Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Back to Work and Other Adventures

Jason went back to work on Monday.  He’s working from home right now, with plans of transitioning back into the office beginning in November.  I’ll be surprised if he takes that long, though.  He already asked last night if I would mind driving him to Google some time next week.  :)  Even though he was pretty anxious about “officially” being back to work, it went really well.  He seems to be enjoying what he’s working on and has even volunteered to do some phone interviews (for those of you who know him, you’ll know exactly how unusual it is for him to voluntarily take on extra interviews).  While he’s working (and on the days Savannah is at school), I’ve been working on my dissertation.  I’ve also begun planning my first research trip to Edinburgh.  I’m planning on heading to Scotland in early January for about two weeks.  I’m not quite sure how I’m going to be able to (emotionally) leave Savannah and Jason for that long.  Gail is planning to come out here to help with day-to-day things, so I’m not worried about them.  Just not sure I can be away for that long...

So far, the wheelchair is working out nicely...with a few exceptions.  It’s definitely more maneuverable, but his feet have begun swelling up pretty badly after a few hours in the chair.  We talked to his PT about this during yesterday’s session, but she wasn’t quite sure why the chair would cause this.  She suggested raising the foot plate a little bit, which we’ll do later today, and to continue some of what we’ve already started: getting him to raise his legs up (which, unfortunately, means getting back in bed for an hour or so at mid-day...thankfully, he can take his lap top with him and keep working), using compression socks, and limiting salt intake.  Hopefully, this will work itself out within a few days, because it has made him more than a little uncomfortable.  The chair also seems to lead to an increase in leg spasms once he’s out of the chair.  He doesn’t have any while sitting (the spasms have actually been fairly under control the last 2 weeks or so), but, as soon as he gets out of the chair, his legs rebel.  In the grand scheme of potential SCI complications, however, these are pretty minor problems to be dealing with.  It may take us a few days, but we’ll figure out how to get it all under control.

Jason’s dad is here with us now and is becoming accustomed to the routine around here.  I think it’s been good for him to see that Jason is doing well, in addition to seeing the hospital Jason was in for so long, going to PT sessions, and, tomorrow, going to SCI FIT with him.  Savannah has definitely enjoyed getting to spend so much time with all of her grandparents over the last 3 months :)

In other news, we’ve decided that we simply did not have enough going on in our lives, and, as such, decided it was time to begin potty training Savannah.  We’re only doing VERY basic potty training right now-having her sit on her potty chair (which she calls her “bucket”) in the morning and evening before bed.  We’re mainly just trying to get her comfortable with the whole concept of it all before proceeding any further.  Yesterday morning, she was doing really great with sitting on the toilet and then, all of a sudden she stood up, squatted down....and peed all over the carpet.... So, yeah, we need to work on the concept of WHY she’s sitting on her bucket....  Thankfully, Sonja was close by and came in to clean up (gross, I know).

So, that’s what’s going on with us.  Hope all is well with everyone.

Love you all,

Ashley

No comments:

Post a Comment