Progress Diary

I know sometimes Josh's progress may not sound like much but he is progressing so amazingly fast! Which is why I think it's necessary to explain how he was initially to act as a comparison. On the beach josh was only able to lift his arms, I know that sounds strange but because of where Josh's injury is he currently has no tricep function (the muscles u need to bring your arm straight down). Josh's hand function, as you may have guessed by the fact he has to use hand splints in order to be able to type, is not the best at the moment - this is to do with where his injury is, damage at different levels mean the loss of different functions - however some functions may return over time.

30th March
When joshs nurse got him up she noticed a pressure point (the beginings of a pressure sore) on his heel (the inner left of his heel to be precise) which they think is from him having a spasm in the night and his heel coming off the pillow (he has pillow up under his feet/between his legs to prevent pressure points) and rubbing against the sheets. a very very big boo hoo. so he is now on bedrest which is causing numerous painful issues esp since his bed is too big to get out of the room! (josh recently got a 3/4 aka massive bed so he can turn himself at night, using a bed ladder, without falling off) He was transered onto a smaller bed using a roller board for the day so he can get to gym etc so he ened up lying in his room all day. fortunatley the heel is looking much better so we're hoping it will be all better by tomorrow as his mum wants to learn to do car transfers so they can go out for tea on thursday night. but it will all depend on the healing powers of the heel (heeling powers?? - bad pun i blame joshs mum)

29th March
well today was rather eventful to say the last. in the arvo at gym josh was working on moving his bum forward on the chair (so he could slidding board himself.. eventually) and his left butt cheek came off the chair and he fell on one of the physios (who was trying to catch him) and onto the ground. He realized it was going to happen so he didn't get hurt and managed to get his hands up to his head etc so all was fine. They then lay him in a sitting position on his back, took off his anti tilt wheels (like trainer wheel on the back of his chair so he doesn't fall backwards), slid the chair under him n sat him back up again off the ground. so that was all good n he then wheeled himself down to the ward n was talking to one of the doctors, during which he decided to move out of the doctors personal bubble as they were a but close for comfort and in the process the chair went backwards, now normally the anti tilts would stop him from falling back BUT someone/everyone had forgotten to put the anti-tilts back on eeeek!! Apparently his head bounced when it hit the floor and the noise was so loud that the nurses in urology (down the hall) heard it! So, he was been having hourly checks to make sure he didn't get brain damage. he apparently seems fine now apart having a big graze and a rather sizeble lump on the back of his head.

26th March
josh went to see once upon a time in mexico today. his dad having learnt to do car transfers earlier in the week was able to tranfer josh into his car, alot more convinient than busses n wheelchair taxis which was our only way of taking josh places prior to this. he thought it was top. they went n got coffee and sushi (interesting combo i know) after n josh bought el mariachi and desparado on dvd (he got a dvd player from his uncle for his bday/xmas - not bad aye) and a rush of blood to the head, all at the palms. that evening josh went to the fugaby (canerbury vs highlanders) at jade stadium. being surrounded by all the people (30,000 of them) was quite intense for him i believes. super long day = rather tired josh, stuff is so much effort = sleep time END

25th March
josh got a new trial chair, whew! much better than the old one. happy tappy (the activities co-ordinator) arranged for josh n this other fella at the unit, jamie, to go to mainz recording studios, which he really enjoyed (tho admittedly he would rather've been on the other side of the glass playing stuff). josh is fully keen to get a bunch of the programs they have there to make music (eg fruity loops etc..) as he wont be able to play real guitar until pip (josh's OT) sorts out this strap for joshs slide so he can hold it proper.

23rd March
i went up for 4 days last weekendish. josh had OT kitchen while i was up there and he made a smoothie, well there were a few issues, most involving yoghurt and it ending up in places other than the blender i.e. my eye (yoghurt + eye = not good), joshs pocket/lap/wheelchair, the floor etc.. the main achievement (in my opinion) of this exercise was josh pouring a cup of milk from a milk bottle (not bad for someone who can't use their hands!) and peeling a banana (with his teeth which is not very tasty i can tell u, as some people i.e. kimi may have surmised from the last time i tried lol!). josh also pushed 1/2 way to n 1/2 way from the chip shop, a couple of blocks away (footpaths are blah to push a wheelchair on = tired sore josh shoulders = good effort josh). not much else happened as josh was stuck in bed for quite awhile on saturday and sunday with the beginings of a pressure area (i'll put up some info on those at some point i promise) which had all cleared up by the time i left.

14th March
i've just been up to chch for the weekend and the big news (and trust me it's big) for last week is that josh sat in a car seat for the first time since his accident (2 months ago today)..... as the driver!!! josh drove last thursday! just around the carpark at the hospital but i don't know about you but i still find that amazing!! they strapped his hand to the wheel and he controlled the brakes and accelerator with a handle just below the wheel. he'll be going again next thursday as part of OT for that day. this week he'll also start cooking (or 'OT kitchen' as his timetable says) which is all pretty exciting!!! He's pushing alot more and even pushed himself over a gutter today for the first time! we went to see a game of wheelchair rugby today, crusaders (yes the super 12 team, just) vs the canterbury wheelies (well thats what i call them anyway). it was sooo funny! crusaders got dicked and kept falling out of their chairs. it was alot of fun to watch, josh is really keen to play now (much to his dads dismay, i think he's worried josh might break himself again).

27th Feb
Josh is now able to drink out wine glasses (we discovered that about 3-4 days ago, last week he had only been able to use arcarok cups). He can also drink out of takeaway coffee cups, sipper bottles... well actually most things now (except plain glass glasses, I think they'd probably slip out of his hands! Josh is currently doing propping (hold himself up in a sitting position) and lye to sit (rocking himself up off his elbow into a sitting position) in gym.

16th Feb
Well today's breaking news is that josh can now txt (well that's what he just told me, via txt, n e way!), In fact there have been quite a few new developments this past week! Josh is now able to shave n brush him teeth (with electric utensils though). I know that doesn't sound like much but trust me it is!

We've been keeping a proper day to day diary at the hospital from the day of the accident which I've started to type up but it's taking ages as it’s a lot more detailed (especially the first few days) and theres never time to type it while I'm up there.

Direct from the diary

Site last updated 31st March 2004