Bunk’s Status

Tuesday morning began when, as Mom was helping Bunk to get dressed, she found a wayward sunflower seed in his bed. She insisted on no seeds in bed! Obviously, the earthquake was a big highlight of the day; Bunk was in the living room in his chair while Mom and Dad were busy around the house. It takes very little to rattle things in our old house, but Bunk, like most native Californians, seemed unfazed by the whole event. Mom said he deals with such things better as time goes on. Remember when the Santa Ana winds would cause near panic? The remainder of the day was spent outside and in the good company of friends. Dave Daly stopped by around 5:00 and watched a ballgame with Bunk; Bunk was thrilled to have a guy along for some sports viewing since he mentioned to Dave that “I’m a little tired of watching ballgames with my Mom - she doesn’t know the stats.” Mom really is such a good sport through it all. Cheri arrived around 6:00 and they enjoyed a nice visit, reminiscing with Bunk about a few fun trips they took to England and Ireland not long before his accident. Bunk loves to reminisce. A bit later, John, Connie and Katie Daly came by for a nice evening visit to show Bunk some photos of their son Conor’s first few weeks at the academy. This week has allowed a string of some good, strong days for Bunk: some decent rest, a good appetite and continued efforts in his many therapies.

Monday, July 28, 2008
Bunk’s usual therapy at St. Jude was scheduled for late afternoon today, prior to which he worked on his almost daily exercises of the power lung and vibrating vest. Mom changed the dressing on his heel wounds, which are looking better and healthier every day. Apparently, one of the goals of the wound care nurse is to get Mom to just leave them alone! She is ever vigilant. Bunk was pleased today that he and Megan arrived at a solution to his enduringaddiction tosunflower seeds. Many of you must know how Bunk was never without an empty cup in his car to use for the shells of his sunflower seeds - I think he would survive on them solely for weeks at a time. His fondness for them suffered as Bunk sustained his spinal cord injury since it’s somewhat tedious to deal with the shells in exchange for such a little prize. Today they found that if they stuck a medium size plastic cup in his shirt pocket, it was nearly the perfect repository for the shells, and his aim was just about perfect. Needless to say, his sunflower seed habit is back in full swing, and happily so. It was a deceptively simple solution that they created to give him even a small bit of independence. After finishing his therapy appointment at St. Jude, he came home with some special loot in the form of a trial / loaner “˜minimum air loss’ mattress topper that is supposed to provide a constant, subtle movement and help with the ever present pressure and airway issues. By the way, since Dad has been incredibly busy with working on Bunk’s apartment, Mom has taken to driving Bunk to and from his various appointments, accompanied by Megan. Try to imagine Bunk’s commentary of Mom’s driving - she is a rather enthusiastic fan of the brakes, which a wheelchair, ventilator, and quadriplegic don’t tolerate well. Mom reported that Bunk was patient and kind in his role as passenger today, which generally points to him feeling well and Mom slowly developing a knack.

A lazy Sunday began early with a 9:00 visit from Vicky, this week’s Eucharistic Minister from St. Norbert’s. The morning progressed as Bunk was helped out of bed and into his wheelchair, made his way to the living room and requested some doughnuts and milk as an accompaniment to the Angel’s day game. Bunk, Mom and Dad nodded off all morning before shaking the sleepiness of and heading out of doors. Bunk decided to join Mom as she worked in the rose garden, so instead of making his way down the ramp all the way to the backyard, he hopped off while still in the front of the house and drove his wheelchair across the front lawn over to Mom’s rose garden. He’s getting mileage out of the warm sunshine as he is making an effort to be outside more and get back some of his former, typical outdoorsy look: a suntan, a few freckles and semi blonde hair. He’s getting there. Later in the afternoon Bunk’s good friend Steve O’Donnell dropped by for a nice visit along with his sons Aidan and Brendan, which Bunk really enjoyed. After they said goodbye, Bunk drove himself up the ramp to the house for dinner, a movie with Mom and Dad and eventually bed.

Thanks to Mom for helping me to get caught up on the updates - I was truly under water. So it seems Friday night was a good night for rest: perhaps it was the miracle taco effect from Mom’s milestone dinner last night. A good night of rest very often translates into a good morning, which was the case this morning. For the first time since his heels were injured from the use of the Flexicisor with running shoes on his feet, Bunk wanted to give it a spin, and, with Crocs on his feet instead of the indicted / guilty running shoes, he did just that upon waking up. Twenty five minutes was a fairly good start after his 1 ½ month break. Next up were his breathing exercises with the “Power Lung”, or glorified kazoo, with which he also did very well. Meagan, Bunk’s weekday nurse, had come today (Saturday) at Mom’s special request for a little extra help with Bunk since there is no help on the weekends. Bunk took advantage of her presence and had her work with him on his breathing exercises for the first time at home while being totally free of the ventilator. Needless to say, this was a very big deal and completely at his direction. He asked Megan to help him with pacing his breathing when off the vent, and then record his results on his goal chart / calendar. With a few short, unspectacular passes under his belt, he asked Megan to remove the abdominal support (Mom’s SkyMall special) which he felt would help him breathe a little easier. It was indeed a bit of a constriction, and once he removed it he managed eleven minutes of solid breathing free of the vent. Clearly, being proud of his efforts and the record keeping that he knew Mom would just love, he called Mom in to have a look for herself at the results. It seems positive all around. Mom was able to enjoy her day further when Mrs. Woodman and Mrs. Debevec stopped by for an afternoon visit and they had some wine and nice conversation on the lower patio near Mom’s rose garden. Later in the evening, Bunk commented that he felt he had a “˜productive day’.
Thanks for checking in! Please keep Bunk, Mom and Dad in your prayers.

I missed Bunk’s total session today with Dr. Xi as I went to lunch with Lennette Schnur-Rubel, a good friend and nurse colleague. It is always good to get out and talk shop even though I am not part of the shop any longer. Bunk had abusy afternoon. After Dr. Xi, he went on his Power Lungand then his computer.
The big news is that I cooked home made tacos. I have not cooked tacos for at least 4 years if not longer. I hadn’t forgotten how. Although knowing my cooking skills you might think so. Red was in heaven. He and Dave Baxter ate to their hearts content. Bunk had us make taco salad and he ate 2 servings. I had forgotten how good home made tacos and home fried taco shells can be. We all rested for a while with our distended abdomens following the grand feast. I try to report on Bunk’s milestones in the updates but this is truly my milestone. I am hoping I will do better at preparing more meals at home but we all know not to hold our breath.
Thank you for checking in on Bunk via the updates and I apologize for the delay. We are still here, counting on your prayers as we pray in gratitude for you.
God Bless. Keep Perry’s Pizza Fundraiser on your calendar for August 9^th (noon-8pm). See the home page for more details!

Dave Baxter joined Bunk for lunch. I made BLTs. It was the second day in a row that I made lunch instead of going out and bringing back. I think the earth was shaking a bit. Bunk has BLs, no tomatoes.
Bunk got onto his MAC with his new head mouse and showed Dave how it works. He stayed on the computer all afternoon about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. He even started working with the Rosetta Stone program that his sister had given him the Christmas before last. He has many items that have been given to him that he is ready to utilize. It never ceases to amaze me how things come together. It takes forever for everything to be in place. I don’t know if it is because we haven’t moved forward efficiently enough or if it because it finally is the right time for Bunk. The list of things to do each day is growing. He continues with the Power Lung and the vibrating vest.
I had a call from Nancy Noonan who had just returned from the 3rd International Neurologic Disorders Symposium in Seattle. Her daughter-in-law was diagnosed with transverse myelitis this past year (please remember her in your prayers) and Nancy is dogged at making contacts and finding out information. She called to share her new knowledge. She will send on more detailed information soon. It is helpful to receive new and breaking news in the world of neuroscience. Thank you, Nancy. Pat Valentine stopped in for a welcome and comfortable visit.

Bunk started out with breakfast instead of lunch today. He was up in his chair at 10:30 AM. If we started an hour earlier each day he would be up at 9:30 AM. I remember when our regular time for getting him up was 1 PM and sometimes later. We have progressed. I toasted English Muffins with peanut butter on some and jelly on others. He ate it all up and went outside to catch a little sun before Dr. Xi came for acupuncture.

Dr. Xi and Stephanie have both been working on positioning Bunk so his shoulders go back to open up his chest and allow for better lung capacity and less strain on his neck. Dr. Xi uses a foam tube (one used in swimming pools) to slip down the center of his back. She then reclines him in his chair and his shoulders drop back over the tube helping to bring his chest forward. Today, we tried an abdominal binder that also includes a bit of a shoulder harness to help hold his shoulders in better position. I had found the binder in the Sky Mall catalogue on my last flight home from San Francisco. The binder supports Bunk’s back and he sits taller and straighter in his chair when he has it on. I had to readjust his chin drive to accommodate his newly attained height. He was sitting at least 1 inch taller in his chair.

We had a good dinner of chicken parmesan tonight.

The wound care specialist came today. He found the heel wounds improving. He wants me to leave the dressings undisturbed longer so the packing material can do its magic. You know mothers. We want to be picking and cleaning everything all the time.Keith always watches the ESPN with Bunk and they get sports pretty well covered in the half hour or so that he is there.

Kevin Daugherty of the Goodwill’s ATEC center brought Bunk a trial “Head Mouse”for Bunk to be able to move the curser around the computer screen. He can use his Apple’sI Listen and I Dictate to give voice commands for clicking. He commented on what “a huge difference” it makes have the ability to move the curser readily and independently. He immediately went onto the web and hit the sports updates. What a surprise.Kevin left about 1:30 PM and we were off to St. Jude’s for his physical therapy. Val continued to work with him on his breathing. Today she started working with him again on GPB (glossopharyngeal brething). He had done some at Casa Colina and continued with Val over a year ago. He was back working on it again. He did go off the ventilator for 15 minutes and practiced breathing in rhythm with Megan giving the cues instead of Val so they could adapt the exercise to the home environment. I drove the van with Megan riding shotgun and Bunk giving directions from the back seat when I hit a bump to fast. Red stayed home to work on getting things structurally ready for the lift installation.

Tom Brand came this morning with Holy Communion. His sons Matthew and Michael were with him. Matthew joined Bunk and I in receiving Communion and a good talk followed mainly about base ball. Tom’s boys know what’s going on. I thought I was getting better but I can’t compare with young boys who have a love of the game. They are hoping to go to Yankee Stadium with their Dad during their trip to the east coast. We’ll look forward to hearing more upon their return.