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The Albin News is general news items about an out-of-the-way railroad town in the very southeast corner of Wyoming.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Albin news Feb 7, 2011

Albin News Readers,

There was an excellent turn out for the Albin community play Friday night. There was a cast of 11 and they did not dissapoint! Duane Anderson played the main character, Harry Monday. Monday was a private eye brought in by country club manager Billi Jean Hodecker (Jill Lerwick) to solve three murders that happen in the opening scene of the play. The club members were all suspects. Members included the foxy Stella Fontaine (Shawnae Branigan), haughty Cecil Deborus (Michael Lerwick), moon child Glamis Ludlow (Chaurise Anderson), the sophisticated David Soames (Caleb Anderson), ditsy Freida Mae Bristow (Heather Lerwick) and Freida's twin sister Anita (also Heather). Tony childers played Sergeant Brogan, a policeman with a strong dislike of Harry Monday. Other actors were Elijah Childers, Naomi Childers and Wesly Lerwick. Brownies and ice cream were served at intermission. A good time was had by all!

There is still open gym basketball at the community center on Thursdays at 7 pm and open swim on Mondays from 4-8 pm.

Dixie had this update on Tim:

We have had very good days this week and it has been extra encouraging to see and hear Tim speak of his progress!  We have seen increasing strength from lifting legs onto and off beds, speaking, rolling over onto his stomach, getting on his hands and knees ('all fours') on the floor, and watching his left engage to take a step!  He has drug his left leg/foot a few inches by himself so we are close!! We are excited to see what miracles God has in store for him this week!  I think the biggest improvement is seeing him adjust his head and neck to center which holds his eyes in alignment! PTL!! We thank you all for your continued prayer support--it truly is our 'Daily Bread'.  Pray that we might crawl or step this week!  Keep Praying and Believing!”

Cindy had this update on Garrett:

PT working on walking. Garrett is changing every week, so PT is having a very hard time trying to figure out what to send us home with. They have been working with me with the FES (functional electrical stimulation). G went to a gait clinic this week - there were about 5 therapists brainstorming - trying different braces. G's L foot is wanting to roll out when he stands so trying to correct that. PT is sure he needs a brace & the stimulation to cue L leg.
Oh remember last week, I told you how G ended up on the floor again . . . PT must have read that because one day we sat him on the floor and they showed me how to get him back up sitting on the bed/couch/whatever. I still like my idea of a NAP!
He had pool therapy twice this week. He even went into and out of the water by way of the stairs. When PT worked on stairs with him, he went down backwards, but with pool, we went down the stairs frontwards. He did very very good. Took time . . . cuing the L leg and repositioning the hands.
'OH MY GOODNESS'  . . . what . . . 'THAT FEELS GOOD'. He said that about a million times during massage therapy.
I am happy to announce that the g-tube is out. Ripley came into the room and, before I could say anything, he said we were going to take it out. I said good but how did he know I was going to say anything about that. He said that he knows me . . . (Now, what's that suppose to mean!?!) We chuckled. It looks like a little bullet hole & it heals very fast. Ripley is also starting to adjust some of G's brain meds. One med he has decreased by half.
Speech still working on computer recalling information. Shows G 2 rows of 4 pictures. Computer then shows 1-2-3 of the pictures and G has to remember what they are. He does good with 2 but on the 3 pictures, he always get the L picture wrong. To correct this, a person can cue him to look L - reposition chair so field of vision is better - or, this is the best, using his 
internal strategy (G turning his head thinking Am I Missing Something?).
Along with the rehearse/repeat approach with memory, Speech worked a day with note taking. Actually she took the notes, but G could answer any question she asked off her notes. She was asking him an emergency scenario and he said 'DIAL 9-1-1-1-1-1-1'.
Perseveration is when you get stuck/repetition of something. To correct this, she told G to #1 tell brain you are done talking or #2 hold hand over mouth. G will persevere periodically when he talks or when he writes, his n's and m's will have about 10 humps in them. Speech told me that some people will persevere when they are brushing their teeth. They will brush in one spot till their gums bleed.
What to pray for #1 G WILL walk out of here. I hope I remember and I'm not in such a hurry and we 'load and go'. It may take us a year and a day to get to our car, but he will walk through those doors. #2 L side movement. More and more it is working. Twice OT had him grabbing/releasing nerf balls with his L hand. Thank you Jesus! #3 speech will become clearer and clearer. He really mumbled this week. And with initiation. If we have an hour before the nighttime routine, we will play Uno or go to the bridge and talk. Twice he has asked me 'WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?' #4 PTA/cognition. He still rates an 8 on the GOAT score. #5 8 working days left. #6 unspoken request - PT is going to try to play a trump card.”

In Ag news, calving is in full swing for the February calving herds. The cold has them tucked in close but as soon as the weather breaks there will be little calves running all over the place. The wheat farmers are glad to have a blanket of snow back on top of the winter wheat especially since the wheat price keeps going up! Also, many of you are thinking of starting plants for next year's garden already. I'll check in with Albin's Master Gardner Ann Sanchez to see if she has any advice on what to start and how.


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