So we started the actual hand therapy exercises yesterday. Kevin and I went to Target and bought two bins and a bunch of objects... fuzzy tennis balls, raquet ball balls, a large resin cow, a not so large resin pig, a softball, a baseball, a couple of Aloha print nerf footballs, and the best.. a Hot Wheels bright yellow Ferrari. The goal is to move the items from one bin to the other by actually grasping and lifting them. When she told us 10 minutes a day, it sounded like an awful lot of time for a simple task. Shows what I know!

Since Glen's right hand is weaker than his left, we're supposed to focus primarily on the right. So with Kevin as our timekeeper, Glen began moving items. Well let me tell you... the man CHEATS!! Wanted to use both hands, or press the object up against the side of the bin and roll it into the other one! Harumph! I moved the bins further apart, and if he used two hands, he had to put it back and start again! And in that way, he moved all the items with his right hand, then back to the first bin with his left hand, then again with the right. He needed a break after each hand, and it was obviously a LOT of work... but he was a real trooper, and the three of us were able to keep it fairly light and laugh a lot. After the three sets... the timer went off! wow.

He seems to be having trouble sleeping again... sometimes because of anxiety (he doesn't like it if one of us is out when he goes to bed.. lays awake listening for the garage door). Changing the times of medications seemed to help for a while, but now he's struggling again. May need a different bed, or different pillows, or some actual sleep meds... if it keeps up I will call the neurologist's nurse, a wonderful lady named Robyn, and find out if she has any suggestions.

And... he has to do the sleep study again. They didn't tell us why. Could be the equipment wasn't on properly, or he just didn't get 4 hours of sleep that night, or... well, who knows. So he has an appointment next week to get the equipment to try again.

Later same day: This was posted by the alsa.org Facebook page. Nice perspective: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-welsh26-2009jul26,0,5173890.story