Tuesday March 3rd
I have some good news to report. It may be small to us but what an accomplishment for Don. Let me back up just a little. With school being out yesterday, I was able to go to therapy with Don. It was my first time of seeing him in aquatics. Just getting ready to go into the water is therapy enough. On days that Don has aquatics, the usual routine is, transport picks him up at 12:30 (when Donnie Lee is working) and takes him to the YMCA in Lincolnton. His PT meets him there and Don begins the process of getting ready for the pool. He usually wears his swim trunks under his basketball pants so the takes off the pants and puts on a sleeveless t-shirt and his water shoes. His PT has changed into his swim wear and arrives with a wheelchair made of PVC pipe with an open sitting area to go into the pool. Don then stands and pivots to change wheelchairs and then puts all his belongings into his wheelchair. The PT then helps Don to get out of the dressing room and brings Don's wheelchair along to the poolside. After placing Don's wheelchair on the side of the pool, they make their way to the ramp that leads into the pool. The travel down the ramp, backwards, in the PVC wheelchair. when they arrive to the end of first lane of the pool Don is at about chest high water. The PT then places "paddles" with holes in them, around Don's ankles. The PT then helps Don out of the PVC chair and into a PVC floating device that fits around Don's waist. This device is rectangle in shape. They then travel to the 2nd lane of the pool and they begin the water routine. On Tuesday they began walking using a "high knee step" technique. Then Don had to walk sideways. After that he raises his leg as far as he can out to the side, in front of him and behind him. Then he hangs on the side of the pool and floating, kicks his legs up and down. Then his PT helped him to get back into the chair and the went to the water that was about chin deep on Don sitting. He was to use his arms as if he was swimming. After this, Don was pushed to the first lane again and all his equipment was removed. The PT then pushed Don in the chair up the ramp and out of the pool. I pushed Don's wheelchair and the PT pushed Don in the PVC chair. We made our way back to the dressing room and I helped Don to change back in to his street clothes. He usually does this process by himself (no wonder he is completely worn out on aquatic days). He then must remove all the wet clothing dry himself and put on his dry clothes along with socks and shoes. Then he packs all the wet clothes into a plastic bag and places them into his beach bag. I'm not sure who ties his shoes but I do know that he doesn't do it himself and I will explain that later. At this time the PT comes back to the dressing room and Don changes wheelchairs again. The PT returns the PVC chair and comes back to take Don to the PT's car and takes Don to the nursing center where he has OT. Yesterday I took Don up to the center. When we arrived there he went straight to OT and began his normal routine. Not long after he arrived there, he asked for a canned drink. At some point during OT I noticed Don pick the can up and take a drink but it didn't make an impact on me. About 5 minutes later Don was bragging on his PT to his OT (a little game he plays with her) and said "hey, did you notice what I was able to do?" "I said yes I saw that but it really didn't register with me." He did it again and said, "that's the first time I have done that in 3 months." I usually have to use both hands and bring my head down to my right hand in order to drink from a can." He said that it was because the PT had him to do the arm exercises in the pool. Don teases the OT and calls his PT a "miracle worker" anytime that he is able to do something new. He finished OT about 4:00 and we left the center.
Wednesday March 4th
Don had therapy today since we missed Monday because of the snow. His PT was out today so he had one of the other PTs to work with him. She really worked him over he said. His accomplishment today was that he put his shoes on all by himself, without any equipment, and then tied them all by himself. He told the therapists, "hey look what I did!" "I haven't done that in 3 months literally!" They all praised him over and over. After PT he went to OT and they devised new goals for Don to work on. They are for Don to be able to prepare meals in the kitchen without a wheelchair and/or a walker. Don loves to cook and has had me to bring some things to the therapists that he has canned and dried. The first thing he had me to bring them was his dried apples. They absolutely loved them. The next thing he had me to bring were his canned pickles both bread and butter and dill. They loved them too! We were out of pickles and they were asking for more so Don had me to bring them his canned green tomatoes and peppers. They were a hit too! They were actually hiding their jars from each other and "stealing" each others jars so they could keep theirs longer. This of course was all done in fun! Don loved to see them making over his "pickles". Don promised the therapy staff, that once he went home he would be bringing them stuff from time to time that he had cooked. Unfortunately he has not been able to do much cooking up until now. Today on our way home from therapy Don had me to stop and pick up flour and generic "Splenda". We had picked up some aluminum baking pans last night after therapy. He made an apple cobbler from the dried apples he had frozen and a mulberry cobbler from the mulberries we picked this summer and he had frozen. He was able to use his wheelchair and walker in the kitchen to do his baking. He only asked my assistance when things were to high or too heavy for him. He is so excited to take the cobblers to the therapists. It is now 8:35 and Don just looked over at me and said "I am wore out". I know that he is. He wants to be able to do as much as he did before and do it all on his own. He's getting there but has a way to go before he will be able to do it all on his own and without equipment.
