2009 - hospital waiting room.2010 - the parents' house.
We have the most to be thankful for this year.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
the anniversary
It all started in the dark, early morning of 11/19/09 - a Thursday last year. A policeman pounded on my door, woke me up and left me with a scrap of paper - an ER number to call 2 1/2 hours away where Matt was fighting for his life. I know that I did not understand the full gravity of the situation at the time. Either his doctor was selective about the information she gave me or I just chose not to believe that it could be that bad. She told me they were sending Matt up to Dartmouth for surgery and that I should meet him there.
By the time I got there, he was already in surgery and I still had no idea what had actually happened, so when his surgeon finally came and talked to me was when my world turned upside down. He said that Matt's accident was really bad and that if he lives, he might never walk or talk again. He had suffered a serious skull fracture above his left ear which had caused a blood clot that they had to remove. Then it became a waiting game - I saw Matt once that afternoon for a few minutes and then later that night when they finally moved him into the ICU. I didn't take any pictures when he was there because I didn't want to remember, but I've found that I will never forget how he looked the first time I saw him - all the monitors, tubes and bandaging. It still seems unreal.
Now fast forward a year (if only that was actually possible) and as you know he's walking and talking and showing no signs of slowing his progress. I know that we would never have come from that low to where we are now without everything everyone has done for us along the way - from the first group of visitors at Dartmouth to the cards, comments, thoughts and prayers we still receive today. Thank you for everything that you do - we are truly blessed to have you all in our lives.
By the time I got there, he was already in surgery and I still had no idea what had actually happened, so when his surgeon finally came and talked to me was when my world turned upside down. He said that Matt's accident was really bad and that if he lives, he might never walk or talk again. He had suffered a serious skull fracture above his left ear which had caused a blood clot that they had to remove. Then it became a waiting game - I saw Matt once that afternoon for a few minutes and then later that night when they finally moved him into the ICU. I didn't take any pictures when he was there because I didn't want to remember, but I've found that I will never forget how he looked the first time I saw him - all the monitors, tubes and bandaging. It still seems unreal.
Now fast forward a year (if only that was actually possible) and as you know he's walking and talking and showing no signs of slowing his progress. I know that we would never have come from that low to where we are now without everything everyone has done for us along the way - from the first group of visitors at Dartmouth to the cards, comments, thoughts and prayers we still receive today. Thank you for everything that you do - we are truly blessed to have you all in our lives.
Friday, November 12, 2010
November already
I've been going to Matt's therapies with him a lot lately because it is so great to watch how he's progressing - and he can never really explain to me afterwards how awesome he's doing. (and since the hospital wifi is my only internet connection, I haven't had time to blog, even though I've had a lot to blog about.) So here's a rundown of the last couple weeks:
PT - Matt's really working hard with his hamstrings and they are slowly progressing. One exercise he's been doing is to lay on his stomach and try to lift his heel up by bending his knee. A few weeks ago, it was nearly impossible and we had to help every time. Now he can lift his lower leg by himself and he's using therabands (which add resistance) to strengthen the muscles. He's walking around the house without his cane at all and goes on short walks outside without it, too. He carries it with him, but tries to not use it - unless he's also going without the brace, in which case he still needs the cane.
OT - We all know Matt's wicked strong and it was only a matter of time before things clicked, but now that they have, his arm control is picking up quite rapidly. It's still really hard and requires a lot of concentration, but he's been able to straighten and bend his arm without any assistance. What used to require e-stim to engage, now only requires muscle massage and some of the time his biceps will engage without anything at all. At the end of the last session, even the muscles that make the wrist bend up were working with very little massage.
It's all very amazing and exciting to see - I'll try take another video soon! He's actually just starting another OT session, so I'm going to go watch what he does today.
PT - Matt's really working hard with his hamstrings and they are slowly progressing. One exercise he's been doing is to lay on his stomach and try to lift his heel up by bending his knee. A few weeks ago, it was nearly impossible and we had to help every time. Now he can lift his lower leg by himself and he's using therabands (which add resistance) to strengthen the muscles. He's walking around the house without his cane at all and goes on short walks outside without it, too. He carries it with him, but tries to not use it - unless he's also going without the brace, in which case he still needs the cane.
OT - We all know Matt's wicked strong and it was only a matter of time before things clicked, but now that they have, his arm control is picking up quite rapidly. It's still really hard and requires a lot of concentration, but he's been able to straighten and bend his arm without any assistance. What used to require e-stim to engage, now only requires muscle massage and some of the time his biceps will engage without anything at all. At the end of the last session, even the muscles that make the wrist bend up were working with very little massage.
It's all very amazing and exciting to see - I'll try take another video soon! He's actually just starting another OT session, so I'm going to go watch what he does today.
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