Results & Appts

Today Rassie had his weekly labs at normal.  We should be able to get the results on his WBC* tomorrow.  We probably could have called back late this afternoon but that's ok.  He seems to be doing well on the Gleevec. Still no major side effects. *Knock on Wood*

Today Rassie had another follow up at the rehabilitation clinic with Dr. F.   We asked about the two nerve studies done on Monday afternoon.  Both came back with good results.  His nerves seem to be conducting just fine.  This is good news, it means that none of his nerves have been severed.  It is still looking like the swelling is keeping the nerves compressed and the cause of the loss of feeling to his lower limbs.  The swelling in his back has gone down some but not nearly enough.   They are still working to get an MRI and CT scan of his upper back for the off and on numbness in his left arm and the cramping in his right shoulder.  It shouldn't take so long but it does.  Everything has to be sent through worker's compensation and approved before anything is set up.  We're going to call and check on all the appointments tomorrow though.  

Ok, so back to today's appointment.   I think it went fairly well.  Dr. F checked Rassie over thoroughly as usual.  He did lots of same things physical therapy does just to see how much movement Rassie had. Then he poked and prodded with a needle up and down the legs, back and stomach.  Then he checked reflexes, all were good.  Lastly he took his reflex tool (sorry I don't know what its called) and at the opposite end it comes to a dull point.  Dr. F scraped it on the bottom of Rassie's feet.  When he got to Rassie's left foot, Rassie could feel pain shooting up his foot and into his back.  That was a good sign.  And then for some reason the scraping stimulated some nerves and Rassie's left leg lifted up and the muscles kind of cramped.  And for about a minute Rassie had some controlled movement of his left leg.  This is the leg that has most recently gone numb!  It was so exciting to see and Rassie was super excited and happy.  He laughed and smiled and was just over all tickled about the entire situation.  

Dr. F is very optimistic that Rassie will recover.  "When" is the question though and the answer to that is "indefinitely".  Physical Therapy will no longer be at home.  We're moving back to the hospital to do PT as an outpatient. I think that this is a great idea and there were be lots more people and resources to help him get better and push him to try.  We also threw out the idea of aquatic therapy. Dr. F thinks that is a great idea and is going to recommend it.  Rassie is supposed to follow up with Dr. F again in 4-5 weeks.  We should be hearing back about our new schedule of events as soon as everything is approved through worker's compensation.  Our nurse case manager has been fairly good about getting things taken care of so it shouldn't take too too long hopefully.

That's about it for now

God Bless & Good Night

WBC = White Blood Count