Day 182 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

When I spoke with Grayson this evening, he was already in bed. Now that is a feat considering that I am 2 time zones ahead of him! We had a short but nice chat before I let him get back to the nice quiet snuggle time he enjoys before he drifts off to sleep.

I had previously said that I would give you all a "data dump" from the patient conference that we had last Tuesday. Tonight I will review the report from physical therapy. On the positive side, the area of physical strength and abilities is where Grayson has had the most significant improvement since his incident. He is now able to walk safely. He is able to tolerate 15 to 20 minutes on the treadmill at 2 ½ MPH, less time at increased speeds. Overall on physical ability, on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being "normal", Grayson is a 4.

Grayson's physical therapist has noticed that Grayson has difficulty processing certain things when time is a factor in success – not speed, but time. Grayson currently has an extremely poor sense of time and timing – a far cry from the Grayson we all remember from his days in musical theatre. These things include movements to environment, such as hitting a baseball, singing in rhythm, or turning a car. His therapist has started him on an exercise regimen three times a week of exercises that tie physical movement and action to the beat of a metronome. In the first few weeks of these exercises Grayson has improved from an initial score of 2 out of 50 to a current score of 8 out of 50. This is a significant improvement in a few weeks, but considering that you and I are somewhere in the high 40's, it also gives an indication of how much of a deficit that Grayson has to overcome.

I am currently at the Boeing Leadership Center in St Louis and will be here all week, so you will get the opportunity to hear Regina's voice for a wonderful change of pace the next few days. I don't say it often enough, but I can't imagine a better partner to be with on this journey – one that we never envisioned or wanted, but have been called by God to travel.

And travel we have. This morning at 11:15 PT, we passed the 6 month mark of our journey. Grayson has made some remarkable progress, and we celebrate that success. He still has many, many challenges before him, and for those he needs all of our help and prayer. Thanks for all of the strength you have given us over these past 6 months. I can't imagine how we could have managed without it.

Pax!

Brant