« Apr 23 Email: Light in the Middle of the Tunnel | Main | Apr 25 Email: A Day of Challenges »
June 10, 2013
Apr 24 Email: Urine Trouble, Mister
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:38:20 -0400
From: Jon Nathan
Subject: Neuro Update: Wed 04/24
Hi everybody. Continued thanks for your continued support. With my
new goal of meeting my upcoming discharge date, I am working hard
to make progress and go home.
This morning my occupational therapy session went pretty well. I
was able to manipulate small objects that I had not been able to
the previous few days. My OT is challenging me with more and more
tasks and giving me more homework. I think this is a good sign.
Afternoon OT focused on more personal tasks such as bathroom posture,
showering, and grooming. I am getting a lot better at these things.
I will probably need a shower chair for home, but that should be
the extent of it.
I am also gaining a lot of confidence with my physical therapy
sessions. I am receiving less assists in my movement. We are also
slowly ratcheting up some of the resistance in the stability
exercises. With concentration, I'm doing a much better job of
walking and building towards a normal posture, even if there is
still a bit of cognitive dissidence between my brain and body. We
continue to work with mirrors, which is slowly helping me regain
my proprioception. The afternoon PT session included some outdoor
walking on unsteady services. We did ramps, grass, curbs, and
generally uneven terrain. They're not yet ready to allow me to
resume my parkour, but it is on my (very) long-term goal list.
One amusing story that I forgot to relate yesterday was a "urine
trouble, mister" incident. After my early-morning OT session, my
therapist forgot to remove her safety belt from my waist. Every
time I need to use the bathroom, I am supposed to call for a transfer
assist. Sometimes the assist takes a few minutes, but I'm supposed
to wait for them for safety reasons. If I can't wait for the assist,
I have a small urinal bucket that I can use. This time however the
combination of the assist delay and the safety belt precluded me
from preparing myself and using the urinal in time. My OT was
sufficiently horrified and apologetic about the situation, but I
was still a bit upset for making a mess. My urinary sensitivity,
control, and anticipation is still not at 100%, but I think it is
slowly getting better.
There have still been no updates about the neuropathology results.
I continue to request updates regularly. I hope to know more soon,
but unfortunately this has been a black hole so far.
Some people have asked how I am mastering Siri. The truth is that
I'm actually using the microphone dictation icon within the apps
rather than Siri herself. That seems to work a lot better than
trying to ask her to do things directly.
Again, thank you so much for your support. Please keep sending
notes, pictures, etc. I will be sharing some of the snacks with the
staff here too. I really do appreciate it, and I am glad to be able
to pass the gratitude on. If I haven't replied directly to one of
your messages, do not worry. I have read it and at the very least
taken it in :-).
Today was a very positive day, and I hope to have another one
tomorrow.
-Jon
Posted by jon at June 10, 2013 3:08 PM