Weather hampers progress

Today, we were supposed to go to physical therapy (PT). This would have been our first PT appointment of the year because of all the hospitalization time. I was really looking forward to getting some input from Phoebe on how we can best help Caleb get around easier.  He's still not able to walk without support from someone else, has no balance to speak of, and tilts to one side when attempting to walk. He says it is painful to walk at all. We were told that is because his achilles tendon is tightening up due to lack of use.

We've been up every hour through the night trying to help him get comfortable to no avail. (This seems like a daily routine as well.) So when we finally did get up and looked outside, the driveway, roads, yards, etc were covered in ICE & snow, more ice than snow.  We've had to cancel our PT appointment for today as it is too dangerous for me to get the van out of the garage. Our driveway is on an angle & I'd have to go "just right" to keep from hitting the neighbor's vehicle across the street as I back out. I'm not even going to attempt it.

So, I've talked to Phoebe by phone to get some help on how to get him around. We're looking at the possibility of a harness-type device that would loop under his arms and we hold it behind him to help him walk. There's also been discussion of an "assisted walker" which would also have a harness & a chair so if he loses his balance he doesn't fall to the ground. Our third possibility is getting a wheelchair to get him around. He's just too heavy for me to carry at all & Richard can't be here all the time to carry him. Of course, Richard shouldn't really be carrying Caleb around either.

He says he is still having some incision pain in his head & stomach, but is down to only one dose of Lortab per day (mainly at bedtime). The rest of the time we are able to use either Tylenol or Motrin to control the pain.

We continue to rejoice over small improvements -- he's drooling less, and he's able to stay awake longer!