Hello, friends! Our resolution for 2013 is to write more frequent updates, so please don't give up on us and please keep checking in!
Things roll along here. Our schedule right now is two days at Willowbrook, two days at Walk the Line, OT with a hand specialist, horseback riding at Banbury Cross, swimming, and massage (each once per week). A good, busy schedule. Just listing these places and activities gives you an idea of where we spend our time, but doesn't touch on the emotional impact of these things. Going to therapy has become a big part of Steve's social life (ours, too) and the people there have become his friends (ours, too). You walk into these places and feel so welcome and feel such hope and such confidence in the people working there. That part of therapy is hard to describe, but it's just as important as the physical work. We are thankful for these places and these people every single day.
Besides traditional therapies, many activities that we regard as therapy go on at home...working out on the NuStep (he now does more than an hour at a time without needing any assistance), playing games, using the reading machine, using his IPad, etc. He stays busy!
It's always fun and interesting to be caught off guard by improvements that Steve makes. They are small and subtle, but we are thankful for them. For example, he might use his left hand to do something new, handle eating more independently, or speak more loudly. All good things and wonderful moments when we notice what is happening!
He's been a bit knocked down for the past month or so with a toothache that couldn't be figured out. It's still not completely solved but it turned out that he also had an ear infection, which was the cause of most of the pain. Through all of that (he described the pain as a 6 on a scale of 1-5) he never missed a day of therapy and continued to work hard while popping Motrin!
Steve always looks forward to visits and texts from friends. Keeping in touch is so good for him in so many ways. Please know that you are always more than welcome to stop by, even if you haven't seen him in awhile. Even a few minutes with friends means a lot. Just give us a call! (two-four-eight-568-6091). If you'd like to text him, his phone number is two-four-eight-770-6092.
A couple years ago we received a Christmas card containing words that continue to speak to us. We wanted to share them with you: "Believe... in the confidence within ourselves and the strength unconditional love provides... in the healing power of time and hope... in faith, dreams, and unconventional beauty... and in the importance of living in the moment." Thank you for everything you do for us, and for continuing to believe in and support Steve!
Take care of yourselves and each other. Merry Christmas!
Love,
Linda and Rob
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Update 131 from Rob and Linda
Hello to the Steve's Army nation. Hope this post finds you safe and well.
As we continue to progress in this journey we are continually reminded of what it takes to help Steve recover. While a part of the recovery process is therapy and exercise, another part of this recovery deals with positive thoughts, prayers and support. We experienced these first hand at the Golf Outing a few weeks ago. We would like to share some of our experiences with you.
We had the largest number of participants in the history of the outing. Teams from each rehabilitation activity that Steve attends were there. Teams that have been at every outing and new teams made up of one or more past participants with several first timers were there. One team somehow obtained an outing announcement and decided it was a good cause and signed up. Unknown to them, Steve was a college roommate of the brother-in-law of one team member and we attended his sister's wedding a few years ago. We didn't make the connection until the morning of the outing.
We saw relatives that we have not seen in months or even years. For some wonderful reason they all thought that it was a good time to attend. Their presence made this outing all the more memorable.
Steve tried his best at public speaking this year and while it was a bit garbled the message got home:
"Thank you all for coming. I hope you have fun and that someone wins the car!"
On another note, we have decided to put more effort into correcting Steve's vision issue which is called Left Side Neglect. There is nothing wrong with his sight, eye or optic nerve; the issue is how the brain interprets what he sees. In extreme cases, a person might not know the left side of his body exists. He could have a pain in his left arm but not be able to tell anyone where it hurts. Steve's case is much less severe and deals with his brain thinking anything on his left is not important. Initially Steve would not be able to recognize anything that was left of center. Even if we pointed it out, he would not be able to tell you what the object was. His eyes would not go past the centerline. In order to view anything in the center he would turn his head completely to the left and his eyes would move to the right. About a year ago, we noticed in OT that Steve could reach out and match playing cards mounted on a board. That meant he could not only recognize the card but also that he could move his eyes to the left. This was a major accomplishment and we put some effort into continuing that type of therapy. While we feel we made the best choices at that time, he has improved to a point that we now feel that we can address this more aggressively.
A feeling of "center" is needed for good walking and balance. Steve now sees another OT that deals exclusively with this vision issue. We have also noticed that when driving a golf cart at the outing, Steve's vision seems to be less of a problem. We have borrowed a golf cart and Steve and Rob go "driving" as much as possible in the field behind our house.
We all know Steve can text very well but that requires scanning only the width of his phone (about 1.5 inches). We now have him scanning to 3 inches width and are working to increase that length, by copying articles that are of interest to him and putting them into a MSWORD document and then moving the text into a desired width.
When Steve writes now, he usually starts at the left side of the paper like we all do. Not so long ago, he would start just to the right of the middle of the page. We are cautiously optimistic that we can fix this issue as it seems another "part" of normal is coming back!
Thank you for reading this blog; please keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming in Steve's direction. We ALL have seen the results!
Take care of yourselves!
Rob and Linda
As we continue to progress in this journey we are continually reminded of what it takes to help Steve recover. While a part of the recovery process is therapy and exercise, another part of this recovery deals with positive thoughts, prayers and support. We experienced these first hand at the Golf Outing a few weeks ago. We would like to share some of our experiences with you.
We had the largest number of participants in the history of the outing. Teams from each rehabilitation activity that Steve attends were there. Teams that have been at every outing and new teams made up of one or more past participants with several first timers were there. One team somehow obtained an outing announcement and decided it was a good cause and signed up. Unknown to them, Steve was a college roommate of the brother-in-law of one team member and we attended his sister's wedding a few years ago. We didn't make the connection until the morning of the outing.
We saw relatives that we have not seen in months or even years. For some wonderful reason they all thought that it was a good time to attend. Their presence made this outing all the more memorable.
Steve tried his best at public speaking this year and while it was a bit garbled the message got home:
"Thank you all for coming. I hope you have fun and that someone wins the car!"
On another note, we have decided to put more effort into correcting Steve's vision issue which is called Left Side Neglect. There is nothing wrong with his sight, eye or optic nerve; the issue is how the brain interprets what he sees. In extreme cases, a person might not know the left side of his body exists. He could have a pain in his left arm but not be able to tell anyone where it hurts. Steve's case is much less severe and deals with his brain thinking anything on his left is not important. Initially Steve would not be able to recognize anything that was left of center. Even if we pointed it out, he would not be able to tell you what the object was. His eyes would not go past the centerline. In order to view anything in the center he would turn his head completely to the left and his eyes would move to the right. About a year ago, we noticed in OT that Steve could reach out and match playing cards mounted on a board. That meant he could not only recognize the card but also that he could move his eyes to the left. This was a major accomplishment and we put some effort into continuing that type of therapy. While we feel we made the best choices at that time, he has improved to a point that we now feel that we can address this more aggressively.
A feeling of "center" is needed for good walking and balance. Steve now sees another OT that deals exclusively with this vision issue. We have also noticed that when driving a golf cart at the outing, Steve's vision seems to be less of a problem. We have borrowed a golf cart and Steve and Rob go "driving" as much as possible in the field behind our house.
We all know Steve can text very well but that requires scanning only the width of his phone (about 1.5 inches). We now have him scanning to 3 inches width and are working to increase that length, by copying articles that are of interest to him and putting them into a MSWORD document and then moving the text into a desired width.
When Steve writes now, he usually starts at the left side of the paper like we all do. Not so long ago, he would start just to the right of the middle of the page. We are cautiously optimistic that we can fix this issue as it seems another "part" of normal is coming back!
Thank you for reading this blog; please keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming in Steve's direction. We ALL have seen the results!
Take care of yourselves!
Rob and Linda
Saturday, April 28, 2012
update #130 from Linda
Hello! Hope this finds you well!
A couple of things to report...
Last week we took a quad cane into the pool and Steve practiced walking with it and did a good job. Yesterday at Willowbrook we tried it for a few minutes and were all pretty amazed at how well he did. We're not sure yet just how long he'll be able to tolerate it, but we'll definitely be working more with it this week!
Walk the Line asked all their clients to write a specific goal with a time frame for their "I Will" display. Today Steve wrote, "I will drive my car in the 2014 Dream Cruise." Love this. Such a reflection on what's important to him, what he's certain he'll accomplish, and he gave himself time to make it happen!
We saw a new rehab optomotrist, and were referred to an OT who specializes in low vision issues. We are really anxious to start working with her. She'll be giving us things to work on at home, too.
Plans are in place for Steve's golf outing, which is on June 23rd. If you'd like a flyer or want to particpate in any way, please let me know (lindapercha@gmail.com or 248-568-6091). Your support is much appreciated!
Thanks so much for checking in! Hope life is good for all of you.
Love,
Linda
A couple of things to report...
Last week we took a quad cane into the pool and Steve practiced walking with it and did a good job. Yesterday at Willowbrook we tried it for a few minutes and were all pretty amazed at how well he did. We're not sure yet just how long he'll be able to tolerate it, but we'll definitely be working more with it this week!
Walk the Line asked all their clients to write a specific goal with a time frame for their "I Will" display. Today Steve wrote, "I will drive my car in the 2014 Dream Cruise." Love this. Such a reflection on what's important to him, what he's certain he'll accomplish, and he gave himself time to make it happen!
We saw a new rehab optomotrist, and were referred to an OT who specializes in low vision issues. We are really anxious to start working with her. She'll be giving us things to work on at home, too.
Plans are in place for Steve's golf outing, which is on June 23rd. If you'd like a flyer or want to particpate in any way, please let me know (lindapercha@gmail.com or 248-568-6091). Your support is much appreciated!
Thanks so much for checking in! Hope life is good for all of you.
Love,
Linda
Friday, April 6, 2012
update #129 from Linda and Steve
Last night Steve said, "Someplace I need to record that I bench pressed 20 pounds today. I know that's a pathetic number, but at least I can do it!"
So I told him I'd put it on the blog! Thought you'd like to know :)
So I told him I'd put it on the blog! Thought you'd like to know :)
Monday, February 20, 2012
Update #128 from Linda
Hello, friends! Thanks for checking in. We hope life is good and that you're enjoying 2012.
Things continue to roll along here. We still go to Willowbrook two afternoons each week, and the people there really feel like family members to us. They provide therapy to Steve, but also just let him know how much they enjoy his company, tease him, share jokes with him, etc. One of our favorite sayings is, "We believe there are angels on earth dressed up to look like people," and it certainly applies to the Willowbrook staff!
A few years ago we heard about a therapy facility ("Walk the Line") that we wanted to try, but at that time they were only accepting people with spinal cord injuries. Well, their name recently came up in a conversation about something totally unrelated, and we discovered that they just started accepting TBI clients, so we began going there last week. It has a loud, gym-like atmosphere with plenty of room to work on walking skills, and lots of young and enthusiastic employees. We're on the morning shift, which means a big adjustment at home since we don't move very fast in the AM! But it will be interesting to see how Steve likes a different schedule. This is also twice each week, and he has a solid three hours of PT assisted by three people. They wear him out!
We continue with the hormone therapy, and think it is helping. Steve is a real trooper and puts up with us stabbing him every day! Blood work was also done this morning to check levels.
Our schedule stays full with horseback riding, massage, swimming, and tennis...all good things for him physically and socially! We're also looking into working with an OT who specializes in vision issues...will know more about that in April.
We're VERY excited to announce that The Great Uncle Dave & His Amazing Assistants are starting to plan Steve's golf outing. It will be on June 23rd and we'll keep you updated as plans fall into place!
In other wonderful news...a foundation in our area ("The Pelican Foundation") helps one person each year by doing a project for them. They have chosen Steve for 2012! We met with their board of directors and their plan is to build a bathroom for Steve in our lower (family room) level and change the flooring in the family room, among other things. The goal is to create a space in our house (Beth refers to it as the "man cave") where Steve can practice skills like walking and transferring, and have more independence and privacy. We are beyond thankful that he was selected for this amazing gift!
We just passed the four year anniversary of Steve's injury, and have sure written a lot of scary posts. But look at this one...not a negative thing on the list. We are feeling very lucky and very blessed.
Take care of yourselves and each other. As always, thanks so much for staying in touch with Steve and keeping him in your thoughts!
Love,
Linda and Rob
Things continue to roll along here. We still go to Willowbrook two afternoons each week, and the people there really feel like family members to us. They provide therapy to Steve, but also just let him know how much they enjoy his company, tease him, share jokes with him, etc. One of our favorite sayings is, "We believe there are angels on earth dressed up to look like people," and it certainly applies to the Willowbrook staff!
A few years ago we heard about a therapy facility ("Walk the Line") that we wanted to try, but at that time they were only accepting people with spinal cord injuries. Well, their name recently came up in a conversation about something totally unrelated, and we discovered that they just started accepting TBI clients, so we began going there last week. It has a loud, gym-like atmosphere with plenty of room to work on walking skills, and lots of young and enthusiastic employees. We're on the morning shift, which means a big adjustment at home since we don't move very fast in the AM! But it will be interesting to see how Steve likes a different schedule. This is also twice each week, and he has a solid three hours of PT assisted by three people. They wear him out!
We continue with the hormone therapy, and think it is helping. Steve is a real trooper and puts up with us stabbing him every day! Blood work was also done this morning to check levels.
Our schedule stays full with horseback riding, massage, swimming, and tennis...all good things for him physically and socially! We're also looking into working with an OT who specializes in vision issues...will know more about that in April.
We're VERY excited to announce that The Great Uncle Dave & His Amazing Assistants are starting to plan Steve's golf outing. It will be on June 23rd and we'll keep you updated as plans fall into place!
In other wonderful news...a foundation in our area ("The Pelican Foundation") helps one person each year by doing a project for them. They have chosen Steve for 2012! We met with their board of directors and their plan is to build a bathroom for Steve in our lower (family room) level and change the flooring in the family room, among other things. The goal is to create a space in our house (Beth refers to it as the "man cave") where Steve can practice skills like walking and transferring, and have more independence and privacy. We are beyond thankful that he was selected for this amazing gift!
We just passed the four year anniversary of Steve's injury, and have sure written a lot of scary posts. But look at this one...not a negative thing on the list. We are feeling very lucky and very blessed.
Take care of yourselves and each other. As always, thanks so much for staying in touch with Steve and keeping him in your thoughts!
Love,
Linda and Rob
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