Rockin' the casbah

Things at home are a lot better than I expected. I was really nervous about it. Turns out, I take pretty good care of Tom even when he doesn't have a brain injury, so there hasn't been that much extra to do. We took it easy this weekend. We ate, had visitors, had coffee in the mornings, he takes a cat nap at about 5pm everyday, then he sleeps at night. We played Monopoly on the Xbox, and mainly watched a lot of TV.

I had orders to follow him around and help him walk with the walker. So I did. I have been scared to death that he'd fall in the house. The dizziness he had in the hospital seems to be gone, but his balance is still off because of the weakness in his left leg. A few times, especially when he had either just woken up or was tuckered out at the end of the day, he'd stumble and catch himself on some conveniently located furniture like the couch or the bed. I could tell you what those stumbles (and everything from the last month) did to my nerves, but let it suffice to say that I plucked my first gray eyebrow hair today. Ugh!

Yesterday, Tom was doing so well, and the walker just seemed more harm than help, so I let Tom walk around without it, with me closeby or holding his arm. He did so good. I even "let him" put away the silverware from the dishwasher. Then, we went for a physical therapy evaluation today, and he aced it. His balance (brain wise) is great, it's just that weak leg that trips him up. Today he walked all over that gym without a walker, walked up and down a flight of stairs, and even did some jumping. He was cleared as a "low fall risk" and doesn't need to use his walker in "controlled" situations.

Tonight, he got up to fix his plate, came back to the couch to eat, then got up, dumped his bones into the trash, rinsed his plate, put it in the dishwasher, shut the cabinet I left open, turned off the oven I left on, walked to the bathroom, let Sasha inside on his way back, and safely sat back on the couch. Meanwhile, I sat on the couch watching and I didn't have a panic attack. We are inching closer to normal.

Tomorrow, we have a speech therapy evaluation, and afterward I'll have a clearer picture of what his outpatient therapy will look like.

My dad called Tom a walking miracle, and Tom said to me, "If that were true, I'd be on TV!" I explained to him that he'd only be on TV if we sent the story into a news station, and I asked him what he'd say. He said, "That I'm a walking miracle!" I said, "Is that all?" And he said, "And that you left the oven on." LOL Sorry Tom, your inspirational story of recovery will just stay in our circle. ;-)

I can't thank everyone enough for their prayers and well wishes. He is doing so great. :-)