Saturday, July 19, 2008

It has been a busy week here with the usual therapies and lots of work on Mark's part. He is such a cooperative patient (surprise to those of you who know his pre-accident crabby side!)

This week saw him transferring himself from the bed to the wheelchair and vice-versa via his slide board. For those who are PT-naive, basically, the slide board is a wooden (or plastic) plank that he wedges under one of his lower cheeks and it extends to the surface he wants to transfer to. He then uses his arms and upper body to scoot himself over to the other side. One of us stands in front of him for protection, but he does the maneuver himself with minimal assistance, if any. Last night, the rec therapists were showing a movie in the family room and Mark decided it was time to sit and watch it from a recliner. Soooo, he maneuvered his chair, got his board, and with a little help, parked himself in a Laz-E-Boy. He was very happy to be there!

Today we went out to lunch with one of the rec therapists with the intention of checking out the local YMCA which has offered free memberships to the Fisher families. Unfortunately, when we were leaving the restaurant the ramp in the government van chose not to work and our favorite therapist had to go back to the hospital and switch it for another. We just sat in the restaurant a while longer and they very nicely gave Mark a cannoli for the road! We decided that we would just head back to the hospital since Mark decided he wanted a nap! Nothing like resting up for dinner and dessert!

One of the pieces of medical information that we had this week was not the greatest. They had scheduled a test for Mark to determine whether he suffered any nerve damage to his legs. When we had a consult with the doctor (which was the same doctor who did his Botox injections) he was a little confused about why the test was ordered. He indicated to us that it was evident that Mark did suffer nerve damage, not from the brain injury per se, but from the fractures in his back and the shattered pelvis. He said that had Mark not broken any bones, he would have done the test to determine whether the brain injury caused nerve damage to the legs. However, with the extent of the fractures and where they were, there was no question in his mind that there was damage to the nerves.

This was the first time that it was explained to me that Mark's problem with his legs was not due solely to the brain injury. Since the test is very uncomfortable (electric shocks and needles) Mark chose not to have it. The nerves can regenerate, but only to a point and it should not further hinder is ability to walk, although it may take a while longer than we would like.

I do feel Mark is getting more used to the idea of the wheelchair and he is propelling himself better each day. I think if he gets himself independent with the use of the chair, it will do a lot for his self-esteem and then he can concentrate even more on his walking. The use of his legs in the pool are very good and today the Poly Trauma director, Dr. Scott, came down to see Mark in action. He was very pleased with what he saw and was very encouraged.