Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Happy Christmas!
How far we've come - we had a lovely Christmas together and Matt was more 'there' than he has been yet. Just two years ago we didn't even think we would eat dinner together because he wasn't on solid food yet. Then when we did have dinner he kept repeating 'prime rib' when all he wanted was the Dr. Pepper sitting across from him. No confusion this year - though quiet, Matt was engaged in the conversations around him and did not seem to get overwhelmed as easily. After 3 days of family dinners, he is feeling good about his interactions and ability to keep up with the crowd. "Slow and steady," he says, "but much improvement."
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Getting settled
Things are finally coming along here in New York - Matt started new therapies yesterday and I think it is going to be great. Even though it is an hour away, it is a hospital that specializes in brain injuries and they are excited to be working with Matt. He has OT and speech twice a week for a month and then we'll see what happens next. He continues to improve from what we have seen and it is never too late to discount miracles with him.
Roxbury Farm is working out to be a great place to be. (I put our new address in my profile.) Matt has lots of new places to walk, more people to interact with, and we even got a draft horse, which was one of Matt's dreams for our farm before. We're still getting used to him and don't have specific work to do yet, but Matt's been practicing one-handed driving and takes Milt out with his cart. My sister & I have been logging with our mentor and we can see how Matt fell in love with working with horses in the woods. Even though he won't be in the woods any time soon, I hope he can get some part of his draft power dream back.
Roxbury Farm is working out to be a great place to be. (I put our new address in my profile.) Matt has lots of new places to walk, more people to interact with, and we even got a draft horse, which was one of Matt's dreams for our farm before. We're still getting used to him and don't have specific work to do yet, but Matt's been practicing one-handed driving and takes Milt out with his cart. My sister & I have been logging with our mentor and we can see how Matt fell in love with working with horses in the woods. Even though he won't be in the woods any time soon, I hope he can get some part of his draft power dream back.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Catch up
Its been a crazy, busy few months and I know we have a lot to update, so here goes.
Matt's still attending speech therapy and the fact that he now thinks he sounds better is a big indication of his progress. He's still tripping up over words he wants to say, but he is getting more across than ever before. I've gotten so used to helping him out when he's word searching and now he doesn't want my help - which is awesome, but a difficult change to make. He also struggles around other people and wants me to elaborate on what he is saying, but they almost always understand what he means and its a great confirmation for him.
He is working really hard on all his exercises at home and says he is feeling stronger every day. He hasn't used his cane since April nor his brace since August. August was probably the last time we used an elevator, too - he's always looking for the stairs now. His shoulder and upper arm are stronger and seem to have more range of motion now, but his lower arm/wrist/hand are still pretty weak and not progressing much since they stopped using e-stimulation in therapy. I really wish we could do that at home because it seemed to help the most, but unfortunately that isn't possible.
Finally, we've spent the last couple months making some big decisions and figuring out details of our move. We are going to be leaving Vermont for New York on November 5. Keri will be farming full time at Roxbury and we're hoping to get Matt involved in the farm eventually, too. We are going to be building and adapting a wood shop for him which he is super excited about and he'll still have his mower. He's also found a stables nearby that does therapeutic riding and team driving. He'll figure out a way to be a teamster, yet.
We will be keeping our cell phone numbers for awhile and I will post our new address info in "My Profile" once we move.
Matt's still attending speech therapy and the fact that he now thinks he sounds better is a big indication of his progress. He's still tripping up over words he wants to say, but he is getting more across than ever before. I've gotten so used to helping him out when he's word searching and now he doesn't want my help - which is awesome, but a difficult change to make. He also struggles around other people and wants me to elaborate on what he is saying, but they almost always understand what he means and its a great confirmation for him.
He is working really hard on all his exercises at home and says he is feeling stronger every day. He hasn't used his cane since April nor his brace since August. August was probably the last time we used an elevator, too - he's always looking for the stairs now. His shoulder and upper arm are stronger and seem to have more range of motion now, but his lower arm/wrist/hand are still pretty weak and not progressing much since they stopped using e-stimulation in therapy. I really wish we could do that at home because it seemed to help the most, but unfortunately that isn't possible.
Finally, we've spent the last couple months making some big decisions and figuring out details of our move. We are going to be leaving Vermont for New York on November 5. Keri will be farming full time at Roxbury and we're hoping to get Matt involved in the farm eventually, too. We are going to be building and adapting a wood shop for him which he is super excited about and he'll still have his mower. He's also found a stables nearby that does therapeutic riding and team driving. He'll figure out a way to be a teamster, yet.
We will be keeping our cell phone numbers for awhile and I will post our new address info in "My Profile" once we move.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Out in the woods
Matt has been walking in the woods around the farm since last year - but only on the farm road. A few weeks ago, we ventured onto a trail nearby that was almost a mile long! This hill is much steeper than it looks and Matt almost turned around before we were halfway, but then he decided to keep going and felt so great about really hiking again. One step at a time we're getting back to things we love to do.
Matt says
Thank you ever so much for keeping up with my life and recovery. Me - better & better - slow but steady. Big time in life and everything happening. Thank you very much for everything you've done. Through the whole deal, we decided we're leaving the farm. Where we go, no idea what is going on. We'll see. -Matt
Matt wanted to tell me what to write on this post. I tried to keep it just like he said it so you can see how he is communicating, but sometimes he wants a little help. I was thrilled he was even interested in trying. This was all he could explain right now and wanted me to take over on the farm story.
Our plans for this farm were centered on his skills as a forester, a climber, and a tree worker. As great as he is doing, we don't know that he will get back to everything he was before so it is hard to re-work ideas for this farm and figure out how we can still take it over by the end of this year. We decided it was time to step back, take more time to regroup, continue healing, and re figure what kind of farm we can run someday with his 'new' skills. This was an amazing place for Matt to be and heal and to dream about the future, but it has become too hard to be here and watch what he can't be doing. It will be so difficult to walk away from this farm (we think sometime this winter), but it is what needs to happen at this point.
Matt wanted to tell me what to write on this post. I tried to keep it just like he said it so you can see how he is communicating, but sometimes he wants a little help. I was thrilled he was even interested in trying. This was all he could explain right now and wanted me to take over on the farm story.
Our plans for this farm were centered on his skills as a forester, a climber, and a tree worker. As great as he is doing, we don't know that he will get back to everything he was before so it is hard to re-work ideas for this farm and figure out how we can still take it over by the end of this year. We decided it was time to step back, take more time to regroup, continue healing, and re figure what kind of farm we can run someday with his 'new' skills. This was an amazing place for Matt to be and heal and to dream about the future, but it has become too hard to be here and watch what he can't be doing. It will be so difficult to walk away from this farm (we think sometime this winter), but it is what needs to happen at this point.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
slowly coming along
Matt's been doing pretty well since my last post. He goes to therapy alone almost all the time now and the only update I get from him is that his appointment went fine. But then the last few times he has come home happy and tells me that he notices a difference. He even said that speech went well last week - and he never believes us when we tell him he is communicating better.
Today I went along to OT and I saw him move his wrist up slightly without any assistance. He still needs e-stim to be able to pull his wrist all the way back, but to see him move it at all on his own was pretty amazing. He is far from having much functional use in his arm, but each little improvement helps.
Today I went along to OT and I saw him move his wrist up slightly without any assistance. He still needs e-stim to be able to pull his wrist all the way back, but to see him move it at all on his own was pretty amazing. He is far from having much functional use in his arm, but each little improvement helps.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
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.
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.
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