UPDATE--May 24

Hi Everyone,
It's been way too long since I last posted. I know I owe everyone an update, so here goes.....

For the most part, we are doing very well. I say "we" because so many of you have been concerned for me as the caretaker. It is hard on me, but many things have gotten much more tolerable than when we first came home.

Many Answers To Prayer...
Tom had a very hard time recovering from that surgery in April to put in the Baclofen Pump. Now that he is totally recovered from that, we can say that he is feeling much better. The pump is doing what it is supposed to do, which is to keep the muscles from stiffening and suddenly spasming (jerking). This has been a great relief to Tom, and I find it much easier to dress him as his legs no longer stiffen and "fight" against me while I'm trying to get his pants on. It has definitely been an answer to prayer.

Another answer to the prayers of many of you is that we are getting more hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. We sleep about 4 or 5 hours, then wake up and I get up and reposition him (so he won't get bed sores), and we go back to sleep for another 2 or so hours. I threw out all the sleeping pills which made him wacko and groggy during the day, and he now occasionally takes an herb to help him sleep if he needs it. We definitely appreciate your prayers for our sleeping needs. OH, and some friends found me a hospital bed, so I now no longer sleep on the couch! It was only $50 and is a very nice adjustable bed that I can keep next to Tom's at night, but then roll away while I dress him, etc.

We are now driving a handicapped van equipped with a lift that makes it fairly easy for Tom to get into and out of, so we are much more mobile than we had been. A handicapped lawyer acquaintance of mine, who is now a very good friend of ours, has lent us this van. (He has another one--this is his older spare van). It has hand controls so if Tom wanted to, he could try to learn to drive it .... maybe later in his recovery..... It's a bit weird for me to drive, but I manage, and I've not had any accidents in it!! We are very grateful to this man for letting us use this van.

Using the van with the lift means that I no longer have to put together and take apart and haul around that portable lift, which weighs a ton. My back is thrilled with that.

His breathing is still shallow and it is labored for him to talk a whole lot. One reason that we don't call too many people. sorry.... But he's not had any respiratory ailments like he usually does every spring, so another praise!

Also his bedsore is completely healed, no more have occurred. He seems to have good skin.
We've got a system to handle his bowels that seems to be working, and that has relieved some of our stress. No accidents.



What We Do All Day...
This is a busy time of year for my business. Weddings, showers, graduation parties, end of year luncheons, teas.....all those events are going on in May. Fortunately, my business has picked up to the point that there are events every week-end, and most week-ends in May there have been 3 or 4 events. This has kept me hoppin'. Tom rides over to Southern Oaks with me pretty much every day and hangs around while I set up or clean up for events, plant and water flowers, or even while I conduct parties. He's now learning what I actually DO all day, so this is a good thing! We spent 3 days delivering day camp flyers to all the schools in the county. I do this every year but I never have company. Needless to say, we are spending a whole lot of time together! He is very patient and takes it all in stride.

Another praise is that he is able to use the eraser end of pencils that we tuck into a velcro band around his hands to operate the computer. It's slow, but he wasn't a fast typist anyway ;-)
This means he can read the newspaper online, etc. He is also able to enter my business receipts and stuff onto Quickbooks to help do my books.....which I NEVER do till tax time. I'm giving him the job permanently... It's slow, but it's faster than me because I don't do it.... We have an older laptop but will possibly be getting a nicer one from Jessica, and we'll be able to install the voice activated software onto that, and Tom will be able to do lots more on the computer. Hopefully, sell stuff on ebay for starters....

Daycamp will start in a few weeks, and Tom will accompany me there every day. I'm hoping that we can get some kind of exercise program for him in place by then, because he really should be doing excercises and physical therapy.



Help
I hire a young lady to come help get Tom bathed, dressed, in his chair, etc. on Saturday mornings when I've got to rush out of the house to do my events. That has worked well and lightened my load. I would love to have more help, but can't afford it right now, and insurance will not pay for it.

Several teen-age girls come by occasionally to our house to help with laundry, dishes, etc, and also to Southern Oaks.

We've talked to an Orthotic company that is looking into fitting Tom's hands with these metal brace things that will help him be able to use his hands. Will let you know how that goes.

Finances
I don't know how, but so far we've been able to pay our bills in spite of not having any income since February. We're basically living off of what people (you) have sent us. That's about gone, but now that daycamp money and event money is coming in to Southern Oaks, I will be able to pay for some of our home expenses. Needless to say, we don't spend money on anything that is not absolutely necessary.

I've applied for Disability, and we should hear something about that soon. We should qualify in June, and start receiving disability checks in July. Don't know how much that'll be, but it's some percentage of his former income.

We're on Cobra insurance plan, so we have to keep up with that payment in addition to having to pay fairly large co-payments for drugs and doctor visits that we never used to have, so that'll probably use up a lot of whatever disability money we get. Not worried about it though.....the Lord has provided for us so far and he will continue to.

Our church has given us some money to help pay for the insurance on the borrowed van, which will cost us about $1000.

Status of Lawsuit
Our lawyer has said that they are asking us if we are willing to settle. We are in discussions about this and so I won't say much, except that the kind of "settlement" that our lawyer would accept on our behalf, I believe, would include a Life Care Plan for Tom that would provide for much of his future care needs to be provided for. We appreciate your prayers for this to be settled in a beneficial way for Tom. And that it won't drag out for years......

Health Concerns
Tom's #1 health complaint now is the tightness in his chest that is like a band squeezing him. He has had this all along, and he's taking medication that helps make it tolerable, but it would be nice if it would go away. It is a constant annoying thing to him and makes every breath labored.

He also is having a lot of pain in his shoulder, which is the same shoulder that bothered him for years prior to the accident.

So we now are trying to settle into a routine, and working on getting Tom stronger. He really needs to be exercising his arms more and learning how to do more things for himself. we're working on it....


THANKS once again to all of you who have commented here and sent emails and cards and phonecalls and prayers and money. You have all helped us get through this.

I'll post again when we have any significant updates to tell you about.

God bless all who read this!!

Michele