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.

Level 4 spelling

Matt's been working really hard on generating words and building vocab and is constantly improving. But writing the words, and especially spelling them, has always alluded him. He has homework assignments that give him a letter and he has to think of a word (no problem) and then write it. For the first column on the most recent worksheet, I wrote the words. By the time we got to the second column, he wanted to write the words, but I had to point out each letter on his alphabet board. Then on the third column, I could say the letter, he'd point it out to make sure and then write it and by the end he was writing the letters as I said them without using the alphabet board. (I hope this makes sense because it was so very exciting.) He's a long ways from spelling on his own, but he's a long ways from where he was even a few weeks ago.

Inclining so slowly

Well it's official - Matt is finished with PT. He's not as far along as we had hoped he'd be, but he has lots of exercises to do at home and will continue to get stronger on his own. He hardly ever uses his cane anymore and will go without the brace sometimes, too. He's been working in the wood shop with my dad a few hours and comes back really sore from standing so long, but he says it's getting better. It's hard to find the right balance of pushing him to get stronger without being so sore that he can't do anything for a few days afterwards.

Matt will continue with OT for now since he's still showing progress in the reevaluations. I wanted to post another video of his arm movement, but he says he is 'inclining so slowly' and wants to wait before we film it again. The tone that makes his fingers and wrist tight has been a lot stronger lately and we have to get that down before he'll gain more movement in his hand. He's back to sleeping with a really hard splint that straightens out his wrist and fingers, hoping that wearing it all night will help that tone calm down.

Matt has also finally started on his driving practice and it's going well. I don't get to go along, but his instructor seems impressed with Matt's adaptability. He has 8-10 more hours of practice, so hopefully by spring he'll be done.

Out and about

Last week (before all the ice) we went out snowshoeing! It was super hard for Matt - especially since he used to spend all day on snowshoes in the woods and now he could only handle about 30 minutes. He came back completely wiped out and sore, but it was fantastic.

More evaluations

Matt's had a busy couple of weeks since the new year - mostly good, with a little frustrating mixed in. His last PT evaluation didn't go as well as we hoped. He's doing great, but his muscles aren't testing any stronger and his range of motion hasn't increased at all with his hamstrings or his ankle. He'll have one therapy a week for the next month and then another evaluation and if nothing increases again, we'll be on our own for PT. It seems especially weird since over the last month he's been feeling stronger and has even given up the cane completely (except for nighttime excursions.) He does know that his progress isn't going to stop entirely, but he is worried that he could be stuck with the brace on his leg forever.

OT, on the other hand, is going great - his arm tested stronger than ever and with more range of motion in almost every muscle group. He's working really hard with his new glove to increase use of his fingers, which isn't there yet, but it seems more hopeful. He was also able to slightly lift his wrist against gravity which he's never been able to do before.

Matt also went for a driving evaluation last week and it went pretty well. They did lots of visual tests and cognitive function tests (which, of course, he was better at than I was). Then they took him out in their car with all the right adaptive equipment and they said he did a great job. He has to go back for 10-12 more hours of training with them & the new equipment before he'll be on his own, but it looks promising for him to be back on the road by spring. He's so excited to finally be able to go places without me again!

Year-end review

We've been spending a lot of time lately talking about where Matt was a year ago. I read through old posts and tell him stories about things he used to do and he is always surprised. As frustrated as we both have been with the day-to-day of healing, it's amazing to look back at his life a year ago and see where we are now. At Christmas last year, we were thankful that he could eat dinner with us - he started eating solid food just 4 days before. This year we had the best Christmas - lots of good food and even a few rounds of dominoes. Here's hoping a year from now we are even more amazed.

I listened to Matt work out a conversation with his OT the other day - and I know that we're all getting better at figuring out what he is trying to say, but they really did have quite the conversation. He asked her how much of his arm & hand she thought would come back and she just said she has no way of knowing. But in over 20 years as a therapist, she's never worked with anyone who's had recovery like him - to have his arm start working almost 10 months out and then continue to make marked progress is pretty unbelievable. She feels that what they're working on at this point (wrist extension and finger movement) is detail work that she wasn't sure he would progress to and that since he has, hopefully things will continue to improve and he'll end up with some functional movement in his hand.

Hope you all have a fantastic New Year and all the best in 2011!