Tuesday 5/6/08
I know many of you have been waiting with baited breath to find out the saga of Dakota’s wrist. Is it broken or not……….. NOT. She went to the Dr. this morning had it re-x-rayed and we found out there were no broken bones. The Dr. told her she could take the brace off her wrist and she was now allowed to play soccer. She is a much happier teenage girl now. I don’t know how many of you know about teenage girls, but those out there who do know, know that a happy teenage girl is much easier than an unhappy teenage girl. That’s one issue settled in our household.
Yesterday Gary & I went into the Quick Solutions Office and hopefully motivated some of the employees. Before Gary’s accident he use to walk the halls of Quick and he had a way of getting people to work. Yesterday while in the office we roamed the halls and Gary asked the recruiters if they had any send outs? At one point he told them they had to take a shot to get something. I think it made the recruiters feel good having Gary get on them again. Then as we continued to stroll along the hallway we stopped by the offices of the sales staff and he asked them if they had sold anything? The employees just loved seeing Gary in office, and I think Gary enjoyed himself as well, he felt useful again. Some of the new staff introduced themselves and Gary introduced himself back. What a wonderful day it was. Thanks to everyone at Quick Solutions.
Today something really wonderful happened at therapy. During Gary’s occupational therapy time, Steve (Gary’s occupational therapist), wanted Gary to put his hands on a table so his weight would be over his hands so we could get his left wrist flexed and stretched. For Gary to be able to do this he had to stand, bend at the waist and lean over his hands. Steve helped Gary lean forward and over his hands but while getting himself into position behind Gary, Steve needed Gary to support his own weight through his legs, and Gary did it! Steve just kept a hand on his back to balance him, and Gary supported himself for about 20-30 seconds. Steve was dually impressed. This was the first time Gary had supported himself on his own legs since the accident. You will see one of the reason’s why Gary is not able to stand yet from this picture
See how his hips won’t go straight? He sits back so he has no way to balance. The cause of this is the H.O. he still has in his right hip. It won’t allow him to straighten and balance himself. That is the reason we are doing the surgery. The hope is that it will allow him to pull his hips under him and he will be able to stand, and then eventually walk again. We know there is enough strength to support his weight even if it is just for a short time. We can improve on the time. By the way, this picture is of Gary in his standing frame. This is something we do for 1 hour a day 5 days a week. It forces him to put weight on his legs in order to build muscle but it gives him the support he needs so he can’t fall. Also it stretches him through the hips. This frame is fully adjustable and after Gary’s surgery it I take another picture in order to compare and see how much straighter he has gotten.
Please continue with the prayers and good thoughts.
