Update #11: Still in Memorial Hospital
We imagine that most of you know the Christopher Reeve story. He was an actor, best known for his role as Superman, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a horseback riding accident. He survived for many years afterward. He returned to acting, directing, and became renowned worldwide for his work in promoting spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation.
We are currently reading the Paralysis Resource Guide, a book published by the Dana and Christopher Reeve Foundation. The books purpose is to inform and educate about paralysis and its affects, and offer a comprehensive catalog of the available resources. The reason we mention the book is because we were struck by a citation from Dana Reeves at the beginning of the book, because it so accurately describes what we are experiencing… and it is some comfort to know we are not alone and not crazy.
“When someone is first injured, it’s very disorienting.” “It’s doubly difficult because right after a spinal cord injury there are so many medical problems that crop up. Immediately, the body is bombarded with infections… urinary tract infections, pneumonia, skin breakdown. It can look very bleak and overwhelming. And yet, if you can focus on one thing at a time, such as the person needing to get well or being healthy enough to rehabilitate, a great deal of hope can come from that focus. Once you get to that phase, there will be much forward progress.”
We are not there yet. But we are focused on that goal.
Honza’s Medical Condition
Dana Reeve’s comment is all too familiar to us. The latest “complication” is that Honza is suffering from chronic urinary tract infections which cause him extreme discomfort. While, they are relatively common in patients in Honza’s condition, what is uncommon in his case, is how quickly they return after treatment with antibiotics. However, during a “CATSCAN” which is part of his normal routine, doctors discovered that Honza has developed both kidney and bladder stones! Geez, give the kid a break! According to the doctors, the bacteria can “hide out” in the stones. So, they decided to perform a “scope” to remove the stones and flush out his bladder in the hope that will reduce the incidence of urinary tract infections. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Re: his pressure wound: According to the doctors and the head “wound nurse” the pressure sore is very close to healing. The wound is smaller and the deeper layers of dermal and muscle tissue has healed. It just needs to form an epithelial layer to cover the site and prevent any bacteria from re-entering. Once that happens, the next step is for the physical therapists to place Honza in the sitting position while carefully watching the wound site. Other than the bi-hourly shifting of his prone position from one side to the other, it will be his first position change in 10 weeks! The goal is to increase the amount of time he can sit up each day till he can sit in a wheelchair for 2-3 hours at a time. When he can do that, he will be ready to go to rehabilitation in Santa Clara. How fast that happens will depend on his pain tolerance and wound status. We do hope to be close to the end of his Memorial hospital stay.
Honza is also fighting strong muscle spasms in his arms and legs – what the physical therapists call “abnormal muscle tone”. The brain isn’t sending a signal to contract but somehow the spinal cord injury causes a mix-up in the nervous system and the muscle thinks it is getting a message to contract which causes the muscles to tighten an stiffen. It’s another common problem in paralysis that can be triggered by a simple touch and be extremely painful for Honza, which compromises his physical therapy.
Well that’s the latest. Once again, we want to express our thanks and appreciation for all your cards, letters, fund raising efforts, donations, for sharing your own personal stories with us.
Katerina, Vojta, Honza and Stephen
May 24th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Не нравится – не читай!…
We imagine that most of you know the Christopher Reeve story…..
July 20th, 2010 at 11:16 am
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