Chauffer Driven Comfort

I just discovered a way for me to arrive in Boston a little more rested than usual - have someone else drive. Today, Jancy drove from West Stockbridge to Natick, her first long term driving assignment. She did very nicely, and I was able to read the Eagle and the Record en route.

We went straight to the hospital to drop off Jancy for some exclusive time with Tim, along with a Chicken Parm dinner for all of us to enjoy later (Amy made a tofu version for Jance). While there, we ran into Aunt Phoebe and Cousin Molly, who had stopped by on their way home from Hermit Island. Tim enjoyed his time with them, as well as the plant and healthy snacks they brought him. Earlier in the day, Emily and Erin stopped by. He showed us a nice letter from Judy, who he works with at Butternut (a gracious Yankee fan).

Before we headed back to the apartment, we asked Tim to show us his leg activity and it was pretty exciting. There's muscle definition in his calf and thigh, too.

Amy and I re-joined the children for dinner followed by Amy's chocolate chip cookies, an episode of Rescue Me and then a game of scrabble which we didn't finish. A quiet evening, looking forward to Sunday and a shower & shave, some visitors from Virginia and Colorado, and hopefully a walk along the Esplanade.

awesome vid

Tim,

I just wanted to add to the long line that was thrilled to see your video-it was well, WOW!

keep it going

Jonathan ( a friend of your folks)

p.s I too support your dad's choice in baseball teams

Friday Research

Seems as though Tim is making good progress in researching his needs for coming home. I had to wait a bit to get my info for the day, as he had a nice long dinner visit from Brigitte and Cassandra, and I had to wait my turn.

Anyway, there was a power wheel chair consultant in today to finalize Tim's choices. Because Tim wants to be able to get around in the New England Winter, and would like to be able to go fishing, which requires stability at the river's edge, Tim has chosen this model. Man, I think I'm going to have him drive me to work on snow days!

Other than that, it was a pretty normal day at 125 Nashua Street. We can't wait to get back ourselves to see these new things!

A SMILE SAYS IT ALL !!!

Helloooo Tim
I just subscribed to UTUBE because of you!! HowWow - a little scary to join the techno masses, but too exciting to pass it by. You definitely possess HUGE video direction talent, but that's sooooo secondary to your ability to overcome and tackle such HUGE obstacles!!! You moved your leg UP and DOWN!!! and Your smiling mug was the icing on the cake!!! I soooo needed to see your face after witnessing your leg go crazy!!! Weehee!!! You are doing such great things!! Keep it up, AND down!!! All love, Aunt Carolann

hooray!

dearest tim-
i just got a call from your mother asking if i had seen the youtube video yet. i hadn't and immediately watched it while on the phone with her. i then asked if it was okay to swear on your blog cause holy shit! i am so happy for you! what joy to see you moving and smiling.
much love, hannah

smooth move!

Hi Tim,

I just watched your groundbreaking “youtube” video about 6 times in a row. That is just so crazy exciting I can’t believe it. I know that all the other signs of recovery - no matter how small - have been uplifting milestones; but this is something altogether mind-boggling. I suppose something that seems to me to have happened so magically all-of-a-sudden did not, in fact. No, Tim, you have been busting your butt and it is something to see how far you’ve come. I know I now sound like everybody else but I am so stinkin’ proud of you. The best part of the video is seeing your sparkling, smiling mug at the end of it. Your expression says it all. Love, Aunt Katy

Another quiet evening at home.

7:09 PM, post dinner. Amy working on place cards for an upcoming soire, Brian absorbing the Eagle. The silence is shattered by a ringing phone. Caller ID says it's Tim! "Hey Tim." "Hey dad, check your email and call me back!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TH9wOZhhs0

And now, the rest of the story.

So after we got over our excitement with the YouTube video, we called Tim back as instructed to get the update on this newest development and the day in general. Seems as if Tim started off the morning a little down, scared even. He wasn't able to repeat yesterday's kick action with his left leg. He had lost it completely. It turns out though (obviously), that he was just tired. The involuntary muscle spasms that he experiences each night had tired out that leg. They only happen when he is lying down, so after a few hours of "rest" in his chair, the strength came back. It was at the end of the day when he did his little demo for the camera - showing off his quad (the kick), his hip flexor (picking up his foot from the floor and back on to the footrest), his adductors (bad notes by dad, not sure what that is - Patty?), pronation and supination (ankles). He is so pumped - it feels like everything in the left leg is getting stronger. I owe the new strength to a few treats he had for lunch from Grandma and Grandpa during their visit.

Other daily connections included an email from Monument Ski Coach Dre offering Tim a role with the team this year, some IM's from Brooke and Jordan, and a visit from Brigitte who brought along a new friend from Emmanuel.

His routines included FES bike, stretching group, more handwriting in OT and the Bioness on his right hand. Keep it up, it all seems to be working!

Amy and I can't stop grinning. Jancy came home from her soccer game (she started, they won), watched the video, shouted out, gave Tim a call and they talked for a long time. She declared today to be "pretty great." We agree.

Since this posting, our PT friend Patty O has added a comment to this post. It's worth reading.

TIM!!

hey man, i'm at school right now and it's pretty close to boston so i may be able to take the T up sometime to see you! you are doing such an incredible job! that picture of you kicking your leg made me so proud of you. keep up the great work, i miss you!

-alex

Kickin' some butt

A few new goings on at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where the name has SPA in it, but it is not one (that's one of Dr. O'Connor's favorite lines). But, that's OK with us, because we are grateful for what it IS.

Today, Tim had another Fine Motor Group session, and they worked on handwriting - Tim re-learning how to write, using his left hand this time around. "That's good," he quipped, "because I'll have a lot of papers to sign (in conjunction with planning for coming home)." Later in the day, he had his first go at Wheel Chair Group, where he learned how to do wheelies. That move is used to get over curbs. He said he did pretty well for his first time out. He also worked on wrist strength, a need he identified himself.

Communications from the outside world included a card from the O'Malley's and a visit from Uncle John, who had just returned from Virginia. They spent some nice time catching up. Jancy started her Junior year at Monument, and thought to call Tim during lunch. Amy said that his face lit up - and she thought to capture the moment on camera. What a great smile Tim has - he has always been able to light up a room with that grin.


So, you think those are good examples of "kickin' butt?" You haven't seen anything. Check out this picture:










Tim was sitting by himself and just figured he'd see if he could kick. Better yet, he could hold that position for well over 10 seconds. And, in the middle of discovering this new super power he had the presence of mind to take a picture using the camera on his laptop and email to me. My, my, my.

Audi Inspiration - #4

Tim had a poor night sleep Monday, and wasn't too talkative today. He was able to lift his left foot again, this time just a wee bit higher than yesterday. Four hours of therapy had him pretty beat by the time I called. He did have a couple of visitors today - his former room mate Brendan came back for outpatient therapy and stopped up to see Tim, but he was conked. Later in the evening, Emily came down again, but it looked like an early to bed night.

Tonight's post will end with another Audi Inspiration.

Individual inspiration doesn’t bide it’s sweet time, it bolts. It’s the click of an old camera, the stitching on a well-worn baseball glove. Alas, though, individual inspiration without the collective passion of a team never becomes more than a drawing on a sketchpad.

** This is a direct quote taken from Tim's new book on the history and philosophy of Audi.

... 3, 2, 1 Lift off

The staff was reduced today, a result of the Labor Day Holiday, so Tim had one short OT session in the morning and a PT session in the afternoon. Amy spent some time with him early while I got some things together for work, the family and planning for Tim's future. Mostly, he was catching up on his sleep. Turns out that Emily has visited last night after we went home. She's a freshman at UMASS Boston. WhenI got down to Spaulding, Tim had visitors - Jason and Elyse, classmates from Monument who are on a different schedule from most - waiting for their post-secondary plans to begin - Jason is heading to Dartmouth and Elyse to South America, both in a couple of weeks. The three of them spent several hours together. While Tim was in afternoon therapy, they explored the Orange line all the way to ............... Downtown Crossing!! Then they came back and hung out until after Amy and I left. Thanks!

Just a wee bit o' excitement today (at a time that I was not with him), as Tim managed to LIFT his foot OFF the ground. It was just a fraction of an inch, and only for a couple seconds, but it was airborne. By the time we had a few minutes together, he tried to show me. But alas, he was too tired to pull off that move again today.

Tim, Amy and I had the first of what I hope will be regular meetings to plan for Tim's eventual release (which is not yet set, but as we've seen can be determined at the drop of a hat). They will be "Tim's meetings" as he is responsible for what will be done on his behalf, and we hope that they'll get us all on the same page and well prepared for homecoming. I know I'm looking forward to more meetings, because I don't have enough in my life yet, but I'm not sure about Amy. :-) Anyway, homecoming is a complicated thing to plan for - equipment, services, treatments, modifications, day-to-day living, etc.

Fund Raising Clarification

In the August 31 – September 6 weekly issue of the Berkshire Record, a small item appeared concerning fundraising efforts for Tim and another young Berkshire man. We would like all readers of this blog to know that we had nothing to do with the placement of this information (it can’t really be called an “article”) and that the Record did not contact us for clarification or permission.

Several phrases were used that troubled us a bit – “South County men seeking help,” “Tim Butterworth (is) seeking assistance after (an) accident left (him) paralyzed,” and “the victim’s family (is) attempting to raise money for (Tim’s) future.”

We’re sure that you are all aware that any fundraising efforts have been initiated by our friends in this community, and that we struggled a bit with the idea when it first came up. Since that time, the generosity of family, friends and the community, along with our insurance, financial resources and thoughtful planning have allowed us to manage the situation. The growth of The Butters Fund has been a tremendously humbling and inspiring experience to witness.

We enjoy the Berkshire Record, and we are sure that they felt that they were doing a community service, so we don’t want to make a big deal about this. For our friends though, we do want to make a clarification. To read our original position on fund raising for Tim, we have attached it as a “comment” to this posting. You can read it by clicking on the word “comment!”

As stated often over the last 7+ weeks, our thanks go out to the many, many people and organizations who have taken on enough of our load to help us get through this. Our family is grateful and we feel supported and loved.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Peanuts yes, Crackerjack no. But we did enjoy Fenway Franks and Ice Cold Beer (Amy & I, of course) and a beautiful day on Yawkey Way. We’ll get to those details later.

The day started off as a normal Sunday in Boston, with Tim getting a little extra sleep and slowly preparing for the Recreational Therapy that we were about to undertake. As planned, the Redels came in late morning, on their way to Emmanuel College, where Brigitte will be starting this week. After everyone got caught up, Amy and I took Cassandra and Gunther for a tour of the property and left Tim to spend time with Brigitte and Nadia. We are very pleased that Tim’s good friend will be just 15 minutes away via the Green Line.

As part of our planning for this day, we investigated transportation options. Given the chaos that is Kenmore Square and environs on a game day, we decided to use one of the city’s handicap accessible van/cabs to get to Fenway. Armed with a list of providers, Amy called a few days in advance, a day in advance, at 9AM, 10:30AM and at noon. “Yes, we can have a van at Spaulding at 12:30.” Between 12:30 and 1:00, we made about 10 additional calls to multiple companies before deciding that they were not going to come through. At that time, we decided to have a real life educational experience by taking the T, something that had been described to us as inconsistent and unreliable for chair riders.

So, off we went to North Station, dad pushing. Our experience there started out poorly with a woman who was somewhat indifferent to our situation, and gave us some mixed information. But, it turned around quickly as two other information booth staffers got involved and found an MBTA Inspector who explained the Green Line limitations and access points to us, got us on a C train, explained where we should go (Kenmore is under renovation) and let the driver know what’s up. The trains have small ramps that extend to the platform (operated by the drivers) and clearly marked spots on the train. We got off at St. Mary’s and walked up Beacon Street to Fenway.

Our Fenway experience, from an accessibility angle, was nothing short of great. I’ll sidestep here a minute to thank my tourism friend Betsy for making this day happen by putting me in touch with Larry and Beth of the Red Sox. We were their guests today. We were allowed through ticketing areas near Gate A with a simple explanation, and security escorted us down Yawkey Way to Gate D, where we were late to meet Beth who was to take us to our seats. Conor was also supposed to meet us there, but that wasn’t the smoothest transaction, either. A Red Sox employee named Tim was very helpful as we tried to get Conor to the same gate as us and attempted to find Beth. Long story short, we made it to our great seats by the bottom of the first inning and had a perfect day. These first images are views "from the seats" and "of the seats"

It was a good game, with solid pitching by both teams, some good hits and some stellar fielding. My favorite was the top of the fourth when some heads up play got the Sox out of a bases loaded, no out jam - the third out coming with a throw from left field to home plate.

Little did we know that today was actually Western Mass day at the park, and we were led in singing God Bless America and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, by a couple of folks from Amherst. Later we all joined in the singing of Sweet Caroline. We did it all.

Leaving the park was easy, and we headed over to one of the souvenir stores across the street to get Tim a hat. Apparently, the D’Angelo’s are doing well! That trip was serendipitous, as we ran into three Monument seniors – Matt, Nate and Danny – and Tim and Conor had a nice time catching up. Our green line ride home was easy – there really is a system in place, and the drivers were pleasant. We’re comfortable enough to try it again. We’ll see where we end up! A pizza for Tim back at Spaulding (yeah I had a slice) and then an early night for all of us. Back at the apartment, Amy and I enjoyed a nice dinner that we got from Cathy and fresh salad veggies from the Thorne’s garden.