From his wife Kay...
Hi Steve,
Thank you for your text. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.
It is easier for me to email you than text. But I actually didn't have time to sit in front of my computer.
( Now I regret I should have texted you so you would have gotten my reply sooner )
Thank you for asking about Jay and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Jay is making some progress but it is slow. He can now feed himself ( no help )with spoon using his right hand.
He eats everything and even has fruits his brother brings for him for snack. He enjoys eating, that's a good thing.
He doesn't seem to be gaining much weight though. My brother in law tells me that he gained some but doesn't tell me
how much with numbers. As far as I see through photos , I don't see much difference.
He is practicing to walk but not much progress. He spends more time on wheelchair. His right side is a bit weaker than his left,
so when he pushes the wheelchair himself, it tends to go around in big circles. He needs to practice or strengthen his right side more for this.
He still needs help getting up and getting on wheelchair. He needs support to stand up. He can walk very slowly with a walker and
someone to help push his right leg forward. But overall, I think he has made big progress in physical aspect.
His memory and language has not shown much progress. We try to do video chatting every night, but for some reason, Jay often doesn't want
to do it. When we do video chatting ( about once a week when he says YES ) he smiles when he sees us though he can't say or remember our names.
He doesn't talk and responds by nodding or shaking his head which is about 80% accurate now. We ask him questions like
Do you miss us?
Do you want to come back to California?
He thinks for a little bit and shakes his head. He does this every time we ask him these questions. I am beginning to think although our faces may be
familiar to him, he may not know who we are.
Occasionally, he would try to say something, but it all doesn't make sense.
He he can say simple words like Hello, Thank you, Bye bye, ( all in Japanese ) only when his brother tells him
to say those words. He doesn't seem to understand which word to use under given circumstances. He cannot read and he still cannot write.
I also see that he doesn't show much interest in anything. His doctor tells me that this is due to the injury. It is like he has lost motivation to do anything.
Except eating. I think eating is rewarding to him because it tastes good. Other things like walking, talking, video chatting, and practice writing does not bring him immediate
reward.
I am taking the kids to Japan from Dec 13 to Jan 1st to go see Jay. It has been a while and we all miss him very much.
I hope to get better understanding of how he is doing too. Once he is physically well enough to fly, I want to bring him back here.
Thank you again for your text.
I hope to send you good news after I see him.
Kay
... in my sleep! ... while drunk! ... after sex! ... or during!