Another therapy heard from

By the time I caught up with Tim this evening he was pretty tired. He did have a nice visit from Brigitte and Meredith today, and they walked over to Mass General to pick up some papers. Aside from a session on the Locomat, Tim had a Fluidotherapy session for his hand. Today wasn't the first day, but it was the first I had heard.

Tim inserts his hand into a chamber and finely ground corn husks (Cellex Medium) are heated and swirl rapidly around his hand. The purpose of this therapy is to improve flexibility in the hands.

http://www.cmki.org/LMHS/Chapters/35-Fluidotherapy.htm

http://www.promedproducts.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1866/.f

It looks like the Sox magic number is one, at which point Tim will probably also start rooting for the Indians. I'll find out more tomorrow.

A bicycle built for two ......

Tim did something new yesterday - he rode a bike down the Esplanade, as far as the softball fields. One of the Recreation Therapists introduced him to Spaulding's tandem bike. Tim sat in front and made use of a hand crank and pedals to help propel the bike while the therapist sat in back and steered. Tim says it was fun and a nice change of pace. However, he won't ride with me in the back seat at this time.

He also started looking at vans yesterday. The dealer brought by a Toyota Sienna and they talked about some other options. Tim obviously enjoyed that, but it caused him to miss the annual Spaulding Cup - an annual kayak race for staffers and patients alike. One of Tim's nurses - Matt - was the eventual winner.

Today was some standard PT and OT including some time with the Bioness for his right arm and wheelchair class, where Tim reports that his wheelie skills are improving. He also handled getting up and down the ramps pretty well using both his left leg and his arms. During lunch he attended a presentation about a summer camp program for follow up therapy that would take place next year, and would offer a return to intensive therapy if necessary.

And that's it. The Sox are on, and he's watching.

Audi Inspiration - #7 and more!

Winning is not the sole objective. Rather a welcome result of careful planning.

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

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I didn't learn too much about Jancy's night last night, except that she learned a lot about Tim's day-to-day by staying with him and spending time with him today.

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Amy escorted Tim over to Mass General again for a CT Scan of his neck. Tim's been pushing for this so he can take his brace off - the scan will go out to Dr. Kantrowitz who will decide.

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The Sox are up 3-1 tonight, and Tim is going to try to buy playoff tickets. I am not allowed to accompany him, due to my allegiance to a different team. We'll see what happens.

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Here's a parting shot from Carey's & Brian's wedding:

Dentistry, Neurosurgery, Advocacy, Consultative Sales, Sister

Tim started his day off with a visit to a dentist based at Mass General. He and Amy were transported "all the way over there" in an ambulance, which too all of 5 minutes at 8AM today. They decided to walk back. Tim was having some work done on a front tooth that suffered a small chip back on July 12 when his resperator was inserted. His teeth were graded A2, which we're all pretty proud of!



We had lunch out on the patio, savoring these last few days of summer. One of the things we talked about was yesterday's Eagle article about Drs. Kantrowitz & Lasner (Tim's neurosurgeons) and the groundbreaking work they're doing with herniated disks back at BMC. If you missed it, read it here
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/search/ci_6983814?IADID=Search-www.berkshireeagle.com-www.berkshireeagle.com

After his therapy sessions, we all sat down with his new Case Worker, Tara. She's wonderful - with experience in disability and medical insurance claims, voc rehad counseling and getting through an actual cervical injury (with time spent on the 9th floor), she knows the issues and how to get things done. She and Tim are getting along great, and we're glad to have her on the team as Tim's advocate.

A bit later, Tim returned a call from Roland, the modified accessible van dealer. He and Tim talked about some models and designs, and it looks like Tim might get a look at a demo or two later this week.

Finally, the day wrapped up with a first for Tim - a slumber party. Jancy asked, Tim's roommate said OK, the staff approved, and soon some sort of portable bed was set up in 902. That's all I've got, but you'll learn more tomorrow.

Pats-Bills Game Preempted

It doesn't happen too often, but a Monument Mountain Spartans football game was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon this year. This scheduling quirk occurred in observance of Yom Kippur, which fell on Saturday the 22nd. We're grateful for that, as it allowed us to plan a day trip for Tim to watch his ex-team mates play the game he enjoyed so much. More about that in a couple of paragraphs.

Day trips to the Berkshires require early starts to make the most of them, so we were down with Tim by 7:30 to get him ready to go, which included choosing the best Spartan-friendly clothes we could put together. Next was getting Tim into the car, which proved to be a "watershed" moment for me. When we last brought him home, back in August, this necessary task was a lot of work, and had given me what I thought was an insight into our future. Now, like all of you, I have seen the YouTube video, and of course, have seen Tim work his leg "live." However, the practical aspects of this improvement in Tim's condition really hit home when we got to the car. The manuever into the passenger seat (and all transfers today) were a piece of cake. Tim has developed enough strength in his arms and left leg to do most of the work himself, with just a little guidance and a push or a pull here and there. That was good news!

We had a great ride out to the Berkshires, with no traffic, and arrived in West Stockbridge, where Tim asked me to take a spin around town. We drove slowly, allowing him to soak in the sites that are so familiar to him, and something new - our rapidly progressing transformation of Village School into our new town hall. After catching up with Jancy and some time spent with Sambone the aging wonder dog, we headed over to East Stockbridge for a pre-planned lunch with friends at the Elm Street Market. Tim craves their cheeseburgers, and sharing a meal with Jancy, Russ, Luke and Stefan was just great. I'm happy to say that the Market, and the downtown area around it, were pretty accessible.

Then, it was off to the game. Many thanks to Pam Race and Coach Huggins for setting up what turned out to be a great day. I'm not sure if they had anything to do with the weather, but it was a perfect day - clear blue skies, 70's temps and the backdrop of the early autum Berkshire Hills made for a perfect setting. We arrived as planned, around 1:00. The team was waiting for Tim and sent out one of the players to greet and take him back to the pre-warm up meeting. After Hoosac Valley arrived, the Spartans emerged in double file with Tim leading the team down to the field. From the sidelines, he watched the team get ready, and then was escorted back for the pre-game meeting. On their way back to the field, they formed a gauntlet, and Tim wheeled himself through it and led the Spartans on to the field. If that wasn't enough, Coach named Tim the Honorary Captain and he participated in the coin toss. It was a great game to watch and well played. Unfortunately, MM lost by a point after leading most of the game. Tim was in a great mood however, and was able to catch up with a lot of folks during half time and after the game.

Before heading back, we stopped Tyler's house where he was working with Matt on a truck. They had a good time catching up. We went back to the house to say goodbye to Sam and pick up a few loose ends. Tim asked to go up to the Thornes and take a look at the meadow behind their house that goes up Lenox Mountain. He had noticed that the sun was hitting it very nicely. We did, it was, and just sat there quietly for a bit before getting on the Pike towards Boston.