Many of you will remember this post about a guy who became paralyzed in a car accident. Well, I saw him in the hospital the other day. As a medical student, it’s not often that you get to see patients like that again and find out how they are doing, so I was really pleased to see him.
He was in the cafeteria, and his whole family was with him – the wife, the daughter, the in-laws, the cousin who had the broken ankle – everyone. Clearly this guy has a lot of support. He was in a wheelchair, and he had control over his trunk muscles, so he could sit up straight and turn his head from side to side. He also had control over his upper arms with enough strength to push his own wheelchair a little bit. I think he could probably hold his daughter. However, it didn’t look like he had much flexibility or use of his forearms, hands or fingers, and no control of his legs. But clearly he had improved compared to the last time I saw him. The best part was that he was all smiles.
Well, that’s a pretty optimistic thing to hear! Thanks for updating us.