Pat's Progress

I don’t have much to report except Pat has been gaining strength in his biceps and triceps. He is able to work on a machine using 10 pounds of resistance and is able to sit up for about 45 minutes and keep his balance. Here is a pic with Lisa, she is one of his trainers. One of these days I’m going to try and get some video up so you can see the progress. It is difficult to explain but he is getting stronger but it is just a long, long road.
I quit my job and I’m now assisting Pat full time. He may want to send me back shortly because I make him work but it is good for him. We have started to look into training a new puppy to be service dog. A friend of ours has Mastiff Puppies and we think we are getting one, more to come on that. I’ll need a new blog on training a service dog.

Hi Everyone, It is way past the month period and I’m finally writing. Lots of little things going on with Pat. He has made some gains working at Journey Forward (formerly known as Project Walk) check out the clients tab on there wedbsite and you’ll see someone we all know and love. He is able to stand in the standing frame for over 30 minutes, he is working on the FES bike and sit up without assistance for over 30 minutes. The other day he felt his stomach muscles!

I’ve had numerous people ask if we will be doing any fund raising and the answer is yes we will. We will probably be having a pasta dinner in the fall, when I have more information I will pass it along.

As always thank you for keeping us in you thoughts and if you want to come visist give us a call and keep in mind sundays are best.

Hi Everyone,

Can you believe more time has passed? I just don’t know where the time goes. Pat has been participating in Project Walk know for 6 weeks and his doing great. He has some new sensations and his core strength has greatly improved. He is able to sit up and keep his balance for 20 minutes and stand in a standing frame without getting dizzy for 20 minutes. The sitting up has to do with all the core muscles in your mid-section and when you can’t feel them, that’s great. The standing frame gets weight on his feet, hips and knees. I need to remember to bring my camera and get some pictures of him working out. We also have a small machine called an E-stim, which is electro-stimulation. We do that at home to his triceps and wrist extensors (the back of your forearm). The theory is that the electrical current flows thru the nerves helping to regenerate the firing mechanisms in those nerves getting the muscle contract. Pat would also love to start having visitors know that the weather is getting nice, so if your interested is coming by to see him (or even me) just let me know. Thank you all for your support.

Hi Everyone! Hope everyone is doing well! Pat has started a new physical training program called Project Walk (PW). We are very excited about this program, what they do is work the whole body and every muscle in the hopes that it will get all the nerves firing. PW was started out in California and they just opened the Boston facility in Canton, MA this January. Pat and I went and checked it out just before the holidays and signed up. Pat started his training program on March 3 and is going twice a week for 3 hours at a time. So far he loves it, he says he feels like he is working again. They have numerous machines that they work him out on and his favorite is called an easy stand glider. It stands you up then you move your arms which moves your legs kind of like cross-country skiing. He was able to stand for about 10 minutes before getting light headed. This machine is good for him not only because he stands but it gets him bearing weight on his legs which helps with all kinds of stuff. They also have him on a FES Bike which is a bike that has electrodes hooked to Pat’s legs and the machine and it fires an electrical current into the muscle which stimulates it to pedal the bike. He also works on a Total Gym (you know the Chuck Norris thing) which simulates him doing deep knee bends, this helps with different core muscles and his balance. As I said so far he loves it and already he has had some new sensations after only 3 visits. The medical field is sort of divided as to whether these kind of programs work but when you look at different research and talk to the people who have participated in them feel differently. so I invite you to look at the client videos and remind you that Pat’s injury is classified as a C5 incomplete – C6 complete. So until next month Many Blessings to you all and Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts.

Can you believe it has been one year since our lives have changed? This day last year I received the phone call that no one wants to get, that a loved one has been hurt and is on the way to the hospital. I spent the next few weeks in a fog but thanks to all of you I received so much love and support it helped to pull me through. Pat spent them in and out of consciences and at times fighting for his life.

I have spent the last week reflecting on this past year re-reading all your posts, laughing and crying. It has been a hard year but along with the bad, so much good has happened. Believe it or not this the hardest post that I’ve written to this blog. I have written and rewritten this at least a half a dozen times and probably still wont get all the words right. Pat and I still don’t know why this happened and have stopped trying to figure it out, maybe it was time for Pat to slow down and smell the roses.

In this year Pat has made considerable progress. He has gone from only being able to move his shoulders to being able to control his arm movements down to his elbows. He has gotten different sensations through out is body and hopes to regain more. We are looking into some different programs to help strengthening his muscles and regain as much movement as possible. The other day during therapy he sat up unassisted for 13 minutes. Who knows what the future holds but we refuse to give up.

I’m not sure how many people actually pop in and see the site anymore since we don’t really write much in it now. I try an update at least once a month but at this time the progress is slow but we are getting there one little muscle twitch at a time. I will let you know when we start the new training program and what gains Pat has made. Maybe one of these days I’ll get Pat to write his thoughts in this blog since it is his. I would also like to let you know that we would love to hear from you, give us a call or stop in and visit us.

Just a quick note to say Happy Holidays to all of our friends. May you all be safe and happy this season. Love Pat and Ang

I would like to take this time to share what I’m thankful for this year. I’m sure many would say what is there to give thanks for since this was such a rough year. Well, I admit this has been the toughest year of my life but I have so much to be thankful for. I am thankful for Pat (the love of my life), my Mom and Dad, my sisters, our families both near and far, our friends (Pete & Audra, Brenda & Fred, Chris, Sean & Kathy, Fitty & Ingrid, Dave & Kellie just to name a few), the mini community, the men and women of Local 51, the hospital staffs, my colleagues in NASU & SV Analysis and everyone who has given us support through this year with all your thoughts and prayers. May you have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday Season!

Pat and I owe a great big THANK YOU to the hospital staff that took care of Pat when this all started back in Feb. I look back over this year and can’t believe how our lives have changed. In the blink of an eye this year has gone by and we have lived a lifetime that I hope no one has to go through. In that time I have never had a chance to thank the hospital staffs at both Rhode Island Hospital and Spaulding Rehab Hospital.
The RI Hosp staff was right there for me from the time I arrived at the emergency room until the day we left to go to rehab. Unfortunately, I can not remember all the names of the people who helped me and make Pat’s stay there as comfortable as possible. You will always have a place in my heart and I’m forever grateful for having meet you. You helped to give me strength and courage when I had very little.
The staff at Spaulding was remarkable. They were so patient and understanding. They gave us guidance and encouragement to face the challenges that lie ahead us. They worked and educated Pat regarding his new lifestyle, they gave him ways to be as independent possible and the strength to carry on. I can not say enough about them, the RN’s, CNA’s, OT’s, PT’s and the Dr’s were among some of the best. Here are some pictures of the Spaulding Staff, there are some people missing that were very important to us.
So once again a great big THANK YOU goes out to you all.
Another big thank you goes to my Mom and Dad! They have been there for us every step of this journey. They have been the rock when I was falling apart and have done so much this past year and through my life. As a small token of appreciation Pat and I got them World Series tickets to game 2 at Fenway Park. The seats were way in the back but they were at the World Series and had a blast.
I also need to thank Bill and Louise for helping get Pat into Spaulding and visiting him everyday when I was working. Having your support meant so much to me and I can’t say enough.
I also have to say Thank you to our friends, your emotional and monetary support has been unbelievable. It has helped to take many worries out of our hands and make many of the modifications needed available to us. For pics see the link for events and fundraisers.
And finally a BIG THANK YOU to EVERYONE for your love and support! We could not have started this difficult journey without it.

Hi Everyone – Just wanted to get a memo posted and thank everyone for coming to the open house. Pat had a great time and was very happy to see everyone. I would like to say Thank you to you all for taking the time to come and visit us and share a day off coming down to our home to see us. It was great to see everyone. I have some pictures to post but I have not been able to get them posted but here are some pictures from our friend Ian’s blog, it starts the day at Inskip for a mini event and ends at our house. Here are my pictures.

Pat and I would like to invite everyone to an open house to celebrate Pat’s coming home. He is happy to be home and except for a few minor adjustments things are moving along very well. So come see for yourself and stop by and visit on the 27th. All we ask is the you bring you own beverage and an appetizer to share and stop by and say hello. If you need directions to our home please leave a comment and I will email the directions to you.