Thursday, January 10, 2013

18 Months...and a day

As of yesterday, Jason is 18 months post-injury.  Sometimes it's hard to believe it has only been 18 months...it feels like we've been dealing with SCI for much longer than that.  That being said, Jason has made a remarkable amount of progress in what is (in the SCI world at least) a very short period of time.  We met with his primary doctor today at KKI and he had a (VERY) thorough exam.  During the exam, the doctors (he had three today) found something new;  he has reflexes in his right and left hamstrings now that he did not have six months ago.  This could mean that some new nerve connections have been made.  Or it could just be an interesting development that doesn't manifest as anything bigger.  I'm choosing to be optimistic on this one and believe that exciting things are in the works.  I'm looking forward to his next exam, which will be in July, right after he passes his two year anniversary.

Today was also the day that I worked up the courage to ask a question I've kinda dreaded hearing the answer to:  can we have more children?  Going into today's meeting, I knew that having more children would not be a straightforward, simple endeavor.  And not just because of whatever injuries Jason might have sustained-I have fertility issues. It was hard for me to get pregnant with Savannah;  fertility drugs were required and it was a difficult process, both emotionally and physically.  Obviously, I would go through all of that again and more to have our sweet girl.  But I don't know that I have it in me to do it again.  When we asked the doctor about more children, he seemed to think that it was completely realistic for us to have more...when I mentioned the problems I've had before, though, he seemed less confident.  Also, once he remembered we already have one child, he gave the impression that we should be happy with that and not put ourselves through the fertility-wringer (he didn't say this in so many words, but it was implied...).  I get the feeling that having another child might not be in the cards for us.  I don't know how I feel about that.  Mostly okay, I think.  Maybe because we're not ready for another baby at this exact moment (I'd really love to finish my dissertation before thinking of adding to our family), I'm not too distraught?  We'll see if this feeling lasts post-dissertation.

Jason has been working hard during his PT sessions.  This go round seems a lot more focused than his first visit.  I think this PT is spending less time showing Jason all the different forms of therapy KKI offers, and is focusing instead on specific areas that Jason could improve.  For the past few days, this has primarily been his core strength and his technique in the braces.  We're learning a lot and Jason will be able to show his trainers at SCI-FIT some new exercises.

Tomorrow, he'll be doing some aqua therapy in addition to his land therapy.  The we get to enjoy an unseasonably warm Baltimore weekend.

Hope you all are well!

Lots of love,
Ashley

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