Well it has been a month since the last update. Gayle and I were able to see him finish his last PT and OT yesterday. He has made a lot of progress these pasts months but has to continue his exercises. He will still get checked by his doctors periodically for the next year. When you look at him, he looks like he is doing well. But his walking is still not quite there yet and and his strength is lacking. Jeff should be progressing to a regular cane as soon as I can find one that in not endorsed by AARP.
We now have to figure out what course to take in continuing his PT which will now be out of pocket. We are fortunate that my work will now pick him up on my health insurance due to his being a full time student again and will cover the pre existing condition... His work has been great in extending his coverage to the end of this month.
We can tell he is progressing due to his independence. Gayle is finding that he needs her physical help less and less. So the timing is good as she gets off of her leave of absence and goes back to work in late Sept. Being the mother, she still worries about his falling, setbacks, overall health, etc. as the son, who hit 23, he is craving his independence from a slightly over protective mom. The dad just makes sure he keeps them from strangling each other, physically and emotionally.
The goal was to minimize the affect of the surgery and recovery on his life. The doctors were adamant about him not abandoning his educational and career goals. Well when Jared and I were in Japan for the Yonsei basketball cultural exchange, Gayle and Jordan had the task of figuring out how to get him to school, around school, plot a course to his classes, find out what handicap services were available, figure out areas where he can rest, get his books, get him to orientation, etc. Well it went smoother than they could ever imagine.
He started his masters program in accounting at CSU Fullerton on Monday. We were concerned about him being able to get from class to class each night. He has two classes per night (Mon and Tues) all in the same building. It turns out it is a brand new building that just opened. It includes new ergonomic chairs with high backs and lumbar support so he is able to sit for the 4 hours with no problems. He gets dropped off at 4pm, then picked up at 9:45. The first night Gayle got delayed and a couple of his classmates stayed with him until she got there.
Gayle and Jordan have been driving him out there which has been no problems due to the use of the carpool lane. The challenge will be when Jordan goes back to San Diego and Gayle goes back to work. The doctor has ok 'd him to start driving. Gayle and I are flipping a coin see who takes him out. Hmmm.... forgot to include Jordan. The problem is that it is a long drive without the carpool lane, then 3 hour classes. We are shooting for next semester to get him driving to school.
Jeff did turn 23 on the 20th of August. It was somewhat uneventful as Jared and I were out of the country and they made their way to McCormick and Schmidts. Gayle and I were trying to figure out what we were doing at 23. But it somehow progressed as to how Jeff was born. Other than being on one of the hottest day's of August, remembering hearing Joyce Miyamoto across the hall in labor, the emergency C section due to Jeff being posterior and me falling asleep between contractions. Jeff has been a blessing. Were we ready for parenthood? Pastor Carl Yoshimine kept having to come back to the hospital with name suggestions and the threat from the hospital that we were not being discharged unless we came up with a name. Now that I think about it, Gayle did want to stay a little longer......
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