Day 152 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was dental day! Grayson had a dental evaluation in the morning, and a cleaning in the afternoon. With all of the time at the dentist, transportation and lunch, he only managed to get 1½ hours of therapy in. However, good oral care is critical for someone with a cardiac condition, so the time was well spent. He was quite overdue for a cleaning, as he was scheduled for one the week following his incident five months ago.

Because we were not sure how Grayson would respond to the cleaning, Regina thought it was critical for one of us to be there. I worked from our lovely accomodations while Regina went with Grayson to the dentist. His reaction was hard to predict, but with encouragement from Regina he was very calm and allowed the dentist and the hygienist to work away while causing little problem. The good news – Grayson's teeth were in great condition!

Because we were in Bakersfield during a weekday, Regina had a rare (for us) opportunity to see the going's on at the clinic. We frequently see the residence, as we are here every weekend. But the clinic where Grayson works every day is closed on the weekends. Regina got to observe Grayson during his therapy sessions before heading back to the dentist.

During physical therapy (PT), Grayson did a workout on a stationary bicycle, then back exercises using a large exercise ball. During occupational therapy (OT) Grayson worked on peripheral vision, reaction time, fine hand motor skills and eye coordination.

At the end of the day Grayson was rewarded for his efforts by shopping for a new electric toothbrush at Target, and dinner with a group from the residence at the Moo Creamery, a local restaurant and ice cream parlor. How can a day that ends in ice cream be bad?

Pax!

Brant