Four Months!

Today marks four months since Jason's accident.  Despite some setbacks, complications, and difficult days, Jason is doing amazingly well.  Even though we're still very new to the world of SCI, I feel like we've become pros :)  For those of you keeping track, here's where we are at four monts out...

Mobility:  Awesome. He's gotten to where he can do some transfers out of the car without the transfer board. He can get off the couch without a board (I remember when he couldn't get off the couch without me wrapping my arms around him and dragging him off, so this is a HUGE improvement!). He's also gotten really good with wheelies, going over thresholds and other obstacles while out and about. And he can now get down a flight of stairs in his wheelchair.

Pain:  Not a problem, except for when he's sore from SCI-FIT. That's an acceptable pain though :)

Exercise and Therapy:  Jason has one more official PT session in November, and then he'll be done until he begins using braces (hopefully in mid-to-late January). He still goes to SCI-FIT for five hours a week and, with the exception of days of inclement weather, he accompanies me on Sonja's walks in the evenings.

Daily Life Activities:  He is fully self-sufficient AND he now helps a lot more with chores and Savannah. Jason can do the laundry, change diapers, dress Savannah, put Savannah to bed, and even watches Savannah by himself while I walk Sonja (or venture down to Starbucks for coffee...).

Sensation/Motor Control:  So, some exciting developments here! He can feel pressure in his legs-I can massage his foot and he'll feel that, if I use the leg massagers on him (essentially air pressure boots, if that makes any sense) and he can feel them tightening and loosening up on his legs. He's gotten a good bit of motor control in his hip flexors, which is great. He'll need a bit more strength there in order to use the braces in a few months. He can feel the muscles stretching in his upper legs and hips. He's gotten a lot more control in his back, due to the workouts at SCI-FIT. His core abdominal muscles are getting so much stronger, as is his balance. During his workout last week, the trainers made him pull a heavy rope (similar to the type you'd be force to climb up in grade school gym classes) with barbells attached to them while sitting straight up. Definitely a test of balance and ab strength :)


The nerves in his legs are also beginning to "wake up," which is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it is undeniably great that more of his nerves are coming online. But, with this comes increased leg spasms. When the nerves "re-awaken" (I'm sure there's a more scientific term for that), they're a bit jumbled and the messages sent to the brain get scrambled, causing his legs to go a bit crazy. Hopefully, once the new nerves get sorted out, the spasms will calm down. Hopefully, his standing frame will be here by the end of the month. We know that helps with spasms...

Biggest Problem Area: Dealing with the new spasms. Not too many major problems at the moment, really.

Biggest Success: New gains in sensation and motor control!

In the next month, we hope to.....  continue making the adjustment to life without family members in residence with us. We've had some bumps over the last few weeks with this, but we're constantly tweaking our routine in order to make life better and easier. Also, come the beginning of December, Jason will begin taking the shuttle to work four days a week. I'm looking forward to not driving to Mountain View all the time :)

We hope you are all doing well!


Love you all,


Ashley