Counting Down the Days

Yesterday Cole got some very good news after he and Rhonda meet with his doctor, therapists and psychologist. They were told Cole has achieved all the goals they've set for him and is ready to be released from the hospital. Cole will be released from CHLA on Friday and will head home to Apple Valley. Cole will continue his speech and physical therapy on an out-patient basis 2 days a week at either Loma Linda University Hospital or St Mary's Hospital in Apple Valley. In addition to the therapy, Cole will continue his academics at his regular school in Apple Valley on a half day schedule. Cole will have some restrictions on the activities he's allowed to participated in which are obviously meant to protect him from possible re-injury. Cole is counting down the days until he gets to go home.

After receiving the good news, Cole had a unique opportunity to meet and have have photos taken with NFL Quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart who was there visiting all the children on Cole's floor. Leinart is the head of the Matt Leinart Foundation which is committed to granting resources and opportunities to support disadvantaged youth through learning centers, sports activities and granting wishes: to build character development, and help each child maximize academic and personal achievement.


Later in the day, Cole got to go on another "community outing" with one of his therapists. This time Cole got to choose where they went and he decided it was sushi time. Cole located a sushi bar within walking distance on the internet and after planning the route, he, Rhonda and the therapist negotiated the streets of Hollywood and safely arrived at the restaurant. 

Cole with Matt Leinart

Sushi Time

Sushi Time

Cole and Matt Leinart

Home Visit

Cole received a well deserved 12 hour pass from the hospital today and was able to go home for the first time since the crash. Tom and Cole left CHLA this morning around 6:30 and headed to their home in Apple Valley where they were met by the rest of the family (including the dogs) who were very happy to see Cole return home if only for a short time.

During his furlough, Cole spent time watching motorcycle races on TV, visiting with a few friends and relatives but mostly racing his new remote control (RC) car around the new track in the backyard. Cole had some competition as some of the friends that stopped by brought their cars to race too. The afternoon was topped off with hamburgers, hotdogs, BBQ ribs, macaroni salad and ice cream topped with berries for lunch. Cole really enjoyed his home visit which was evident by the perpetual ear to ear smile  and is looking forward to the next home visit.

Cole continues to do remarkably well in all aspects of his recovery. He will resume his therapy and school sessions at CHLA tomorrow. 

What a smile

Visiting with friends

RC racing

More RC racing

Taking a rest from racing

Watching the motorcycles races on TV

RC racing

Visiting with friends

Wii Man is Walking Tall

There was no school yesterday so Cole took time out to play a little golf, tennis and go fishing. Although Cole is not quite ready for the outside links, tennis courts or his favorite fish'n hole, he was more than his opponents could handle on Wii. Cole's backswing, overhead slam and his expert casting were the envy of everyone in physical therapy. As if that weren't enough, he performed all these fantastic feats while balancing himself on the dome side of a BOSU Ball. In case you don't know what a BOSU Ball is, which I didn't, here's Wikipedia's definition:


A BOSU Balance Trainer, or BOSU ball as it is often called, is a fitness training device, invented in 1999 by David Weck,^{[citation needed]}consisting of an inflated rubber hemisphere attached to a rigid platform. It is also referred to as the "blue half-ball", because it looks like astability ball cut in half. The name is an acronym which stands for "BOth Sides Up" a reference to the two ways a BOSU ball can be positioned.^[1] The device is often used for balance training. When the dome side faces up, the BOSU ball provides an unstable surface while the device remains stable. This combination of stable/unstable allows a wide range of users, from the young,^[2] elderly, or injured to the elite level athlete.^[3] With the dome side up, the device can be used for athletic drills and aerobic activities. As the name suggests, the device can also be flipped over so that the platform faces up. In this position, the device is highly unstable and can be used for a wide array of exercises as well.

BOSU Ball

The balancing act would not be Cole's only achievement. After his exhibition of balance on the unstable BOSU Ball, the therapist decided it was time for Cole to lose the walker. It appears it was the right decision because 3 times over the course of the day, Cole, without any physical support, walked from his room to the HBO Cafe. Rhonda said it was amazing how well he did. He seemed quite comfortable as he moseyed through the maze of hospital corridors and into the eatery. Rhonda said he looked quite relaxed as he leisurely strolled through the food isles, casually looking over the fare all the while talking to Steiler on the iPhone. Rhonda said he was a little cocky.

Today is the day the therapists' plan on taking Cole on a field trip or "community outing" as they call it. They'll walk a half block to the Von's Market where he'll shop for a list of items to make brownies. After purchasing the items, they'll return to the hospital where Cole will bake a batch of the hopefully tasty treats. The goal of the interactive trip is for Cole to do as much as he can on his own and to see how he functions in the real world. That includes walking, communicating and all those things they've been working on in therapy for the last couple of weeks. Cole is looking forward to the challenge. 

Wii Sports

Climbing the Walls

Big Smile

Budget Cuts

Like everyone else, it appears that CHLA is suffering from the failing economy and have had to make certain budget cuts in house keeping and landscaping. In order to make up for the cuts, reliable sources say that CHLA has resorted to putting their unsuspecting patients to work washing windows and doing landscaping, all under the guise of therapy. In the last post I reported that Cole's alleged therapy included  window washing which, he was told, would exercise his arms. Today, again under the pretense of therapy, Cole was assigned to the hospital garden where his supposed therapy included pulling weeds, standing for prolonged periods of time watering plants and performing other gardening chores. When contacted for comment, the hospital spokesman said that with impending budget cuts in valet parking, they expect to implement a valet parking therapy program very soon.

Cole's energy and stamina are improving. Today, using his walker, he walked all the way from his room on the 6th floor of the west wing down to the HBO Cafe which is on the 1st floor of the east wing. After having lunch there, he walked all the way back to his room and immediately went into group physical therapy for about an hour. He was a little tired after all that and took a short nap. After the nap, Cole had another therapy session where among other exercises, he climbed stairs and dribbled a basketball with his feet (advancing the ball forward using both feet while walking forward).

Speech therapy went very well today too. The therapist said is was his best day so far. Rhonda adds that Cole is consistently more engaged in conversations and is constantly improving on communicating his thoughts.

The speech, occupational and physical therapists will all take Cole on a little field trip outside the hospital possibly by the end of the week. When that happens we'll be sure to give a full report. Also, in the near future, Tom and Rhonda expect to be allowed to take Cole home for the day.

Walking the stairs

Walking the stairs

Grant at the race with his Cole's the Man t-shirt

Lunch at the HBO

Dribbling with the feet

More dribbling

Busted

Yesterday was Cole's day off from therapy and school so it was a good time for him to visit with some friends and relatives. Garret, Steiler, Krista, Nana, Elizabeth, Sheree and I were all there. Although Grant couldn't be there because he was watching the WORCS off road motorcycle race in Lake Havasu, he and others were definitely there is spirit as they wore their new "Cole's The Man" t-shirts  to show support for Cole at the race.

Since there were so many visitors and only 2 are allowed in Cole's room at a time, Cole met everyone in the HBO cafe where we all had burgers, fries and milk shakes from FATBURGER in Hollywood. Yum yum!!

Cole showed off by walking unassisted about 30 feet to hug Garret, Steiler and Krista when they arrived. Everyone was amazed at how well he did. Later, after wolfing down the grub and conspiring to get all of us past security and up to Cole's room, we all met at he rally point (the quad area outside Cole's room) to continue the visit. It was there that Cole showed of his basketball skills while shooting some hoops with Garret and Steiler. Visiting in the quad area was short lived though. We got busted by nurse for having too many visitors and were remanded back to the lobby for the remainder of the visit.

Tom and Rhonda said Cole did really well this week in therapy and school and is still steadily improving. Therapy and school included walking on the treadmill, riding the tricycle, playing different card games, reading, writing, math and even washing windows. The window washing allows Cole to exercise his hands and arms and also helps the hospital get some spring cleaning done. It's like the "wax on, wax off" theory from the movie Karate Kid.

Probably the biggest improvement this past week is that Cole uses his right hand a lot more and walks a lot better and with more confidence. Rhonda noticed that his right hand is returning as his dominate hand. Although closely supervised, when Cole walked the 30 or so feet in the cafe, he did it totally on his own and with no support which is a huge improvement. Cole's speech is also improving. Although speech is often the last thing to return in brain injuries, Cole steadily improves as he seems to be a little more engaged in conversations and can respond with more than just a yes or no answer.

The thing that's both funny and interesting is that since Cole has some memory loss, he sometimes doesn't remember which foods he likes or dislikes. In those cases, he asks his parents if he likes or dislikes a certain food. Cole is a big time sushi lover so Tom tries to take advantage of the situation by trying to convince Cole that he doesn't like the expensive Japanese dish. Apparently Cole's memory isn't as bad as Tom thought because so far he hasn't convinced Cole that he doesn't like sushi.

Tom and Rhonda and the rest of their family wish to thank everyone for their continued support, thoughts and prayers. They have been a constant source of inspiration, comfort and motivation which has helped them tremendously.

Treadmill

Eating using right hand

HBO Cafe

HBO Cafe

Walking HBO Cafe

HBO Cafe

HBO Cafe

Conspiring to get past security

Remanded to main lobby

Main Lobby

HBO Cafe

Shooting hoops

More hoops

Quad prior to getting busted

Quad

Quad

Hoops

Keep on Pushing

Cole is back to a normal sleep pattern now. He wakes up in the morning, stays awake all day while engaged in therapy sessions and school and then goes to bed at night around 9 or 10. The movement in his right hand and arm is improving. His hand writing is more legible, he's able to throw a ball and has a greater range of motion in his arm. His balance and stability are improving as well. He hardly needs to be supported while walking, standing or when seated on a balancing ball during physical therapy. His short term memory is also improving. Rhonda says Cole sometimes reminds her to return phone calls to people she has talked to. He asks appropriate questions and is able to voice his wants and desires. Everyone is very encouraged by his rapid improvements.

Despite these improvements, Cole does get a little emotional sometimes when he thinks about what his life was like before the crash and can't believe this is all happening to him. Rhonda says the realization of his situation is beginning to set in.  Cole is encouraged to keep on pushing to improve everyday, and improve he does. Cole remains 100% committed and motivated.

Moving Right Along

Just got off the phone with Rhonda. Cole, who is now referred to as "Super Star" by his therapists because he's doing so well, is moving right along as he steadily improves in all aspects of his rehabilitation. He's gaining strength on the right side of his body, staying awake longer, swallowing better (can now drink thin liquids like water), giving 100% in his therapy sessions and is doing awesome in school (he's actually a student in the LA Unified School District while at Children's Hospital). Cole's regular therapists treated him today for the first time since last week (they were on their days off) and thought his progress since then was "remarkable".

In addition to having the stitches in his head removed today, Cole got to pet a dog that was brought into the hospital by some volunteers. He also displayed improved energy and stamina as he rode his tricycle around the hospital. Jan and Cheryl visited Cole today and were amazed at his progress. While in the cafeteria, Rhonda and Cole ran into one Cole's ICU nurses from Loma Linda Hospital. She was also amazed at how well Cole is doing. 

Although Rhonda has a room at the Ronald McDonald facility where she takes long showers and freshens up, she continues to sleep in Cole's room every night. Cole's lets her know when she's gone too long though. Sometimes when she steps out to a local restaurant for a bite to eat, Cole calls her cell phone from his room and lets her know it's time to come back. 

Tom is in Apple Valley this week manning the home front and taking care of matters at the business. He will return to the hospital as soon as he can.