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"So Seth, I heard Ryan is coming home before he goes to the other rehab place!" Marissa stated excitedly when she saw Seth late in the morning. "I heard your dad tell my mom."

"That's great, Cohen," Summer chimed in. "We should have a 'welcome home kind of' party! I mean, if your mom thinks it's ok. What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask. I think it might be a little overwhelming for him. But it will be almost a month since the accident by that time. I dunno. I'll ask her tonight. But I am totally not decorating the living room. I'll leave that up to you guys," Seth laughed.

"I can't believe he'll be here so soon. I can't wait to see him!" Marissa said sighing.

"He's going to be really tired you know, Marissa," Seth replied a little too coldly.

"Seth, I—" Marissa stammered out.

"Just be there for him, ok? This is about him. He's not going to do anything for you. Just make him happy," Seth replied and walked away leaving a confused Summer and Marissa.

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"Alright, Ryan. You ready to try the walker?" a new and decent-English-speaking PT named Andrea spoke to her patient. Two more physical therapists were present for the milestone.

"Yesss. Noo picturre, 'Sten," Ryan pleaded as he noticed Kirsten taking out her digital camera.

"Of course I am taking a picture, Ryan!" Kirsten laughed. "This is a big deal and plus I'll give it to Seth to put on the blog."

Ryan nodded in defeat of a battle he knew was a lost cause. He was beginning to really understand the concept of the blog and appreciated the entries Kirsten read to him. They discussed each one and Megan was right, it was helping Ryan heal.

"Ok, Ryan. You're going to start standing just as you've been practicing. Your hands are going to go here. Now this bar is thin enough for you to get your right hand around it easily. Do you see Adeline over there?" the therapist pointed to a stroke victim a few feet away who was using a walker quite well.

"Yesss. Usse walkk."

"That's right. She's doing well. We're going to try a little of what she's doing. You ready?"

"Yesss. Readdy. Verry."

The therapist smiled. "Ok, we're all set. I've got you by the safety belt and my friends here are ready on the sides. Alright, up you go!"

Ryan stood up from the matted table he was sitting on. He had already mastered standing from the wheelchair and a chair and was now onto sitting up alone on the table. His right arm was still weaker than his left and it grabbed the walker last, but Ryan was prepared for that. He listed a bit to his left when he stood, but Andrea and Ryan corrected the imbalance quickly.

Once he was standing and holding on to the walker he looked around intently. Kirsten had already taken six pictures and the flash was beginning to annoy Ryan.

"That's great, Ryan? How do you feel?" the therapist asked.

"Gooddd," Ryan replied smiling. He was now talking more and more, and Seth had joked that he was now saying more than he ever had back in Newport.

"You ready to take steps, now? Just like walking with the parallel bars. Remember what we talked about, nice and close to the walker and stay up tall. Use those stomach and back muscles we were working on," the therapist encouraged, strengthening her grip on his safety belt on his back. She stood on his left side while the other therapists stood at the ready on his right and in front. Ryan stepped with his right foot first and then slowly met it with his left. It reminded Kirsten of a bride walking down the isle.

It felt weird to Ryan to walk with the walker, but he couldn't decide why. After a month of being in a wheelchair and heavily medicated, he almost forgot what was normal for him. But, as Kirsten noticed, the blog was helping Ryan make connections. When she read the comments, Ryan now understood that something had happened to him, but he was getting better. Kirsten had told him many times about the injury, but his memory was improving and he was retaining more and more of what she said. He now understood that his friends weren't with him physically, but they were still thinking about him. Ryan was having more and more 'oh yeah' moments and everyone could see it in his eyes when he understood something more than saying 'yes' for the sake of making the adults happy.

Although he was walking slowly, Ryan noticed how good it felt to be moving on his own, despite the therapists' hands gently supporting him. He never controlled the wheelchair and was always pushed, but now with the walker, it was up to him, within reason. He now understood the independence he was itching for while squirming restlessly in his bed. This is why everyone was so excited for him to use the walker. This is what it really felt like to get better. Better. That was the word everyone was saying.

Kirsten noticed something click again in Ryan's mind. She could see his understanding of freedom when he looked at her and smiled a grateful and proud smile.

"Ryan, that was great!" the therapist exclaimed. "You made it all the way to the desks! How do you feel?"

"Gooddd," Ryan said with a satisfied grin.

"Are you ready to go back now?" Andrea asked her patient.

"Bacckk?" Ryan asked, confused for a moment.

"Yes, back to the table where we were before, is that ok? Are you tired?" Andrea questioned, taking a good look at Ryan.

"Yesss ok. Ok tireddd." Independence was tougher than he thought. He had to work for improvement. Another 'oh yeah' moment.

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That night Ryan was exhausted. As soon as he returned to his room from the PT session earlier, using the walker, he fell asleep and had to be woken up for dinner.

"Ryan how do you feel?" Kirsten asked as she helped Ryan drink his dinner. It was true that Ryan was losing weight, but once he was back on his feet and eating real food soon, he would regain some pounds.

"Fineee."

Ryan's response surprised Kirsten. Were they back to the short answers? The doctors had said that although he would get very close, Ryan would most likely not be back to 100%, and even if he were to, it could take years.

"Fine? Tell me more. Does your head hurt?" Kirsten questioned carefully, trying to draw out as much as she could.

"Headdd hurttt yesss," Ryan stated and took another sip of the straw.

"They are going to give you your medications soon, honey. Does anything else hurt?"

"Eyesss," Ryan went to move his hand towards the stitches on the left side of his head. The bandages had recently been removed and it was a new feeling for Ryan. Kirsten had to keep reminding him not to touch his head.

"Ryan, don't—" but before Kirsten could finish, she wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion at Ryan's puzzled expression. "Ryan are you ok?"

"Hairrr," Ryan said at length.

"Yes, honey remember? They cut your hair when they gave you the stitches."

"Yesss. Rememmberrr," Ryan said after a while. "Hairrr shortt. Growww backk?"

"Of course, honey. It will grow back. I promise. Do you want to wear the hat now?" Kirsten asked, making a move to get out a hat that Sandy had bought Ryan a couple of days after the accident. Ryan had refused to wear it but was now realizing why people kept asking him, wondering if he felt self-conscious. It was purely for Ryan's confidence and nothing more. He used a mirror to dress himself, but never really noticed the multiple, dark stitches, scars, and shaved head. He had the hat on for the outdoors pictures, but only because it was cold.

"Yesss. Thank," Ryan said as he put on the skull cap. He felt a sudden wave of security. He was beginning to feel timid in the recent days and now with his scars hidden, he sensed a new feeling of better.

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ATWOOD AT LARGE

Where Seth and Luke get an A and We Tell You About Ryan's Day

January 12

On the Move!

Hello again, global readers! We have a lot of information to tell you, but first we would like to answer jakelovesdogs23's comment about our gnome poll. First of all, we totally had that question up for a joke, although one hundred forty-seven people answered. Second of all, we know there is no such thing as gnomes, at least in the St. Francis garden…Third of all, we did not need your cited documentation that gnomes do not exist. Really? Really? You posted that? I think we all understood that fact when we were, like, ten. While we appreciate your research, this blog is a slightly gallows-humorous update-site only. Not another Wikipedia. Thank you.

Onto the good stuff. We are going to get to see Ryan before he goes to Weldon! He will be here in two days so get ready. We will have more details about his arrival soon.

Secondly, Ryan used the walker today! He was very strong and said that he liked to 'move alone.' Direct quote from The King himself! The wheelchair is in the corner for now and he will now be Walker California Ranger for now. Sorry, bad joke. We had to. Once again, we have pictures. Kirsten went a little overboard this time, but we posted all twelve anyways.

In OT they got him to write down sentences they read to him which is good because his short term memory is either excellent or as solid as Swiss cheese. But each day he remembers more and more. Repetition is the key!

Ryan was also happy that he beat his therapist in Checkers. He might be injured, but no one stands between Atwood and his board games.

In speech they had him rearrange pictures to tell a story. They have tried this on a few other occasions, but today he finally did it! They had him elaborate on the story when he was finished, and wouldn't you know Ryan has a very creative mind! I think those speech therapists should come over to Cali and coax some of that talking out of him when he gets back.

That brings us to our next poll. What do you think is the first thing Ryan will say when he gets back? We have a choice of:

Hey (mumbled)
What are you all doing here?
Ryan saying nothing but conveying his mood with a look

We are going with choice (c) but let us know what you think!

Keep on getting better, Ryan and we'll see you soon!!

Until next time, this is Cohen and Ward, signing out.

---Click here for Photos---

Posted By: Seth and Luke at 6:27 PM---Click to comment---Links to this post---