Target Date: Thursday! (Aug. 29th Update)

Okay, baring no bumps in the road Josh will be coming home to Columbia, SC (a.k.a. mom and dad's house) on Thursday morning August the 31st. Please pray that all the little final details get worked out so we will have everything ready to go come Discharge day!!!!! Thank you for you continued love and prayers.

August 27th Update

Josh Chandler - August 20th - Just chillin' with his new haircut

~~~ Josh and Cari ~~~

Hello to all. I bet you thought that I had forgotten about the updates, but no, I have just been a little busy. I hope that you like the pictures. I know it is easier to see progress when you can sortof see it for yourself. Josh is continuing to do well at rehab. This past week he has been working a lot with his arms and strengthening his legs.

Let's see. In speech therapy Josh has been working on making his speech slow and clear - annunciating his words. If he tries to say too much in one breath or if he is very tired it can be difficult to understand him. Also in speech therapy they have been working with Josh and his memory. Josh's occasionally gets a little confused with his timeline from about two weeks prior to the accident and on. For example he sometimes can't remember what he did the day before in therapy. But, his memory prior to the accident is still very much intact (in fact, he has corrected me on details from the past on several occasions!).

In occupational therapy Josh has really been working on his arms. He is whooping up on the little old people who have had a stroke when he is in his reachout therapy group. This is when they play checkers or stack blocks or something of that sort to help with their motor skills in their weak arm. Lisa has been focusing on working with his right hand; it is still a little tight to the point that he cannot extend his fingers all the way out. He still wears a splint to that hand and he follows a schedule of when it comes on and off. He doesn't really like it and is very happy when it is time to come off. I think he is about due for the splint to be changed this week which means they will make a new one that will extend his fingers out just a little bit more. He still has a fair amount of tremors to that right hand also. This contributes to his difficulty to try and use that right hand a little bit more. The doctor has been increasing his medications to try and alleviate this problem - some days you really notice the tremors and some days you don't. It is just playing a game of trying to figure out the right combination of medications that will help control the tremors.

In physical therapy they have been continuing to work with Josh's legs. They recasted his left ankle again on Wednesday and it is beginning to get back into alignment, but it is also causing Josh a good deal of pain. He doesn't sleep well because he can't seem to get comfortable most of the time. This is just something he is going to have to deal with for the time being. I thought that his ankle looked pretty good this week. Before they recasted the ankle they put Josh on the tilt table and put him up to an almost standing position for thirty minutes. Josh said he felt like his legs were giving out on him (obviously his legs couldn't give out because Ben and Amy were helping to hold his ankle and he was strapped down to the table), but he made it. Josh also worked on standing up and he was able to stand (with Ben's help) for about 5 1/2 minutes. He was also able to go from a lying down position on the mat to sitting on the side of the mat by himself this week. He was a little wobbly but he made it on his own. I can tell a big difference in his strength from last week to this week.

Okay now the big news. We have a TENTATIVE discharge date of this Thursday, August 31st. I stress tentative because they could decide to keep him just a little bit longer due to the fact that he is continuing to make pretty good progress. We should know tomorrow, Monday the 28th, after they (doctor, nurse, PT, OT, ST, & case worker) have their weekly care team meeting and discuss Josh's progress. I will let you all know with a quick update tomorrow on our possible discharge. They have been training mom, dad, and I on how to transfer Josh from the chair to bed, etc. They are just trying to get us prepared for home. I am very excited that home is in the near future, but we are all in agreement that if they decide to keep Josh a little longer it is okay because this is where Josh needs to be right now. If they decide to let us come home, then HOORAY, I think we could make it just fine. Josh really wants to come home this week, but home is all in God's timing.

Oh, I almost forgot. Josh is getting his feeding tube removed on Monday or Tuesday of this week. They watched what he ate for a couple of days (i.e. calorie count) and decided that he is eating enough by mouth and does not need the feeding tube anymore. Josh is very excited to get this out. He told me to tell you all "hey". Josh is in pretty good spirits most of the time, but he does get easily frustrated. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be so dependent on everyone for practically everything you do. He has his good and bad days. Josh had several visitors this week and it really seems to lift his spirits to see familiar faces besides mom, dad and I. It won't be too long until we get back home and Josh can see friends and church family on a more regular basis. My Dixie (yellow lab) is gearing up to see him as well. She will probably lick him to death because I know she misses him! Anyway, that is about it for this week. I look forward to telling you that we are on our way home. Have a wonderful week. We love you all.

Love ya,

Cari

Continued Improvements! (Update: Aug. 19)

Greetings to all. I hope that everyone is having a pretty good August so far. I am sorry that I haven't written in a little over a week, but right now weekly progress seems to be the best when updating.

Josh is doing fine. We got the news on Monday that Josh's stay has been extended until August 31st - that means HOME! Josh was a little bummed about it because he wants to go home now, but it is good news in the fact that he is indeed making progress. They will continue to work with him as long as he is progressing. This August 31st date could also be extended so we will just have to wait and see how it goes.

Josh continues to eat on his own and only occasionally needs to be fed through his tube. His appetite still could use a little work, but I believe it will come in time. He is trying to feed himself, but his right hand tremors a lot so it is difficult for him to do this. They are still trying to adjust his medications to help with the tremors. Some days are better than others. Please pray for the tremors to stop and stiffness to his right hand to get better. In occupational therapy they have been working all week with Josh on feeding himself, brushing his teeth, and washing his face etc. They are trying to get better movement with his arms. They also having him using the arm bike to help with strengthening.

Speech therapy has been working with Josh in math and reading comprehension this week. He does pretty well. He was only off by $1 when he was adding up the money in his head. He also reads a paragraph and answers questions appropriately on what he has read. His speech is still doing pretty well as long as he remembers to slow down. If he gets to trying to say too much in one breath it is difficult to understand him. He still is laughing a good bit though (thanks to dad) and that is always nice to see.

Physical therapy has been working a lot with Josh on his legs. This week his left ankle was recasted on Wednesday. When the cast came off on they felt like his ankle was beginning to give a little. Praise the Lord. It hurt Josh a lot, but if it will get his ankle back into alignment it is just something he is going to have to put up with. They will recheck the ankle again on this Wednesday and hopefully he will only need one more cast until they can begin working on strengthening that ankle. This week Josh almost sat up from off of the mat by himself - he was so close. Also this week, Ben with PT, had Josh stand (with help of course) for 5 minutes. It hurt Josh's legs to do this but it was great to get weight into his legs. This gets the muscles firing so they can get used to this motion. I am hoping by the end of next week that Josh will be able to sit up to an upright position on his own and stand for maybe 10 minutes.

Please also pray for Josh because he is getting a little frustrated with himself at times. He knows what he used to be able to do and a lot of times I think he feels trapped in his body right now. It is only temporary, but at times it is difficult for him to see the end of the road of rehab. Josh has had several visitors over the past couple of days and I know that it helps to cheer him up along with several phone calls from friends. This week Josh also got a haircut from yours truly (my first one ever!). I think it looks very good. I will have to get a picture of it out soon. Dad liked it so much he had me cut his too! Josh will be mad at me if I do not tell you all "hey". I forgot with the last update. Thank you for your continued prayers, love and support. We love you all.

Pictures!!!

- the whole Chandler gang!



- Josh and Cari (sister)



- The sign in the background reads, "Please call me Josh... and yes I'm a Duke fan!" (Very helpful when he was at UNC Chapel Hill!)



- Josh and dad



- Josh and mom...any resemblance???





















- just chillin' ... (hopefully at home in a few weeks!)
















- the vintage smile!

"Leaps and Bounds" (Update: Aug. 12)

Hello to everyone! I hope that you like the picture. It was taken today. There may be a few more pictures at the website http://chandlerupdate.blogspot.com (once Brandon gets a chance to post them of course). Mom, dad, and I are in a couple of them.

Josh has had an incredible week!! This is the week that he has made leaps and bounds. Where to begin? Of course he has been working hard especially in his speech, but in the last few days he has truly excelled.
When I got here on Thursday morning Josh was talking up a storm. It is like it all kicked in one day and there he goes, talking nonstop. He has to take it a little slow because if he goes too fast you cannot understand him for his words run together, but when he goes slow he speaks perfectly and in complete sentences. It is sooooooooo wonderful to be able to communicate with Josh. I know that he likes it too. He even has his sarcastic sense of humor back. I can't begin to tell you how good it is to hear that again. His voice is pretty strong, he just sounds a little horse. Josh has spoken to several of his friends on the phone already which I know has boosted everyone's spirits, including Josh's. By the end of the day though when he gets really tired it becomes a little bit more difficult to understand him.

Because Josh did so well in speech therapy at the beginning of the week Melissa recommended a swallow study. We thought it would be next week some time, but low and behold Thursday morning he had it and passed with flying colors. So much so they moved him directly to regular food. He had a few bites of a cheese burger that night - go figure. Now mind you he has to be sitting straight up, take very small bites and follow it with a little liquid, but he is doing very well. He is a little apprehensive when eating because he hasn't done it in two months and I think he is afraid he is going to choke, but he's getting the hang of it again. It doesn't take much to make him full either. Good thing he has "reserves"!! Once he is consistently eating enough of his daily calories by mouth they will take the feeding tube out. I know Josh will be glad for that even though he has gotten used to it. He even started taking his medicine by mouth today rather than thru his feeding tube.

Physically he is getting stronger too. He is able to hold his balance pretty well and his left arm and left leg are moving around so much more than they were last week. Lisa changed the splint to his right hand today to help extend the fingers a little further. This is what they did for his left hand while we were in Chapel Hill and now those fingers are not contracted at all, so I am hoping that in just a little while his right fingers will be pretty straight. He is still tremoring to the right arm a little bit, but even that is not as bad as it has been. His right leg remains the strongest of all his extremities. He is even able to help push off with this leg a little while they transfer him from the bed to the chair or vice versa. As far as his left leg is concerned - Tuesday they injected medicine to the left foot nerve to deaden it so they could begin to manipulate his ankle back into proper alignment. Josh said "it hurt really bad" and that "it was a very long needle", but he was a trooper and made it. Wednesday they casted it, and today they took the cast off again, reset the ankle into proper alignment and then recasted it until probably next Wednesday (if Josh can tolerate it for that long). It does appear to cause him some discomfort at times from all of the manipulation. Today while the cast was off Josh stood on the tilt board for about 30 minutes. He was hurting the whole time, but he persevered (even though he said he was being a wimp!!).

I know that deep down Josh is glad to finally be able to communicate with everyone, and I know that he is pleased with himself (even though he won't admit it). I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to see his progress. I really couldn't believe how much he had made from Sunday night to Thursday morning. Mom and dad are very excited as well. Josh and dad go back and forth in teasing each other all the time getting mom and I in on the action occasionally. It is funny to hear Josh tell stories of things that happened when you didn't think he was paying attention. For the most part he gets everything correct, it is just at times he gets a little minor detail mixed up. I cannot wait for everyone to see him, you will all be amazed by how much better he is doing now. He still has a long way to go, but there is light at the end of the tunnel - Praise the Lord! I am hopeful that it will only be another couple of weeks here in Charlotte before they discharge Josh to HOME!!!!!

God has been so good to us through these last 9 weeks! We thank you for your continued prayers, love and support. We could not have made it this far without them. We love you all.

Update: Aug. 7th

Hola to all. I hope that you are having a good day. Everything is going well here.

Josh has had a really great weekend and a pretty good Monday. Josh seems so much more alert most of the day as of late. I think he may be adjusting to his therapy schedule. This weekend he took it easy, but he did everything everyone asked of him. He practiced all of the exercises that the therapists gave him to work on, and he is really working hard on his speech. It really hit me Friday night that Josh is very motivated to overcome this injury. Sometimes I will look over at him in the bed and he is moving his arms and legs up and down just to practice the movement they make. I know he is going to be fine, no doubt in my mind now.

One thing that was so wonderful to see was Josh laughing alot this weekend. He even showed his sense of humor a little bit. It is so good for him too because it forces him to take deep breaths and it works out the muscles in his mouth a little bit. Dad was being very silly all weekend long and Josh would just laugh (it mostly sounds like a huff, but his face shows such joy) and sometimes he would roll his eyes. We were teasing dad that we were not really related to him - Josh agreed! (Just kidding dad)

Today at speech therapy, Melissa was blown away by how much Josh was doing. She could tell he had been working on it and was so pleased. She even tried thickening some water and let Josh have a swallow and he did very well with it. He may even get to try a bite of ice cream or pudding tomorrow! I am very hopeful that a swallow study is in the near future to clear him to eat again. Slowly, of course.

Josh is set to get the cast tomorrow to his left ankle. Between 1pm & 2pm they will give him the shot to deaden the nerve and then cast it a little bit later. I pray that it won't be too painful for him, but it is the best thing for him right now. I will let you all know how it all goes. Physical therapy is continuing to help strengthen his legs. They are really working with his right leg so that he can help assist a little when they transfer him from bed to chair and vice versa. Once his left foot is casted they can also work a little more with that leg (if it is still not too painful).

In occupational therapy (OT) they continue to work on his arms (especially the left) so they he can relearn to do the basics. He usually has about an hour in the morning and maybe a 30 minute session in the afternoon of OT. He still wears the splint on his right hand off and on to stretch out his fingers but I have a feeling that it due to be changed soon. Lisa also works with him on sitting and balance. Today Lisa came back for his afternoon therapy session and Josh said "long time, no see!" Mom said Lisa just laughed. We all really like her because she works well with Josh.

The doctor, therapists, case workers, etc. had their weekly meeting today regarding Josh's progress and they had nothing but good things to say. Everyone was so pleased with all that he has accomplished in the past week. When they measure progress they do it on a week by week basis, rather than day by day. I am really praying that he has another good week so there will be more good things to share.

That is about it for today. I am very hopeful that home is in the not-too-distant-future. There is still alot to be done in preparation, but it is getting closer everyday. Thank you all for your continued love and prayers. We love you all.

August 4th Update

Hello to everyone. I pray that you all had a wonderful week. All is going fine here in Charlotte.

Josh had a real good day today. I can see alot of progress since the beginning of the week. Today Josh sat up on the side of the mat by himself for 5 minutes on two seperate occasions. He had a hard time doing it, but he persisted with PT's, mom's, and my encouragement. I could tell that he was very pleased with himself though when he was finished - a sense of real accomplishment. He also was able to do leg kicks pretty good today. Of course he moved his right leg very well against resistance, but today he was picking up his left leg just a little bit - remember, baby steps. His speech therapy was interrupted today with nursing care so we didn't get far, but he was trying to work on his breathing. His speech still has a little ways to go, but Josh is saying words that you can understand occasionally. They are going to add a session of speech therapy tomorrow because of the interrupti on. Josh did very well with occupational therapy today too. He was able to move his left arm a little today - which is more than on Monday, because he didn't move it at all.

We had a long talk with Josh today about therapy, the future, and what he has to do to get better to go home, and I think he is very motivated to do well. I could tell that he really wants to make a full recovery. Deep in my heart I know that he will, it will just take time. I can tell this because Josh keeps an eye on the clock because he is afraid that he is going to miss his therapy. He looks at mom and I when the time comes and says "therapy". Josh even laughed a little bit today - mostly because dad was being stupid - imagine that! It was more like a little huff, but he was laughing. It was really good to see this.

Josh had a few visitors this week and I know that it really lifted his spirits to see them. I know that he is ready to come home - so any familiar faces help. Thankfully we are much closer to home than where we were when we started out. Josh had another roommate for a couple of days who was pretty much in the same shape as Josh, but they were able to move him to another room so Josh again has his own room. It is nice to be able to spread out.

I think Monday they are going to try and cast his left ankle. They do this by first injecting the nerve with medication to numb it then stretch his ankle into proper alignment then cast it. It can be pretty painful so they give him pain medication prior to all of this. I hope that it will correct quickly so he won't have to be casted for too long. We will see how this goes. The schedule for next week is the same - therapy, therapy, and more therapy.

Josh is still being fed through the tube in the stomach and today they started what is called bolus feeds. This is when they give him a certain amount of tube feeding at certain times of the day which will equal the amount of nutrition Josh needs to maintain his body. Mom did her first bolus feeding for Josh today and she did very well. She is also giving Josh the shot that he has to have everyday to keep his blood thin so he won't develop blood clots. Again, mom did really well. She is beginning to learn how to properly take care of Josh's needs until he can do things for himself. We are praying that Josh will be able to help out alot more before mom has to help transfer him from the bed to the chair and vice versa. I did it for the first time today by myself and it was a workout. Josh was very nice and said that I did okay - I am sure he was just trying to make me feel good, but at least he made it safely!

That is about it for today. I will write again later and let you know how the weekend goes. Thank you for your love and prayers. We love you all.

A New Update! (Aug. 3)

Hello all. I hope that you are having a good week. Things are going fine in Charlotte.

Two months ago today Josh's new adventure in life began. God has been so good in bringing Josh this far, but he still has a long way to go. Josh is doing just fine. He is trying to do everything they ask him to do and I can see progress - it is just tiny baby steps (but they are baby steps forward!).

In speech therapy he is working on coordinating his breathing with his tongue movements to help him re learn to speak. He can talk a lot better when he is lying down than when he is sitting up because his diaphragm doesn't have to work so hard when lying down. Who would have thought that you would have to re learn how to do this? Melissa, speech therapist, is also working with Josh on swallowing. Today he was swallowing much better than he has in the past and she was very pleased. She is using a lollipop to help him re learn to swallow properly. I am hopeful that in the next few weeks he will be ready for a swallow study to see if maybe he can start taking something by mouth. He will have to start out very slow, but eventually he will work up to eating regular food agai n. I know that he is looking forward to it.

Occupational therapy is working with Josh on his upper body like holding up his head, moving his neck around, and working out his arms. When the time comes they will help him with coordination so eventually he can brush his own hair, brush his teeth, eat, etc. They also are the ones that have made the splints for him. He got a splint for his right hand today. They have done a very good job (along with the nurses - you know that I have to put a plug in for them!) at keeping his hands and elbows loose so they don't contract to where he has limited motion in his hands and arms. They also work with Josh on his balance. Yesterday he sat on the floor and was able to hold himself up for a minute and a half.

Physical therapy is working with Josh on his strength and working out his legs. Josh is getting stronger day by day. He is staying in his chair most of the day. They stretch him out everyday and they do different exercises that will help to strengthen his whole body. Today they put him on the tilt board again, but they didn't get him as high as the previous time due to the pain it is causing Josh's left ankle. The right ankle is fine, but the left ankle is very tight and has begun to turn inward. This causes Josh alot of pain, especially when they try to move it. (It really looks like it hurts.) They are probably going to have to work to stretch is out to the correct position then cast it for awhile to get it to stay in alignment. You can really tell when Josh is hurting becaus e he cringes his face and almost begins to cry. That is when they have to stop and try again later. He is on pain medicine around the clock but they have to be careful that they don't give him too much so that he is not too drowsy to do his therapy. Josh is picking up his right leg pretty good though. I am glad to see this because for a little while he wasn't moving his legs very much at all.

Everyone is very pleased with the progress Josh has made in the week that he has been here. I am excited to see his progress as well. Josh is doing good and he is trying his best, but he does get very frustrated at times and he gets tired which is to be expected. He told me Sunday that he wanted to go home. I look forward to that day, but I know Josh is where he needs to be right now. Please pray for him to continue to have the strength to do his therapy, for his left ankle to continue to loosen, and for his speech. I think it will be easier for everyone if we could communicate with each other a little better.

Mom and dad are doing fine too. Dad is adjusting to working out of Charlotte. I am going back to work full time beginning next week and will come and stay up here on my days off. Thankfully it is only temporary. Please pray for strength for us as well. It gets very tiring on the body with all the going back and forth. But God is good and we are managing just fine. I am probably going to be doing the updates every 2 or 3 days now because the progress is very slow and it is hard to write if Josh doesn't do alot one day. If anything exciting happens be sure that I will write and let you all know. Please keep us in your prayers. We love you all.

Two Updates: 7/30 - 7/31

Good evening all. I pray that you are all having a good Monday. I am sorry that I didn't get an update out Saturday or Sunday, but I am currently in the process of getting my computer worked on. Hopefully in the next few days I will have it back.

Josh is doing okay. He had a pretty okay weekend. He was alert a good bit of the time especially since he didn't have as much therapy this weekend. Today he returned to 3 hour therapy so he is pretty tired. He is getting a little agitated (and a little frustrated too, I think) again, but this is something to be expected. They are giving him medicines to help out with some of this. This agitation means his brain cells are firing so he is trying to heal. He is doing well in all of his therapy. He is picking his right leg up off of the bed on command pretty well. He is doing better with holding his head up by himself, although he is still weak. He sometimes can move some of the fingers on his left hand which is something more than what he has been doing in the past. For this I am very thankful. Today they put him on tilt board which is something they use to help him try to stand. They strap him to a board that they slowly tilt upward to a standing position. He doesn't do this on his own, it is just to help put weight through his legs to help strengthen them. He is talking a little, but most of the time it is just sounds and you cannot always understand him. Once he coordinates his tongue movements he should be able to speak better. All in all he is making progress, just some days are better than others.

Due to outside circumstances Josh had to have his room changed. This is a good move, trust me. So, his new address is the same with only a change in room numbers.

Josh Chandler
Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation
1100 Blythe Road
Room 114-1
Charlotte, NC 28203

Thank you for you continued prayers. We love you all.