AJ was re-introduced to feeding himself today. With assistance, he can lift his arm high enough to reach his mouth, and with a hand strap that secures the utensil he can move the food in. The movement is rough and it is crazy challenging for him to do, but he's attacking it with focus and humor! After breakfast he pulled up in front of a mirror to brush his teeth. The brushing was also a challenge and ended in an unexpected surprise when he saw himself for the first time from the waist up. It was a shock to him because his body looks "skinny" -- the opposite of what he has been building in the gym this summer. As I started tearing up with him, he quickly made the decision to use humor to heal. Focusing on his shaved beard instead of his physical body he said, "I just didn't realize how much I'd miss my beard!" We all started to laugh and then talk about how he didn't need to worry because his beard would grow back and how he looks great without it. Yep -- he feels the pain, but is pretty determined not to stay down. What a guy!
Dr. Rosenbluth completed the American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASI-A) standardize testing on AJ today. The test determines the level of spinal cord injury and how complete or incomplete the injury is. It runs on a scale from A to E, with A being completely severed (no sensitivity or movement) and E being completely intact (a healthy, uninjured spinal cord). The doctor has ranked AJ as a ASIA B, which means he has sensitivity but no movement below the point of injury. He reminded us that this is an early diagnosis and that there is still swelling and a lot of healing that will happen. He felt encouraged by AJ's ability to recognize the positioning of his toes and sees it as an indication that signals to and from the brain are getting past the point of injury. Time is on our side! (We just have to learn patience.)
When reading that I was really hoping for a C or a D ... can this diagnosis get better? Can it get worse? That is to say, can a B become and A? And, of course, can a B become a C? Which is more likely and how likely is a C or a D and what kind of timeline is generally seen for this kind of improvement? Thanks for the info... this is great to know but makes me sad it's not a higher letter... again, though, great to know and have a scale we can measure things by and know where we are. COME ON C! COME ON D!
ReplyDeleteHe is doing amazing! The feeding will come. I love how positive you all are - that will help him go further than imagined! Hugs to you all!
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