Summer Flew By: An Overdue Update!

Hello friends and family!

Our apologies for not posting in so long!  We have so much to share, which is partly to blame for our silence on the blog.  

Since our last update, we have not been idle!  Thom's continued progress has been assisted by diversifying his rehabilitation activities.  Over the summer, to improve torso strength and balance, we started hydro-therapy (pool) once a week.  Exercising in the water allows Thom to be more independent in his movements and the water also provides resistance which improves muscle tone.  

Ekso training

At the same time, Thom has been using a new piece of equipment called the "ekso," a free-standing eksoskeleton that assists with standing upright and walking.  When he first tried it, he could barely take any steps in it, but after many months of practice and patience he is now taking hundreds of steps per session.  The machine can give anywhere from 0% to 100% assistance to each leg; this number can be tweaked by therapists as needed.  Thom is down from 100% in each leg to 75% on the left and 70% on the right.  His stride length is also improving and his legs no longer cross over each other when he is walking.  The ekso stores data from his activity each session, which is extremely useful feedback, and he continues to see improvement.  

A couple weeks ago, Thom was measured for AFOs: these are braces for his ankle and calf that will provide him additional support when walking in therapy.  We expect these to arrive next week and he is really excited to start using them!

On the OT front, his left hand continues to improve slowly.  His therapist told him it is beginning to be difficult to find new challenges for his left hand. He is up to the point of being able to use chopsticks in that hand, which is a big deal!  Perhaps even more exciting is that, 14 months since the accident, Thom's right hand is showing signs of recovery(!!!).  He is now able to make small controlled movements with his thumb, which is how his left hand began to recover one year ago.  

Please continue to pray to St. Francis that Thom might regain movement in both his hands.

Over labor day weekend we had a great visit with family and friends in Michigan.  It was our first trip back since the accident.  Neither of our families' homes are accessible to Thom, but we found an accessible hotel to stay in and hosted everyone there.  It was wonderful to catch up with our close and extended family, and with so many friends that we had not seen since our wedding last April.  Travel there and back was both a challenge and an opportunity to further learn how to navigate planes and cars with his wheelchair.  

Since coming back from Michigan we have been preparing for what promises to be a very busy fall.  I am returning to writing my masters thesis and Thom is taking on some new projects as well.  He is excited to find his energy and stamina returning for intellectual and physical activities.  We're looking forward to a productive fall and hopefully more frequent updates to all of you :) 

We continue to receive notes and prayers from so many of you.  Thank you so much!  Your encouragement and steadfastness on our behalf mean the world to us.