Day 21 Update

Today when I arrived, Colin was in the gym working on his left arm, and starting to work on sitting upright, as well as beginning to work on his right arm and wrist, and also his shoulders.
He seems in very good spirits, but his shoulder is very sore still which prompted the physio to say perhaps they may need to do more investigation.

The Doc was around so I mentioned it to her as well, and she said it is possible he has hurt or torn muscles in his shoulder (possibly even the rotator cuff) during the accident so they may look into that as well.

He is gaining strength slowly in his left arm, and now has to practice moving it in all sorts of different directions. His right wrist is also slowly starting to gain strength, and although he is still very sore to sit up by himself, or even in a chair because of his shoulder, he is improving and starting to almost be able to sort of hold himself up a little from falling over. This is a long path, but we will get there – he is working very hard, and the physios are simply outstanding.

The speech therapist has done her investigations with the blue dye number 4 (location joke) and they can see that there are no leaks into his lungs, and there is no damage to his vocal chords, and so they will start working on that next week too. All just positive news.

It is getting more and more difficult for me to leave him each day, even though I am able to stay almost as long as I want to – but I have to start to tidy the house and make it possible for wheelchair to zoom around. They said they want to get him a motorised (or perhaps he called it electric) wheelchair perhaps next week or the week after so he can begin to learn how to drive it. He says the other inmates (HA HA) only have two speeds when operating their chairs – either S L O W L Y, or else like it is like a Formula One track.

The gym is very well equipped, and has air conditioners and music, and is such a jolly place to go to work hard. Everyone is so positive, and helpful, and today, one of the Physios sort of started counting out loud and everyone joined in as if it were a sort of group aerobics session. I am sure it is more difficult than I can imagine to work hard to regain strength, but I admire all the people who are working there. They are so positive. I think that perhaps it is motivating because they can see improvement, but it is more than that. Even the air is filled with enthusiasm, and I was really quite humbled being in there with both the patients, and the physios.

You can see here – he is in pain, despite Valerie trying to prop up his arm to help his shoulder. She is just wonderful, and is quite strict with him. She is making him work very hard, and I know she will help him to get strong again. Happy anniversary Valerie.

I am also very impressed that a representative of the medical aid has come to see Colin and chat to him and assure him that he is covered and in good hands. I really took a lot of comfort from that. She even gave me her card with her personal number on it so I could call if I had any concerns. She mentioned that I can call her for anything, including but not limited to authorisations that I feel need to be done.

Today I am grateful for all those people who work in the medical field as a vocation. Each of the people dealing with Colin really cares, and it really helps me to know that he is in exactly the right place. I miss him terribly, and I miss his voice. We have a family meeting next week to chat with the whole team and see where we are and where we can go.

See you tomorrow my love. Sleep well, and dream of me. I love you. <3