Saturday, June 23, 2012

Paul is Home

So I am happy to say that this will be the last post on the blog.  Paul came home yesterday and is starting to settle in.  Now the real work starts but it is hard to believe only five weeks ago this process began.  The goal was to untether the spinal cord and hopefully eliminate the spasticity and ideally the pain too.  The spinal cord is completely untethered and the spasticity and pain are greatly reduced.  The doctors have told us that the healing could take about a year before they make any definitive pronouncements but the initial results are very positive.  It is amazing to see the progress Paul makes from one day to the next.  I know Paul is very grateful to all of the people at NIH and Adventist Rehab who made this a reality.  He is especially appreciative of his friends and their support.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Long Time No Post

Sorry it has been awhile but no news is good news right?  Paul is doing very well.  His progress was slowed down a little bit by the blood pressure/pain thing last week but this week it has been full steam ahead. I would say that if Paul had to give out an award it would be to Angie his Physical Therapist.  She is fabulous!  She is so positive and creative.  She is also six weeks away from delivering a baby boy and you would never know it.  She goes home at night and creates little devices that will help Paul do things.  She is passionate about what she does and we all greatly appreciate her.  She also intercedes if there is a "glitch" in the system somewhere.

Paul has been working on several things including transferring from the bed to the chair, sitting up, stabilizing his trunk, etc.  The list goes on and on.  And Paul is tireless.  His tenacity is amazing and he works very hard.  While he looks at things as small steps I am constantly surprised at what he is able to accomplish.  One day he just starts to try something and the next day he has mastered it.

He has daily PT, occupational therapy and recreational therapy.  His schedule has been adjusted so that he now has time to actually wake up a little bit in the morning before he starts his rigorous schedule.  He welcomes visitors.  His schedule has become a bit more regular so if you can ever stop in for lunch, let him know.  He generally wraps up around 5 p.m.  We are putting together a schedule of visitors and if you have a day you'd like to go see him, let me know (brownsuzy@verizon.net).

We think he'll probably be at Adventist another 2-3 weeks and then it is back home to continue outpatient rehab - probably at Adventist and then eventually back to Valerie's.  We know he can't wait to get back there to see everybody!  He's got a lot of good stories to share.

Thanks for all of your good thoughts.