Today marks five months since Jackson’s stroke. He has come so far, but still has a long journey ahead of him. We are in our last full week here at CNS in Bakersfield. Jackson will complete his time here next week and we will be driving the Airstream back to Newport on the 20th. His walking is improving and his gate is becoming more normal. He has picked up speed as well. His left arm and hand continue to show Improvment. He has better control of the arm, but is working to increase movement and control in his wrist and hand. 

We are somewhat nervous about transitioning home. It will be the first time Jackson is fully responsible for the amount of time and dedication he puts into his recovery. Up until now, we have relied on the guidance of amazing doctors and therapist who designed rehab plans and guided Jackson through them. Now we will be home doing everyday tasks and going to out patient therapy at Hoag hospital. We think we will have one to two hours of therapy each day and the rest will be on us. The one good thing is that the brain recovers better when doing normal tasks rather than isolated movements. So, Jackson will need to focus on using his left arm and hand as much as possible even if it is not very functional at this point.

We are excited to be home with the family. We decided to put our house on the market and Peter is coming out to CA over Thanksgiving week for good. We are so sad to say goodbye to our wonderful friends that became our family for the last 15 years!!! GA was so good to us and I will miss it very much. However, being with Jackson and being home with family is the most important thing for our family right now! If anyone wants to visit Cali, just let us know. 

As always, thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for jackson. He is an awesome kid who is working hard to regain his independence and normal life. He has dealt with this with such positivity and maturity it is truly awe inspiring.