On The Road Again.

On the road again, in more ways than one. Since my last blog, Chris has passed his drivers test. Not that he ever officially lost his license but in therapy they provide a driving simulator, so Chris, anxious to get back on the road, took the test. Interestingly, the test was created by NASA, so he is also able to drive the space shuttle next time it takes flight.

 Of course, I knew all along that Chris could handle driving and he was just chicken to get behind the wheel. Okay, that is a total lie, I was really nervous about him driving. Especially once one of the therapists told me that he would have to be extra careful not to get into an accident because he could very easily damage his spinal cord permanently if there was some type of impact. All worries set aside, it has quite a boost to Chris to be able to drive himself to therapy twice a week. I like to go with him once a week, when he is in pool therapy plus, he needs a little help once he is out of the pool.

On the road in another way, Chris took two road trips this month. The first was a visit to my parents in my home town of Santa Maria. Chris drove both ways, about a four hour trip with no problems. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend with the "rents, as we say. The girls love to visit Grandma and Grandpa Alarid. This was a test to see if he could sit in the car for longer periods of time and he passed with flying colors.

 The following weekend Chris had his first "Guys" weekend since the accident. Chris and his buddy Dan traveled up to San Jose to catch a San Jose Sharks game in style. Fourteen friends joined them in a suite to watch the game courtesy of the Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov who donated his suite after he heard about Chris' accident through a mutual friend. They ate, drank and had a great time catching up with one another. I don't know if they really ate but I know they did plenty of the other two. 

Chris came home happy, tired and announced he was ready to get rid of his wheelchair. He did not need it all weekend and decided he was through with it. The chair has been sitting in our family room for about two months, collecting dust except for when the girls take it for an occasional spin. It took Chris another few days to call the rental company to have them come pick it up. He carried the phone number in his pocket for two days, discussing the idea with his therapists, it was not an easy decision but a momentous one. He made the call today and they are coming to pick it up tomorrow. 6 months in a wheelchair..........I am so grateful to be able to write that sentence. 6 months ago, past tense, history, remember when. On to the next chapter of Chris' recovery.

The highlights of the last month are, we returned the hospital bed (since Chris is able to sleep upstairs now), removed all the ramps inside our house and now the chair is gone. Little momentous steps all towards healing, growing stronger and staying happy.

Love and Gratitude,

Christy

Larry the Leg 2/25/10

I know, I know, it's been way too long since I have written a blog, so I will try to catch you all up on the latest and greatest.

Chris is getting on great with his brace, that we have since nicknamed Larry the Leg. Ever determined, Chris ditched the walker after a week of use and is solely using crutches. Which is awesome. He started off by walking three houses away from ours, would become exhausted and make his way back to our house. His goal was to add one more house everyday. I am happy to say he now can walk all the way around our block, which is about a half a mile. He tries to get out there everyday (weather permitting) and cruise around the block. He gets much encouragement from the neighbors who come out to cheer him on.

At that end of January we went to Northern California (left the girls for the first time ever, Grandma Casey was kind enough to travel down from Santa Maria to spend the weekend with her favorite grandchildren, ok, yes, her only grandchildren). We flew to San Francisco with Chris' parents for a childhood friends wedding celebration. This was when Chris was still using the walker but again, ever determined, Chris did not want to take the walker OR his wheelchair on this trip. I thought maybe we should as a backup but Chris said no. I had to admire his determination, so we took Larry the leg, his crutches and were on our way. It was great to get away for the weekend, catch up with some old friends, we even got Chris on the dance floor for a song or two. It felt like a great accomplishment, getting on a place, realizing we can still do things like traveling.

Chris continues his therapy three times a week, at St Jude's in Brea. The therapists are still working on "waking up" his left leg. Three weeks ago they put Chris on a treadmill in a harness ( without the brace) and  tried to stimulate his left leg. Unfortunately his leg did not respond. Chris came home very upset and really was depressed for two days until he went back to therapy two days later. His main therapist explained that this was just the first attempt and not to give up hope. It is just going to take a little longer for it to get moving. They make no promises about his left leg moving but they sound hopeful, only time will tell. His left hand is still paralyzed and they are not able to do much with it in therapy until the strength returns. Luckily his right hand is getting stronger, so strong in fact, they are probably going to stop therapy on the right hand because it has gained more than 50% of it's strength back and that is "good enough" according insurance (which we are STILL fighting to get).

Chris' mom aka MIL (mother in law) was with us for the last two months which was such a blessing between the therapies, taking the girls to and from school and just keeping up with the house, we kept her busy. She had to return to work and so we sadly put her on an airplane two weeks ago. We miss her and I KNOW she misses the weather (as well as all of us). She has had nothing but snow and rain since she returned to Connecticut. I hated to tell her two days after she left the weather here is in the 80's!!! We miss you June!

Don (aka FIL) is still here to help around the house and with transportation. He gets up at the crack on dawn, walks the dog (she is SO attached to him), empties the dishwasher and makes the coffee all before anyone else in the house opens their eyes. It will be very hard to see him leave in a week but I know that he needs to head home for awhile. Our lives will change again. We have had help with us here for over 7 months. I guess it is time for us to figure how to manage everything on our own. I have been so grateful for everyone's help. It will be a new chapter for us.

Chris is also continuing his weekly massage therapy which has been instrumental in his gaining leg strength. If I could I would send him twice a week. We are also looking into getting Chris a membership to the Goodwill gym in Santa Ana that was built specifically for patients with disabilities.  The goal would be for Chris to work out there maybe twice a week. Chris is going to be tested on his ability to drive in the next week or so, which would really be helpful.

Thank you to all who asked for the blog to be updated, I promise I will try to do this more often.

Love and gratitude,

Christy

Chris walks and walks

Today was the day we picked up Chris' brace. I was ready to go by 6:45 am when I made my way down stairs to check on Chris. I should have known, he was wide awake and attempting to start his leg exercises without me. He was so giddy.

Long story short, we made it to the office, picked up the brace, they made a few minor adjustments and off we went to therapy at St Jude's. It was awesome to see Chris so happy and his therapists were jazzed to see his brace too. His therapy has been in sort of a holding pattern, just waiting for the brace. Chris' therapist Armando had us practicing stairs today. He knew that as soon as Chris got his brace he was headed up our stairs to tuck the girls goodnight and to sleep in his own bed. Can I tell you how nervous it makes me to help him go up step by step but knowing important it is to Chris, I had to get over it real fast. So we practiced and practiced in the safety of St Jude's stairway. Chris walked the most today since the accident. I am not exaggerating when I say that within 5 minutes of us arriving home, Chris was asleep. He was exhausted!

Chris had another goal of walking, WALKING, down our street. For those of you not living here, let me share that while I know most of you are having your winter, it has been gorgeous here, in the 70's and nothing but sun. Well, this week is our winter......rain, rain, rain. I normally wouldn't complain because we really need in here in Cali but not the week my man gets the chance to stroll down our street for the first time in 6 months. There was a break in the storm and Chris said "I'm going out there". I had to share the news with the neighbors, who came out to cheer him on.

June (who I am so glad is here to help me) and I were able to get him upstairs in time to read books to the girls in their own bedrooms. Sounds like something any parent would take for granted and I hope I never forget what a blessing it was to hear Chris read Junie B to the girls and tuck them in.

Once again I am feeling grateful for how far we have come in the last 6 months.

Love and gratitude,

Christy

Six Months!

Chris here. I thought I'd chime in for once, since tomorrow is the sixth month anniversary of my accident. Christy has been extremely busy, like any mom would be at this time of year. I need to give her a break from time to time. The last thing she needs to do is blog after helping me get my pants on.

So where do I start? Six months ago a simple accident happened that would change my life physically, emotionally, spiritually... my relationships with friends, neighbors, and family members have changed to say the least... all for the good. There are so many people to thank, thousands. The doctors put me back together and the nurses tended to my physical process, but it has been the emotional and spiritual healing that you have really helped me with. Somewhat overwhelming, but it has really contributed to my daily healing.

I'll blog from now and again, to inform you of my progress, but I wanted to say thank you to all that have helped me and my family since July 11, 2009. 2010 will be a fantastic year.

Fight On!

Merry Christmas

I know I owe you all a blog or two. I know you are all getting ready for the holidays, as am I. Which means I am twice as busy as normal!!!!

Chris continues to make great strides (no pun intended) towards walking. Last Monday Chris was casted for his custom brace. It should take a week or two. We were waiting to hear back regarding a grant that could pay for the brace but have not learned anything about that yet. We decided to purchase the brace with the help of friends and the manufacturer of the brace agreed to refund us if the grant comes through. I only wish I had thought about that option 3 weeks ago, so that Chris could realize his dream of going upstairs by Christmas. Oh, well, he is just as excited at the prospect of it truly happening.

The strength is Chris right has increased by 45%. His left hand is coming back slowly, still not able to grip things but the therapists are hopeful it will get stronger.

I was selling shutters to a woman who lives in Fountain Valley and noticed she had a massage table in her living room. She said this is how she earns a living, hhmmm, my mind starts thinking but I don't mention Chris yet. She somehow brought up that her daughter was in an accident 5 years ago and the Dr.'s told her she would never walk again. Then she said how she learned to do a deep tissue massage, worked on her daughters legs and 3 weeks later, her daughter walked out of the hospital. Of course, I had to bring Chris up and asked if she thought she could help him too. Long story short we had our first appointment with Valerie and it was a huge success. Of course, it is expensive but well worth if it will help Chris walk faster.

This Christmas we are joined by June, Don, my parents, brother, cousin Phil and Chris' cousin Ben (along with wife, Deidre, kids Connor, Shannon and Liam). I love having a house full of people, makes it feel so festive. This year more than ever I appreciate being surrounded by family and friends. I am so thankful for everyone that has thought of us this year, helping to make sure the girls have a merry Christmas. I am in awe of the generous people (person) who secretly dropped off two huge bags of gifts and holiday items for my family. Whoever you are, I am sending you a big hug of thanks. It was so much fun to open those gifts, it really got the holidays started for us. It was cute to hear Caitlin try to figure out if it was God or Santa who asked that person to drop those items off to us. I would also like to thank my Bunco group for the generous gifts for my girls. It is a humble place to be but how lucky am I to have such a wonderful group of friends, neighbors and family. God Bless you all, have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love and gratitude,

Christy

Golf Tourney

Where do I begin? Last Monday the 16th was the golf tournament and auction at Seacliff Country Club here in Huntington Beach. What a beautiful day to golf, I think it was about 77 degrees, clear and sunny. I am grateful to everyone who took a day off to play golf. I know vacation days are limited so I appreciate you using one to be with us. I hope you all had a great time. I know Chris did. I don't think I have seen him smile this much since the accident. Chris was able to greet his guests as they arrived to register for the tourney. Once all the players were off, Chris and I jumped into a golf cart and toured around the golf course. Chris drove the cart and had a blast! It was truly exciting to spend time with him on that beautiful course saying hello to so many friends and making some new ones. 

Chris went home to rest for the big evening as the players finished golfing. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my friend Janine.  Thank you to Janine for spending the day "working" with me. I had a blast with you  on the golf course and visiting the Pyramid booth (thanks Sean for that sweet set up!).

Chris, Caitlin, Regan and FIL (aka Grumpa, Don) returned to Seacliff around five for cocktails    (Shirley Temples, of course) and to view the silent auction items. There was really some neat stuff donated. Not enough room here to thank everyone who made donations but I am honestly touched by the multitude of items given and all those that bid on them.

The highlight of the evening had to be the USC band, fight on!  They were so much fun, what a fantastic surprise. The other highlight being Chris standing and giving a speech. I didn't know he was going to do that, made me cry.

All in all it was a successful event and I thank all of you who attended. I hope you had as much fun as we did. My gratitude to Dan, Jeff and Steve who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this event happen. We appreciate everything you have done for us.

The momentum and happiness of Monday carried us through the rest of the week. Chris walks more everyday in therapy and on Thursday they had him climb a few stairs. His vow is to be able to make it up our stairs by Christmas. He wants to be able to tuck his daughters in their own bed and I know they do too! That would be a wonderful gift.

I hope you all have a beautiful Thanksgiving. I know this year more than any other, I have SO many things to be thankful for.

Love,

Christy

90 Feet

Today I got to see Chris walk!!!!! He went a whole 90 feet. I laughed, I cried, it was so exciting. We arrived at Chris' therapy expecting the same old exercises and instead they bring out what Chris and I call his magic shoes (Forest Gump anyone?). Braces were put on both legs, seriously these things are heavy duty and really do look like the ones that Forest wore. He held onto the parallel bars and walked. After one lap his therapist felt that Chris' right leg was strong enough to take the brace off.  I was just in awe. Some braces will be made for Chris' left leg( again pending cost and no insurance) and the goal is to have him walking around the house with a walker in the near future. How cool is that? It will still be months and months of therapy but that is okay.......I'll take it.

 On another good note, Chris has been sleeping through the night since last Thursday, yeah! He still continues to have super sensitivity to temperatures, moods and noise. He has been open to trying alternative methods to help with these issues, which in the past would soooo not be my Chris.  Mr. I don't like going to the Dr. or dentist is now getting acupuncture!

June or MIL (mother in law) just spent the last month with us. I can't thank her enough for being here. It really take two people in the home to take care of Chris and both kids. June is now back to work in Connecticut. After spending a week with FIL, Don will make his way back to California. My mother graciously volunteered to fill in while the in laws are away. I could have not handled the last 2 1/2 months by myself. I feel so lucky to have the family I do. It has also been a blessing for Caitlin and Regan to spend so much time with both sets of grandparents. It is great to see their relationships blossoming with all the family that has been here helping.

We are getting very excited for the golf tournament on the 16th. We have so many great auction and raffle items. It will be a great evening out, come and join us at the Seacliff Country Club in Huntington Beach.

Love and gratitude,

Christy