Matt started speech therapy this week and I think it's going to be really good. We spent almost two hours talking with the new therapist and she got a very clear picture of where Matt is and what is still difficult for him. He'll have sessions with her twice a week and she'll be sending him home with lots of work to do on his own. One of her goals is for more independence for Matt, so he needs to write his name, address, phone and the date every day.
His hardest work so far is a sheet of full sentences to read out loud. Apparently it's very common for people with aphasia to look at or hear a sentence and only be able to repeat the main words. For instance, she said "He picked up the paper from the coffee table." and Matt repeated "picked up paper coffee table". He has a list of 10 sentences to read through like 'He paid his rent.' and so far he's been able to read through 5 with help and it is so hard! But that's what the work is for and it is going to help him get better. Unfortunately, it also makes him feel stupid and get really frustrated with himself, so we have to find the right balance of challenging but completable tasks.
His PT worked with his walking gait this week and we've all noticed a big difference. Before, Matt would lean over a little and throw his straight leg out to the side and around in front of him. Now, he's concentrating very hard on picking up his leg and bringing it out in front by bending his knee. It's slowed him down a bit, but it looks really natural. We've been out walking almost every night and he's now off the cement and out to the garlic field and back! Hopefully we can make it to the woods before all the spring wildflowers are gone.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Cheers!
I cannot believe it's Friday already - our first week at home as flown by and I've only posted once! Matt's going to PT three times a week and we'll add speech and OT therapies next week. With outpatient therapy, they'll be giving him a lot of homework to do, so he's going to be busy!
Matt had a CT scan on Tuesday and we met with his surgeon for what appears to be the last time. He was completely amazed with Matt's progress so far and said that most of the recovery happens within the first year, so Matt still has 7 months to gain back more function. He said it also takes about a year for the bone to grow back together completely so Matt should avoid any blows to the head for at least a year (and hopefully for the rest of his life!). And then as we were getting ready to leave, Matt got the best news - he leaned over to me and stage whispered "beer" - and his surgeon laughed and said don't tie one on, but you can have an occasional beer. So raise your glasses to recovery!
Matt had a CT scan on Tuesday and we met with his surgeon for what appears to be the last time. He was completely amazed with Matt's progress so far and said that most of the recovery happens within the first year, so Matt still has 7 months to gain back more function. He said it also takes about a year for the bone to grow back together completely so Matt should avoid any blows to the head for at least a year (and hopefully for the rest of his life!). And then as we were getting ready to leave, Matt got the best news - he leaned over to me and stage whispered "beer" - and his surgeon laughed and said don't tie one on, but you can have an occasional beer. So raise your glasses to recovery!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Outpatient therapy
Matt started in outpatient today - it's such a different experience from inpatient, but it's definitely a good step. We only met with his new physical therapist, who I think is going to work really well. She told us that it's impossible to know how much of his arm movement will come back so she's just going to shoot for 100%. Perfect. He'll be meeting with her 3 times a week for now. He has to wait until next week to meet with an OT and we're waiting to hear back from a speech therapist, but he's going to be pretty busy once those are scheduled.
I took Matt out for a drive around the farm yesterday and he is so happy to be here. It's lucky that we have a giant cement pad around our house - the grass is too uneven for him to feel comfortable walking around, so he likes to make loops around the house. I wish that he could have helped plant trees today, but he'll get there. He's made so much progress in 5 months!
I took Matt out for a drive around the farm yesterday and he is so happy to be here. It's lucky that we have a giant cement pad around our house - the grass is too uneven for him to feel comfortable walking around, so he likes to make loops around the house. I wish that he could have helped plant trees today, but he'll get there. He's made so much progress in 5 months!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Home sweet home!!!
Here's Matt leaving Crotched Mountain and then enjoying his 'new' recliner and relaxing at home. It's so good to be here!
Matt has a lot of work still ahead of him that starts with new therapy appointments on Monday, but I think being at home is going to give him another boost of motivation. Thanks for all the good wishes and powerful good energy!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A long day, but good news!
So after lots of phone tag and tracking down someone new to do a home evaluation, I think we got everything worked out and we are bound for home on Friday! We're supposed to have the evaluation done before Matt's discharged from here, but the people who are available to come to the house won't come until Matt is at home. Such a weird process this all is. But everyone signed off on this concession and we're leaving here late morning and meeting the evaluator at home in the afternoon. This has been a great place, but Matt is so ready for the next step...out the door!
A little snafu
We thought everything was lined up for Friday, but I just got a call that the person who was going to do the home evaluation cancelled and they're scrambling to find someone else. Problem is, no one here is licensed to work in Vermont, nor is anyone at the insurance company. Matt keeps saying "three days - out the door", which we're still hoping for, but we'll see what happens.
His therapies are going well this week. Yesterday he went for a walk outside, including up and down hills and through a small patch of trees. When they came back, his therapist said it wasn't her idea and Matt just smiled. In OT, he moved more of his upper arm than I've ever seen before, but they couldn't work with his arm too long because of all the tone and tightness in his muscles.
His therapies are going well this week. Yesterday he went for a walk outside, including up and down hills and through a small patch of trees. When they came back, his therapist said it wasn't her idea and Matt just smiled. In OT, he moved more of his upper arm than I've ever seen before, but they couldn't work with his arm too long because of all the tone and tightness in his muscles.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Little milestones
We had our meeting today with Matt's case manager - we might get to go home in a week! There are quite a few things to line up before then, but everyone is working to have it done by next Friday. Matt is so excited and ready to be home. He understands it could get postponed for a few days, but at least it's within sight!
He seems to have been getting himself ready for this. He's now been without his wheelchair for 2 full weeks and without any pain medications for one week. On Wednesday, he asked his nurse not to replace his scopalamine patch, which is a medication for dizziness and motion sickness. Last time the patch fell off he was instantly sick, but he's been fine for 2 days now.
He got his new glasses today and after a bit of adjustment, he says they're working fine. We had a long discussion about his double vision vs. the blind spot on his right side. He would talk for a while and then ask us to repeat back what he said to make sure we understood. Basically, I think he says the new glasses fix his double vision and are better than the old pair with scotch tape over one lens. The glasses can't help with the blind spot, but that doesn't matter - he'll just turn his head. If only all of his problems had such simple solutions...
He seems to have been getting himself ready for this. He's now been without his wheelchair for 2 full weeks and without any pain medications for one week. On Wednesday, he asked his nurse not to replace his scopalamine patch, which is a medication for dizziness and motion sickness. Last time the patch fell off he was instantly sick, but he's been fine for 2 days now.
He got his new glasses today and after a bit of adjustment, he says they're working fine. We had a long discussion about his double vision vs. the blind spot on his right side. He would talk for a while and then ask us to repeat back what he said to make sure we understood. Basically, I think he says the new glasses fix his double vision and are better than the old pair with scotch tape over one lens. The glasses can't help with the blind spot, but that doesn't matter - he'll just turn his head. If only all of his problems had such simple solutions...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Good PT day
Yesterday we talked to Matt's PT about a few things he wants to work on before we get ready to leave. First, he wants to know how to get down on the ground safely and stand back up again. She started on the mat table to make sure Matt could figure it out before he was actually on the ground. He was pretty quick at working through the process of going from his stomach to his knees and then to standing (all with one arm and a fairly weak leg!). Then she showed him once how to lower himself to the ground and stand back up again and he just copied her with no issues. Goal #1 - check.
Second, she wanted to take him outside to walk up and down a fairly steep hill on his own. He was slightly winded once he got to the top, but otherwise it went fine. Goal #2 - check.
Matt has been getting electric stim on his right leg for several weeks now to make him lift his toes. For a normal person, the machine would be set at 20-30 mAMPs to make the muscle work. Matt started out at 48-55 mAMPs, but today he only required 36! The machine cycles on for 4 seconds and off for 12 seconds for 20 minutes. Afterwards, Matt tries to lift his toes on his own, hoping this process is developing muscle memory - he's up to 10 reps before he can't make it work anymore. The goal is to get the setting below 30 and be able to do 20 reps afterwards, so he's well on his way.
I also snuck into his afternoon session today and watched him work on the parallel bars. Last time I saw him try to walk sideways, he would take very small steps with his right foot by leaning to the left and really swinging his leg out using just his hip muscles. Today he could step to the right almost naturally - he stayed upright and stepped over by picking up his right leg. It wore him out, but he looked great!
Second, she wanted to take him outside to walk up and down a fairly steep hill on his own. He was slightly winded once he got to the top, but otherwise it went fine. Goal #2 - check.
Matt has been getting electric stim on his right leg for several weeks now to make him lift his toes. For a normal person, the machine would be set at 20-30 mAMPs to make the muscle work. Matt started out at 48-55 mAMPs, but today he only required 36! The machine cycles on for 4 seconds and off for 12 seconds for 20 minutes. Afterwards, Matt tries to lift his toes on his own, hoping this process is developing muscle memory - he's up to 10 reps before he can't make it work anymore. The goal is to get the setting below 30 and be able to do 20 reps afterwards, so he's well on his way.
I also snuck into his afternoon session today and watched him work on the parallel bars. Last time I saw him try to walk sideways, he would take very small steps with his right foot by leaning to the left and really swinging his leg out using just his hip muscles. Today he could step to the right almost naturally - he stayed upright and stepped over by picking up his right leg. It wore him out, but he looked great!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter!
We got to visit home this weekend! It was so fantastic to have Easter dinner outside at our house and enjoy a little bit of spring at the farm. Matt had a bit of a hard time, so I don't think that we'll be visiting again until we leave here for good, but it was nice for the weekend.
When he's here at rehab, he feels like he's doing better and everyone tells him how much improvement he has made. I think when he was at home, though, he realized how far he has to go and what he's missing right now. Matt, this strong, physical, hard-working person, had to sit there while we went to the barn and brought out the Adirondack chairs. He can't even walk to the barn yet, let alone help carry anything back. Then he had to see the chairs that he had made last fall - I just can't imagine how hard it was for him. We managed to talk him into staying last night and I think that he was happy today - especially once Freddie got there.
At one point today Matt said to me that Crotched Mountain was good and Dummerston was good, but both is bad. He needs to stay in his routine and concentrate on his work here until he gets to be at home for good, which he still hopes is soon. Then he can develop a routine at home, which is comforting, and figure out new ways to get work done. Knowing Matt, this is probably the last weekend he'll just be sitting around the house.
When he's here at rehab, he feels like he's doing better and everyone tells him how much improvement he has made. I think when he was at home, though, he realized how far he has to go and what he's missing right now. Matt, this strong, physical, hard-working person, had to sit there while we went to the barn and brought out the Adirondack chairs. He can't even walk to the barn yet, let alone help carry anything back. Then he had to see the chairs that he had made last fall - I just can't imagine how hard it was for him. We managed to talk him into staying last night and I think that he was happy today - especially once Freddie got there.
At one point today Matt said to me that Crotched Mountain was good and Dummerston was good, but both is bad. He needs to stay in his routine and concentrate on his work here until he gets to be at home for good, which he still hopes is soon. Then he can develop a routine at home, which is comforting, and figure out new ways to get work done. Knowing Matt, this is probably the last weekend he'll just be sitting around the house.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
New glasses
We went back to the eye doctor yesterday and this time they were able to figure out which prisms Matt needs to fix his double vision. They gave him trial lenses to try on and he just said "whoa." Apparently he'd gotten used to seeing two images and it's weird to see one again. He should get his new glasses in about a week!
They also figured out that Matt has lost a significant portion of his peripheral vision on the right side. We had no idea because he's been compensating for it just fine and it was only this weekend that he was first able to describe to us what was going on. He said that it's always been this way, but I'm not sure if he means since the accident or since his surgery. It's unclear if his vision therapy will help with this or if he'll just continue to live with it.
Matt has been on a daily dose of heavy duty pain killers since early January, which kept him from getting headaches. It's pretty common to need them until the bone flap is put back, but I hadn't been thinking about when they would take Matt off of them. But yesterday, they discontinued this and so far, he's been fine! One more step towards out the door...
They also figured out that Matt has lost a significant portion of his peripheral vision on the right side. We had no idea because he's been compensating for it just fine and it was only this weekend that he was first able to describe to us what was going on. He said that it's always been this way, but I'm not sure if he means since the accident or since his surgery. It's unclear if his vision therapy will help with this or if he'll just continue to live with it.
Matt has been on a daily dose of heavy duty pain killers since early January, which kept him from getting headaches. It's pretty common to need them until the bone flap is put back, but I hadn't been thinking about when they would take Matt off of them. But yesterday, they discontinued this and so far, he's been fine! One more step towards out the door...
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