Weekly Wins

As Summer has settled in to full swing, rehab has fallen into somewhat of a predictable pattern as well. In addition to regularly scheduled appointments with my eye and speech therapists, my ‘home rehab’ activities have also become rather repetitious.

With the Central Texas heat beating down outside, my days consist of exercises for my eye muscle, Boeckmann exercises for my cheek and lips, push-ups, some light dumbbell work, handwriting, a heavy dose of oral motor and speech exercises and lots of walking around the neighborhood.

I am happy to report that it is not just the work and heat that have become easily patterned over the last 60 days. It also seems that I make one noteworthy gain each and every week! From a psychological standpoint, progress is a tremendous motivator…although a fast-approaching wedding date helps too!

Let’s take a little closer look at the ‘weekly wins’ from the last couple of weeks:

*** Most recently (as in just this week), I have re-discovered how to whisper! I would describe my efforts as quiet but not soft, and about a subtle as a Bevo seated at the dining room table. But I am whispering again and my speech therapist seems very enthused by the development. The whispering is being attributed to greater control and functionality in my throat.

*** I was cleared by my eye doctor to begin driving in my prism glasses without my eye patch. This will be an enormous change and it is one I have not implemented yet. I carried a note in my glovebox explaining that it was medically necessary for me to wear my eye patch while driving. I am now awaiting receipt of a similar note about my prism glasses. First it was only having to tape my eye at night, now it has progressed to driving with binocular vision! I still see double without my glasses, but my left eye continues to improve.

*** I also got a clean bill of health from my PCP. Well, as he says, “it’s clean except for that hatchet job your tumor did on your left side”. My cholesterol is healthy, blood pressure is good, all my bloodwork was ‘normal’….it was such a change to go to a doctor’s office and hear nothing but positive news! When you consider everything I eat on my quest to gain weight, some of this news was a real shock!

Look for more news later this week as I will be heading back to see my neurologist for test results.