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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Time to CHEER!

Pat asked "What's next?" Cale said "Cheer!"

It has been a cheering kind of day! Lots of moments that are so happy and exciting! I have a crazy amazing husband and I am so very proud of him. Go Cale! I will be your cheerleader every day!

Cale and I played video games today! Monica wants to try to work on his arm strength again, so first she had Cale do this hand/bike thing. It's kind of like the one he did when he first got here, but it's bigger and I think more challenging? Well, it seemed like a lot of work! Cale started out to do 10 minutes and then added a minute at the end that he did as fast and hard as he could! Right after that with just a tiny break, he played the video game again. It's a lot more work then with a regular controller because he has to turn the handles. After he did it for 10 minutes, I took a turn at it for just 2 minutes. It's difficult! I'm impressed with how good Cale is at it!


The family meeting was right after OT. There was a time when these meetings (here and at Wake) were hard. They were full of news that was tough to hear and almost impossible to process. Now, Cale is constantly making progress and the therapists are always so encouraging. There is so much here that is offered to Cale for the stage that he's in, so it makes the meeting lately...um, a little easier to swallow :)

The meetings always start with the Doctor (Attending or Resident), Nursing, and then each of the therapists will take a turn. For the Medical part, we discussed briefly the mass in Cale's nose. I'm not sure that I've given an update on what had happened with that...pretty much, they had said for the size of the mass, Cale's option was going to be surgery. The specialist that had Cale's case said that with the extensiveness of the surgery and where Cale is at with his brain healing, doing the surgery at this time would most likely set Cale back. Of course they're not able to say how far or if at all, but it's something to think about. After talking with them more, I had decided to wait for the surgery until at least a year after the accident to give Cale's brain time to heal. Well, here in the near future, I will be talking with the specialists and re looking at options for removing the mass sooner than I had been planning. After the meeting at Stanford, I will update some more on this! When nursing started to share, she started with "Your husband is amazing" I already know this, but like I've said before, I LOVE hearing the staff say it! It encourages me so much!

In the meeting PT shared that instead of focusing on getting Cale to walk longer distances, Pat wanted to work on getting Cale to a point that he's comfortable walking just in his room to start. When he came for PT today, Cale was in his chair by his bed, Pat asked him to walk to the bathroom. Cale stood up and walked to the bathroom! His steps weren't perfect, and he was still unbalanced, but he did it! He did it 3 times and I got one of the tries on video! :) This is such a HUGE deal!!! I almost can't believe it!

Do you see how good he's walking?!



(It's kind of long, sorry for my sniffles, and try to let it load before watching!)

After that, Pat had Cale walk with him to the gym and then got him on the treadmill. Cale did so great with that too! He started at a slow speed and then Pat increased the speed to 3 so Cale was walking very quick! He did it two different times!

After PT, Cale had vision therapy. Corrie had Cale work with a board that lights up in different spots. This will help Cale work on being aware of different things at the same time. When he's walking, he needs to be able to focus on his steps, know if a door opens near him or somethings in his path, and his direction. At first Cale said it was boring and he didn't like it, but when Corrie switched to another exercises on the board, he seemed to be enjoying it. I could tell by the big smile on his face while he was working with her! :)


In group they played Wii bowling. Cale is doing so great in even that area! He played standing the whole time, was able to follow when it was his turn, and he was able to (with a little help) use the controller the right way. He had fun playing too! Mama reminded me of when she was here and he played that he had gotten so frustrated because he wasn't able to understand what to do. This time he came in second place! :)


Another one of the many things that we are spoiled with here, they have massage therapists! A few nights out of the week, Cale (and sometimes me!) gets a short, simple, but very relaxing massage! Some times things get so busy around here, we miss out, but we try to make sure it happens! Cale gets so tight between his shoulders from using the walker, so it's nice to get those muscles rubbed a little and relaxed! We're usually cuddled in Cale's bed when they come in to do the massage, and tonight we were caught again! I was showing Cale his Facebook page and she wanted to take a picture of us all snuggled up! :)


"Circumstances and situations do color life, but you have been given the mind to choose what the color shall be." -Robert Holden

It was a great day filled with smiles, laughter, and kisses! :) Cale and I both have to make a choice every day to work hard, keep fighting, and be joyful! There are tons of things to be so thankful about and get so excited about! Cale is healing with time and doing so great! There are also lots of things to be miserable and grumpy about...BUT we will walk in the light and praise God for every step Cale takes!

One of the exciting things to start the morning off was a phone call I made to purchase the tickets for the Red Wings game!!! Two of Cale's therapists have been contacting different people to see if we could get the tickets donated, but that wasn't happening and I knew that it would be totally worth it to make sure Cale was at the game. Yesterday after a couple tries he wasn't able to get even two seats together, so action had to be taken! I called this morning and the Lord blessed us with three seats in the wheelchair section! I think they're pretty good seats too! I managed to get them at a fairly good price, and again, it's totally worth it for Cale to see the Red Wings! :) I couldn't wait to get to the hospital this morning and tell him the exciting news!

23) I am thankful for the ways that the Lord has blessed this journey. One of them being the facilities we have ended up at! All three of them have been top notch with very supportive staff. The first hospital was Pitt Memorial in Greenville, NC, then Wake Med in Cary, NC, and here at Palo Alto VA in Palo Alto, CA. They've all been very clean, amazing with Cale, super great staff, and places that I feel safe and comfortable. I was on the phone today sharing about all the stuff this rehab here has to offer. Cale has come so far and they keep adding to the list of equipment, therapy's, opportunities and so much more for him! It's such a blessing! I know we're not going to be here forever, and at this point we'll be in at least one more before being able to go home and I know the Lord has already gone before us preparing the way!

8 comments:

  1. Way to go Cale! It's so great to see how far he has come! It's hard to believe that just 9 months ago we didn't know if Cale was going to make it and now he's walking and talking! The Lord is so good! But you knew that! Cale is very blessed to have you as his wife Kathleen! And you are blessed to have a fighter for a husband! You have been a big blessing to me! Evan before the accident! I love seeing how you both love each other! And how Jesus shines through you both! I am so proud of Cale! And so happy for you Kathleen! I'm still praying that God will give you back all of Cale! That he will be healed 100%! And that more will come to Christ after hearing how God worked in both of your lives! Tell Cale to keep it up! And Go red wings! :) Love you and miss you both!
    Tigger

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  2. Wow!Every day I am excited and amazed to see what Cale is doing! I am not a neuro nurse, but when you first started blogging and I read the symptoms and problems he was having, I never expected him to come so far. Thank you for sharing your heart with so many people! I also love the joy I see in Cale... often with neuro patients, their personalities change, in a bad way, and they become aggressive, angry... In Cale, I see the love he has for you and G-d just shining out of him!

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  3. This post really made my day! Cale looks awesome - there is no stopping him! Have a great Thanksgiving Kathleen.

    Lisa B.

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  4. Wow!! Out come the pom poms, and a rousing cheer for Cale...for you for that matter. Father has given you eyes to see what He is doing and you are walking with 20-20 vision. You go girl!! Much love, Marion

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  5. AWESOME!!!! So great to see. He will gain that self confidence Kathleen the more he does it. It is so great to see him walking though,. And when he was talking I understood every single word. So great.Can't wait to see more. We love you so much. We are so so excited to see the Red Wings pictures. <3

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  6. My mom referred me to this page when I came home for Thanksgiving...I am studying at EWU and am working to get my PT degree. This story is a huge inspiration to me, your faith in the Lord, and your constant cheerful attitudes. This is why I'm going into this profession, because I want to be able to work with people like you. I want to say thanks for being an inspiration to me through your faith in the Lord, and your strength and your can-do attitude.

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  7. Praise the Lord!! What an amazing video, thank you so much for sharing this with us! God Bless! Casey Q

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  8. Nice work, Cale!!! He looks like he has gained his weight back too. He looks really healthy! I loved the cracking the knuckles bit he was doing by the sink there:)

    Love,
    Julie H

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