She has a name!

The puppy finally has a name... it's Samantha Dustbunny. She'll most likely be called Sammie. When she is feeling frisky, she looks just like a jackrabbit running around the front yard. When she has worn herself out, running and pouncing on the ball, she crashes. She either wants to be held or she will just fall asleep sitting next to one of us. Even Dad seems to love her. He is very watchful about her food and water and making sure we take her outside on a regular basis. Mom took a picture of the two of them napping together.

Dad has problems with communication as a result of his stroke. The clinical term is aphasia. When referring to the puppy, he's called her a rabbit and a cat, but I don't think he's ever actually referred to her as a dog.

Strokes are generally caused by a bloodclot or a hemorrhage in the brain. In Dad's case, he had the hemorrhage, which means that a vessel started bleeding. In his case, the bleed was where all of the nerves come together in the brain, so it has affected both communication and motor skills. Reasoning power is also somewhat diminished.

It's been hard to watch his decline. He was and still is a very social person. He was always on the go. Now I think he is only able to move his right foot through sheer willpower. Watching him, you can just see the wheels turning in his brain, but the foot won't move. His leg shakes from the effort, but the foot stays put. Then when he is finally able to lift it, it is often positioned wrong, so that he tries to put his weight on the outside edge of his foot, instead of on the flat part of the sole.

Initially Sammie was frightened by his cane. But we've watched her study his movements and now she is primarily curious about it. It's amazing to watch them bond.

Superheroes understand what it feels to be afraid. They just find a way to move past their fears in order to accomplish something good. Samantha Dustbunny is still a baby, but every day her world seems to get a little larger. Unlike human babies, she can walk and is extremely curious. My father no longer understands what it means to be afraid-- he runs on sheer determination! He never gives up-- and he makes sure that we accomplish the things we set out to do. He's dangerous with a list! He'll nag at you until everything has been crossed off. The good thing about it all is that he does it all with good humor. He just doesn't understand why anyone would choose to postpone doing the things that need to be done-- NOW!