Here is the latest post. For an fyi, Pete was moved to a different, closer to home hospitle afew days ago.
when i read "will be completely paralyzed from the nipples down with no fine motor skills in his hands." it hit me pretty hard. I have faith that he will be able to move his hands and maby even move his legs one day.
I am actually sending this update from home! This is the first time I've been home and slept in my own bed in over a week. Although it's nice to spend time with Capone and Katie, it just doesn't feel the same with Pete here poking at me, or hearing the X-box blaring at 7 AM. I find that the things that annoyed me the most before are the things that I miss the most now. It is comforting to know that this is just temporary, but it still doesn't make it any easier.
Pete is doing well, still a little anxious but he's gradually starting to settle in. Yesterday the doctors performed a test on him that they call the ASIA Impairment Exam. Although his injury is physically obvious, the exact nuerological affect it has had on him is not. This test helps classify what neurological problems he has that is currently affecting his movement or sensation/feeling.They perform this test frequently during the rehabiltation process and grade him on what he muscle function and sensation he has. With rehabilitation, his function is likely to improve.
As I said previously in my first post, and to give a little history, Pete suffered a C6 burst fracture which compressed his spinal cord by 80%. This is a pretty severe spinal cord injury, and we were informed at UVA that Pete is and will be completely paralyzed from the nipples down with no fine motor skills in his hands. In fact, just a few days after the accident one of the lovely residents felt it was important to let us know that Pete will not improve and he will basically be completely dependent for the rest of his life. This was devastating to hear, and it took everything I had not to walk over and shove that smug doctor right out his chair...even on our last day at UVA it was hard to fight the urge to punch him whenever I saw him in the halls making his rounds. I was thankful that he wasn't Pete's direct doctor, and honestly feel for any of the families that have the pleasure in dealing with him. My goal is to walk back into UVA a year from now and prove him wrong.
After hearing the results of Pete's ASIA examination, just three weeks after injury, I now have no doubt that we will prove him wrong. It has been determined that Pete DOES have sensation and function of muscles and nerves WELL below his level of injury. He has feeling/sensation in both legs and feet, his back, and his upper extremities. The only area of his body that he does not have any sensation in is his stomach. I dont think I have to tell you, but this is HUGE and a very good sign of what is yet to come. The feeling in his lower body is not as good as his upper body, but it's there and we'll take it! The doctors were very impressed with this. They are good not to give any prognosis based on this test, which frankly, I dont want anyways. I'm tired of doctors telling me what he can't do and I'd rather just see for myself. I am very hopeful for his improvement in the future and so excited to see what rehabilitation brings
