Saturday, January 12, 2008

Hello everyone! Today was better for Mark. He was much less agitated and is starting to get more accustomed to the environment here. He has had physical, occupational, and recreational therapy. They have cut back on the physical therapy from what they did at Walter Reed due to the amount of pain he has been having. The doctors here think it may have been too much, too soon. They are remaking his back brace and leg braces. They are going to cast his left arm for 72 hours in a more downward position, then will lower it, and recast it again for 72 hours. This allows for a slow extension of the arm from its contracted position. They will then fit him for an arm brace.

He enjoyed a visit today from my cousin and her husband who live near here. They were happy to see him and he did recognize them after a bit of haze after waking up from a nap.

I am staying at the Fisher House which is very nice. I have my own room and bathroom and there is a communal kitchen, laundry, family room, dining room and living room. It's beautifully decorated with soothing colors and comfortable furniture. The other women (mostly) in the house have been very pleasant and are in the same situation as I am to varying degrees. Their husbands and sons have all had severe injuries of some kind, but most have had TBI with other complications like Mark. One has a husband who is a retired Army sergeant who had a car accident and is older than the others, but it's not any less devastating. Another woman, whose husband is a minister and suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall, has a beautiful voice and sometimes just starts singing old hymns. She worried that we would think she was loony, but we all enjoy it. Perhaps we wouldn't if she didn't sing so well. We even have a three month old little guy in the house who is adorable. His dad is here in rehab and he is with his mom. He's a little cutie, with no lack of attention.

We have a group support meeting on Saturday mornings where we discuss everything and anything. The psychologist/social worker who leads the group is a quadriplegic who was injured years ago in a high school football game. He and his dog Parker visit the fellows in the ward and keep everyone sane. He is an inspiring individual who is extremely independent. The doctor in charge of the program doesn't want the wives and mothers discussing the patients at the house, because he feels we need time away from all of the stress, so we try to chat about other things and leave the issues for the group support meeting.

I feel that Mark and I are in good hands, and so does Rich who saw things for himself the last couple of days. I do BELIEVE this will work out well.