In My Absence

Hey guys, Tyler here. First off, I suppose I should apologize for the abrupt end to blog posts. I reached a certain point of recovery in the rehabilitation center and became disenchanted with updates of any kind. Needless to say, I'll try and make for lost time with this post. Since the last update in February I've moved in with my family, regained the ability to walk, and begun to see improvements to my left wrist and radial nerve. On February 19th I took my first steps since the fall. Over the next 10 days I continued to bear weight and build up endurance. I also spent time on a zero-gravity treadmill which was pretty neat. The first few days I walked with a walker and then progressed to a cane of sorts. I continued to use the cane for two or three following weeks.

The other big event was moving home. It was bittersweet to leave the facility, and I still think about the people I met there all the time. At first getting around my house was extremely difficult, but it's gotten a lot easier with time.

Really good news on my left arm and the radial nerve. I met with a specialist a few weeks back who told me the news that my radial nerve has grown about 10 inches since it was injured. That's about twice the regular nerve growth in that allotted time, so I was pretty excited. If I don't have full use of my left hand in a month, we'll probably proceed with a surgery to fix the nerve at the spot it stops recovering at. More on that later.

I'd like to say thanks once again to the Hunt and Richards family and all the people that sang and performed at the charity event a few months back. It's helped our family and myself more than anything. Thanks a million to everyone that donated as well. You're good people and I'm so glad to know you. I'm gonna try to update this blog every once in a while. No promises, but my mom has been encouraging me to do it and I suppose that the story's not over yet. I'll keep you guys updated whenever any major (and possibly minor) victories are achieved. Thanks again for everything. I love you guys:)

-Tyler

Mechanical Hand & More

This week's been a big one. Monday was FHE at the facility. After a lesson we headed over to my bishop's home for his wife's birthday. It was the second day of car transfers and everything went smoothly. 

Tuesday was a huge day. I saw a hand specialist for the first time and he created a custom brace on the spot. The students in the ward dubbed me "Wolver-Walker" since the splint looks like Wolverine's claws and Walker as in Luke Skywalker. The brace has given me a lot more use of my left hand.. I don't believe it'll end up being permanent. Only time will tell. Tuesday night was inter mural soccer with the ward. It really made me realize how much I miss the game. Being back on the field can't come soon enough.

Thursday I had an appointment for my arms and wrist. Everything's looking good and the doctor said any and all weight bearing through the arms is acceptable at this point. 

Friday was an appointment for the hip. The doctor said nothing had moved since last time, so that was great news. He said to stay off it for a while longer. Once I'm cleared for full weight bearing on both legs he advised to be extra careful with the left side. I also had my cast changed once more, this time to sky blue. The cast I have now is the fifth, and it'll be on for two more weeks. It's the final cast I'll wear on the right foot. 

The doctor suggested something completely new to me at this visit. He said that if my next EMG results don't imply improvement, then the next step is tendon transfers. The process would involve cutting working tendons from the arm and placing them where the fingers meet the nerves. I'll know soon if those surgeries are the next step in fixing my left hand.

Later that day I went to my ward's water polo game. They won, even with the team's name being the 'Soft Ducklings.' Afterwards we grabbed frozen yogurt. It was actually my second time having it that day since Jason, my occupational therapist, had taken me earlier that day. Talk about a sweet day.

I spent most of Saturday with my brother Josh. Later I attended the BYU men's volleyball game with Sarah and Crystal, two friends from the ward. BYU smashed Cal Baptist, winning three sets in a row.

Church today was great. We were running a little bit late and the facility didn't bring breakfast early enough to eat, but I survived. I spent the event with family and got out for the 6th time since last Sunday.

Speaking of getting out, I've become mobile enough that on Tuesday we're gonna have a meeting to discuss a release date. It'll be bittersweet to leave since I've made a lot of friends here. On the other hand, I've been here two months, so it's about time. It'll be nice not to wake up at 6 AM every morning to have vitals checked. 

That's it for this week. Thanks a ton for reading.

Super Bowl Sunday

I'm back! It's been a good week. I wanna make this post brief, so I'll dive right into it:

Monday was BINGO and the bi-weekly auction. I won some crackers for $20 and then proceeded to bid a whooping $130 for a box of Oatmeal Cremes. Another resident and I were going pretty hard for those, but I came out on top. I felt my victory was swift and sweet. Needless to say, I have less than 20 Bingo Bucks to my name now. I'm sure I'll earn more so I'm not too worried about it. Monday also consisted of FHE with the ward. We played a game kinda like Catch Phrase, but on an iPhone. Thanks to everyone that came.

Tuesday my cast got wet again. That was kind of a downer, but I get it off on Feb. 5 so I won't have to endure it much longer.

On Thursday I went to Cinemark with my cousins Colby and Missy, my sister Rebecca, and my cousin's boyfriend Anthony. We saw Project Almanac. I loved every minute. I'd highly recommend it and throw out the rating 9/10 stars.

Saturday was the BYU vs. Santa Clara game. I went with a bunch of members from my singles ward, specifically Crystal and Sarah. BYU crushed Santa Clara 78-57. Plus I got a t-shirt and light swords, so that was neat. My brother Josh spent most of the day with me at the facility on Saturday. We took it easy and watched Netflix. It's cool to see him getting to an age where we can finally hang out.

Today (or rather yesterday since this post is a bit late) was perfect. I woke up around 7:30 and went to all three hours of church for the first time in months. Gavin, a member of the 181st ward, picked me up so I could get there on time. The car transfer went well, but my wheelchair wouldn't fit in Gavin's car so we grabbed a smaller one. After church Kyle and I home taught Jonathan and Preston at the facility. The spirit was strong and I'm glad we have the opportunity to teach those guys. Shortly after Aubrey brought cookies that she made with her mom. They're already gone, so you can bet they were money. My friends Jessica and Shaliece stopped by and we watched some Men In Black. It was cut short by the advent of my family's Super Bowl party but we had a good time nonetheless. I chose Patriots to win the game and couldn't be more stunned by the last 30 seconds of this year's game. Words can't describe how great the competition was on this one. 

Aside from all that, I'm still working on the left ring finger. Tuesday's my first appointment with a hand specialist so hopefully I'll be getting a brace in the near future. Thursday the cast on my right foot comes off and I couldn't be more excited. Thanks for all your love and support, and thanks for reading. Until next time. 

Hey Everybody

Hey everybody, Tyler here. From this point on I'll be personally updating the blog. Every Sunday I'll post a weekly update and if I have the motivation I may post on regular weekdays. Here's the week in review:

Monday was FHE with the ward. We played Scum. I started the first half of the game out as scum... Fortunately, I worked my way up to a better position by the end. 

I had a follow-up appointment for my recovering left hand on Tuesday. Dr. Frazier said everything looked great, but his office hadn't received any results regarding the EMG. The radial nerve is the nerve in question and I'm still in the dark. At this point, I assume the nerve's sheath was severed. That means I'll have to wear a permanent brace.

I've been working with my occupational therapist on getting a brace figured out. In the next few weeks I'll be seeing a specialized hand therapist. One of the concerns for my left hand is the ring finger. The tendon is still compromised and the finger itself is still extremely stiff. It should improve with time, but it's difficult to deal with at the moment.

On Thursday I had an appointment with my foot doctor. My right heel has been giving me grief, so they removed the cast and examined the skin. The original surgery scars are still there, but no new sores were to be seen. They put on another cast with more padding in the heel this time. This one will last two weeks and then I should be done with casts.

Friday was legit. My home teachers, Craig and Kurtis, came over and gave a nice lesson. We played Super Smash for a while and my friend Nikkita joined us and made it that much better. Shortly after, two friends from high school showed up. My buddy Nick brought his Xbox One and Dallin provided the pizza. It was the best Friday night I've had in a while.

Church today was pretty routine. We took the tool truck again, but I'm not sure how much longer it'll be necessary. Earlier this week I practiced car transfers. I can get in and out of a car with little or no help now. Kyle and I home taught today. Since it's still difficult to get me out of here, the sisters we were teaching came to the facility. The spirit was strong and my heart was full. It's always nice to share gospel principles. 

On another note, my friends Jessica and Shaliece stopped by today and dropped off a late birthday present. We played the wii and caught up. It was pretty great. My family came over for dinner tonight. We played a game and enjoyed each others' company. I sure love those people.

Thanks for all your continued prayers and support. Good friends and family have made my situation more bearable than it would've been alone. Thanks for all the visits this week, I love you guys.

BYU and EMG

I am Tyler’s scribe again tonight – so although this post bears my name, these are the words from Tyler:

Last Sunday Luke Worthington from the BYU basketball team stopped by say “hello”.  He dropped off a poster with all the player signatures.  It was very generous and is now hanging on my wall.  He also gave me a BYU snapback, I will wear it with pride.

Monday was Family Home Evening with the singles ward.  They came to the facility here.  We played a get to know you game in the dining room.  I will get to have Family Home Evening again with this tomorrow night.  I can’t wait.  I also spent the latter part of the evening watching the College National Championship with my friend Kyle and my Dad.  It was nice to underdogs take the title. 

On Tuesday, I had an EMG test to test if the nerve in my left hand is functioning.  The man administering the test hooked up nodes and shot electricity through my arm many times.  That part wasn’t so bad.  However, after that, he pulled out a wire with a sharp end and proceeded to puncture my skin in 10-15 spots to monitor the nerve activity.  It was really painful.  I was glad when it was over.  I find out the results this Tuesday.  The pain in this hand has been worse since the pins were removed.

On Friday, I went to BINGO again.  I took the first big winner spot and blackout the first round.  The second round I was one number away from getting to be the first winner, but all three spots were claimed while I waiting to no avail. I can’t complain though, because I won some serious BINGO bucks!  This is just one step down from Wendover here!  

I am officially bored enough that I started watching and analyzing the "Lost" series again.  I swore I would never visit this series again.   I am keeping track of all questions to see if the series ever answers them.  I have a feeling I will be disappointed.

First Post from Tyler

This post is coming from the mouth of Tyler tonight. I am just the scribe tonight so that Tyler doesn't have to spell each word out one click at a time. It was fun being with him tonight!

CURRENT (shifted with cracks)

BEFORE (Taken after the initial surgery)

On Tuesday I had an appointment with my hip doctor.  I went in expecting to see little or no change to the placement of my hip.  Unfortunately, it did shift and crack in two spots when I was trying to transfer from my wheelchair to the mat during physical therapy.  This isn't great news, but I am still staying optimistic about the outcome of the situation.  Hopefully this hip will last me at least a few years and if not, I will be looking at a hip replacement in the near future. The doctor said if I had to choose one sport to take up it should be swimming and to avoid running at all costs.

On a more positive note, yesterday I had surgery to have the pins in my left hand removed.  I arrived at 5:45 in the morning, checked in and put on one of their ridiculous gowns.  After that, the doctor came in and marked my hand for surgery and gave a few follow up instructions.  Immediately afterward I was taken in for surgery.  I woke up around 8:15 and went straightaway back to sleep.  Around 9:00 I woke back up and prepared to leave.  They enforce a 30 minute stay after surgery, so we waited it out without any complications and left by 9:45.  It was a four hour ordeal for a 15 minute surgery.  I am really glad to have the pins out though. I hope to see the left hand make progress in the next few weeks. 

After I got back from surgery I was laying in bed and the fire alarms went off.  I was pretty sure it was a drill, but a little worried since I was stuck in bed.  No one came to get me out of bed, so I figured it was just a drill.  Shortly after the cleaning lady came in and said, "I am not sure if it is real or not, but I am going to keep cleaning and get out of here".  Glad to know I am in good hands. ;)

My brother Zach had his birthday on Monday.  My whole family came to celebrate at the nursing home.  My Dad hauled in a cake he had been saving since mid-November.  They didn't have time to eat it since my accident.  We ate ice-cream and listened to music, it was a great time.  Zach was over today to play super-smash-brawl with me for a few hours.  That kid is getting good, he even beat me once and it was a hard earned win. 

 My friend Spencer visited tonight.  We had a good conversation.  It is always good to catch up with friends, so feel free to stop by anytime.  If I am asleep, just wake me up because I sleep all the time.

Thanks again for all the donations we have received so far.  It means the world to me and my family.  Your hands are helping shape my future.  Thanks for everything! 

Love, Tyler

BINGO!

Days are looking very much the same lately.  Our goal right now is to bring diversity TO Tyler in the form of walks, visits, food and games. He absolutely loves when people come to see him, so if you are in the area, don't hesitate to drop in for a few minute!  The missionaries are going to start visiting Tyler.  I believe they will make their first visit this week.

This Wednesday (1/7) Tyler has surgery on his left hand to remove the pins and tomorrow visits the hip surgeon to see if any damage was done last week.  Family and friends fasted yesterday for Tyler's left hand and right foot.  We appreciate all who participated!  Indeed we are grateful for all the miracles and blessings we have seen up to this point.  We also feel that more miracles are in Tyler's future.  We are so grateful for a Heavenly Father that blesses us and watches over us in times of need.  Tyler went to church again yesterday in the tool truck.  THANKS AGAIN RANDY for taking him each week!

Since Tyler arrived at the rehabilitation center,  I have been begging him to play BINGO down the hall.  There is just something endearing about seeing a 21 year old playing BINGO with the elderly.  Finally, today Tyler relented and played.  His Aunt Jette wheeled him down and said he had a lot of fun and even won 14 bingo bucks!