"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." ~ G. K. Chesterton
The Big Bang Theory
Yesterday morning started out with a bang.... literally.
Kyle was showering in his usuaul slow motion style (why I requested 11 am to 4 pm at Pathways!) while he was sitting, rather contentedly, on his shower bench. I had handed him the shower head to rinse, while I rinsed out clothing at the sink. The curtain was between us, trying to give him some privacy (although modesty has really escaped him these months), when there it came, this tiny little "toot" which made Kyle laugh, which in turn made me laugh.
Then came the ripple effect. The more we laughed, the more he "tooted". The more he "tooted', the more he needed to let them out. The more he needed to let them out, the more he needed to lean over. Which ultimately led to loss of trunk control as he leaned over to let his toots escape, hitting his head on the sink.
"Oh shit! Kyle, did you just hit your head on the sink?" (remember curtain between us)
"No, I didn't."
After a ridiculous, continuous argument from Kyle in which according to him, he did not hit his head (while there it lay, on the sink edge :0 ), I called his doctor at Pathways. I was quite scared, as I know how fragile the brain is after a TBI.
To make a long story short, Kyle was assessed at Pathways and he is fine, and I received a "sweet" but "firm" reprimand from his doctor.
"There is a reason he wears this belt" (yes, I admitted to her I don't always hold onto it), and then,
"Let this be a wake up call, eyes on him at all times!" "Yes ma'am."
It was a very unnerving morning and to add to it all, I received a phone call from my brother that my dad, at 92, has colon cancer.
I did take the doctor's advice, and went for a run on a nice little trail I found, and then went shopping. Oh the little things to lift the spirits.
Pathway Therapies
I love all our "team" at our out-patient facility, Pathways. from Kyle's case manager, to his therapists, to his doctor. They seem to be able to connect so well to Kyle. And they make him laugh!
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Kyle's first week was full of assessments. A base was created by timing him at some basic tasks, and measuring his flexibility and his range of motion.
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He was timed during this task of moving blocks from one side of the box to the other. Here he struggles using his nerve damaged left arm. Feeling and movement are slowly returning, but his hand will be the last to recover.
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| Ten minutes on the bike. |
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| During lunch hour, we have access to this pool table. |
A Saturday Walk Through Piedmont Park
These pictures and the tooting story are so funny and so good Joanie. The fact that he is here doing this is such a far cry from where he was when you began this long journey. The photo of he and Greg walking made me "wet eyed" I love it.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about your father Joan. I hope your mom is doing well. I love your mom. :-) (never met dad) At 92 will they even do surgery? Man this has been one hellva year for the Pinelli's and Samols. (((Hugs)))
Thanks Peg.... so love your support. No, no surgery for my Dad. They say maybe 3 months. The kicker is he told my brother he just wants to sit in his chair one last time and watch the snow come down. He reminds me of your dad. Unfortunately, as of last week, the house of 90 years for him is gone. So sad that at that age, he couldn't just peacefully go in his sleep one day.
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