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.

Charb certainly hasn't lost his passion for Rugby!

Thanks Ms. Zimmer for sending us this great photo!

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!

New Photos

Check out the web album to see some new pics of Charb and family!

Visiting Charb at the Rehab Center

As always, Charb looks forward to visits from his friends. Although his mornings are usually busy with therapy, he has some down time between 3pm-5pm and also 6pm-8pm, which would be a great time to come see him. On the weekends (Friday night to Sunday) he will be back in Windsor. If you would like to come see him at the rehab center, give mom a call on her cell phone (902)791-0982 she can tell you the best time to come visit when Charb is free from other commitments. We look forward to seeing you soon!

First days at rehab

Hi everyone, I'm sure you are all waiting to hear what happened with Charb and the rehab saga this past week...

He was admitted Friday and spent most of the day getting settled. He is in a room with 4 other people who all seem really nice, and can tell the nurses if he is calling for anything at night. All of the nurses and staff who had seen Charbel at the rehab center last year were surprised and truly amazed that he is doing as well as he is. Friday night, mom brought Charb home and he spent the weekend with us. We took him back on Sunday night. That was his first night at rehab, and according to the nurses and his roommates, he slept really well, which is always good to hear.

Monday and Tuesday he met with the physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and others. They are in the process of working out a program for him. Meanwhile, he has done well with the PT and speech so far. We are determined that his program should be extensive in order provide him with best chance at a full recovery.

Charb has also undergone a series of tests this week. On Monday he took the swallow test. In this test they use and x-ray and dye while he is eating and drinking to make sure that the food is going down the right way. They found that while eating soft/pureed food he had no problem. Unfortunately, while drinking juice/water some of the liquid was going into the airways and possibly into his lungs. So he is no longer allowed to have regular liquids, only thickened juice and water. They will be working with him on proper swallowing over the coming weeks so that he will be able to drink all liquids eventually. At least he can still eat, imagine telling him that he's not allowed to have food!

Charb had an ultrasound to check his kidneys. He also had an x-ray done on his left shoulder and knee, both of which really bother him. We haven't yet received the results from the doctors.

Rehab Friday

We got a call this morning that the NS Rehab Center is ready to admit Charbel tomorrow (Friday) morning. He will be going back to the hospital in Windsor tonight and then leaving in the morning from there. We'll let you know how the first day goes!