knew long ago that she needed to be tough and determined. He also knows how long she needs to stay here to accomplish what she needs to accomplish. i pray that we will be allowed to stay as long as it is His will for us to stay. today gen worked on arm strength and movement in ot. she moved her arms up and forward on several exercises. she also worked on supporting herself using her arms more to sustain weight. in pt she had e stim in the morning, working her lower legs and feet. in the afternoon amy had her stand in front of a table...just stand and shift her weight from foot to foot. she also had her move one foot to the front and then move it back, repeating with the other side. then courtney from ot stopped by and said she thought gen was ready to try a walker, using her hands to help support weight. so amy got gen up to a walker, and had her hands on the handles. gen says she was not really supporting herself with her arms, but was just standing on her feet, balancing herself with her arms lightly resting on the handles of the walker. in any case, she is standing better and better, and also using her arms better and better. in speech she got to play a new game, called catch phrase. she really liked it. we didn't use the board and timer, but gen had to try to get katie to say the featured word by her description. this meant gen had to come up with the words and get them out in an understandable form. she did really well. she also did well at guessing the words katie was describing. in the afternoon speech session katie worked with amy from pt and they asked gen questions (what is your favorite food, restaurant, etc) and gen had to answer so they could understand. she did very well and had everyone laughing at her fun-filled spirit and good humor. tonight is monday night football and gen is booing the arizona cardinals (da bears are gen's team). she can boo very loudly. we thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers for gen. she really appreciates the comments and cards she gets, and she is thankful that so many are lifting her up in prayer. we feel the strength that only can come from the faith in Christ, knowing He knows all we are going through and He loves us like no one else can.

susan
ps jenny: gen says "what is this salty discharge?"