Sunday, July 8, 2007
Home Sweet Home
Well, Charb has been home for over a week now, and it's been awesome having him here! Getting him upstairs was actually pretty easy thanks to some friends at EHS. Two strong guys brought him up in a special chair, the whole thing takes about 5 minutes. He's been in the living room since! It's so nice having him around when we are all having lunch and dinner, just hanging out watching TV. His apartment is about a week or two away from completion. Although it will be sad to see him go (even if it is only across the driveway) it's good for him to have a little space of his own. There's a lot more room there for him to do his exercises and he'll have a special bathroom so that he can take real showers.
Charb got upstairs with the help of MLA Chuck Porter and Ryan and Jerry -they were the two medics on the scene of Charbel's accident and stopped by to see him whenever they get a chance ever since. When they heard that a stretcher was needed to get Charbel upstairs, they were really happy to volunteer! Thanks guys, and thank you to Chuck Porter and Richard Dauphinee who organized everything.
Charb got upstairs with the help of MLA Chuck Porter and Ryan and Jerry -they were the two medics on the scene of Charbel's accident and stopped by to see him whenever they get a chance ever since. When they heard that a stretcher was needed to get Charbel upstairs, they were really happy to volunteer! Thanks guys, and thank you to Chuck Porter and Richard Dauphinee who organized everything.
Friday, June 29, 2007
NEWS FLASH!!!
Charbie is finally coming home for good! He's finished two months at rehab (more about that in a later post) and he's coming home today! Everyone is excited, especially Charb, who can't wait to be home. Charb's apartment has been under renovations for the past month or so, and things are moving along. It should be ready for him to live in by the end of next week.
In the meantime....
Charb has been telling us all the time that he wants to go to his "real" house, the house he grew up in. Unfortunately, because it on the second storey, it was too steep to build a ramp and we haven't been able to bring him up. But, thanks to some wonderful friends, we have found a way to bring Charb upstairs, and he'll be home with us for the whole weekend! This will be the first time he's been at his family house since the accident. It will be great to be in familiar surroundings once again.
I promise to update more about this weekend and Charb's progress soon, and look out for some new pics and videos!
In the meantime....
Charb has been telling us all the time that he wants to go to his "real" house, the house he grew up in. Unfortunately, because it on the second storey, it was too steep to build a ramp and we haven't been able to bring him up. But, thanks to some wonderful friends, we have found a way to bring Charb upstairs, and he'll be home with us for the whole weekend! This will be the first time he's been at his family house since the accident. It will be great to be in familiar surroundings once again.
I promise to update more about this weekend and Charb's progress soon, and look out for some new pics and videos!
Monday, May 21, 2007
First Month at Rehab
It has been one month since Charbel went to the Rehab Center in Halifax. We haven’t been updating much, largely due to the fact that progress has been SLOW. There are very few, if any changes from day to day or week to week.
Looking back, the last month has been full of meetings, assessments, tests, and scans. But there has been very little progress.
Charb met with his neurologist and had an MRI done. The MRI showed a couple of good things. One, that the shunt is working, and two that the clot that he once had is now gone. This is great news. Physically, the brain has not changed, meaning that the damaged areas are still damaged. This was expected. From the MRI we have no way of knowing how Charbel’s neurological pathways are being reconnected. All we know is what we see him do, which is pretty amazing.
He also met with a vision specialist. But there was nothing special about his prognosis. He believes that Charbel can see (we knew this all along) but he doesn’t know to what extent (that’s what we were hoping to find out). He believes that Charbel has nerve damage as a result of the accident, which would explain why he cannot move his eyes. He doesn’t think that there is anything that we can do to help correct his vision (i.e. surgery to straighten his eyes would not necessarily be helpful, neither would glasses). Our position has always been that with work anything can improve. So we move forward by working with Charbel on moving his eyes up, down, left and right. So far, he cannot do this, but who’s to say that with time and effort it cannot be done.
On a physical level, Charbel’s ankles have seen some improvement due to some interesting machinery at the Rehab Center. Basically Charbel lies down and is attached to a series of pulleys and ropes that are tightened in order to stretch his ankles. This week his left ankle looks a little more straight, but it still has a LONG way to go before he can put any pressure on it to be able to stand.
The physical therapists and doctors are pessimistic about Charbel’s ability to regain a ‘normal’ position in his feet without surgery. Go figure. While we are not ruling surgery out as an option, for us it is the LAST option, and we will trying everything we can think of before considering tendon release surgery. For now, stretching and physical therapy seems to be making small but consistent gains.
Besides his ankles, Charbel has been working remaining in a sitting position by holding his upper body upright. He has been making some gains in this area. Both at the rehab center and at home we are sitting him up on the edge of a table and letting him use his hands for support to hold himself up. It’s a lot of work, but its very satisfying to see Charbel sitting unassisted for a few minutes at a time.
Finally, we are working on getting Charbel a new wheel chair that will allow him to be in a fully upright position. He will also be able to wheel himself around in the chair. This is the next big step for Charbel. Once he can sit upright and use his arms to move the chair he find a lot more freedom and independence. This will allow him to do more things on his own while working on being able to stand and walk in the future.
Looking back, the last month has been full of meetings, assessments, tests, and scans. But there has been very little progress.
Charb met with his neurologist and had an MRI done. The MRI showed a couple of good things. One, that the shunt is working, and two that the clot that he once had is now gone. This is great news. Physically, the brain has not changed, meaning that the damaged areas are still damaged. This was expected. From the MRI we have no way of knowing how Charbel’s neurological pathways are being reconnected. All we know is what we see him do, which is pretty amazing.
He also met with a vision specialist. But there was nothing special about his prognosis. He believes that Charbel can see (we knew this all along) but he doesn’t know to what extent (that’s what we were hoping to find out). He believes that Charbel has nerve damage as a result of the accident, which would explain why he cannot move his eyes. He doesn’t think that there is anything that we can do to help correct his vision (i.e. surgery to straighten his eyes would not necessarily be helpful, neither would glasses). Our position has always been that with work anything can improve. So we move forward by working with Charbel on moving his eyes up, down, left and right. So far, he cannot do this, but who’s to say that with time and effort it cannot be done.
On a physical level, Charbel’s ankles have seen some improvement due to some interesting machinery at the Rehab Center. Basically Charbel lies down and is attached to a series of pulleys and ropes that are tightened in order to stretch his ankles. This week his left ankle looks a little more straight, but it still has a LONG way to go before he can put any pressure on it to be able to stand.
The physical therapists and doctors are pessimistic about Charbel’s ability to regain a ‘normal’ position in his feet without surgery. Go figure. While we are not ruling surgery out as an option, for us it is the LAST option, and we will trying everything we can think of before considering tendon release surgery. For now, stretching and physical therapy seems to be making small but consistent gains.
Besides his ankles, Charbel has been working remaining in a sitting position by holding his upper body upright. He has been making some gains in this area. Both at the rehab center and at home we are sitting him up on the edge of a table and letting him use his hands for support to hold himself up. It’s a lot of work, but its very satisfying to see Charbel sitting unassisted for a few minutes at a time.
Finally, we are working on getting Charbel a new wheel chair that will allow him to be in a fully upright position. He will also be able to wheel himself around in the chair. This is the next big step for Charbel. Once he can sit upright and use his arms to move the chair he find a lot more freedom and independence. This will allow him to do more things on his own while working on being able to stand and walk in the future.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Charb certainly hasn't lost his passion for Rugby!
Thanks Ms. Zimmer for sending us this great photo!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
1st Meeting with the Neurologist
This past week Charbel met with his neurologist for the first time since October. The last time Dr. W saw him, Charbel wasn't doing well. He had recently had his bone flap replaced and had fluid build up in his head. In October the doctors thought he might not make it much longer...
This time, their meeting was much different! Dr. W was so excited to see Charb. When he came in the office, Charb went to shake is hand and Dr. W told him, "You made my year!" Needless to say, he was amazed at the progress that Charbel has made so far. He told us that he has no medical or scientific explanation as to why Charbel is aware, is talking, and is able to do what he's doing. He said it's due to our hard work and the work of God (and all of your prayers!). It was a very emotional meeting, and the first time we have met with doctors since Charbel's accident that we actually left smiling and feeling good about the situation.
We asked him several questions about Charbel's recovery and his possible limitations. Dr. W had no idea - Charbel obviously is a fighter and he has unlimited potential - if he's made it this far, he can go a lot further. In the words of Dr. W, we "won the lottery." Indeed, we are very lucky. Charbel will be going back to get an MRI. Although the doctor doesn't think that it will show anything different than the MRI taken before he began to talk, it will be interesting to see if there are any visible changes.
Charbel's old nurses on the 7th floor on the QEII were all talking about his recovery. One of the head nurses came down to see him and was totally amazed that he could talk to her! Charb has proven a lot of people wrong and we know that with hard work he will continue to amaze us all!
This time, their meeting was much different! Dr. W was so excited to see Charb. When he came in the office, Charb went to shake is hand and Dr. W told him, "You made my year!" Needless to say, he was amazed at the progress that Charbel has made so far. He told us that he has no medical or scientific explanation as to why Charbel is aware, is talking, and is able to do what he's doing. He said it's due to our hard work and the work of God (and all of your prayers!). It was a very emotional meeting, and the first time we have met with doctors since Charbel's accident that we actually left smiling and feeling good about the situation.
We asked him several questions about Charbel's recovery and his possible limitations. Dr. W had no idea - Charbel obviously is a fighter and he has unlimited potential - if he's made it this far, he can go a lot further. In the words of Dr. W, we "won the lottery." Indeed, we are very lucky. Charbel will be going back to get an MRI. Although the doctor doesn't think that it will show anything different than the MRI taken before he began to talk, it will be interesting to see if there are any visible changes.
Charbel's old nurses on the 7th floor on the QEII were all talking about his recovery. One of the head nurses came down to see him and was totally amazed that he could talk to her! Charb has proven a lot of people wrong and we know that with hard work he will continue to amaze us all!
Friday, April 27, 2007
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