Craig, thanks for continuing to post updates for those not on FB.

Yep, though sure tough to read sometimes. Keep on praying folks.

facebook update.




Brenda Dorrance Morgan

7 hrs
.

Austin is medically stable enough to move to a regular room. So if you are looking for him he will be in room 803. I know some stimulation is good from voices he knows. We appreciate everybody's support. Keep Austin Strong

Any updates on Austin? I have been praying for him frequently.

We visited Austin Tues and Wed and he was supposed to be moved to a rehab facility Wed afternoon. Keep sending prayers folks, very tough situation.

An update from the fb group.


Austin had another good day.He continues to impress the therapists daily. The therapists today who hadn't seen him since the weekend were pleasantly surprised how he had advanced over the weekend. They are working on his speech and getting the Rt side working again. I know he gets very frustrated when working with speech trying to get him to verbalize things. He is aware of what is going on and can actively work his phone and his nonverbal cues are very evident. Its like he is trapped inside his body because you know he is thinking.It is very frustrating for us, we just want to hear his voice again. That is one thing we did not realize that he would have to relearn. When the therapists have him engaged in doing things he is very engaged and wants to do all the things they want him to do, plus help them out. He is working very hard every day.


Today was also a good day, since he had his first shower in 3 weeks.

We are not sure about his vision. A lot of times he has to squint his Lt eye to focus. Tonight we were playing solitaire on my Kindle and he was watching for awhile then he started clicking on the cards but I could tell that his vision was off a little since he would click kind around the card he wanted. I know that was a little frustrating for him.

Another thing he enjoyed today was after we had taken him outside, we came back to his room and I noticed he had a card. I said "Austin you've got mail". He took the envelope, opened it, took the card out and turned it around so he could read it. All with his left hand. So thank you to the Cobles for sending him a card. You could tell he was happy to get mail.

Thanks to all for your support, love and prayers. It is all helping to Keep Austin Strong and for us to be strong for Austin. Everyday is encouraging but also scary.

From FB posted 8/4/2014


Leonard R. Morgan

18 hrs
.

Austin is doing so much more, yet he still has so far to go. Today we were talking and he said "zero clock diamonds" right out of the blue. Then after that he said something that we could not understand and Brenda asked him to repeat what he said, and he said "where you walk rough horses." That was not what he said though. Most of the time, we can hold a conversation, and he seems to understand most things, but then he has a little misfire and says crazy stuff. Sometimes he catches himself and actually laughs at himself. It seems like these phrases just come from nowhere, but at least he is talking. Sometimes he puts a string of words together that are completely meaningless. Even more meaningless than the phrases above.

He is getting much stronger by the day. Today his physical therapist had him on the treadmill. He was in the seat sling (I guess that is what you call it) so he would not fall, but he did walk for about 45 minutes. He had to take a couple of breaks, but he did it. He has to have help with his right leg though. He has to have someone push his right knee backward and into the lock position or it buckles. Other than that, he does pretty good. Dr. Hill came in just now and was checking his right arm. Last Friday, when Dr, Hill checked his right arm, he got no response other than a little slight movement. Today, he was able to raise his right arm using his shoulder muscles, he could arm wrestle with Dr. Hill, and he was able to grip and squeeze with his hand. It was a lot of progress in just 4 days, although it doesn't seem like it, it really is a lot of progress.

He still has double vision. Brenda was sitting about 8 feet from him and she asked him if he could see her. He said, "yes," and she asked him how many of her he saw and he told her two. Then she asked if he saw two images of her side by side and he said "No, there is one on top and another on top of that." At least we knew what he meant. His room has a big wall sized window with a big tree right outside the window, but he can't see anything outside yet. He says it is too blurry.

He really likes it when his friends are here. He acts crazy and does funny stuff. He really likes talking to them and enjoys them being here. Stephanie is here with him a lot. She yaks at him constantly and they really just talk and chat. He is trying to tell her it is 8:00 o'clock. She said no it is not, and showed him her phone. He said "the phone is all black" because the timer shut off the screen. She showed him again and he said 5:50. Which was right. The screen has to be pretty close for him to see it though. His pillow just fell off the bed and he said "shit." He just told Stephanie he had a question, when she asked him what, he said "it depended on the answer." After a bit, we figured out he was trying to play Jeopardy. He told Brenda the answer was "cutting corners." She said "What is cheating?" This is motorcycle race lingo for those of you that don't get it. He laughed and said "damn it."

He is feeling much better, and does not complain much about anything. When he is with the therapists, and he is working hard, he will not quit or complain, he just keeps on pushing himself to do everything they ask of him and more. He works so hard, and it is so hard to watch him struggle, but we know it is what needs to be done and he is working hard. We can see the determination in his face when he is doing his therapy. He is really focused and wants to get it right.

Brenda and I want to thank everyone again for all the help, support, and all the contributions all of you have made. Friends have brought wonderful meals to the house, fed the dogs, let the dogs out/in. Went grocery shopping for us, cut the grass, and the list just goes on and on. Austin's friends are so supportive. To all of Austin's friends, the time you spend with him is so valuable to him and to Brenda and me. We see the joy in his face and a little crooked smile. He enjoys the conversation, even when he realizes he is just saying random words, and then everyone laughs, even Austin. You can't imagine what you are doing to help him recuperate, and too help......

KEEP AUSTIN STRONG

Another update from August 13th.


Brenda Dorrance Morgan

August 13 at 3:49pm
.


Austin continues to improve daily. Physically he is getting stronger. Yesterday he stood by himself for 3 min.Before he would lose his balance very easily. The therapist then told him she was going to push against him and he would have to right himself, he was able to regain his balance most of the time. He walks on the treadmill daily for about 9-12 min. He is in a harness which they hoist up to take some of the weight off of his legs. They help his right leg walk through to help with muscle memory so the right leg knows correctly what to do. After that amount of time the right leg is usually very tired.
It is hard to see him struggle with his right arm but he is acknowledging it more and getting more movement out of it. He works so hard sometimes that he has sweat on his upper lip just trying to get his right arm to move. It is slow but progressing. Yesterday they put an air cast on his right arm and he was able to move his arm up over his head. They said the air cast just makes the arm not so dead weight so he was able to get more movement in his shoulder. I was surprised last week they asked him to shrug his shoulders but only the left one went up. This week he is able to partially shrug his right shoulder and pinch his shoulder blades together. He was able to put his shirt on today with minimal assistance and direction.


The hardest part to see is his cognitive abilities. They are working on his memory. He has no short term memory. They ask him to name things in different categories - he can with some prompting. He struggles with naming people in pictures. Then there are times he is trying to tell me something or ask something and it makes no sense at all. That probably is the hardest for Leonard and I to deal with. I know its in there. I know he knows his friends when they come to visit but he may not get your name right.
For me to see him everyday I see small steps but others who haven't seen him in a few days or a week they are very impressed how far he has come. He continues to work hard and doesn't give up. He gives it 110% which the therapists love. They kind of fight over trying to work with him.
We are so appreciative of all the support. Together we are Keeping Austin Strong.

update from fb 09/11

Brenda Dorrance Morgan‎Keep Austin Strong

Austin is about to graduate from acute rehab and move to a post acute rehab. I being in the medical field have never heard of these. The hard part for me is that they are very spread out. We are looking at Dripping Springs, Houston, Galveston and San Antonio. It is an intense rehab that they get 6-8 hours of rehab a day. They work on integrating them back into the community as well as still working on PT, OT, speech and cognitive therapies. It is inpatient also so I am looking at it as Austin going off to college. He was very emotional about leaving here and going somewhere new. Last week we both had some emotional breakdowns dealing with it. This week we are better and he has accepted that it is for the good that he is getting better and this is the next step. He stated that he just needed one more week here to say good bye to everyone. I must say the staff and therapist here at St David's have been excellent. There are several that want to take him home! He has got to that point that his memory is coming back and he understands what happened to him. He is mad that it happened and questions ''why''.His words were " this just sucks". I had to agree. He now has lots of questions. Of course a lot are why and what ifs!. Is is good that he is moving this direction but yet hard at the same time.

Thanks for the updates Craig.