Core Training

I met Susan the better half of the husband and wife physical therapy team ;)  Two major breakthroughs today; one, she has finally learned how to "skootch" herself back in her chair using her good leg and arm.  That took two weeks per Susan.  The next big deal is what you see in the picture.  She couldn't do this task of reaching down to grab the rings (curtain shower rings, small budget), and bring them up around the walker and reaching to put the ring on Susan's finger.

I'm sure it's just because I'm nicoles brother but of all the cool things I've done over the years, this ranks right at the top...  Just witnessing the struggle she goes through but to see her do something she couldn't do before, it's an awesome feeling.  She is very resilient despite her depressing circimstances, I couldn't be more proud of my sister.

Again, anyone who is following Nicole's story or has donated, you are directly and indirectly (possibly) responsible for this small but significant progress, I know that has to feel pretty good too :)

Thanks again,

Chris

Moving Forward

It's awesome how much progress Nicole has made in the 3 weeks that she's been doing her therapy!  I was gone for the weekend and didn't see her for 4 days and happy to say that she can now lean forward in her wheelchair!  She wasn't able to do this prior to me leaving and I'm so proud of her!  She's also been working on standing up longer each time with less and less help from her PT person which is awesome :)  The speech is still a struggle but her speech therapist AJ is excellent and I have the utmost confidence that he's going to get everything that he can out of what she has left in her lower left lobe and hopefully start getting the right side of her brain to start compensating for what she's lost.

I am so grateful that she has the chance to improve...

I'm also so grateful to my Mom who has been participating in just about every session while dealing with her affairs after losing Rich not to mention fighting her own battle with breast cancer.  She is an incredible lady and an awesome Mom is all I can say.  Not sure what we would do without her...  I'm also grateful for my family contributing what they can when they can. My Aunt Shelly has been working with her on the iPad and Anu (her occupational therapist) told me it's making an impact.  I also wanted to thank my cousin Jen who has been so helpful not only behind the scenes with me but lending her expertise in optometry evaluating Nicole's vision and putting a plan together to make some improvements with custom lenses/eyeglasses.  Her vision ever since the stroke is poor for close up objects and her range has been severely diminished...  It's so important that we all work with her trying to take back some of what she's lost.  If anyone is interested in participating in working with her on some of this stuff, she loves to practice when she's not too tired.  It's going to take all of us who care for Nicole participating as she has a long way to go...

I'm cautiously optimistic that things will continue to improve as we go forward through this process and look forward to reporting progress as it happens :)

Thanks again for your interest and following her story!

Cheers,

Chris

Physical Therapy :-D

Had a chance to meet Sam, 1/2 of Nicole's physical therapy team, he works with his wife who was ill today.  It was really awesome to see her standing (with our help and the wall rail)!  She did it twice for about a minute or two each time which was totally exhausting for her.  Prior to that it was leg and trunk exercises, strengthening her core by having her lean forward in her chair.  It is amazing how difficult the seemingly simplest things are for her... 

Tomorrow is speech and occupational therapy.  She seems to have better spirits although I can tell she gets a little discouraged by the difficulty of what she's doing and her frustrations come out..., she gets mad at me!  Her right foot has dropped from her disdain in wearing her foot/leg brace and I'm always on her to wear it (in a gentle way of course).  She hates that foot brace with a passion... We're hoping wright and phillipis will have a more comfortable supportive brace and it will be covered by one of the M's.  Because of her foot drop, the doctor said she's going to need her achilles tendon surgically lengthened by cutting notches in it.  Does not sound pleasant to me, it is an awful shame it has gotten so bad.  I dont know when she can have the surgery as the healing time is at least 2-3 weeks (unoficially, per Sam) and sure she wouldn't be able to do much during this time, I dont know...  Maybe she could still do exercises but obviously nothing on her feet.  We will see.

That's the latest, thanks for following Nicole's story and if you've donated or helped to raise awareness that led to a donation, you are directly reaponsible for everything that is happening right now.

2 new donors!

Cousin Melody
Janice McGuire

Thanks so much!

Chris

Tossing Cookies

Well, it was a beautiful day and we tried to get to the cider mill but it just wasn't meant to be.  We only got a couple miles away from Regency Manor and because Nicole isn't used to driving, she got car sick again :(  This is the third time now I think so we need to make some changes when we take her somewhere or she has to transport to appts. 

Luckily my mom lives close by and we just went there and got everything cleaned up in the garage.  It felt like that scene in pulp fiction where Harvey Keitels character (mr fix it? Cant remember his name) came in and took care of all the blood in the car when they accidently shot that guy.  Quentin Tarentino was actually in the scene making his customary appearance but I digress...   We made the best of a bad situatuion and just enjoyed a fire in the backyard and chili barking at the horses :) 

Even though it's been almost a year, it's still tough to see Nicole go through what she goes through.  Its so hard...   Everything we do is difficult, nothing is easy once we get her out of that place yet it is so vital I think to her overall well being and relative peace of mind.  I don't know for sure but would bet a somewhat crazy day like today, (where things didn't go exactly as planned), is better than her laying in that dark room doing nothing. 

Hopefully, next time, we make it to our destination!  I'm sure the cider mill was a zoo today anyway ;) 

Things happen for a reason some say right?!

Chris

Getting into the groove :)

So, we are full on into NIcole's therapy!  She has a great team who care and she seems to be responding!  It is so nice to see Nicole performing an activity, any activity if you know what I mean...

She had a rough day yesterday; after speech therapy, she had to go back down to Wright and Phillipis to hopefully get fitted for a new chair, arm brace, elbow brace and hand brace.  On the way, she ended up car sick and never made it, feel bad for her.  The chair she is using is shotty at best and she keeps sliding down as there's no padding underneath.  Not to mention, her chair has no reliable capability to handle her bad leg.  We have to take a pillow and put it under her leg so it doesn't fall out.  Most of the time that works for two minutes and is more frustrating than anything... 

I have no idea if insurance is going to pay for these bare necessities so I guess we'll find out.  Don't want to say anything good or bad as not jinx us but it's amazing to not even know...

Tomorrow should be fun, God willing with the weather, we're going to hit Yates where we used to go when we were itty bitties. 

Thanks to Susanna Michaels, Carolyn Hebert, Nancy Lowis for the latest donations!  The money does go quick, oye...

More to come, many thanks again!

Moving Forward!

Had a chance to participate in Nicole's Occupational Therapy today and it is so encouraging seeing her working on her recovery again!!

They are taking baby steps now as her muscles have atrophied from inactivity.  It is a shame it has taken so long for this to happen (she has to have a surgery on her Achilles tendon putting slices in it so she can straighten her foot ouy).  I am and I know Nicole is very grateful for this opportunity and hopefully with cooperation, we can all participate in her regaining her dignity.

Keeping my fingers crossed but so far, the people working with Nicole have been so kind, compassionate and competent.  Thank God!!

Therapy update

Hello, Chris here again, sorry for the delay in posting, we had a couple of snags.  After a meeting last week, Nicole has finally started back with her therapy!!  We've met and were impressed by her speech and occupational therapist but haven't connected with her physical therapists yet.  We still have a cpl of bugs to work out such as making sure the therapists provide a schedule to us so we can have an advocate for Nicole present to root her on...  We also want to make sure the therapists are doing a good job.

So, the plan established to start is 9 sessions per week, 3 from each category.  Needless to say, she's been exhausted this week and sadly, a little down.  I spoke to my mom and we agree that she needs to get out of that place on a more consistent basis.  Its bad enough with what she's dealing with but being stuck in bed everyday being surrounded by really old people with dementia has to be depressing.  I'm going to take her to stoney creek Wednesday and as she hopefully progeesses, try and ease her out back into the world.

Thanks again to those of you who continue to donate!  We have enough money to pay for 15-16 weeks of therapy!  This is a fantastic start and gives us time to figure out a way to pay for the rest of the year.

Once I charge my tablet, I will update with the latest names of Nicoles angels who've donated.  Thanks so much again!

Chris