May 1, 2025

I decided I will do weekly updates to let you all know how Mike is doing. So many of you have reached out to ask. That means so much to us.

Progress at this point is still daily but in very small ways. God has been so faithful and we thank Him every day for His blessings upon Mike.

I can honestly say that I have seen Mike every day since this happened and every day, he physically looks better and sounds better.

Sunnyview is a beautiful facility. Very clean and inviting. The staff are all pretty friendly and they all tell me Mike is their favorite patient. “He is such a great guy”, they say to me, and now you all know I’m not biased because other people are saying it too 😉

Of course, he wants me to pick up pizza and milkshakes for them when I visit but I tell him we will do that to thank them after you “walk” out of here ❤️

Therapy has begun.

OT: They are working on scanning the room (especially to his left) and finding objects on paper (especially to the left of a line drawn down the center) with different colored markers. His vision has been significantly impaired. It should come back but it will take time, possibly a year or more. He knows he will not be driving again for a while.

He is doing a great job looking to his left and finding me without me cuing him or guiding him.

PT: They are doing electrical stimulation down his left side to stimulate the nerves and muscles. Mike reports excruciating pain throughout his whole body during these sessions and cannot tolerate it for long. So while it’s good that he can feel the pain, it’s very overwhelming right now.

Hopefully, his brain will start to send less pain signals out as his nerves and muscles wake up to this stimulation and normalizes the sensations to function more properly.

They’ve gotten him to a standing position with just a one-person assist. He reports he can feel his left foot on the floor. He can feel that left side as being part of him. He can feel his body as a unit in space.

Speech: His speech is very good. I can understand him the majority of the time with very infrequent requests to repeat what he said. His facial droop is slowly improving.

Mental health: His spirits remain pretty good. He’s joking a lot.
He keeps trying to convince friends and staff to “bust him out” for an hour or two so he can get work done at home and he “promises to come back”. He’s so adorable 💕

Eating: He’s on a regular diet and normal liquids. He does not need assistance to eat. He’s enjoying plenty of chocolate milkshakes and home-cooked food from friends. The food there is also not too bad, he reports.

Social: I’ve been working with him practicing making calls out on his phone, answering calls and doing voice to text. He’s getting better at all three. He’s been enjoying visits with friends as he feels more comfortable to see people now.

Pain: There’s been a lot less head pain so it’s been steadily decreasing which is encouraging. His back pain, however, is still a factor. The beds there are not great. More like cots. It’s surprising, at least to me.

He may also not be a good candidate for the exoskeleton because of his lower back as he’s still healing from his surgery last September. I’m sure they have other devices they use to help people walk but Mike is pretty disappointed that he may miss out on a cool photo op 😜

We’ve had a couple “date nights” and watched a few movies with some fun snacks. We are enjoying our quiet talks planning our future together. It’s still hard to leave at 8pm but he’s mostly comfortable and ready to sleep.