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.