(Originally posted March 3, 2009)

Today we had assessments with both physical therapy and speech therapy to begin J.J.'s outpatient treatment. The physical therapy assessment was pretty odd, actually. J.J. is definitely far beyond the level of function that most of the other patients in the gym are at. His assessment had him doing things like time tests of how far he could walk in a certain time frame or how many stairs he could climb in two minutes. The therapist also tested the strength of J.J.'s major muscle groups, contrasting his left side with the right (the affected side). The only real difference she saw was in J.J.'s hip flexors, so J.J. will be doing lots of leg lifts. I told him we'll pick up a leotard and a sweatband. He'll be fabulous! Anyway, he will be doing PT twice a week for 2-4 weeks. He's scheduled right now for the full four weeks since it's easier to cancel the appointments we don't need than to add more appointments without much notice, but she feels he'll be ready for discharge in two weeks.

Speech therapy was a different story. J.J. is definitely beyond where he was last week but still has pretty significant speech deficits. His reading needs work and his writing has also been impacted. The therapist feels very optimistic about J.J.'s prognosis and thinks he'll be back to work within 1-3 months (from her lips to God's ears!). He has been scheduled for sessions three times a week for 8 weeks.

The only other really interesting news to come out of today is that we bought new clothes for J.J. today, and his waist size is down 10 inches. As of today, he's lost 67 lbs. since the doctor appointment he had one week before the stroke (so, in 3.5 weeks). How long before someone tries to market strokes as the miracle weight loss cure?