Saturday, June 11, 2011

Health update, early June

Again greetings, everyone.
Gavin has now entered the stage of long recovery. Although the leg muscles seem strong enough, they are not yet fully obeying commands that travel along the nerve paths. The neurosurgeon tells us this is fairly standard, and that things will very gradually improve ... not quite the American dream of everything coming true at the snap of a finger or at the press of a button on a keyboard. Action figures we ain't.
At this stage "very gradually" means three sessions of physical therapy a week and we hope early next week to get Gavin into the pool at Pipestem State Park to resume the self-directed aquarobics we've been doing for so long. I (Yvonne) have to say that our health would be far lower on the scale than it is if our life had not included very frequent aquarobics.
Meantime we are not traveling, although we hope to go to our local coffee shop on Saturday evening and maybe even to Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (40 minutes away in Beckley) on Sunday morning 06 11 (though that looks less likely right now in light of the persistent heat wave).
The current prognosis is: almost normal in three months, fully normal in about a year--provided Gavin keeps up his commendably determined regime of exercise. The pain is just about under control, but it still takes a bunch of narcotics and electrical stimulation. If you talk to him, you may get some weird answers--but you're used to that anyhow. Thank you all again for all the healing energy you've sent. At times it becomes very palpable in the house.

Onward and upward (sigh). Blessed be all. GY

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