The Day to Day

Scott continues to make great progress at home.  He is now able to walk on his own.  He requires someone by him because he is still unsteady but, when he is up and about, he can walk on his own.  He is talking and conversational however he does remain in a state of confusion and confabulation.  For example, this weekend when I saw him I asked if he'd seen Andy and Andrea recently.  He told me that he'd seen Andy at the studio and then he proceeded to name other band members and people that were there -- Bob, Anthony, Chris -- and told me about what they'd been up to.  So, the details about his bandmates were completely accurate but, he was confused about seeing them recently at the studio and about the details of what they were up to.  Most likely he is remembering past events and confusing things that happened long ago with current details but, it is hard to know for sure.

Scott still has the assistance of 24 hour nursing care.  He also receives weekly visits from a physical therapist and an occupational therapist.  In addition to the visits that are covered by insurance, Jennifer has arranged for a physical therapy student to come work with Scott on other days.  The P.T. student has been amazing and Scott is responding very well to her direction.  She is coming on a volunteer basis right now despite Jen's best efforts to give her something for her time.  Also, Scott has been receiving craniosacral/massage therapy by a wonderful practitioner who at this stage is also volunteering his time.  The support and generosity from everyone, even people who didn't know Scott before the accident, has been truly amazing and is VERY appreciated.

Jennifer has spent a lot of time researching alternative therapies found to be helpful in TBI recovery.  In addition to the ones Scott has already been receiving, Jennifer has found that pure oxygen has been found to greatly stimulate brain activity and recovery.  Scott has an appointment to receive oxygen therapy at a hyperbaric oxygen chamber this afternoon.  This kind of therapy has been found to greatly assist in the progress of some patients who are recovering from TBI.  Hopefully Scott will be one of those patients.

At this stage the biggest challenge is getting Scott up and about.  He is unable to initiate activities on his own (a common outcome of this kind of injury), so it can be a big challenge to get him to moving.  Jen and the therapists continue to work on this with him because it is important for him to be up and moving around so that he continues to gain the ability to mobilize.

Scott had a great visit with good friends from the east coast, Abbie and Dave, a week ago.  This week his father-in-law is coming and also Amy and Kirk.  He seems to really enjoy having visitors to chat with and new faces to see, which gets him thinking and remembering - a great challenge for him at this point in his recovery.

Visitors can also be exhausting so, anyone wanting to visit with Scott should contact Jen first to let her know the days/times you are thinking so that visits can be staggered.