Craig Update

It's been a long time since I've posted about my good neighbor and friend, Craig. You can click here if you want to read about the whole acccident. There was an interesting comment that was left by "anonymous" near the bottom of the post. I'm thinking it was left by one of their relatives who didn't want to be known. Anyway, Craig has made great leaps and bounds. I'm so excited! It's been a long haul since his accident back in the beginning of July.
He used to be over at Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle, but has since moved over to Northwoods Lodge in Silverdale for speech therapy, physical therapy and to teach him how to eat again. He'll go back over to Harborview as soon as he's progressed enough here. He has a stomach feeding tube until he's able to eat enough to sustain himself. Right now they're taking him to the dining room and feeding him one meal a day which is a very thin consistency. In the beginning when they first started trying he would take the food in but then aspirate because he wouldn't think to swallow until it was already going down. He's doing a lot better now though.
Just this week Joanie (Craigs sweet wife and my good friend) filled me in that he had taken eight steps!!! Without a walker! Yay!!!!!! And also he's starting to feel tingling and pins and needles on his left side which is great because he hasn't really been able to feel much or move much on his left side. When he fell he landed on his left side which created lots of nerve damage. The good news is that those nerves can heal. We're hoping that's exactly what's happening with the pins and needles.
It's so nice to be able to pop in and visit him whenever I'm in Silverdale, which is quite a bit. He's always smiling and happy to have visitors. Each time I go he seems to be speaking more clearly and making more sense. I took in a small poster of the picture posted up above and he asked me if I had used Photoshop to create it. Having him say little things like that are exciting because he's showing progress with brain function. He is having issues with his "short term" memory though. I asked him about it and he said it was very frustrating. I bet he'll get it back in due time. He's such a trooper! Joanie came home one day this week saying that Craig had remembered me and baby Apollo visiting the night before. Yay!! He really likes Apollo. Every time I take him in he likes to stroke Apollo's legs and hands and smiles a lot at him. It's very cute. It's also great how lovey he and Joanie are. She said that he hadn't been like that before the accident. She's not complaining one bit about all the kisses and loves.
I'm so thrilled of Craig's progress. He's one of the best men I know. Sometimes you wonder why things like this have to happen to such good people? I know that God has a purpose in everything and one day we'll know why. I'm so blessed to have him and Joanie as neighbors. Please keep them in your prayers. They're working!
Also, if you'd like to send a little note to Craig here's the site:
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