Day 80, Wednesday Nov. 11

Day 80, Wednesday Nov. 11

Happy Veteran's Day! The Page family wants to thank all of those who have served our country to preserve our freedoms. We are so blessed by their sacrifice every single day! 

Today was overall a good day. Annette came early in the morning as usual and helped Jeff to get ready and have breakfast. He had been awake since 5am, unable to fall back asleep with his mind busy at work. 

Julee came to spend the day with Jeff so Annette could have a day to play and get things done. Annette practiced one transfer in the therapy gym before leaving and did an awesome job! 

She just needs to believe in herself more! 

Jeff used a different power assist wheelchair in therapy today. The batteries weren't fully charged and it caused all sorts of grief. The finicky wheels were very sensitive and it was difficult to control, but Jeff managed it pretty well and with minimal irritation. 

After having such a difficult time with this chair, Jeff's appreciation for the chair he ordered increased greatly. It was an awesome confirmation that he made the right decision! 

The PT Alex and his student raced down the hall today in wheelchairs. Nothing like good old fashioned shenanigans to keep things fun and entertaining!

Then it was back up to the therapy gym where Jeff practiced transfers and turning on his side in bed (the therapy bench) without help. He did really well, though he felt it wasn't as easy as it used to be so they will be focusing on doing it more often in future sessions. 

For the last bit of PT the student worked to stretch out Jeff's legs. This helps loosen things up and keeps him limber. After a while she noticed that Jeff's neck was turning red. He was having another episode of autonomic dysreflexia and his blood pressure went very high. They took his Ted hose off, sat him up, and monitored his blood pressures.

We are so grateful they watch so closely for the signs of this condition. Jeff's symptoms are very mild which makes it a bit more dangerous because he doesn't usually feel any different. It could easily be missed and lead to dangerous complications, but their diligence has kept our dad safe and we are so thankful! 

Back to the room and it was lunch time. Jeff did a great job feeding himself his hamburger. Then he worked on the computer until it was time for OT. By then both he and Julee were yawning! 

In OT Jeff explained to his therapist, Josh, that he wanted a brace to straighten out his fingers. They are very tight (beginning contractures) and difficult to extend. This is why they used the paraffin wax, which does help for a short amount of time to loosen them up. 

They spent the hour and a half molding a brace that will allow his thumb to be in the proper position and also straighten out his fingers. It's actually quite a science and Jeff was very pleased with the end product. He kept saying he was excited to wear it tonight. 

Here Josh is heating the plastic up. 

Trying to mold it just right. It was painful to straighten out Jeff's fingers with them being so tight. 

After therapy Jeff had a very difficult time staying awake even though he didn't want to nap because of how it makes him feel after. He couldn't keep his eyes open and ended up with fire nerves the rest of the evening because of it. He calls this the "nap phenomenon" because there is no explanation for it. It's very frustrating when you can't force your eyes to stay open and don't mean to nap. 

Yesterday the nurses took Jeff's shower chair away because someone else had a greater need. Julee brought Jeff's new shower chair that he will be using at home. It was kind of a blessing in disguise because now he will have practice with his chair before going home with it. 

We are so grateful to the wonderful friends who bought this chair for us! The quality is outstanding, the custom design allowed us to get everything we needed, and we expect it to last a very long time. Thank you a million times over! 

Also, a huge shout out to Aaron from Equinox Medical Supply for your help in finding the exact chair to fit our needs and being so patient and helpful with all of our questions and comparing. You truly made things so much easier for us! 

The social worker came in this afternoon. Jeff heard of a government program called Vocational Rehab that may help with future expenses, work, and other resources, and she was the person to talk to about it. Apparently there is a waiting list of 700+ people trying to get in the program. We still think it's worth looking into and getting him on the list. 

He made a point to say that, "Even with this (he shook his arms above his head to indicate the issues with his body), I have been so blessed in this trial."

He means all of you. All of the help you have given, whether it be your encouragement, time, donations, financial resources, etc. All of you have made this trial into a blessing for our dad and for that our family will be eternally grateful. 

Julee left to go to work and Jeff had dinner on his own tonight. He said the pasta was very good, but messy without any help. He took another little nap and unfortunately still felt yucky when he woke up. 

Annette was able to spend the day with her parents. She took them to lunch for Clifton's birthday and they walked around Gardener Village. They later visited the mall for some shopping. 

Terren came to visit Jeff tonight. It's always special when Jeff's brothers and sisters are able to take time out of their busy schedules to be with him and he enjoys his time with them. 

We have been so blessed with such an amazing extended family! They have done so much to help us through this trial. Their service and talents have made leaps and bounds of progress for our dad to come home. We want to say thank you and we love you all!