The last three days have been a testament to Marcus’ resilience and warrior spirit, marked by significant advancements and progress.

Marcus’ right leg is now just in a brace. His left leg is still in a cast, but they made a mold, and hopefully we’ll be getting a brace for that leg later this week. The cast/braces are just a precaution to keep him from getting drop foot. Drop foot is a general term for difficulty lifting the front part of the foot. If you have a foot drop, the front of your foot might drag on the ground when you walk. 

Marcus had lost nearly 50 pounds, but he is steadily gaining weight. He is back over 200 lbs now.

Marcus is now having his trach capped, and he is breathing on his own. Assistance is provided to Marcus only if it seems like he is having trouble with his breathing. Later this week, an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor will come and put a camera down his throat to ensure nothing is restricting the airway.  These are steps that get him closer to getting his trach removed.   

Some of the activities/exercises that the therapist did with Marcus this week:
•They put electric impulse pads on his triceps (back of the arm) to show him which muscles to use to push himself up.
•Hand peddle bike- he was able to get it moving on his own several times.
•Spent an entire session on his stomach. He did MUCH better. Previously, Marcus would have mucus drainage and heavy breathing. Today, he was calm and relaxed. There was no drainage, he was very relaxed, and he handled it much better. 

Shirley Ryan tries to keep the patients connected to their family/siblings by sending letters, stickers, etc.  So this weekend, the child life specialist painted Marcus’ finger in pink glitter, and they will create fingerpaint spiders to send back to Anchorage. 

On to the next week 👍.