Logan continues to make small improvements daily; today, the speech pathologist handed him his toothbrush with toothpaste on it and Logan brushed his teeth. He is able to move just about anything on the right side on command (a specific finger, toes, bending and straightening his leg, and other things that he is asked to do) and it seems that something new is added almost every day. He had a few visitors over the past couple of days, Josh and Chris on Tuesday and Tanny on Thursday. They got some pretty good reactions from Logan; he smiled a lot and shook their hands when they extended theirs and some other things. Thanks to all of you. Today was animal therapy day (I don't know what they call it, but people bring a bunch of dogs to TIRR and they interact with the patients), but I'd be willing to bet that Logan is glad when it's over. Amy said that he did throw a ball for a dog to retrieve a couple of times today. They try just about anything to get responses from the patients, which is a really good thing. The tendon lengthening procedure will be pushed back a little in order to try a medicine for spacticity which is injected, rather than taken orally. If the medication is effective, a pump would be placed under the skin in his abdomen which would automatically release the medication. The oral medication for spacticity, (which is a type of muscle relaxer), can cause drowsiness which makes any activity or therapy difficult and less productive. We'll have to see how he responds to the medication and go from there. While we're not looking forward to any more surgical procedures, we're not complaining because the progress that he's made since the plate was put in has been terrific.            

                   The swallow test showed that Logan was able to get the liquid (some barium junk) down without choking, so the speech pathologist has begun giving him small amounts of juices. The length of time it takes for him to get the juice down varies each time, but that should improve with practice. He is also responding to more commands each day; today while Amy was with him, she asked him to throw a ball that he was holding and he did. We are pretty sure that he was aiming for her and had been thinking about it for some time. We are still waiting for the date for the tendon surgery; hopefully, this week we'll get that scheduled. Everything continues to go well. He is moving a lot and his fine motor skills are improving. Robby took him outside a few times this weekend to enjoy the warm, sunny weather while it lasts. Therapy is getting more strenuous, with them assisting Logan in standing and stepping out with his right foot. The tendon lengthening will make this process easier by enabling him to place his left foot flat on the floor. He requires a lot of support to do any of these activities, and they are working on strengthening the muscles needed to do them. He's usually worn out when they're done with him. That's about all for now, thanks for your continued prayers and support.

                Logan's response to simple commands is becoming more consistent and he is responding to a greater number of them as the days go by. Tommorrow morning he will get another swallow test (he's only had one since he got to TIRR) and if it goes well, the speech pathologist will begin to introduce various liquids and soft foods in very small amounts to see if he can swallow them. It will be a slow process to re-learn how to swallow and anything he is given will taste strange to him for a while. We are still waiting for a date for the tendon lengthening procedure; I hope it 's soon so we can get this last (hopefully) surgery behind us and remove his trach. Things continue to improve in small but measurable ways and the staff is pleased with the progress he's made since the plate was put in.

Logan had a good weekend. It started Friday when Cade came for a visit. Logan was definitely tracking Cade when he talked to him ( or picked at him). It is still undetermined whether Log Dog was really glad to see Cade or was actually scared of all the facial hair. Regardless, he did respond to him being there. Saturday, Logan was very awake and had good responses when his nurse and techs were there. Today, we went outside and enjoyed the nice weather. He seemed to enjoy the sunshine & slightly cool breeze. When I told him the pigeons had pooped everywhere, he smiled. We probably don't want to know why the correlation with pooping, etc. seems to make him grin. Thanks to everyone for all of your continued thoughts and prayers.

Everything's still going pretty well. Logan  continues to show some progress with tracking, looking at people when he is spoken to, and maintaining eye contact for longer periods of time. He does at times follow simple commands (move your finger or toe , or give a thumbs up), but it remains inconsistent ;even so, it is still an improvement. He received botox injections today in his neck, shoulder and arm in the hopes of loosening the muscles up. It'll take about a week for them to take efffect. Thanks to Mickey, Jess and Kemp for stopping by while they were in Houston; Logan was definitely looking at Kemp and smiled when Kemp spoke to him. He never smiles when I talk to him and I've had about enough of it. More later.

                        No one really knows what's going on in that big head of Logan's, but whatever was happpening today had him in a great mood. Amy and Emily were here and Amy was being ridiculous and obnoxious, (she and Logan have always had that in common), and he was not only smiling, but making sounds with them. When we walked into the room, he was sitting in the wheelchair. Emily approached him on the right side and he turned his head and eyes to look at her; he seems to be more aware of his surroundings and reacting to them which is great to see. He will be receiving botox injections to help loosen up the muscles on his left side; that should be happening this week. If they work well, it should help with his range of motion and make therapy easier. Everything seems to be moving along smoothly right now-I hope we're on a roll.

                  Slowly, Logan is regaining some movement on the right side. He seems to do a little more each day. While he isn't tracking consistently, there are times when he appears to be following objects (especially the TV). He will probably be having a procedure done which will lengthen the achilles tendon in each foot; his left foot is most affected and cannot be placed in a position which is needed for standing for long periods of time. It is a short procedure, the orthopedic surgeon said it takes about 15 minutes for each foot, and he would return to TIRR the same day. His feet would be in casts for a while, but he would be able to stand on them. His staples (from the last surgery) should be coming out any day now which will allow us to finally scrub his whole head. That might sound strange but he has either had staples or an indention to work around since this happened. There won't be much happening on the weekend, so I'll update early next week.

                   l           Today while sitting in the wheelchair, Logan decided to hold his head up on his own. He normally needs a headrest with a bar on the side to keep his head in place. He went to therapy and continued to keep his head in a pretty normal position for most of the session. We have no idea what brought that on, but we (the therapist, the tech, the nurse and I) all carried on like he had asked for a burger and fries. After such a long period of just marking time and waiting for surgery, small victories bring on big celebrations. He is back on his regular medications, except for the pain medication which he is no longer getting. He's awake most of the time now, which makes it much better to work with him during the day. We'll be getting an update on the goals and plans that are being considered for him now that the plate is in place; we don't really know what to expect at this time. That's about it for now.

                  Logan continues to recover from the surgery without any big setbacks so far. He is  tolerating physical therapy well and is scheduled for a follow -up CT scan on Monday. In the last couple of days we have begun to see some movement return to his right side. He is moving his leg a good bit and has started to move his arm and hand, mostly to touch his face. We had not seen any movement since the second shunt surgery; it's really good to see any movement whatsoever after such a long period of no activity at all. Thanks to Diana and Kathy for the visit; it's always nice to reconnect with the neighborhood.