A Way Overdue Update

Wow!  I really haven't posted since April?  Where has the time gone!?

We finished up eight weeks of cognitive rehabilitation therapy with a speech therapist a couple of weeks ago.  Tim is now more independently going through a morning routine without so many reminders from me to eat breakfast, take pills, shower, etc.  Still not perfect but definitely better.  He is also helping out with more chores around the house although some days are still better than others.  Even though the sessions have ended, Tim is still able to participate in a beta version of therapy on the ipad that his speech therapist can check in on and make changes to without having to see us.  I think it has been really good for him.

Unfortunately we are still on the medication rollercoaster with no real change to the pounding on the leg.  The beta blocker didn't make any change and was lowering his heart rate too much to continue with it.  The next med, Risperdal, sent him to the emergency room with a stiff neck so that one was abandoned.  He's now been on Tegratol for two weeks.  We haven't seen any changes in the leg pounding but there have been other positive changes.  He isn't losing his temper as easily which means we won't be having to tiptoe around him all of the time.  And his fidgety behaviors (rocking his body back and forth mainly) are definitely decreasing.  Nice to see something positive!

In an effort to try to figure out how to live with the leg hitting, we made some big changes to the house.  It became important to find a way to give Tim his own space so we completely flip flopped the playroom and living room.  The "new" living room the girls have started calling the DR (daddy's room) and we are going to have a door put on it as well.  It's a space where he can hang out and watch tv and no one will bother him and we will be able to get a much needed break from the constant leg pounding.  So far it seems to be working out well.  The kids are also enjoying their new playroom after I made a trip to Ikea for new furniture to hold toys and things as well as putting down a new cushy carpet.  All in all some good changes.

On my part, things have been going better for me.  I seem to be seeing friends more than I was which is always the best therapy for me!  I also started knitting with a group of friends (and relatives) and never knew that I would love that so much!  We have done really well with sticking to meeting every other week and its so great to have that to look forward to.  We had a multi family cookout at our house this past weekend and it's times like that that give me a feeling of a little normalcy.  Now I just have to make sure things like that keep happening!