Thursday, January 31, 2008

Well, here it is the end of January already. Today marks the twelfth week since the accident. Amazing how our life was changed in an instant. However, today was probably Mark's best day since the day before the accident.

He did his usual speech therapy lessons this morning. He complained about his new braces, which he managed to unlock the controls on and adjust to a miserable setting before I rescued him and removed them for a few hours. He had a nap, and big lunch, and got ready for PT. He was hoisted out of bed (and helped with the buckles) and put into his wheelchair. We grabbed his sunglasses with the intention of going outside after therapy. He promptly put them on the top of his head and we were ready to roll.

He worked extremely hard in therapy with sitting up, leg lifts, arm lifts and bicep curls with weights on his good arm, range of motion exercises with his bad arm, and crunches. When the PT Lindsey asked him to do a few more (he had done about 10) he asked what if I told you NO! She laughed and said okay. The OT Frederica had him playing a game matching pegs of different colors in a board. Then he had to pick them off the board and put them in a bag. Her object was to make him stretch to reach one and put it in the bag one at a time. Instead he reached once and grabbed each one in one hand and dropped about three or four in the bag at once, thereby reaching only about three times instead of twelve. The doctor keeps saying that there is nothing wrong with his problem solving skills.

After therapy, he put his shades back on and out we went. I took him over to the patio at the Fisher House so he could see it and we sat there for a while and read the cards he received in the mail. Then he asked for a glass of water and we went inside so I could show him where I was staying. He thought it was very nice, like a fancy hotel. He especially liked the kitchen which is huge.

We headed back to his room because he was exhausted at this point. He had finally stopped complaining about the braces and left them alone. Despite the fact that he doesn't like them, I actually think his legs feel better with them than they do without because they are in the right position. He will also have to wear his back brace for the next two months as well. After we got him into bed I asked him what kind of day did he think he had and he said a ten. I told him I thought I would save a ten for the day he could stand or walk, and he consented but then agreed with our good buddy Jose when he said it was definitely a 9-3/4!!!