Our First Date Night Since the Stroke

Mordy and I had our first date since the stroke Thursday night.  We went to our first show in the season at NJ Shakespeare. (When I first became pregnant--with Isaac, 9 years ago--Mordy purchased us season tickets to NJ Shakespeare, to ensure that we'd still have dates even after we became parents.  It was a wise decision, and we've gone every season since!)  The show was Henry IV, Part I.  Mordy was able to watch the first hour without an eye patch, then patched for the remaining hour and 45 minutes (they never edit the plays, so shows there are often long!)  We enjoyed it tremendously.

Overall, Mordy's vision is slowly improving.  He's starting to read for short period of time without the eye patch (and continues to read for long periods of time WITH the eye patch).  He has been reading more and more each day, as he returns to his passions of studying Torah and reading books.

I attended Mordy's physical and occupational therapy on Friday. (He has therapy 3 times a week) The physical therapist noted Mordy's improvements from earlier in the week.  He had been doing his homework--exercises at home--so that has helped with his recovery.  The occupational therapist was a vision specialist who gave him many tips on improving the coordination of the eyes.  Mordy still has prisms, and those are working out well.

Mordy has described the way he experiences the world as follows: when he first had the stroke, he felt like he was on a rowboat in terms of the way the world was rocking.  Then he improved, so he felt like he was on a fishing boat.  Now it feels more like a cruise ship--while there is no longer visual movement in the room, his body still senses some passive movement.

Mordy's walking has also improved.  He can now walk without holding my hand, as long as he focuses on a target that he is walking towards.  While looking at the target, his gait appears normal.  He still can't walk and talk at the same time because walking requires concentration. Mordy walked on his own to Jerusalem Pizza for lunch the other day.  He plans to take increasingly longer walks each day to work himself back up to commuting distance for the Fall.

His tooth situation has completely resolved--his mouth is back to normal.

The kids start day camp on Monday.  We're all settling into routines...