Monday, June 29, 2009

Fundraiser update

I'm sure many of you are anxious to hear about how successful the fundraising event was. I want to reiterate how thankful we are for every bodies support. It is AMAZING. I am thrilled to announce that about $18,000 was raised! We were absolutely blown away. This money will go toward many things, including home modifications, car modifications, certain equipment such as a standing frame (approx. $2,000) and possibly an FES bike (approx. $15,000), and many bills/co-payments not covered by insurance. This event was absolutely a team and community effort. It's truly amazing to see what can be done when people come together to work towards something bigger than themselves. Once again, we cannot thank you all enough.
Monday June 29th, 2009: Back at it...

Well folks, not much has changed in Will's world. Today he rode an ATV with one of the therapeutic rec specialists and they were doing "doughnuts" and Will fell off. I was not there to witness the event, but when I met up with Will this afternoon, I immediately noticed his right arm & elbow was all scraped up and bloody. He was also covered in dirt & sand. You can imagine how thrilled I was to see that. He had a big grin on his face though and said he had a lot of fun. At least he was wearing a helmet. I'm not so sure he should have been riding, considering he just had a good knock to the head 2 months ago. But hey, I'm just the over concerned sister- right? Aside from this piece of news, yesterday, we went to the Braves vs. Red Sox game. Unfortunately the Sox lost, but we had a good time. We are both reasonably stressed about the upcoming discharge on Wednesday. It seems like a lot of last minute scrambling around to gather and order supplies and find out about insurance coverage. I had a 45 min. phone battle today with the insurance company. We are still trying to navigate the appeal process for the flight down to Atlanta. What I want to know is who the heck holds these people accountable!? They claim they have never received any of the documentation that we faxed to them and that we cannot file an appeal over the phone. Every person I talk to gives me a different story, and I have also gotten no where with the case manager. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to speak with a supervisor or manager. It's all a load of BS if you ask me. Look for new pictures tomorrow or Wednesday!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Friday, June 26th, 2009, 9:45 pm: Emotional

I am sitting here in my dining room in NC feeling extremely overwhelmed by a tide of emotion. This afternoon and into this night, Ty and I have been killing ourselves putting the finishing touches on readying our home to go on the market. We cleaned out the garage, Ty is painting the ceilings, I cleaned the bathrooms, and literally have been on my hands & knees scrubbing the hardwoods. All this with the stress of trying to navigate through a very complicated process of securing a loan for the home we found last night. It's been a hard day. There were tears, and I was abrasive toward Ty. I was angry and exhausted. Then I received a phone call from Mom & Dad reporting in about the fundraiser. I was so comforted to hear what a big hit it is and how many people came out to support Will & our family. I know I speak for more than myself when I say how grateful and amazed by what everyone has done for us. Once again, we could have never made it this far without so many wonderful people supporting us. This has been and continues to be one hell of a journey.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Wednesday June 24th, 2009: T-minus 1 week

One week from today Will & I will be settled into the apartments at Shepherd! That means we are "on our own." It will be a good transition to home. In day program, Will will work on very specific goals that he will tailor along with his therapists. After the first week of day program, we will know exactly how long we will be there. The average length of stay for someone with his injury is 2 weeks. I left Atlanta yesterday and drove to NC so I could be home for a few days. Before I left, Will and his PT, Blair, were starting to discuss possible day program goals. One goal will be to become more independent with car transfers and breakdown/assembly of his chair and loading his chair into the car. That is one requirement he must meet so that he can drive again. This morning Will got the official report from his neuropsychologist in regards to the intensive testing he had to undergo. It was all very good news! He is cleared from the neuropsych standpoint for driving! Yay! His brain injury was moderate, but has not effected him that much at all. He is also really starting to show his physical strength. His transfers are improving, and he is out of his cervical collar (neck brace). His other brace will remain in place for probably 2 more weeks. He has demonstrated some awesome skills in PT. I posted a video of himself learning how to fall out of the chair and get back in it. I also have an awesome video of him practicing how to "upright" himself." As you can also see from one of the pictures, his primary nurse, Marcia, is sporting one of the "Will" shirts! Awesome. This weekend, I will drive back to GA with Ty on Saturday, and then the 3 of us are headed to a Sox-Braves game on Sunday! Looking forward to that. I am also working on posting a link to the fundraising website that I am in the process of setting up. More to come!




































Sunday, June 21, 2009

Sunday June 21st, 2009: Coke & Aquarium

Today was quite the outing. We all went to the World of Coca-Cola and then to the Georgia Aquarium. We had a blast at the World of Coke! They have one large tasting room, where you can sample all the different Coke products from around the globe. "Smart Apple" from China was the favorite, and "Beverly" from Italy was the most disgusting. "Bibo" from South Africa was pretty good too. There were over 60 drinks to try. It was awesome. We were all feeling very full after we were through and there was A LOT of belching going on! I have a funny video clip of the boys sampling "Beverly." And of course, we all left with free glass bottles of Coke. Then it was on to the aquarium. Since it was Sunday, everyone and their mom was there. It was kind of a mad house, but I think we did pretty well navigating through the crowds. We got to see a lot of cool fish, sharks, and whales. We even got to see the Beluga whales trying to mate (just like humans do- it was quite entertaining!) On our way back to Shepherd, we drove by the CNN Center, where there was a large Iranian protest going on. It was controlled, but a bit nerve wracking to drive through. Never a dull moment.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Saturday June 20th, 2009: Visit from friends

Will's buddies Brett, Tim, and Eranne flew down from the Cape this morning. All I can say is that my cheeks hurt from all the laughing we did this afternoon! We loaded Will and his chair up in my car (I think it took about 30 minutes to do that before we even left the parking garage) and then we were off to the ESPN Zone for lunch. The top floor of the ESPN Zone is all games and we ended up staying there, taking turns on a lot of the games. I will be uploading videos and pictures this coming week. It was a riot! Will had a good time laughing at his friends (and me) trying to play some of these games. One of the games was a horse race, and you had to sit on the small plastics horses and ride them like a jockey. Hysterical. After the ESPN Zone, we went back to Shepherd where Will cracked open the can of boiled peanuts- disgusting. (Sorry Kelly C.) And then the boys thought it would be fun if they were all in wheelchairs, so Tim and Brett got hold of some of the 350 lb. power chairs that quadriplegics use and they all went tearing around the floor. At one point, someone came to shut the door to Will's room because it was getting a little rowdy. It was a really fun afternoon. Tomorrow, we are hoping to get to the aquarium which is supposed to be very impressive. Will & I were also very amazed to hear all the details of the upcoming fundraiser. It sounds like it is going to be AWESOME! And....we got to see the t-shirts that have been made ....and they are even more AWESOME!! We are ever so grateful of all the support and energy that has been constantly flowing our way. There are a lot of good people in this world.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Friday June 19th, 2009: Few tough days, feeling better

It's been a rough few days down here. I flew back from NC on Wednesday morning and met a group from Shepherd at the airport. As many of you know, Shepherd has a phenomenal therapeutic recreation department, and part of their program is getting patients back into the community. Shepherd partners with Delta airlines and they have a monthly airport outing. Will was unable to attend because he was still fighting his UTI, but I was able to be there to get educated. It was a wonderful experience, and I was so thankful for the opportunity. As you may imagine, airline travel from the perspective of a disabled person can be quite stressful and intimidating. This experience answered a lot of our questions and oriented us to what airline travel will be like.

I returned to Will's side on Wednesday afternoon, and it was quite obvious he was still fighting the infection. To make a LONG story short, he missed a few days of therapy, and spent many hours dealing with bowel issues on top of the infection. He mentally & emotionally had to work through some tough times, and this was the first time I have ever heard him cry. We have had a few good, honest talks with his primary nurse and the charge nurse in regards to revamping his bowel program, and more importantly, in regards to some staff personality & care issues. Even though Shepherd is the #1 place to be, it is not a utopia. I was very glad to hear yesterday that the preliminary results of his blood cultures are negative. He still has had low grade temps and he still has his Foley catheter in, but today has so far been a good day. He is really looking forward to seeing a few of his buddies who are flying tomorrow for the weekend.

I had to move out of the apartments this morning and I will be staying with a family friend who lives about 45 minutes away. We learned this morning that Will got accepted into the day program. He will be discharged from inpatient on July 1st and we will move back into the apartments that day. The day program will start July 2nd. We do not know how long he will be in day program. We do not know yet if his insurance will cover the day program in full. If they do not cover it, the cost is $100 per day. Let's hope they cover it! Once he gets there, they will sit down with him and determine his goals and then we will know how long he will be there.

The fundraiser is coming up on June 26th. Here is the link to another article about Will: http://www.capecodtoday.com

I am happy to report that I booked flights for Will, Ty, and I to fly up to Boston in September. Both Will & I have different friends getting married on 9/12/09. So we will be on the Cape from 9/10 to 9/13. Looking forward to it! Today, I am hoping to get checked off to take Will out in the car!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Tuesday June 16th, 2009: Got the Fever, more cowbell?

Who knows SNL? I am a huge fan of the cowbell skit...sorry...ICU nurses often use humor to deal with stress...

Will is not in a good place. Temp has been up to almost 104, to make a long story short, it is possible he is septic (total body infection). There are cultures of his blood pending to see if he is. His urine grew out E.Coli (really bad bacteria that is found in fecal matter). Emotionally, it was very hard to talk to him this evening, because he was crying the entire time, and really feeling down (both physically and emotionally). We knew there would be hardship along the way, and this is it. I feel like we are back in the ICU- it sucks. Please send him strong thoughts...
Tuesday June 16th, 2009: UTI

It's been a few days...Sunday I drove back up to NC with Ty & his folks. We made excellent time (about 5.5 hours). Unfortunately, while I have been gone, Will has gotten sick with a bad urinary tract infection. He was starting to feel like crap on Sunday, and yesterday he said he felt worse, and then this morning I didn't even talk to him, he just handed the phone to his nurse. He has had fevers, today's fever is 102, he is vomiting, and therefore won himself an IV, another Foley catheter, and an antibiotic. Damn it. This is a very common complication due to the fact he has to catheterize himself every 4 hours. Anytime you put a tube into the body, you run the risk of acquiring an infection. Wash your hands folks! I fly back to GA early tomorrow morning and will continue with the updates. It's been wonderful to be home, and these past 2 days have flown by. We are continuing to go forth with getting ready to put our home on the market, and we are hoping to list it next week.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Saturday June 13th 2009

Will's friend Jacquie came to visit today. She and Will used to date in their "younger" years :) We all went out to Uncle Julio's for lunch- very yummy Mexican. Will thought it was funny when she was pushing him in the wheelchair, and he made me take a picture. After lunch we hung out in the garden and played a game of Scrabble. Ty kicked all of our butts, but Will & I came in strong in second place. As they say down south, Will is fixin' (that's "getting ready" for all you Yankees) to crack into a can of boiled peanuts anytime now. He has been wanting to try boiled peanuts for awhile now, so Joyce (my mom in-law) brought him a can of them- Eww...think I will pass!















Friday, June 12, 2009

Friday June 12th, 2009


As y'all can see, there's been a lot going on down here these past two days. Yesterday, Will & I played basketball with his PT & OT and a few other patients. It was therapeutic for all involved :) We played in the "quad rugby" chairs which are built so you can ram into each other full force...lots of fun :). After basketball, Will played ultimate frisbee which I missed out on. He said he liked frisbee much better than basketball. My husband, Ty, arrived last night which was wonderful, and my in-laws drove down from NC today. Will had a haircut today, courtesy of Ty, with no guard, so he looks pretty bald. You can see the big divot in the back of his head where his helmet must have dug in. There were a lot of laughs as Ty cut his hair :) This evening we all went out to dinner at a yummy Italian cafe...lots o' pasta all around! I will be going home to NC on Sunday for a few days. I am flying back on Wednesday, where I will actually meet Will & a a group from Shepherd at the airport. They offer an airport outing so we can "practice" when it will be time to fly commercially. Shepherd partners with Delta and we will all go through security and we will all practice getting on the plane and will go over how to manage yourself during a flight (as far as weight shifts, bladder care, etc.) Pretty awesome.










Thursday, June 11, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wednesday June 10th, 2009

Will continues to make progress. I was unable to be with him during therapy today because I had to attend an all day family training lecture. This was a bit tedious for me because it was nursing school all over again! It was nice however, to be with other family members who were sharing some of the same feelings and concerns. I still have not gotten to a peer support group yet. They do not meet as often as you would think- only once a month. After class, I was able to meet up with Will and he told me all about his day. He also had an educational class regarding skin care today. He, and his roommate Jeff, went on to tell me how gross the class was because they kept showing pictures of different pressure wounds. I tried to explain to them that I have seen A LOT of wounds. Will did not want to believe that I have cared for patients with pressure wounds that go all the way down to exposed bone. I think it hit home to Will how important it is to do his weight shifts while in the chair. I have to say that he has been religious about doing them, which is awesome. This afternoon he was able to get to the weight room and get checked off to use some the equipment. So now he and I can go to the gym together. He also got to use the FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) bike. He has been obsessing about getting on this bike! Here is an article about it: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11103352/ I can soon get checked off to hook him up to it so he can use it when he has free time. I am looking forward to having my husband come down tomorrow, and also my in-laws who will drive down Friday. I am headed back to NC for a few days with them on Sunday which will be awesome! The last time I was at home was the day Will crashed. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Tuesday June 9th, 2009: Spasms

Today was not the easiest day. Will had an entire morning of neuropsych testing and they were unable to complete all the tests due to time constraints. Last night, Will had a bit of a fall in the bathroom. He has been experiencing very strong muscular spasms and his hamstring was very spastic while he was on the toilet seat, trying to get his pants up. The spasms made him lose his balance. Since the spasms are now possibly compromising his safety, he is going to start on a medication called Baclofen, which is a muscle relaxer/antispastic agent. There are some side effects that we hope don't occur, but for now he needs to at least give it a try.

This evening I was perusing Tabor's alumni website (my high school alma mater), when I was astonished to read about a former alum from the class of 2004 who suffered from a SCI and was also at Shepherd. Some of you may know, that I went to Tabor with Travis Roy. Travis suffered a SCI many years ago while playing hockey for BU. Here are the 2 links to these men's stories.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=2740441

http://www.travisroy.com

Monday, June 8, 2009

Monday June 8th, 2009: Car Transfers & Therapeutic Rec Outing

Will worked on car transfers today. He moaned and groaned his way through it; blaming me because the car was so hot and I didn't put the windows down. If Will didn't moan and groan than I would know something was wrong. Those of you that know Will very well can back me up on the fact that he likes to complain ;) And trust me he finds A LOT to complain about down here. "Oh my ribs" "Oh I have a wedgie" "Oh I'm so thirsty" "Oh I'm so tired" "I'm hot" "I''m cold" The list goes on and on :) This evening we went on a therapeutic rec outing to have dinner. They loaded all of us up, about 6 patients and 3 family members, and hauled us off in their "special van" to go have dinner. I felt like I was going to jail or to the slaughterhouse :) This van is equipped so all they have to do is put the patients on the lift and then wheel them inside and lock their chairs down with all these straps. If you closed your eyes, the clinking sounds of the chains made you think you were in the movie Shawshank Redemption! We did have a good time though, and Will even took the initiative to transfer himself out of the wheelchair so he could sit in the booth! Tomorrow Will has 3 hours of neuropsych testing which I know he is not looking forward to. I hope he will try his best and not give up during the testing so his neuropsychologist can get a fair baseline test. Lots to complain about tomorrow!



Sunday, June 7, 2009


Sunday June 7th, 2009: One month post-accident

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Saturday June 6th, 2009: First push pass

Our folks flew back to MA late this morning, and Will and I did our own thing for a few hours. He only has a morning therapy session on Saturday and Sundays are a "free day." He had Blackberry time, while I went for a run. We hung out later in the afternoon and drank Starbuck's Mocha Frappuccino's. The big event was our first community outing. A bit scary for the both us; but probably more nerve-wracking for Will since I was the "driver" ;) We ventured across Peachtree Road to have dinner at TGI Fridays. Let me tell you- if you have not been to Atlanta you cannot appreciate Peachtree Road. It is very busy, 3 lanes wide for each way, and you only have 23 seconds to cross the street. The sidewalks are not in very good shape and there is variety of terrain yo have to traverse. It's a bit of a challenge. Also, the Shepherd Center is located smack in the middle of a hill. So no matter which way you go- you have to go up and down a large hill. Great location for a place full of wheelchair bound folks ;) Anyways, we made it and enjoyed a night out. There was also some police action in the parking lot which was mildly entertaining. We headed over to Fresh Market after dinner to check out their supply of gummy candy and of course we did not leave there empty handed. Will's craving for sugary, gummy stuff continues. And a final note...he pooped on his own again this afternoon! Woo hoo!!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday June 5th, 2009: Stand up and poop

Big doin's today- Will stood again in the standing frame AND he pooped by himself. My folks and I got to hang out during PT and watch Will use the standing frame again. This time he did better since his PT was there to regulate how fast he stood himself up. He still dropped his blood pressure, but wasn't too symptomatic. This is good. During this time, Blair showed me how to break down his chair to get it into a car and I got to practice putting it back together. I love the quick release wheels! The big event was around lunchtime when I came back to his room he was actually in the bathroom sitting on the commode. His tech came out to tell me that he was pooping all by himself. This is a big deal. Will, however, was not giving himself any credit and kept saying he was "cheating." Explain to me how you "cheat" when you have to take a crap!? He claims he had to use his abs and it was gravity that was helping him. Last time I checked, other people use the same method. He was frustrated though because he could not "finish the job" and the tech refused to do any digital stim on him AKA "bowel program." So all we had to hear about this evening was the "turtle head" that he was dealing with every time he did a weight shift in the chair (and that is every 30 minutes!) ANYWAY....we all had a nice home cooked dinner out in the garden tonight. I got checked off this afternoon by nursing to do his IC's so he can have a "push pass" now. Hopefully that will the first and last time I will have to do that for him. We are planing to go across the street tomorrow night for dinner at TGI Friday's.






Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thursday June 4th, 2009: Medical Conference

Today was Will's medical conference with Dr. Brock Bowman. Dr. Bowman went over a general summary of Will's brain and spinal cord injuries. He also went over a few of Will's x-rays that were taken after his spinal fusion. There was not much information that was news to me; however he did throw a few statistics our way that were a bit of a reality check for Will. There is a 4-5% chance that Will will walk again (and I'm not talking just get up and go like many of us are able to do). Most people do see an improvement in function about 2-3 levels beyond their initial level of injury. Will is T6-T7 with an ASIA B score. (This is all medical jargon and ASIA is a classification score for spinal cord injuries. ASIA scores range from A (the "worst") to E ("normal"). To give you a quick reference point, Will's level of injury starts between his nipple line and belly button. I appreciate the ASIA classification system, but now it's time to move on and focus on what Will can do. Beyond the bowel & bladder function being compromised, so is sexual function. Fertility does become an issue with SCI, and is more of a problem for men vs. women. There is only a 10% that Will's "little swimmers" will be fertile. So that was it in a nutshell. They taped the entire conference and then gave us the tape so we can listen to it again or share it with other folks who would be interested in hearing it. The fun part of the day was our "family dinner" of Mellow Mushroom take out in Will's room. Y'all up North don't know about Mellow Mushroom :) It's damn good pizza! Tomorrow I will get "trained" with nursing to do Will's catheterizations so we can finally get a "push pass" and go "out" this weekend. Will is continuing to do most of his own IC's and is doing fine with them. Tonight his nurse was going to do some bowel program training with him- you can imagine how excited he was about that.
Motorcycle Ride - Fundraising Opportunity

Please see below regarding a ride this weekend. They will donate some money to Will if people will ride this weekend.

"Touched By Angels" - Helping those in need. Motorcycle ride from Mashpee to P-town. June 7th, 11 m-3pm. Registration from 9-10:30 am ($20 per bike), kickstands up at 11 am. Start AND end at Dino's Sports Bar on Rt 151 Mashpee. Party starts at 3 pm at Dino's w/live entertainment, auction, and BBQ. Call 508-888-7977 for more info.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Wednesday June 3rd, 2009:

I have to take the focus off of Will for a few lines here. Today was wonderful for 2 reasons and 3 people. First of all, our folks arrived today. Our parents have given us nothing but unconditional love and support throughout our entire lifetime. Though this is a challenging time for all of us, I know that we would not be where we are today without them. I also want to say that today was extra special for me because today was the day 2 years ago that my husband Ty proposed to me. Ty has always been and continues to be my rock. Next month will be even more special when we celebrate our 1 year anniversary.

So today was a good day :) Will had his wheelchair seating clinic, which is where he got to pick out the type of chair he wants and he got to "customize it." He chose the Tilite Aero Z, and the frame color will be a matte deep blue ice. I encouraged him to choose whatever "upgrades" he liked and he chose some pretty sweet wheels. And I am a loser and forgot to take a picture. The chair takes a few weeks to order and arrive so he will continue to use the loaner chair that he is in. We also were given literature on some other medical equipment he will need, like a toilet seat and a shower chair. I was aggravated to hear that insurance will most likely not cover these items. It's SO frustrating. Even though he gets a certain amount of money per year for durable medical equipment (DME), the insurance company usually denies some stuff. What the heck are people supposed to do!? His PT said it's stupid, but the insurance losers say that everyone should just do a bed bath- yeah right- SO lame. So the toilet seat and shower chair total about $500. Awesome- the next battle will be trying to get them to cover his catheters. This is also a hassle- so I'm told. They expect you to re-use catheters- that is just gross. Speaking of catheters though, Will did his first IC today and he said it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He has yet to start to manage his own bowel program. His bowel program has changed and he no longer uses the Magic Bullet suppository. I know some of you may not want to read this, but it's reality folks. His bowel program now is just digital stimulation- yup- finger up the pooper. Fun times- not so much. Tomorrow is the medical conference.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Fundraiser Info

Will's buddies have been working very hard and done a FABULOUS job putting together a fundraising event for Will. Will's friend, Mike Peltier, is the contact for the event. Below are the confirmed details of the event:

Name: Where there's a "Will" there's a Way

When: June 26th 6pm-11pm

Where: Chatham V.F.W 150 George Ryder Road, West Chatham, MA 02669 (adjacent to the airport)

Events: Live band "Total Strangers" - Pig Roast - T-shirts - Silent auction

Cost: $25 @ the door, $10 for kids 12 and under

All proceeds will go to the National Transplant Assistance Fund & National Catastrophic Injury Program in honor of Will. We are in the process of setting up the account. Donations are tax deductible. The NTAF is a non-profit organization. Visit http://www.transplantfund.org/ for more info about the program.

Also please feel free to contact myself or Mike for more info. emarchibald@yahoo.com or burtonseven61@hotmail.com

Tuesday June 2nd, 2009

Will's neuro-opthamology appointment went well and Dr.Weiner was amazed at how awesome Will is doing considering his accident was a little over 3 weeks ago. He has no loss of peripheral vision, which is awesome (that will help him out when he gets evaluated for driving.) His vision in his left eye is a little off which is due to the brain injury and not the scratched,infected cornea. She said in about 90-95% of people their vision returns to normal; it just may take a few months. After we returned from his eye appointment, his new roommate had arrived. He is 21 years old and his parents said they are still not sure what is wrong with him.He either has Guillain Barre Syndrome (like Will's other roommate) or he has had a spinal cord stroke. He is still on the ventilator and pretty much has complete paralysis. I really felt for his parents because you could just read the amount of distress on their faces. This afternoon I went with Will to PT so I could get some pictures of him "standing up." He did ok for about 6 minutes, but then had an onset of orthostatic hypotension. He got very pale, sweaty, and nauseous and almost passed out. He didn't listen to his PT and had jacked himself up quicker in the machine than he should have. Blair is really great with him, and said, "Live & learn!"















Monday, June 1, 2009

Monday June 1st, 2009

Steady day- Will had an hour of PT, speech, OT,neuropsych, and then an informational research session. I participated in PT this morning so I can get checked off with Will to get a "push pass." We did transfers from the chair to the bed, and then went over safety techniques if/when we have an "Oh shit!" moment (if Will loses his balance and is going to fall or go down during a transfer. I think we both did pretty darn well together. I also spent some time with him during OT becuase his Foley catheter should be out tonight or tomorrow, and then he will start to learn how to do an IC on himself and I also have to get checked off on doing IC's. Darcie went over how to do IC's when Will is out in the community. I will tell you that reality has not totally set in yet with Will- he has admitted this yesterday and today. He is just starting to realize that he will be going home with a wheelchair and having to manage his bladder & bowels in ways that he never had to before. Thursday is the medical conference and that may be a very hard day. The future is very unknown and no one can predict what, and if any function he will get back. Of course we all want to hope he will walk again and regain bladder & bowel function, but only time will tell. This is not something I personally have been dwelling on. For me, I am trying to live in the present and learn about what Will's present needs and rights are. Tomorrow he is getting another roommate- a young guy, 21 years old. So the room will be plenty full with the 3 guys in there. Tomorrow is his neuro-opthamology appointment and then Wednesday our folks arrive. This week will probably fly by.