Today this note is second hand. I have taken a short leave and am back in Cleveland for a few days. We are keeping in touch with Mark and Jess by phone and are happy with the news from Florida.
Mark had additional neuropsychology tests again yesterday. I had noticed an improvement in his short term memory since he started taking the Aricept and so had the speech pathologist, however, she was concerned we were being subjective. The doctor suggested that they run some of the tests again to see where he stood. They were absolutely amazed at the progress in a month and I do believe that it has to do with the drug. He did far better than anyone expected in such a short time. They normally would not have done the repeat tests for another four months, so this was very good news.
Today he went on an outing to Grand Prix which he equated to a Chuckie Cheese for grown ups! (Kind of like Dave and Buster's here in Cleveland.) He had a good time, but again had a bad bout of queasiness. The rec therapist (like I) suggested that perhaps he has been suffering with allergies, since again, this was accompanied by a very runny nose. The doctor agreed with her and they are starting him on Zyrtec which helps both the allergies and the nausea. Those of you who know me (and my history with allergens) will realize that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Hopefully, this will work.
He is especially anxious for an end to the nausea since this Saturday is the Army ball and he doesn't want to have something like this spoil the fun. The patients and the families have all been invited and it is supposed to be quite the event. We did sent his blue dress uniform down for him to wear and those without uniforms are having tuxedos provided by a local firm. All of the women have been getting new outfits to wear. I will be missing this event, but I didn't know about the dance until after my arrangements to come home had been made. Mark's nurse is going with the group to watch after the patients. She was thrilled to be "Cinderella" and had to call and tell me she was going. Jess will be sending photos and we will post them as soon as we have them! Stay tuned!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
We had a quiet few days. On Friday, Mark had additional Botox injections in his right leg. Then he went off on an golf outing. Actually, they stayed at the driving range at the course, but that didn't matter a bit to Mark, he enjoyed every minute. He was in a special cart that moves upward and has him standing to swing the club. He said he didn't do any worse than he did when he played before the accident, so he considered it a vast improvement!
Unfortunately, when he got back, he felt sick and "threw a chucka" as our girl from Oz calls it. He was feeling rather poorly for the rest of the day and Saturday as well. They were (and still are) not quite sure what caused the queasiness, but there was some discussion that it was perhaps the Botox injections. He felt fine yesterday and ate well although we were forced inside again because of torrential thunderstorms most of the day.
Today, he was doing well again this morning and then had an episode of queasiness again. They gave him some medication and he slept a good part of the afternoon. After that, he was fine again. They do believe now that it is a virus of some kind because several other patients have developed the same symptoms. His appetite was great tonight because I brought food in and he ate a lot without any problems. Hopefully, this will be the end of it.
He was able to have his morning PT and did very well transferring from his bed to his chair and from the chair to the mat in the therapy clinic. He is getting stronger and better at this every day and today actually took a couple of steps to get to the chair which was a little farther away than it usually is when we transfer him. It was great to see him initiate these couple of steps on his own. The new brace has really made an improvement in his leg with no pain associated with it. Hopefully, with the additional Botox and the strength building, we will continue to see such good results.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sorry that it's been a couple of days since the last update, but as things get better, there is less new news to write about. Mark had another good day, although he was a bit grouchy during his morning PT. They had him on a tilt table and he was not given pain medication prior to the session so he was a bit irritated. Nonetheless, he did very well. He was able to be distracted by the OT with her exercises and tasks, but he did have ankle pain as well as his right knee. They feel the ankle hurts because they really haven't been used much until recently. Everything needs to get used to working again.
One of the brighter sides to his morning session was that he got to see one of the other patients from the floor on a bicycle. It was a recumbent bicycle and they were teaching him how to use it for an outing. This Air Force staff sergeant has been here about a year in the spinal cord injury program and we got to know him through some of our outings. Now he is on Mark's floor because he has been put into the Transitional Program, which teaches them to be totally independent. After we were impressed by his riding ability, he showed us how he is walking. It was so good to see him with just a walker. He then told Mark that it had taken a year, and he had absolutely hated the tilt table like Mark was on, but in the end it was all worth it. I was very happy that Mark saw all of this and heard this young airman's opinion about the therapy.
Mark, too, has been accepted to proceed into the Transitional Program with a target date of August 1. We are hoping that he will be independent enough by then to be a part of the program, but the date is still flexible. He was delighted that he can be a part of this because he has seen others "graduate" and move on. The progress they make in this program is amazing and he is looking forward to cooking his own meals again as soon as their new apartments are ready here on the site. They are expected to be finished and open by September 1st.
Tomorrow he is looking forward to playing golf. They are having a joint outing with the transitional patients in the morning. They go to a golf course near here and use specially outfitted carts that allow wheelchair patients to drive and play from the cart. I will fill everyone in on the details tomorrow. Til then, ciao!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Well, we had a quiet weekend without the van. Mark had pool therapy on Saturday and then we enjoyed a cookout here at the hospital with the others. The guys jumped in and helped cook the burgers and dogs. It was fun and with the addition of fans in the picnic pavilion, not too hot.
After church yesterday, Mark and Jess went to the movies with Rec Therapy and a couple of the other patients. I took the opportunity to take a friend out for a birthday lunch.
Naturally, today was back to work. Mark stood in the standing frame in his morning PT and did very well. Then, this afternoon he used the recumbent stepper and stood at the parallel bars. He did very well with both. He still has an issue with his pelvis being twisted. This is mainly due to the tight muscle tone in the hips. Once he is cleared to have Botox again, this area may be addressed. The new splint on the right leg is working well. There is noted improvement since it was put on almost two weeks ago. It will be readjusted this week and then every week from here on in. When he is laying down in bed, his left leg is laying out straight and the right is only bent up about 25 degrees. All of the components; therapy, splint, medication are finally working together and it really seems to be helping.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The last few days have been pretty full . . . but aren't they all!? On Tuesday, Mark and his roommate went bowling for their afternoon therapy. Both have an issue with some left side weakness/deficit and they concentrated on having them use their left arms for a good part of the time. Despite the fact that it was therapy, they had a great time. Jess and I took advantage of the fact that he had his usual stuff in the morning and bowling all afternoon and drove ourselves to an outlet mall for a little retail therapy of our own. We, too, had fun!
the hospital to explain their program of assistance to the injured military. Mark was asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance before the luncheon. He did a wonderful job. Then we had a great meal and it was off to the pool. He did wonderfully and was even swimming forward on his stomach and standing. From there we went to PT where he used the standing frame as you can see from the photo. He was able to stand for about 25 minutes which was his all time best. He did have pain in his right leg, but managed to get through it well. He has been propelling his wheelchair much more and now only has to wear his wrist cast at night. Tonight we all played Wii or Playstation or one of those things and had a lot of laughs with the other patients and therapists.
Monday, June 9, 2008
The weekend was wonderful and HOT! Mark had pool therapy on Saturday and was able to stand in the pool for a few minutes with the therapists help. They want to start him on the stationery bike and the treadmill that are in the pool. He's looking forward to that.
We had a van again from our good friends at Ride-Away so we were able to get out and about. Saturday was very warm, with the thermometer in the car hovering around 98 degrees. Mark had a craving for pancakes so we went out to lunch where he had his fill of banana crunch pancakes and milk. Then we went to International Mall here in Tampa for a few hours and he enjoyed two servings of gelato! Back home he continued his eat-fest and had dinner here at the house with Jess and I.
Sunday we ventured over to Safety Harbor and Phillippe Park. It's a lovely spot on the bay and has lots of shade. Despite that we only stayed about 45 minutes and left because it was too warm for all of us. We moved on to Wal-Mart and gave Jess the tour. She mentioned she had never been in a Wal-Mart and wanted to see what it was all about.
Today when I got to the hospital after turning in the van, Mark was in therapy. I later found out that he wheeled himself down to morning PT. He's obviously getting better and better at moving himself in the wheelchair as long as he has his cast off. His wrist is already looking better after only three days. The nurses thought one of the therapists had taken him and the therapist had thought one of the nurses had taken him down. He later said if he had known, he would have kept going!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Well, the weeks are flying by and Mark's progress has become much better in the last couple of weeks. It seems like all the pieces of the therapy puzzle are finding their places in the large picture.
Today Mark's left wrist was put in a cast to straighten it out some. This will allow his hand to work better by aligning the wrist in its proper place. Then he was outfitted with his new DynaSplint leg brace. This splint replaces the bulky cast he had to wear on the right leg. They will increase the extension in two weeks from the bend it currently is set at, and then every week after that it will be extended again. There is constant pressure stretching the hamstring and it will slowly lengthen each time the setting is changed. He actually felt very comfortable in it today and liked the fact that it is a lot cooler than the cast. The temperatures here have been in the low 90s and humid. Oh well, I guess we are paying for the wonderful winter.
He also had a SPECT scan today. He was injected with radioisotope dye and then the brain was scanned. This shows the blood flow to the veins and arteries. The doctors explained that they usually don't do this type of scan on someone like Mark who is considered high functioning after the TBI. However, they felt it would be beneficial to see exactly how he has healed and then be able to use it as a tool for the other patients who have had the test and are still in emerging comas as a comparison. They have also decided to try the drug Aricept to help improve his short term memory. This is the most common drug used to treat Alzheimer patients. Of course, when Mark heard this, he laughed and said it just went along with his osteoporosis and the fact that he lives in Florida, eats dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon, and goes to bed at 7 o'clock!
We also found out that he has finally tested negative for MRSA and is no longer considered "isolated". However, his roommate still has the "cooties" as they call them. The ward is now completely full and Mark and his roommate wanted to stay in the same room. This prompted the doctors to convince the lab to test his roommate early and hopefully, he will come up negative as well. Mark's roommate is a nice guy with the same droll sense of humor. Go figure.
We are planning some fun little outings this weekend since the Ride-Away company has given us a van for the weekend again. Waffles are on the top of Mark's list, so I think there will be a brunch trip one day at least. Happy Weekend to all!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Mark continued with great progress again today. He did a field trip to Wal-Mart with the occupational therapist and the rec therapist. They had him choose a CD for the new fitness group that recreation has started for the guys and family members. He managed to propel his wheelchair for about half the trip and had no problem with the other tasks they gave him at the store.
His afternoon water therapy and PT went well too. He did the Erigo after pool and didn't really complain much about it. I think he actually sees the improvement that has occurred as all these various therapies are meshing and his legs are getting stronger and straighter. He now has a trapeze over his bed and he can pull himself up to a sitting position. He can get his clothes on now without much assistance and yesterday started doing stand and pivot transfers to his wheelchair from his bed and from the exercise mat. Hopefully, in the next few weeks he will have it down pat enough for them to teach him how to do it in and out of my car. That will make life on the weekend much more fun!
As you have probably noticed, Mark hasn't mentioned much on this blog. He does all his computer "chat" on Facebook. He is on that every day and I really need to get him to put his two cents in here. More to come from him . . . . I hope! In the meantime, you're all stuck with me!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
It's hard to believe June started today. Whew!! Time flies when you're having fun . . . and even when you aren't exactly!
Rich left this morning and we hated to see him go, but we had a wonderful week. He was amazed at the progress Mark has made in a little more than a month since his last visit. He now uses his small, sleek wheelchair and has been propelling himself better each day. He still doesn't get very far, very fast, but he can maneuver small areas and usually get himself out of trouble when he gets stuck. His pool therapy has been increased a day, since they have added Saturdays to the routine. He loved that idea and was ready and eager yesterday.
We had a quiet day today with church and a wonderful visit with two friends from St. Matthew's back home. It was great to see them and spend the morning visiting. The Rec Therapy department served a picnic lunch for everyone at the Fisher House patio, but we quickly moved inside when a thunderstorm rolled in. Unfortunately, the rain everyone was hoping for didn't exactly materialize more than a spritz. However, the house dining room was far cooler and better for the guys. Their brain injuries cause them not to regulate their temperatures as well as before and they are usually very warm anyway. It was fun just hanging around with some of the other patients. It is good to see those that can, sit and chat and include the ones who cannot. Today we saw one of the fellas in an emerging state try very hard to speak. I think it won't be long before that happens and it would be wonderful.