Back to therapy

It's been a month since Matt's surgery and things are slowly coming along. He still gets tired pretty easy and is frustrated by how long it is taking to really feel better. His therapists keep reminding him that with a head injury he's particularly susceptible to that post-surgery crappy feeling. I think he was hoping to bounce back and be amazingly better by now and it's hard to be stuck in this slow process again. It's especially hard since spring has come along with all the farm work he wants to be doing and he has to admit he can't do it.

He has been back in speech and OT the past two weeks and they are going well. Whenever we see people or Matt talks on the phone, they say he sounds better than ever. He's even used full sentences when he complains to me about how frustrated he feels. His OT was amazed that he wasn't set back further - in fact, he had improved while he was away from therapy. He's gaining more muscle control in his arm, particularly in bending and straightening his elbow. But because of what he wants to do around the farm, none of this progress is fast or strong enough for him and it's going to be a real test of his patience to get through it.

Home again

Matt actually ate breakfast this morning and was feeling so much better than last night, so they said he could go home today. Once I recovered from watching them remove the drain from his head, they sent us on our way. He's doing really well and back to relaxing on the couch. He'll go back in a few weeks to get the staples removed and later for a follow-up CT, but everything seems good so far.

All is well

Matt is done with surgery and everything went great. I won't be able to see him for a few hours, but the surgeon said he is doing fine. He said that the bone piece was quite a bit smaller than the plastic piece they put in, so now Matt's head will be nice and round and everything will be very protected.

Finally time

We've got Matt's surgery time now and he is really ready for this to be done. We have to be at Dartmouth bright and early and the surgery should start around 7:30. I will post as soon as I can about how everything went. We've been so busy thinking about the surgery that we almost forgot yesterday was April 16th - the day Matt moved out of Crotched Mountain last year! We can't believe how fast this year went by, even though Matt's progress feels so slow. Can't wait to see how the next year goes, especially with his new plastic head.

On the road again

After months of waiting, training, more waiting and testing, Matt is back in the driver's seat and is so very happy. We had to trade his truck in for a car that was going to work better for him and last week we took it in to have a left-foot accelerator and steering knob installed. Adaptive equipment is pretty amazing - and it pops out whenever I need the car. He's been driving to therapy and running errands with me all week and is doing fantastic.

There are still two weeks left before Matt's surgery and he's starting to get nervous. He knows it needs to happen and started out 3 weeks ago ready to have it done, but as it gets closer it's more and more scary.

date set

We went to Dartmouth yesterday to get all the prep work done for Matt's surgery - they did all the pre-op tests and the CAT scan they need to make his plastic implant. As much as we want it to be done quickly, it's going to be a long process to get the new piece ready, so his surgery is set for April 18th. He was really worried that he would be laid up again as much as he was last summer, but his nurse said that once he recovers from surgery (1-2 weeks) and takes it somewhat easy for a few more weeks, he'll be back to long walks and mowing again no problem.

Then we came back and had his regular therapies - his OT re-eval went great and he's scheduled for another month. Almost all of his muscle groups showed increased strength, increased range of motion, or both. He even earned his first 'within normal limits' on one muscle movement - with his elbow bent 90 degrees, he could pull his forearm all the way to his stomach!

One more time

Matt's been having a great couple of weeks - he's getting some new small movements in his wrist and his driving training is going well, too.

But the way his skull looks has really been bothering him - it appears to be 'sunken' around the edge of his original skull. We went back to see his surgeon today and he said that, though very rare, in some cases the body can start to re-absorb the bone wherever it hasn't fused together. So now there are small gaps around his bone plate and some spots are actually sinking as his spinal fluid moves around throughout the day. This isn't causing any damage or putting Matt in any danger, but it can't stay this way forever.

Long story short - Matt has to have another surgery. They will remove the original bone piece and replace it with a plastic one, which is what we had talked about the first time over a year ago. Everything that needs to happen will take a few weeks, but hopefully we will at least know soon when he'll have the surgery. It should just be an overnight stay and then he'll come home again to recuperate before going back to his regular therapies. Its unfortunate that the bone didn't take the first time, but at least there is an 'easy' fix and then Matt can get back to more (and hopefully faster) progress.