WAKE UP WOO!

It blows my mind how many people have told me that they're reading my blog. But it also blows my mind how few have signed up as followers. There are a ton of people who don't even know anything about Trevor's accident. So here's the deal. If you are following this blog, which I know for a fact there are more than 149 of you, sign up as a follower. Just scroll to the bottom and click "Follow." Piece of cake! Thanks guys...

Hemispatial neglect: "a cognitive disorder defined as a lack of attention for stimuli contra-lateral to the brain lesion" (Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation)

Apraxia: "a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out skilled movements and gestures, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform them" (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Aphasia: "a disorder that impairs the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing" (National Institute of Communication Disorders)

Together, these three disorders pretty much sum up what's wrong with Trevor. The right side of his body is not paralyzed but he can barely move it. He has to do everything with the left side. He knows what he wants to say, write and do, but has trouble saying, writing and doing it. He understands who we are and what we are saying, but has trouble responding. However, I am 100% confident that he is the same person as he used to be. He has the same personality, sense of humor and facial expressions. He's still Trevor.

It's really frustrating for us to see Trevor like this, but can you even imagine how frustrating it must be for him? This has truly made me realize how many little things we take for granted in life.

For instance, going to the bathroom or putting our clothes on. I never think twice about getting up in the middle of the night to go pee; I just get up and do it. But when Trevor has to use the little boys' room, he can't say, "Yo Mom, help me out" or just get up and do it himself. Instead, he will say "No, no, no" and then start shuffling around in his bed and try to sit up. The problem here is that he can't move his right side. So, he has to try to grab that right leg with his left arm and push it off the bed and lift himself up. Then we have to get the wheelchair, wheel it up to his bed at a 45 degree angle, put the brakes on, help stand him up, pivot him, set him in the wheelchair, take the brakes off, wheel him into the bathroom, angle the wheelchair to the toilet, put the brakes on, help stand him up holding the handrail, pivot him, help pull his pants down, help set him down on the toilet, help stand him up, help pull his pants up, pivot him, help set him on the wheelchair, take the brakes off, wheel him back to bed, and so on. Yeah, pain in the arse. I think I would rather just wear a diaper than have to deal with that multiple times a day. Poor T-Woo!

I caught myself complaining about a paper-cut the other day. Being unable to move one finger made everyday tasks more challenging, but Trevor can't move his entire right side. The occupational therapist had us all try to get dressed without using our right arms but it was absolutely impossible. I am so impressed with Trevor's ability to do everyday things, such as eating, writing or scootching up in bed, with just one arm. There are so many things we don't even think about that require two hands. Try cutting a steak with one hand for instance. Yeah, you can't. My brother is a saint!

Now onto the update:

So, Trevor went to a group activity on Saturday. It definitely wasn't your typical 22-year-old Saturday night; he went to a Playdough Pictionary party in the rehab therapy gym. What did we learn from this experience? Well, Trevor even displays aphasia and apraxia while playing with Playdough. The lady before him made a tire out of Playdough for everyone to guess. Trevor was supposed to make something else (I'm not sure what) but tire got stuck in his head, so that's what his brain told him to make instead...

The occupational therapist taught us some ways for Trevor to be more independent and transfer himself from bed to wheelchair with less help from us. But now Trevor thinks that he can do this completely on his own whenever he wants. Yep, it's a little nerve-racking to say the least.

Here's a quick synopsis of how speech therapy went today:

Michelle: Hi Trevor, how are you?
Trevor: It all started with Walker (No clue where this came from?!)

M: Trevor, what did you have for lunch?
T: Nope.
M: You didn't have anything for lunch?
T: Nope.
M: Well, aren't you hungry?
T: Nope.

M: Your mom and sister had gyros for lunch today. Did you have that too?
T: Nope.
M: Ok. Did you have the same or different? Say same or different?
T: Nope.
M: Same or different?
T: Different. (Right)

M: Did you have spaghetti or mac n cheese?
T: Neither. (Wrong)

M: Did you have a turkey sandwich?
T: Nope. [Pointed to yes]
M: Did it have, finish the word, ch?
T: Nope.
M: Did it have lett?
T: Lettuce.
M: Did it have cran?
T: Berries.
M: Did it have may?
T: Campbell's Soup [Looked really confused and then laughed]

Trevor is saying more and more words each day, which is huge. The words he says are generally only triggered by something said beforehand and often don't have anything to do with the context of the conversation. Nevertheless, he is improving, so we are happy!

Trevor did a lot of object identification today, where they ask him what/where certain things are. He has a difficult time with this for the most part. He does really well when he takes a second and slows down to think about what he's doing, but his brain doesn't always let him do that. He pays much closer attention when the therapists combine actions with words. For instance, when the therapist says "give me the ball" instead of "where is the ball?."

It's pretty interesting what Trevor's brain tells him to do sometimes. If we could just crawl in there and see what's going on in that head of his, things would be a lot easier...