Saturday, December 5, 2009

Powerful Man






It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Powerful Man! That's what David wants to be called. Our last visit to Nashville was short and sweet. No surgeries! We met with Dr. Phibbs and Dr. Neimat and got the thumbs up (as David would describe) on his healing and recovery. Then Dr. Phibbs, using a remote control type of devise, turned David's battery on. They usually look for sparkling lights or tingling in the legs to let them know when they've reached the best setting, but since David had his thumb up and a big grin on his face almost the whole time, it was hard to get a straight answer from him. Therefore, Dr. Phibbs put him on a very low setting to start with. She said that we probably won't notice any difference with this first setting since it is so low. From here on out Dr. Ledoux, David's neuro in Memphis, will change the settings every couple of months. We will only go back to Nashville for annual check-ups unless there is a problem. For this first setting, we won't be doing any fine tuning at home with the remote that we have. We will only be checking to make sure it is on. At the next appointment with Dr. Ledoux, we will be shown how to do minor adjustments.

A Lesson In Patience

Our friends in the DBS for Dystonia group tell use the key word here is PATIENCE. And the second key word is PATIENCE. For most, this is a gradual process and certainly not a quick fix in any shape or form. As you think of them, please keep these wonderful people with Dystonia in your prayers. If you go to youtube and look up dystonia, you will find some heart-wrenching videos of people who suffer much more than David. We met some at the Dystonia Symposium in April. But I feel like I know many of them personally as we have corresponded through the group.

In Summary

We are very thankful that David hasn't been sick at all throughout this whole process!! That's pretty amazing since he has been around family members with occasional colds. I think it has been threefold: LOTS of sleep (10 - 12 hours a night!), isolation from the public for the most part, a very small amount of vitamins. But above all, the Great Physician has been taking care of David. We are truly grateful for our church who has been there for us in many ways. We are also thankful and appreciative to all the friends and family who have prayed for us and inquired regularly about David.

Moving Forward

On Monday, David starts back with half days at school. He is looking forward to seeing his friends! Then, in January he will go back full time. I am not looking forward to getting him up at 5:00 a.m.! Schools starting at 7 should be outlawed! On Monday I will also look into starting David with a physical therapist 3 times a week.
Once again, thank you for following David's journey with us! I will continue updating every once in a while. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11