Wednesday, January 27, 2010

No more Pate

Today, I finished my last day of rehab at Pate. This finishes up a long journey for me, which began back in June, 2009. It feels strange to be “cut loose”, if I may use that saying.

To recap -- at my worst I was unable to walk, talk, sit up straight, or do things like tie my shoe. At this point, I can do all those things, though when I walk and talk it appears that I'm drunk, and it takes me a lot longer to tie my shoe.

I saw the doctor today, and he approved botox injections for my left leg and my left arm to help with the spasticity. If that doesn't work, I will try the baclofen pump. It seems that is where the doctor thinks I will end up, anyway. As the injections are only temporary, they are supposed to last about three months.

I spoke with the therapists today about helping with athletics for the fourth nine weeks, and they seem to think that it would be all right. I would like to do this because I would like to get to know the seventh grade athletes for next year and because I just miss going into the gym in the mornings. This does mean that I will miss out on one period of planning a day, but I hope to have everything under control by that time, anyway.

Teaching continues to go very well, I had enough time away to put together a very good plan for my class and so far it’s been very successful. It is also very nice to be back in my old routine.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

getting back to work and other changes

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. I've been very busy. I started back to work on January 4 on the Monday. that day was a staff development day, the next day the kids came back. So far, it has gone very well. I had plenty of time to make a very good plan to manage my classroom. I also have a classroom assistant that helps with a lot of the legwork and the discipline.

As far as deficits I still deal with -- I still get pretty tired when talking, and I don't move very well around the room. But other than that it is very nice to be back in the old routine. I will say it's a bit frustrating not being able to do things as fast as I used to, but it is nice to be back doing them.

I am dictating this right now, because typing takes way too long. I found a nifty bit of software that allows you to speak and it types for you. I tried the Vista voice-recognition software, and it's not great.

I've been to a few different doctors since I've posted last. The neuro ophthalmologist has cleared me to take the driving evaluation and I no longer have any double vision. I had an MRI back in December, and the neurosurgeon reports that all the blood has cleared up from the surgery. I saw another neurosurgeon about the tremors in my left side and found out that I have many options before surgery to put a Baclofen pump in. Such as, Botox injections, and more medications.

That's it for now, I will check back with everyone later. Thank you for your continued support!