Two weeks in Rehab

So tomorrow marks the two week point that Michel has been at the rehabilitation hospital.  He has made so much progress! He can move his forearm, hand and fingers.  He can lift his knee and foot and bear weight on his right.  He can stand for 5 minutes.  He no longer needs the lift to transfer from his bed to wheelchair and back.  He is becoming so much stronger.

I am so thankful for all of the staff that are so caring and motivating and are helping Michel get his life back.  I am posting a few pictures below.

This was our early celebration of father's day with Michel, before our daughter and her fiancée went on their honeymoon that they were unable to postpone.  Their wedding was supposed to be June 1st but they were able to postpone until August 17th so Michel would be there.

Michel is now able to stand and just hold onto the bed rail for stability. We were able to have an outing outside in the sunshine today and it was wonderful to sit together outside.

Life is awesome.  Be thankful for every blessing.

The day to day

Yesterday was one week that Michel has been at the Elizabeth Bruyere hospital in their Rehabilitation program.  I cannot say enough about the wonderful people who are working with Michel to help him regain functions and rewrite the parts of his brain that have been damaged.

I am so inspired by Michel's determination to come back from this. He is determined that he will be able to walk and use his right arm and leg again. Each day he sees a little bit more sensation and function return.  His biggest challenge at the moment is to be able to comfortably stay in his wheelchair for longer periods.  His stamina wears out at about 90 minutes currently.  They are working on trying to get a more comfortable chair setup for him and will rent a chair for him if necessary.

His return to home date is July 29th. Six weeks to go and 13 weeks from when the stroke happened. When it is closer to his return date we will need to have a look at his returned functions so that we can have things in place for him at home.  Until then we will take each day at a time and continue to work with the arm, hand, leg and foot and get them as close to "normal" function as we can.  My work is in supporting Michel, being with him as much as possible.  He has the toughest work ahead, rewriting his brain and pushing through the fatigue that hits him at multiple times during the day. He needs to continue the work needed to forge those new pathways to freedom from a wheelchair.

The goal is in Sight

So Michel has had a busy first three days in the rehab hospital. Today he was given his discharge date. He will be coming home on July 29th at 10:00 a.m.  I will be so happy to have him home again! It will be 19 days before Emilie's wedding day.  We will see what the next 46 days bring in his progress.

We will also have to come up with any necessary plans for getting our home ready to accommodate his needs.  Everything is doable.  I am feeling extremely thankful.

Moving forward

Michel was transferred to a local rehabilitation hospital yesterday.  The move went smoothly and has was given a private room. The care seems to be at a much higher level than when he was in the Transitional Care unit.  I need to go into work today so I won't be able to be with him until I finish work today. It feels weird knowing that I won't see him this morning.

Michel has already met the two doctors who will be overseeing his time at the hospital, his physiotherapist and one of his occupational therapists. He already has four appointments weekly for physio with many more to come. This really is what he has been waiting for.  Now the work he has to do to get back as close to his old normal begins.

The good news, according to his rehabilitation doctor, is that his brain is relatively young and will use neuroplasticity to rewrite damaged pathways. It will "rewire" itself to get the signals through to his right side again. We just don't know how long it will take or how much movement he will gain back. The therapists will also work with him to learn how to do every day activities again so that he can do them for himself. The goal is to help him have a full and productive life moving forward.

Life gets Interesting

It's been awhile since I have posted on my blog. Recently I have been dealing with an interesting life event. While out for a family supper on Saturday May 4th, my husband, Michel, mentioned that he felt a bit weird and then said his hand felt funny. I was looking at him when I noticed his face start to droop.  I knew he was having a stroke. A call to 911 was instantly made and while waiting I slowly watched my husband lose control of the right side of his whole body.  EMS personnel quickly arrived, got him loaded into an ambulance, and we headed to the The Ottawa Hospital - Civic Campus.

The whole month of May was spent at Michel's bedside supporting him through the biggest fight he has yet fought in his life. He has gone from fighting for every breath, intubated in the ICU, to fighting his way back to get on his feet. Throughout it all Michel has maintained a warrior's attitude. He is fighting his way back but is also letting the final outcome of complete mobility go, understanding that this is out of his control.

We are hoping that the next phase of the fight will begin today with his transfer to Elizabeth Bruyere's rehabilitation facility. If this doesn't happen today it should happen tomorrow. Then, as Michel has said, his work really begins.