A variety of information from 216C

Backing up a couple of days and starting with Thursday. Dana had therapy all day. It was the busiest day yet! The day was started off in a manual chair where he pushed with only the right arm. The left arm has another 5 weeks of healing to do. As you can imagine, pushing up hill, down hill, over curbs etc. is very draining....add lifting weights, stretching, and mental thinking to that and Dana was exhausted. By the afternoon, Dana was back in his power chair to continue with therapy. He spent some more time in the kitchen...this time making brownies.....they were delicious! In speech on Thursday, Dana ran an interview. His interviewee was a little difficult and tossed in some "make you think", type comments, but Dana ran the interview just as professional as ever. (Oh and by the way.....the interviewee was ME)! Late afternoon he met with the sports professional to learn about hand cycling and golf the adaptive way!
The hand surgeon tracked Dana down to follow up on his arm. Everything is healing well. The current cast will come off Friday and a splint will be made.
On to Thank Gosh it is Friday! Dana is able to get his shirt on by himself. He is putting in his own contact lenses, brushing his teeth and shaving. In therapy he did more weights, stretching, flexion and extension of his left arm and massaging of his neck and upper back muscles. In speech therapy Dana filled out a credit card application and answered all the follow up questions correctly! Friday afternoon the left arm splint was made and is alot lighter and less bulky. Friday night Dana and I got a push pass. Dana is able to go anywhere that we can get to without using a car. The places are limited, but we had dinner at Houstons. They use the push passes to allow families to get back into the community and figure situations out together. Dinner was great and Dana even treated! (Using a credit card, figuring out the tip, manuvering through a restaurant and around people in a chair, is all part of therapy). Not to mention...getting used to the ingnorant people that stare. Dana says,"I am getting a sign made up that says....YES..I am in a wheelchair, have you ever seen a wheelchair before???"
The two of us had a very nice meal and it was great to get out together(just us) for the first time since August 12th. This weekend will be a busy one, as we are expecting some friends to visit. Enjoy the weekend!