Well, its been a while since any real update… My mom’s birthday book took all my time and got me out of the habbit! 
Well, my dad finished radiation 2-3 weeks ago, I lose track of time, and will get a re-scan in a few weeks to check on any new growths. I truly don’t know what to expect, as every person is so very different with growth rates, location, etc. There’s a lot of unknowns. But one thing that is not unknown is that my dad is doing really well! He’s been going with Josh to check on and change filters, as they’ve been taking some of the load away from Travis, and is doing good at that. He even went to Vitos today to change one filter by himself! He and Josh have been spending more time together, which is nice, both for my dad and for Josh. Josh took him to get a White Sox hat and my dad looks adorable in it! I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen my dad in any other hat than a military hat. But it helps him to not feel quite as self-conscious about his scar across his head. He has quite the large noggin though, which kind of surprised us all! My mom put his hat on the other day and it falls over her ears and down to her nose! She looks like a little girl who wandered in and found Daddy’s hats! We’ll have to buy her her very own!
They’ve been watching a lot of basketball, as Josh has totally transformed my parents into basketball experts! My mom can comment on the game without even devoting that much attention to it…and then the commentators will often repeat what she has just said! Kind of creeps me out. We always thought her missed calling in life was as an ice skater not a basketball coach.
The mood with my dad has changed quite dramatically, and its not uncommon now to see my dad back in his normal routine of rubbing my mom’s neck! That’s nice to see! And its good timing because my mom’s back is really bad. She had to get x-rays and an MRI done. He still goes in spurts as to how much he can tollerate being around my girls. He can be with them, and even enjoy being with them, for a certain amount of time, but then he either gets overstimulated or ancy and then has to get up and go somewhere ele. He says yes to them sitting on his lap now, which is progress! And bless her heart, Madeline never gave up! When she wants to, she goes right up and asks him, even though he’s told her “no” before! He’s liking being outside, although there’s not a ton for him to do outside. He goes out periodically and picks weeds in their yard, which he enjoys. My neighbor has some extra dirt and a couple of tomato plants that she gave us and I want to get my dad started on a garden to work on this summer, that he can take care of when he wants to get outside. That was one idea that we think might take, as he shoots down a lot of the other ideas.
We’ve noticed that a lot of his communication difficulties are affected by anxiety levels he may be feeling about NOT being able to communicate. As soon as he relaxes he can communicate more. So, he and my mom are more successful in communicating than they were even a few weeks ago. And the more he does and the more he tries communicating and utilizing his speaking skills, the easier it is for him. He’s made a few phone calls, and gone in at a few places to take care of the errand they needed to run. There’s definitely still major brain skills or abilities that have been damaged, but I think he’s at a much better place right now to enjoy the trip to the North Shore than he would’ve even a few weeks ago! We leave in just over a week! Yay!
All right, I gotta get going! I’ll write more later! Love you all!
