FINALLY!!.....an update....

Sorry for the long silence......I hate to keep using the word "overwhelmed," but that about covers it for me. I have not been near a computer, e-mail, our home phone or mailbox for days.

Here's a brief update......

My cellphone got thrown away by a hospital maintenance person....long story.... and my modem at home broke, so right when Tom was being discharged, I was not able to really communicate with anyone.

He was released from inpatient care on Tuesday, Feb. 28. We went home for a few days--we have a hospital bed, lift, and loaner wheelchair with us, and it was very good for him to go home finally. I had to have some words with several people there to have them let him go home.

All last week (Mar 6 - 11) Tom began the outpatient program, called the Day Program. He goes to classes/therapy, etc. from 9 to 4, Mon. - Thurs., and half a day on Friday. They provide us with an apartment to stay in, which is very close to Shepherd Center. I have to be with him all day and all night, or within a 10-minute distance.

Yesterday, (Friday), we came home for the week-end. We can only do this because we obtained a manual wheelchair from Tom's sister that I can fold and put in the car trunk, and I have a lift to put Tom onto the front seat of my car. The lift can be taken apart and fits in the back seat area of the car. It's cumbersome but gets the job done, and makes going home possible. The weather was magnificent yesterday and today and Tom sat outside with Jessica a good part of the day while I was able to go to Southern Oaks for a few hours. (Jessica is home for a few days on spring break from law school)

We are still waiting for his new permanent wheelchair to arrive. It is a power chair, which he needs, but it's small enough to drive into a van that a friend is loaning us once we get the chair. That will make things a ton easier.

Tom is responding well to the day program. It's hard and taxing on his system, but he is learning coping skills. He still has no movement in his hands, legs, or torso below the chest. He has a lot of pain in his hands and arms, especially now that he's exercising those areas. His muscle spasms are so bad that next wweek he is going to be tested for a medical procedure to put a pump into his abdomen that will slowly dispense anti-spasm medication to his spine, which will greatly increase his ability to breathe, sleep and function, if it works for him.

He'll be in the day program till about April 7th.

I took photos of Tom in the day program therapies -- I'll post some of them soon.

Michele