The Daily Hailey

Yesterday marked two weeks since Brady’s (ready?) laminectomy and tumour resection. I’d like to tell you where he stands (ha!) today.

Mostly, between parallel bars.

(Yes, a lot of bum cupping goes on in therapy.)

Seriously though, let’s talk about where he’s at.

Here. He’s at City Hospital.

With his guitar, clothes, gifts, books, electronics, products, and even his own coffee maker! Aaaaand more coffee when I bring it, which is almost every day I’m able to be there, thanks to all the coffee gift cards we’ve been given!

Ok, I’m actually done now. My mental energy has effectively emptied for the day. Jokes are drier than ever.

Actual updates for Brady are as follows!

Brady is OFF the bladder scanner, the commode chair, and nighttime wakeups/vital checks. He is wowing the people around him, having only been in the rehabilitation program for just over a week. He has made friends with the woman who cleans his room, and he is on beautiful terms with all of the nurses. The vibe in his rehab program is really encouraging.

Brady is independent in his wheelchair. He’s insistent on doing everything himself that he can, getting in and out of it smoothly, and he’s adapting things as he needs. He removed the armrests because they were cramping his style, and hooks his transfer belt over the backrest.

Brady has OT (occupational therapy) and PT (physical therapy.) I had the pleasure of attending both today! I hadn’t had the chance to meet his OT yet, but she was very warm and nice. She challenged him to cook himself something while she and I went and talked bathroom modifications. Brady made some basic fried eggs and toast, from his chair, in a kitchen with countertops the height of ours at home. It was encouraging! He is being asked to go a bit more elaborate next week 🙂 His OT suggested he cook he and I lunch. We just have to get her a grocery list. What should he make?

PT is always a good workout. Today, Brady did some more sensitivity tests. So far, there are only two muscle groups that just refuse to wake up, along his right shin bone, and those are responsible for his right ankle/foot. That sucker just flops. But in speaking with the doctor overseeing his rehab, she has decided he’ll go to a casting clinic on Monday and get fitted for a custom AFO (ankle foot orthosis) brace. When he has tried on the ones they have available, while they aren’t a perfect fit, they do make his steps SO much smoother. So thats an exciting thing to look forward to!

Brady does stands with bars beside or in front of him. In front is harder, but he does it! He worked on a modified exercise bike today and walked about half a mile in 6 minutes. His legs did that!!! He also works his upper half actively in the gym. He’s gonna be YUGE! 🙌

This morning, Brady had gym time, OT, and PT, one after the other. His right ankle was a little swollen at the end of it all, which was important to note but not concerning in a big way. Its important to keep an eye out for stuff like that because, while Brady can’t feel that ankle, he can still injure it, obviously. His PTs suggested he elevate it, which is extra fun since he got his bizarre new boot!!

This…..

Is to prevent this.

It looks a little crazy, but they really want to train his muscles to keep that foot straight. Besides the little triangular block on the side of the boot to keep his foot straight, it also elevates. So, win! He slept with it last night without issue, so there’s that!

Tomorrow, a community OT is coming to our house to do some measurements and report them back to Brady’s City Hospital OT so they can better judge what his needs will be. This is both exciting and discouraging. Originally, the plan was for Brady to come for his home visit with his current OT. However, because we live outside of Saskatoon, it had to be referred onto a different OT group, and as the OT will be in the area tomorrow already, he’s eager to come. It makes sense, and he said this will not be the only home visit, so I guess we’ll try to catch Brady with the next one. Its too bad, but getting the ball rolling is never all the way bad. We keep hearing that Brady is an incredibly quick study, and while we’re not holding our breath, it would be completely amazing for his program not to stretch out any further than necessary.

ALL of this being said, we’re all so eager for Brady’s legs to come back to him that we keep forgetting that Brady had MAJOR surgery just TWO WEEKS AGO!!! His staples are out and his incision looks amazing. No stretching or separating or infection. But of course there is still inflammation. Brady’s back muscles get sore, as you’d expect, but he is one determined man. I haven’t heard him turn down a PT request yet! I am SO proud of him!

As I sat beside him after lunch, snuggled up, all teary and messy, a lovely woman came in to collect his tray and stopped to look at us.

“Aaawww,” she said. “You guys are SO in love!”

She couldn’t be more right.