Hi Everyone,
Today marks 3 months since Corey’s concussion post initial injury. We both have been working hard to bounce back. We are happy to report lots of progress and a few BIG announcements!
Since we last checked in, our advocacy has helped to cover therapy through March 2nd.
Corey’s speech and swallowing are back to ‘her’ baseline. She has been working on S, T, Th, and D sounds. We’ve created a custom calendar and journal to assist her strategies regaining daily memory and she is using it (she remembers it exists!).
Corey’s left arm is gaining range of motion and her left hand is opening. She’s un-clenching her fist and using her thumb for a full-handed grasp with larger items. She is also starting to show fine motor control to pick up smaller objects. Because there is still tone restricting her range of motion, we’re considering botox to help.
Walking is also improving. Corey’s legs have not buckled with each step in over a month. In fact, except for an occasional “sinky knee”, she’s increased her strength for balance and standing as well as stamina for long distance walking. She’s up to about 300′.
We found a new music therapist, Carolyn, who is incorporating Corey’s speech homework and cognitive exercises within her singing sessions.
Our spirit is healing, too. Set backs are hard for TBI survivors and their caregivers. For Corey, she was angry again. She’s tired of her recovery taking so long, and now she has to work twice as hard to use/move what she had regained. For me, I have used the last 6 years to work hard to stay positive yet realistic as I focused our perspective towards progress; silently working twice as hard to heal from the depression, anger, and resentment of Corey’s initial injury. Corey’s loss of nearly 70% of the function she regained over the last year leveled me emotionally. I hit a wall that nearly shattered the hope I began to allow myself to embrace. I was thrust back into the crisis mode, the fight for insurance coverage, the physical demands of helping her with my body now 6 years older and already fatigued.
Every day for the last 3 months, I’d open my eyes, curse the start of a new day, force my feet to hit the floor and stand up to get Corey out of bed, dressed and moving again. Internally, I chanted our mantra with each breath. We’re not going to go anywhere if we don’t get out of bed, down the stairs and back out that door to live life.
That leads us to our first BIG announcement…SAVE THE DATE…6:30pm Saturday, April 22nd, Jon Ristaino and his team at Farmcat Media are excited to premiere the 5 year project documenting Corey’s recovery at the Wilmington, DE Riverfront IMAX theater. We will have details for ticket availability by March 1st when we announce our 2nd big announcement…stay tuned…and thank you for continuing to encourage us. Your friendship and love gives us strength to keep chanting our mantra, NEVER GIVE UP and NEVER GIVE IN, xoxo