the movie

spence presented part 1 of his video today at a continuing education program for nurses. it was a great ending to their day. the 2 subjects before him were courses on a lot of things he has gone through. his video put a life to the teachings. in fact one of the instructors used his case to illustrate a bunch of things. of course to protect the innocent she named him joe II who was 62.

at one point the director wanted to cut the video short to keep up with time constraints but was booed off. the video continued. as a pharmacist i have been to alot of these programs and i never been to one where the audience wanted to stay longer. usually it is a race to the door.

we ran into 3-4 nurses who knew spence from the icu at MGH and they were estatic to see him. They could not believe how far along he was in his recovery and how good he looked.

oh yeah, and a standing ovation from 200 health professionals ended it.

june 08,2008. 95 degrees and an indoor graduation. not bad though 479 students and over in 2 hours. the graduation seemed a little subdued, a combination of the heat and the passing of 2 brothers of their classmates. the ceremony started with a moment of silence for sgt. duffy brother of shannon duffy who was killed in iraq last week. mrs fagan read from her late son's diary (and brother of graduating senior james fagan). i hope a couple of reminders or a heads up to this years senior class of how short life can be.

anyway on to spencer robert nuttall. he made it to graduation being wheeled in by his brother with the help of guidance councilor ms. davis. (she is awesome)!! he walked the 10 feet from the ramp to receive his diploma. for the second time in a week he got a standing ovation. got to admit i had tears in my eyes as did many others! i don't think he realizes the inspiration he has become. it was only 3 months ago that he was sleeping in a hospital bed with a tent around it.

the awesome ride to the Prom/Prom Court

Spencer here, temporarily relieving dad of his duties as offical blog poster, lol, to let everybody know how I got to and from the prom on wednesday(see above picture [2nd/bottom one!] provided by ALANA [thank you, i did not take a picture of it, myself]).. As you can see, My friends and I rode in style in the beatiful, and spacious 26 Passenger, Party bus! provided by emerald square, and discovered by go to gal Erin!(Thank you much) :)  also, Special thanks to the driver, Tony, for letting mom and I practice getting in and out of the bus, a few days before the big day! during our journey to/from Indian Pond Country Club[where Prom was held, which  was beautiful I might add!], we got to watch Happy Feet on the two televisions inside, and listen to our favorite songs on various mix CDs. The best though was when Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was played through the bus's speakers and all 26 of us sang along(some sang poorly, myself included), and continued to sing, even though the cd skipped, and stopped halfway through, (right before the best part)! It was a Kodak moment, I wish someone had a video camera, and recorded it, because
as Scott Mosier's character in Clerks would say, "That's beautiful man!"  During the Prom, I was honored, when I became part of Taunton High School's first ever Senior Prom Court! If I recall correctly, I was only a few votes shy of Prom King, since, if my sources are correct, I was runner up to the king!  I got a Prom court sash and everything, which I wore, along with my top hat, the following day, during therapy at Northwoods! (See above [1st picture/top]for a picture of me all decked out with my sash, tophat,  and Prom Date/Amazing Girlfriend Brittany!!!)

prom 2008, a great time for all

spence made it to graduation practice today. they are having it in the field house because the outdoor facility is being redone. the stage and chairs could not be set up yet but he got a general idea of whats going to happen. before that though, is his senior prom on wednesday. limo is set,tux is set, shoes are shined (well not really on the shoes) but he is looking forward to it. we checked out the place on saturday and it is beautiful,going to be a little crowded though. the hostess told us there is 600 people attending. i think i am sneaking in the limo with my golf clubs,the golf course at the country club looks great.

spence saw his surgeon today,the one who put humpty dumpty back together again. he did not get the bone flap picture but was promised it would be emailed to him. he visited his grandfather while at MGH and passed on his lucky beads. his grandfather has his big surgery tomorrow and i think seeing how well and how far spence has come is a big comfort to him.

by the way the THS senior class and faculty ROCKS!! There are many facets to any major medical crisis. from the doctors stand point every thing is internal,whats his heart rate?,whats his cholesterol level etc,etc. then the external,how do we get this leg moving?,how do we get the arm to move,etc,etc. the one they overlook is the emotional, i have no doubt one of the biggest reasons for spencer's strength in his recovery is the support of his friends. at tonights award night the ovation he got was incredible. it showed him the whole senior class and taunton community were behind him. he was touched and no doubt will keep working hard.

when does it end?
spence went to mass general hospital, not for any tests,checkups, or appt.s but as a visitor to see his grandfather who had a stroke on sunday. the stroke was in a different part of the brain and not as severe but a stroke nonetheless. his grandfather went thru the same trauma unit (an omg for me as it brought back memories of 1/26) and is now on the same 12 th floor. not the same unit, with spence you got out of the elevator and went left and with his granddad you go right. when we arrived poppop was having a CT scan so we made our way to the ICU. He got to see the doctor who did the first surgery to bust up the clot,as well as Mr bone flap (DR Chen) they were amazed to see him. of course we had him show off by walking a few steps,they were even more amazed.
something myself and my mom both noticed was how poppop perked up when he saw spence. i guess a new bonding of the strokies. or a "hey spence i know what you've been thru and it sucks"
i just hope or i know spence will pass along his strength to his grandfather in his recovery!!
everyone's prayers and good thoughts has worked for spencer so lets add his grandfather (David A Nuttall Sr.) to them

a busy day for spence. up at 7 to make a trip to chamberlain school. his pen-pal 1st graders had a show to do and they invited him there. it was chamberlains annual spring show and spence enjoyed every single song and dance. it was then home for lunch and the biggie. he went to THS for the first time since the stroke. he didn't attend class as its over for the seniors but it was yearbook pick-up day and senior slide show. he said it was great. there was much support from fellow students and teachers who have missed him.

not to much going on today. just the usual therapy. his occupational therapist was able to get some movement in his wrist today. a matter of isolating muscle groups or something like that. anyway its a good thing

spence went back to MGH today. no not to visit senator Kennedy,although he was in the same exact ICU, but for a CT scan. just a check-up one to make sure everything is progressing well with the bone flap. after that he went to spaulding rehab to visit all of his nurses,docs,and therapists. even though the head honcho was there they should have just shut down the floor. for maybe a 1/2 hour everyone came out for pictures,questions, and conversation with spence. we went for lunch at the spaulding cafeteria, and even the cafeteria lady remembered him and was asking how is mother was. back to the grind tomorrow with PT,OT, SLT.

ok mom and spence were not to diligent with their posts. what's been going on? spence has been working hard at physical,occupational and speech therapy. his determination amazes me. donna tried her own style of occupational therapy by having him paint the outside deck. lets just say his ADD (a side effect of the stroke) won the battle. it was great to see him outside at his own house!
spence has a couple of busy weeks coming up, prom and graduation in 2 weeks!! today he attended the kiwanis luncheon and received one of their scholarships. he had to give a little talk about himself for the scholarship committee , it took him a little bit of time but he got everything out that he wanted. the members were impressed.

Senior year is rapidly ending!

Cap and gown were picked up...The tux was fitted, just got the Sr prom tickets as well! party after graduation  Graduation onJune 8th at the nutt house: 46 Warren St!pt and ot are going great, keep up all the support, he needs to dance at the prom with his girl BB! With the help of Lori and Joanne I am sure he will! 

Arm Progress!

Tuesday was a big day for Spence...he shrugged his left shoulder.......THANK YOU Joanne! Next time you see him ask him a question he does not have the answer to...and maybe you will see the shrug!! Today was also a great day, Spencer went to 1st grade and had a sundae party with his pen pals courtisity of Uncle Mike and Bliss brothers. Needless to say yum for all. They are very special to us, he had a letter every week that he was sick....and we still get great letters. They are such sincere and caring childern Words cannot describe how amazing Mrs. Doherty and her 26 students are.

under new management

Sorry for the lack of posts....there was a mini writers' strike at the nutt house. David passed the tourch on to us,so this and future posts will now be written by Spencer and Mama Nutt! We are in no way the writer David is , we know his posts will be missed. p.s this blog is the brain child of David, who knew he had computer skills?. On our first week home we met the new therapists, Joanne, Lori, and Heather they Rock! Joanne has made it her mission to get the lazy left arm lifting and back to normal, from shocking it , to playing balloon volleyball with Katherine(spelling?) or stimulating it with "the magic wand". *wink**wink* We promise to write better updates in the future, please bare with us, we are still rookies.

I feel like a million bucks right now, being home! and so ready for superspence and bodacious britt's movie weekend extravaganza! lol!i am also ready for real food from mom and a real computer and cable tv!

81 days

spence is back home. the hospital journey may have ended,but his next journey is only beginning. the journey of him getting back on his feet and a full recovery.
the feel of his own bed, home cooking, no medical devices going off has been priceless.
spencer wishes to thank everyone for their prayers,support,good thoughts. Knowing all of you were behind him was a big part of his recovery and will continue to be. YOU GUYS ROCK

a day of recovery for spencer today. he was pretty groggy all day today. its funny the medical people tell you all day and night long to get your rest. then they wake you every 2 hours for something. hopefully he gets a good nights sleep tonight and will be more alert tomorrow

ok that was torture for mom and dad. rule of thumb whenever anyone at the hospital says something is going to take (x) hours,be sure to multiply by at least 2 to get the true time. spencers surgery which was supposed to start at 12:30 got pushed back to 2pm which was ok. at 2pm they took him "on call". we could not be with him at this point but he must have been like an airplane being taxied on the runway, you know waiting to be cleared. after 7 hours of pacing,huffing and puffing,and many delirious thoughts we almost tackled his surgeon as he made his way into the waiting room. the only thing that saved him was that he had a big smile on his face when he entered. we knew that was good and our meeting with him proved it. everything went very well and according to their plans. spence got to see mom,dad,liv carter, and auntie di for a couple of minutes each but was still plenty groggy. i'm sure he'll have a good nights sleep (well maybe not, his nurses already told us they will have to wake him during the night for vital signs and etc) but we will see what tomorrow brings. thank you to all for everything

tomorrow is the big day. i cant say spencer was excited or nervous or anything it was just another day for him. lots of hugs and goodbyes with the spaulding staff though. he did get a good workout during PT practicing going up and down stairs. he and i took a walk in the afternoon to enjoy yesterday's weather,to bad it isn't going to last. by now you all know the drill, prayers and good thoughts for tomorrow's surgery

the PT's are stepping up the therapy. spence has been put thru quite the workouts the past few days. he thought it was for his own good but he recently found out his primary therapist is a Yankee's fan. All of her torture has been pay back for the SOX world series wins.
The Spaulding unit has been showering him with gifts in anticipation of his moving back to MGH for surgery on Friday. Lets see he got a raised toilet seat, a shower chair with back, a shiny new cane, and a new seat for his wheelchair. LOL!!!
The real scoop is he is leaving Spaulding on friday to go to MGH for the surgery to put his bone flap back in. One less thing for spence to obsess about. after his recovery from that and all continues as planned he would be released to home where he would continue his therapy on an outpatient basis. needless to say a big week and weekend for him.
Spence does wish to offer his congratulations to the VFW Post 611 senior hockey league team for their championship win on monday night. Way to go guys!

Bone Flap Update

Spencer had a meeting with Dr. Chen (neurosurgeon) about the CT scan he had last week. Good News!!, the bone flap goes back into his head next Friday, April 11th. He interviewed Dr. Chen for his recovery video. He asked many questions, about his head and the flap, that have been plauging his mind for the past few weeks ( feels like years!). Shot number 100 comes after 8 oclock tonight (yikes!). Spence made a tye dye "lazy lefty" t-shirt with the other "lazy lefties", it's pretty awesome, picture coming soon to a computer screen near you!
*This post brought to you by Spencer's sweet blog hacking skills and Erin's job winning typing abilities!*

big day tomorrow or today whatever thursday becomes. spencer is meeting with the surgeon who took (without permission) his "bone flap" out. it may have been without spencer's permission but his mom and dad said yes and it may have saved his life. the bone flap is the part of the skull that was cut out so his brain could swell in a left to right direction as opposed to front to back. they knew after the 1st surgery the brain would swell, it was a matter of how much. anyway spence has obsessed over that bone flap since he could communicate with us: where is it? is it in a jar? can i see it? the surgeon told him it was in a museum but we always joked that it was on his fireplace mantle. we have been told "unofficially" that when the flap is returned the recovery may speed up a little bit. fingers crossed,prayers,positive thoughts,whatever you've been doing keep it going.

sorry it has been a few days since i posted. i went back to work. Yuck!! But what has spence been up to? lets see, there was the walk of 60 feet he took (the stamina he needs for this is amazing). he had a little movement in his bicep which until this time had been dormant. the triceps seem to work better. no races to report but he did play dodge ball with his GF. spencer passes along that she is awesome. today he and his mother practiced doing transfers using only a quad cane and not the wheelchair. just another thing he needs to do before he can come home. he is getting there though.

I screwed something up yesterday because i posted a message but yet there was nothing there. The floor had their spring fling party yesterday all caught on videotape by donna. they has some thinking events (ie crossword puzzles,word searches) for prizes. they had an egg hunt. that was kind of cruel getting them going on a sugar high just before visiting hours began. Somehow i see it as pay back for all those years of sugar highs from our egg hunts. The culmination was the hallway 4 x 4 relay. does not sound exciting but when you see the effort it is priceless. all the kids using walkers,quad canes,wheelchairs,or those who could walk but had no balance, doing what they had to do to go forward. BTW (that's "by the way " for anyone over 25 trying to figure out computer lingo) Spencer Rocked. He kicked butt against his former roommate and i am told did a little trash talking to boot. GO SPENCE

Spence made it to the ICU of MGH. He saw a few of the people who were part of his first treatment. He told me it was weird because they all knew him but he did not remember any of them. That is no big suprise considering his condition at the time. Spence was able to talk to the surgeon who did the original clot busting surgery. Spence told him thanks for saving my life. He talked to a nurse who took care of him those first few days and she reminded him of his flipping me the bird. Spence now knows i have proof. I think it is hard for Spence to fully comprehend the journey he has been thru. he does know with all the help from his friends and family the outcome will be positive

Spence had his CT scan although as I said before we wont have the results until next week. No stairs today but extra work on that lazy left arm. He needs some help but there is a little movement in the shoulder and elbow. actually he did a couple of exercises today that his therapist was very pleased with. tomorrow he plans to go to the MGH ICU where he spent his first 2 weeks. He is bringing his video camera to tape the scene of the start of his recovery.
Go SPENCE and Go SOX

today is day 60 that spence has been in the hospital. the improvement from day 1 to day 60 has been phenomenal. on monday he tried going up and down stairs for the first time. the going up part was extremely hard but the coming down part was a little easier. just the first day of this so i am sure it will get a little easier as he goes along. in his OT spence did some exercises with his left arm and had a little more movement in his elbow and shoulder than usual. this is an encouraging thing for him. tomorrow he is off for a CT scan which will hopefully show the swelling has gone down enough that they put his bone flap back. Unfortunately we won't know the results until a week later. Keep positive that he gets good news and i will let you know whenever we hear anything

Sorry Ted,those gals just make it over the legal limit or minimum. Actually this photo is from the Jaime Lee Curtis AARP bare your breasts photo shoot. This is only their first glass of wine,but what happens after the next couple? We will just say what happens in N. Carolina stays in N. Carolina!!!

Anyway yes Spencer made it to Harvard Square for Easter bunch. It was awesome. He had been talking about eating bacon for about a month and got the OK from the therapist to do so. I was surprised because he was never a big bacon eater,but i guess the one place he loved it was Henrietta's table where we always had Easter dinner. Its a good thing he is taking Zocor (a cholesterol lowering med.). He ate the bacon off his plate,his mother's and mine also. Spence did mix in some strawberries and an eclair too. At one point he was waiting for his Sprite and i asked him jokingly if he wanted a sip of my Amstel Light. His response was "No thanks Dad, I am in Rehab" As always keeping us on our toes.
Thank you to all for everything and keep up the good work!

the red hair has reached the south!

Spencer's fans at Saint James in NorthCarolina joined the red hair team! this week! A shout out from Spence to all of them! you guys rock! we love and miss you all!

Bolting the Joint part 2. Spence made it outside for the 2nd time today. This time he had to work at it though. There was no bus to take him, he got to ride in style!, hehad to get into his mother' s van. It was a trial run for his outing on Easter. Getting in the van took some thought as how to transfer him from wheelchair to van seat but with his improved strength and a little help it was not a big obstacle. Once he/we passed that test we took a mini excursion around boston. we went to WGBH to see his grandfather (he has a great story to tell) while the show "THE WORLD" was on the air. from there we took a tour thru the allston section of boston where his mother and I used to live. Funny i saw a place i used to work at, it was an OSCO drug then but is now a Rite-Aid. We travelled Comm. Ave to BU land where we saw the JONAS BROS bus. They must have been playing at the Agganis Arena or Paradise. Of course we found another TACO BELL and had to get a #6 with cherry pepsi before heading back to the hospital. the fresh air is always amazing no matter how windy it was!

Spence had a bunch of cool things happen today. he was able to move his knee a couple of different ways. the first was when he walked during PT. he usually does a "hip swing" where he takes a step with his good right leg and then would swing his hip so the bad left leg would catch up. the therapists would help extend and plant the left leg to a steady position so he could start the process again for the next step. today he was able to do a knee swing where the process is the same but he did the swing further down the leg. the next thing he did was kick me with his left leg while lying down. this was pretty cool to see the movement,although put that on my list of things he is getting away with now but will be paying for in the future. spence also could provide resistance when you pushed on his lower left leg. he also had movement in his left thumb today, not a whole lot but something. OMG he wants to wake that left arm and hand so bad!!
Day by Day, Little by Little he is getting there.

ok something changed when i wrote that last post. the first picture is Maria,the second is Missy and the third is Renee

The people you meet during a long journey. The first picture is of Missy a nurse from his days at ICU. He did not remember her at first but after hearing her voice awhile something clicked in. She was with him those first few days when he was sedated most of the time. Spence videotaped an interview with her,asking a million questions i'm sure. Just the start of his movie.

The second picture is with Maria a nurse from Spaulding Rehab who has taken care of Spence alot and as you can see takes care of Carter from time to time.

The third picture is with Renee his primary nurse at Spaulding. She looks out for all the Nuttall's wellbeing. If we need anything done she is the one to go to. And believe me,it gets DONE!

This is just 3 of the many wonderful people we have met along our journey of the last 53 days.

no green beer for spence today, it just wasn't on his list of choices. O'well,he did have tacos again today made for him personally by the O'McFriends mother who made him his first one. It was delicious he told me. He tried to get the holiday off by telling everyone his name was really Sean McNuttall but they weren't buying it. I think they doubled his PT (physical torture).

not a whole lot going on this weekend. on friday spence tried walking with no cane but 2 therapists guiding him with his right hand behind his back. I'm told this is all about getting a sense of balance. On saturday optimus prime and flavor flav visited one left his mask and the other some bling. now that would be some reality TV: Optimus vs Flavor Flav vs the Poison dude in a Rock of Lovefest. Winner battles Spence with his new sword. Back to real reality, on sunday he had a feast of his mom's cooking. as always the smile was priceless! almost as priceless was his mom trying to heat up everything in a 2 x 2 kitchen while all the other parents came in to heat up their dinners. just another thing we will laughing about in a few months.

He Made IT!! Real clothes,outside for fresh air.the "short bus". this smile lasted for the whole 2 hours out. What we all take for granted!! Spencer had a new doctor today interview him about his trip out, i think his name was Dr. Phil.

Dr Phil: How many days have you been in the hospital?

Spence: "way to many" (48 actually)

Dr Phil: How does it feel to wear real clothes?

Spence: "pretty awesome"

Dr Phil: What was it like when you got the that first breath of fresh air after 48 days in the hospital?

Spence: It was amazing, the best air yet!!

Dr Phil: you mean to tell me that todays air was better than the first breath you took at birth.

Spence: Well DUH!! I dont remember my birth

Dr Phil: good point!

Dr Phil: What was it like to be out and having to get around in a wheelchair?

Spence: It was pretty cool to be independent but I never realized how many turns and corners there are in the stores of a mall

Dr Phil: What was your favorite part of the day?

Spence: finding a sword at KB toys to battle the nurses and greg back at the hospital, and getting a soft taco at TACO BELL.

Dr Phil: let me get this straight you go to the mall and are satified with basically a happy meal? you know a toy and fast food.

Spencer's Dad (from the audience) : Why cant it be this easy with his sister!!

Spence: Not quite, someone promised me a CRUNCH RAP SUPREME from TACO BELL and I am looking forward to that day.

Dr Phil: any last thoughts for your adoring public

Spence: Yes 2 things. 1. thank you for reading and come back soon. 2. i have know idea what uncle teds last latin message says, but i do know blogum is not a latin word.

Spencer today played a series of games with all the kids on the floor. Not sure who won or lost but Spence got Voted off the Floor and a Get Out of Jail Free Card. What does this mean?? As long as everything goes well (weather,medically etc.) he will go outside tomorrow for the first time in 48 days. The plan is for him to go to the mall in Cambridge. He heard there is a Apple computer store in the mall so he may jump right out of that wheelchair.
A couple of firsts today. Spence was able to move his elbow and 2 fingers today. He did this during therapy. The therapist must know how to relax certain muscles and stimulate others to get this movement.
Slowly we are getting there! Keep up the good work to everyone!

spencer today got a new wheelchair,one that he can maneuver himself. not very well but he can get around. he had his usual therapy and his first actual tutoring session. it was in latin,something he learned last year but he was pleased he remembered it. to go with his AFO he now has a UFO (universal foot orthotic). this is a brace he uses when lying down to keep the muscle tone in the ankle and foot. to everyone keep everything going we are getting there.

An interesting day today, donna and i,and spence had a meeting with all of his therapists today. they each had their turn to tell us of spencer's progress and their hope for his future progress. i think every one started with "i have never seen anyone with so many visitors and friends". some of the therapists and nurses see all the pictures,some visit the blog,some are there to see everyone. that being said,you guys are awesome and a big part of his recovery.
we saw some movement in spencers leg today, it was side to side and not one foot in front of the other but we will take it. he walked a bunch today.
during the meeting we found out the docs have a new theory on why the clot travelled to his carotid artery. something about a vein and artery connecting in the lung. this is not normal as veins and arteries are seperate from each other. i guess it explains the travel part but not why an 18yr old kid has a clot that size.
during the meeting spencer learned of a guesstimate of his release date. this is if he has no setbacks, he continues to progress at his current rate,and the docs are happy with the medical part. i want to tell you when it is but you will have to ask him.

not a lot going on therapy wise this weekend. he had occupational therapy on both days to try to get him to start doing things as if he was home. he used a bench in the shower as opposed to the shower wheelchair. he tried dressing himself etc,etc.
today i got to see the wave twice and did not even realize it was happening until spence told me. his left hand (the one with no movement,or "lazy hand) just raises up and waves hi. i forgot to ask the doc but this has to be a good thing. he says it justs happens but i say there has to be some kind of impulse being sent from the brain.
i have noticed and the occupational therapist also, how spencer's speech is improving and his stamina also. he stays up much longer before tiring. Oh and he has been able to read the computer so keep the posts coming.
we will see what tomorrow brings.

Today Spencer did his usual walking plus he tried kneeling for the first time. They had him do this using a ball to balance to himself. The therapists really gave him a good workout because he was exhausted. I know that they see how much he wants to get better,so they push him to the max.
Although he hasn't started with her yet, his tutor came in today to talk to him. From what i am told i am not sure which one would be the tutor and which one would be the student. As i said before, previously she was a Latin teacher and was looking forward to tutoring this with Spence. I guess she saw the material they are covering in AP Latin and now is not so sure. His AP calc. and programming she said forget about it. (Mrs Chaves and Mrs DeSousa you may be earning frequent traveler miles to Boston....lol).
thank you to all

here they are: the 3 siblings,amigo's,muskateers however you want to put it. its not a stretch to tell they are all related.

spence got his own room today,they moved him on up (as the jefferson's would say-sorry bad 80's reference) to his own room. probably just a coincidence but the room he moved to, the girl was discharged on monday, i saw it as ,he is just a little closer to being out that door.

today he did more walking with his new orthotic (he loves that word). he played a game in group therapy today called "apples to apples" . i had seen the box but never played the game before.

seems like a simple game but as spence explained it to me i could see where the various thought processes came into play. they thought they were playing a game but i see how the therapists were actually testing them.

today one of spencer's best friends made his day. she had made a video for him of all you guys (and she is sorry she missed a lot of you) from THS wishing him well. i know myself and mrs Nutt had a tear in our eyes while watching and spencer loved every minute of it.

so thank you to everyone,again good thoughts and prayers

Spencer got his AFO today (ankle-foot-orthotic) this is a brace for his left or "lazy" leg as he calls it. he was hoping for a UFO (his words) but had to settle. this brace gives him some support in his left leg to make it easier to walk. he did walk 15 steps today.
his sense of humor increases every day too. today i arrived to find a ransom note telling me to pay up or i would not know where to find his wife or eldest son. luckily i was able to cajole one of the nurses into fessing up where he was. actually i should have known he be down if the cafeteria for ice cream.
oh i almost forgot,they also took away the canopy thing from his bed. to those who have visited you know what i mean. but it was this weird thing around his bed that they would zipper him it at night. seemed like being caged to me but the nurses explained that sometimes stroke victims forget (that seems redundent) and try to get out of bed and end up falling and injuring themselves further. a necessary evil i guess.
again everyone, thank you for the posts,cards,prayers,thoughts,calls and etc.

a couple of pictures. the first is spence walking with a cane for the first time and the second is spence with 2 of his favorites teachers.

I guess its settled now, I always told spencer that i was Mrs. DeSousa's favorite student but i will admit defeat i have been replaced by you Mr Spencer Robert Nuttall.

Timing is everything, I walked in today to learn from spencer that he had just experienced the 3 P's all at one time. (he peed,pooped and puked). remember that taste test i mentioned about the pizza the floor was making,lets just say i am glad i missed it. the making of the pizza was fun for him,the first time he ate it was good,but not so much the second time around.

as far as PT went today, he walked again with a cane which he is most proud of. also he tried more of standing on his own. the therapists had him let go of everything while tossing a ball into a bucket. the purpose of this is for him to keep his balance.

to the red hair brigade: you guys rock!!!!

"beauty is painful....and takes forever" spence got this biggest chuckle out of this. his comment was thats priceless and only Carter would think of it that way.
Sunday was a pretty quiet day, spencer practiced getting up out of the chair and standing on his own. his equilibrium is out of whack so not an easy task with only one leg working. he also practiced putting on his clothes which seem to make him happy. the occupational therapist had a whole routine for him to go thru to get the job done. we are still working on that though.
It sounds like they have a busy week planned for him so i am glad he got some rest today. Oh yeah and his favorite ...donna's chicken salsa,he had quite the appetite tonight.

thank you to all and i will keep you posted

As of tonight, spencer is not the only one with kickass hair. The girls of Team Spence (and carter) all dyed some piece of their hair red today in honor of his red mohawk to be.

Spence wants to thank everyone who has stopped by this weekend. Special shout out to Mrs. DeSousa and Mrs. Chaves for making his day.

spence had lots of PT today,he walked with a cane again, although a bit further today. they are actually giving him homework. he has 3 worksheets he has to do over the weekend before his speech therapy on monday. i guess better than preparing for the MCAS.
the docs are also working on his dizzy spells (i told them that its hereditary his mother is dizzy all the time, lol) actually something about his eyes not recentering quick enough which makes things not in focus. we are working on getting the contacts in but it is hard for spence to do it one handed.
donna and i have to give a shout out to spencer's siblings,olivia and carter. they have been wonderful. i never realized the bond the 3 of them shared,but in the last couple of weeks it has become quite apparent. the secret handshakes with carter and his nightly calls to liv are only the start of how deep they go. if you see them in school or around town give them a hug,high five,peace out or whatever to let them know you are thinking of them too.
i guess prayers and good thoughts all around, and right back at you!

well spence did it,he got the mohawk today. i think it needs a little gel but i am sure that will be taken care of.
a busy day for him. he walked with a cane for the first time. that made his week for him. his floor then had a scavenger hunt thru MGH. they had 2 teams to hunt for various items. spence's team did not win, (as Mrs Doherty's class has told him) they are all winners. the time off the floor was well worth it. their next projects are to make pizza and ice cream. i may wait on that taste test.

spence was in great spirits today, even though it was at my expense. after dropping off his grandmother,brother and friend i went to the park the car. being the last one there i went to his room to find it empty. i checked the dining room: empty,PT room: empty,computer room: empty. the little buggger convinced his mom to take him to the hospital cafeteria. of course no note or anything for his dad. whats that saying about PAYBACK!!! it was well worth the laughs that were coming from him.
he met his tutor (hopefully that will start soon) and she told him that she has never tutored anyone in latin. irony is ,at one time she was a latin teacher. i think she is more excited than he is. of course it won't be the same as Mr Scully's class. (olivia made me put that in there,something about extra points on her next test).
tomorrow is haircut day,spence says he wants a mohawk. it will be interesting to see if he goes thru with it.

to everyone: Thank you for all the love and support. Keep it coming.

As donna mentioned in the last post "those little things add up". Sometimes when you are there every day you don't notice as much. A couple of comments from his friends that last couple of days have been "wow,now that i see you sitting up you look like spence" and "you sound like spence now". this to us is awesome.
Tonight at dinner (and by the way he had his mom's cooking which are i am sure is the reason why), i saw some of that improvement. even though he was exhausted from PT,OT,ST,the best ST, he laughed and joked with us more than since he has been in the hospital. Or maybe it was getting off the floor today, to those who have been there you now what i mean, but i took him to the Stars Wars tube today. (It is a hall connecting MGH to Spaulding). Or maybe it was spence having his video camera, he taped the orthopedist who took a mold of his left leg so he could make a brace (and also asked him 201 questions),his nurse dacia,his roommate greg, and then he found out his speech therapist just bought a mac so she could do movies. what the heck they were talking about went over my head, adobe this, final cut this etc,etc,.
Anyway as I started its the little things adding up.:blog posts,cards,visits,prayers,messages thru friends,e-mails, keep'em um coming because i know this keeps spencer strong.

There is much to say about all the little things Spencer has done in the last 2 days, just rest asure he keeps on kicking butt every day. and with all the support of family, FRIENDS {he is so lucky to have the friends he has} and prayers all the little things add up. Thank you all so much for the support you have given us.

does anyone know this handsome dude? spence grew to 7 feet tall (trick photography ?). this is spence out walking with Neera his physical therapist. we won't make fun of his granny knee-high stockings, actually he had a few dollar bills in them! these few steps are what he is most proud of at this point. oh and the fact the he no longer has to have pureed food. the last 2 days he has had spaghetti and meatballs. of course he will tell you its nothing like his mom's (big surprise,huh!) but good nonetheless. i think just the solid food is awesome. the one other thing he wanted was Dr. Pepper,which he got, but then told me i could go to wal-mart and buy Dr Thunder for 30 cents cheaper. just a random thought i guess? to all the friends and family who visited this week, you know how much he loves your visits. i know with school vacation over it will be much harder,but if anyone needs a ride,directions etc let us know.
a new ritual for spence is having the comments from this blog read to him at bedtime,actually we read them to him 2-3 times a day. but at bedtime especially is calming to him. SO KEEP'EM COMING

spencer took a few steps during physical therapy today. not the most graceful ones but something he is proud of. he had more speech therapy also, alot of memory stuff,i guess to try to get him to process info. tedious but necessary. He had an eye exam today,the right eye is good but left eye not so good. we are hoping his peripheral vision improves on the left side but thats a wait and see.
either he won the ward bingo game or someone smuggled contraband in. i found 3 cases of real pudding in his room. anyone willing to fess up?
i will keep you posted on anything this weekend

i have been told that some of you have tried to post a comment but nothing shows up. (actually happened to me too.) try this. when you go to the blog,you can read the comments and a box shows up saying leave message or comment. don't do anything there. you have to establish a google account and sign in first. it is free and no c.c. needed, you'll have to make a user name and password. (save this). once this is done, go back and sign in using your user name and password and then you should be able to post a message. Great to see a message from the Sunshine Girls.

oops, guess i have been slacking. whats been going on the last 3 days?

its been a lot of little things. spence has been doing PT to try to build upper body strength thru his trunk. this will give him the basis to start working on his left side. he did take a couple of steps on tuesday though. (he is estatic about this). he is also been working with the speech therapist and he's moving both his left and right side of his mouth. it is much easier to understand him now. he still gets tired easily as the health workers try to push him, but its funny how he gets a second wind when his friends have visited this week. he told me to write a thank you to nana for his homemade heating pack.
by far his favorite thing to do in the hospital is when we read him the post's on this blog,the cards in the mail,or letters from his favorite 1st grade class or his 2 favorite classes from florida. i think just hearing all these people care for him,are pulling for him,and praying for him ,gives him just a little bit more strength to keep up the hard work.

so keep'em coming

not much going on medically during the weekend. a little speech therapy,a little occupational therapy. i believe there was alot of emotional therapy though. to the friends who visited this weekend that was wonderful, spence seems to perk up so much when you guys are around. but do forgive his bluntness. i guess we have to make a rule that what he says at spaulding rehab stays at spaulding rehab.
a couple of his favorites things (isn't that a disney song) are when his mother and i read him his cards or when we read the comments from the blog. spence can get into a wheelchair (in fact they encourage it) and make it to the common room where they have a computer. it is still dial up but he can't wait to hear the well wishes. that being said, if you haven't left a message in awhile now is a good time, and those who haven't please do so. if you are worried that he doesn't know you, it does not matter, a little message can explain. (i.e. from thelma's quilting group,etc etc).
and of course lastly,keep the prayers and positive thoughts going.

2/15/08. we can mark this as another begining point. during physical therapy spencer stood for the 1st time on his own. he had a couple of things to help balance him and he was on his right leg only but we will take it. he is trying his own version of PT too, he likes to constantly rub his left hand and move his left leg with the right one. i believe he is trying to speed up the process. we constantly have to tell him to relax and let the therapists do their job.
oh, and he did admit he misses school, i think the social part and not necessarily the work part or the getting up at 6 am part.

spencer was moved today to begin the long road back to recovery. he is now going to have an hour of physical,occupational, and speech therapy every day. plus whatever else they can think of to keep him going. he is in the mass eye and ear building, 10th floor now. room 17 i believe. if you plan to visit- between 6 and 8 pm is usually good,this way he is back in his room after all his sessions.
thank you again for all the cards and well wishes, and keep the prayers going

spence had his stitches taken out today and is no longer on the heart monitor. the plan right now is to move him to a rehab floor. if all goes well this will be done wednesday morning. he will be going to the spaulding rehab pedi unit. this is still part of mass general hosp but the unit is actually in the mass eye and ear building. his mom and i visited the floor today and its looks like it will be good for him. there is only 15-16 beds on the unit and there are 5-6 teens with similar injuries. they have different periods for the different therapies and they work to get the kids back on track with their schoolwork. i don't know if they have had anyone tackle AP calculus or Latin yet but we will soon find out.

spence made it from the bed to the chair and all the way to the common area today. i think those 4 walls were closing in on him. the common area is great,it has a view of the boston skyline in 2-3 different directions. he looked good today,swelling in his head is going down. its his eyes and his half smile that tell me he is headed in the right directed though.

weekends at the hospital- not much goes on,pretty much a skeleton crew only. Spence did get to sit in a chair today, they have to lift him up with a trapeze and swing him to go from the bed to chair. kinda funny the production it can take to go 2 feet,but we will take what we can get. he is starting to eat semi-solid food. mashed potatoes,pudding etc.

everyday we see a little improvement so we know he is trying his best. Once again, thank you for all the well wishes and keep them coming.

Friday was a big day for Spencer, he sat up in an xray machine and they gave him things to swallow and watched where it went, if it was good, he could have the tube out of his nose and start to take mushy foods. he passed the test, and the nose tube came out, then he asked if he could watch a copy of it on the computer, they said NO ONE had ever asked to see that before so they said they would try! About 2 hours later Julie his speach therapist came to his room and he watched the tape of his test! Only Spencer would want to do that! Then when he came back to his room PT was there. Oh ya... spencer hasn't slept in 3 days so finally with a little help he took a nap.

spence was moved from the ICU to another floor tonight. this is where they will start with the rehabiltation to try to get his left side going. got a story to share,actually had a couple but this is the only printable one.

we will start with morphine is a wonderful thing. Carter had brought his report card in (straight A's) and spencer's doctor wanted to see it. spence gave him the report card and when the nurse came in the doc told her it was his grades from spence. to which spence replied "oh yeah i just printed it out of my ass"

Hey everyone! Last night (Feb. 4th), Spencer's breathing tube was removed. He was having trouble at first breathing on his own but he's doing good now. He's been talking up a storm and even tried to solve his rubik's cube with one hand. Continue to keep Spence in your prayers and good thoughts!

spence had another machine removed today. it was one to cool his body temp while it had warm air to keep his skin warm. actually a cool idea but he hated it and i dont blame him. unfortunately his temp rose after stopping this so we will see what happens. I think the big one for him is the breathing tube,which does not allow him to talk and they have to keep him sedated to use. I could sense a frustration with him today.
We were warned this was going to be a long process so we are happy with any progress on the postivie side. It may be baby steps but we will take them with a smile.

To everyone: Thank you for all you've done and god bless.

Today, Spencer looked great ! His brain monitor was taken out and he no longer looks like Tinky Winky (purple teletubbie). He has been opening his eyes more and staying awake a little longer each day. He still has the breathing tube in but they are slowly taking him off it. He loves hearing what people have been saying on the blog and he really misses everyone. Keep the messages and prayers coming!
PS If anyone has some good pictures of faces of friends/family drop them off at our house or give them to Liv at school. Thanks!

the roller coaster goes on

the first night we were at the hospital we warned or at least given a heads up, about the up and downs of recovery by the the wife of a gentlemen who had been there 16 days. the last 2 days have both and up and down.

thursday night into friday morning we were hoping the docs would take out spence's breathing tube. sometime late friday morning he had trouble breathing,something about his O2 coming in but his lungs not able to prosess it. the docs feared he may have clots in his lungs, not nearly as severe as having one in your carotid artery, but no picnic either. They inject dyes and take pictures by computer to screen for this. We have not gotten the full results back yet but all prelimary pictures show that as far as clots go he is clear. What he does have though is pneumonia in both lungs. Sounds SUCKY but it is better than clots and actually common in hospital patients who are not up and about. Because he is lying 24/7 that is where everything settles.

I know some of his friends wanted to visit this weekend but because of this pneumonia that is not a good idea. i promise i will let you know when it is time.

They did one other test today to test his heart called a TEE (and no it didn't involve a golf ball) to see if maybe thats where the blood clot came from. I saw the doc who did this test today around mid afternoon who told me that the results of the test showed he had a perfect heart.
I had to tell him, Well DUH!!! all you needed to do was look at the postings on his blog to realize he has a perfect heart.

Myself,spence's mom,brother,sister, and extended friends and family love reading your get well wishes and comments. Please keep them going and yeah the prayers and good thoughts too.

Last night David again loosed up the restraint and not only did we get hugs, as a joke my mom asked him to scratch her back and he did! Banannie and Spencer since he was little have always scratched each others backs! As usual... Spencer is comforting us!

january 30

wednesday pm:
that damn fever is still persisting, but the docs,nurses, and his parents are working hard to figure it out. everything but that was stable today, spencer's color has come back,his pressure is good also. we saw the surgeon late tonight and he hopes to do an evaluation tomorrow that would allow him to start removing some of the bandages. he had no piss off finger gesture's tonight but we did get a new one. his mother and i are not exactly sure but it was a closed fist with a raised index finger and raised pinkie only. kind of like looking at owls ears. i thought it was rock on?? maybe you guys can help me.

i will leave you with a bit of a tear jerker. (at least it was for his mother and i). spencer's arm is restrained because of all the IV's, beathing tubes,etc that he could/would pull out. anyway before leaving tonight i asked the nurse if we could unhook the restraint for 2 minutes if i held his arm. she agreed and donna and i got the hugs of our lives. maybe 10 seconds each of his fingers going thru our hair. PRICELESS!! Once again ,him getting us the message that everything is going to be OK.

keep the prayers and good thoughts going,again its working

ooops i forgot something. someone remind me to tell him he's grounded for flipping me the bird when he gets home

1/29. an update to update from spencers dad. I will give you a bit on how he is doing and then a little chuckle of spence being spence.
medically everything is stable, he is still pretty much sedated all day except when they wake him to test his brain functions. this is when he will give us a thumbs up or for the first time it was a wave. He has been running a fever,which is not good in those with a brain injury because it causes the brain to do things to try to compensate. the docs have tried a bunch of different things to try to find the source (infection being the most likely) but nothing pinpointed yet. i am sure they will get it soon.

now for my little tidbit: last night i was there when it was time for the nurse to test his brain function. she tried to get him to raise his thumb,or put 2 fingers up but he was not cooperating. (he hates this). but anyway i started in about him having to do this so the nurse would stop and leave him alone. i was in ear telling him to give me a thumbs up but he had a better idea, he flipped me the bird!!!!! i cracked up, i had to tell him i was not laughing at him. i ended it with an " i love you" and got a raised fist in return. i know he was telling me he was staying STRONG!!

please keep the prayers and good thoughts going. I KNOW they are working

1/29- Tonight, when Spencer's nurse came in and said hello to Spence, he waved to her and gave her a thumbs up. Keep praying for Spence!

1/29 This morning Spencer gave another thumbs up but he is still fighting a fever. Keep praying for Spencer!

1/28-Today, Spencer just rested and slept. He gave a thumbs up when he heard from my mom how great everyone has been. He is still in ICU and can't have visitors, but we will let everyone know when he can. Keep Spencer in your prayers.

1/27 on sunday spencer was dealt a setback in regards to the swelling. he had an additional surgery,the doctors when in with a plan and everything went accordingly as they had planned (a good thing). It is now Monday AM and spence is still in ICU but stable. He was able to give his mother a thumbs up again today. Thank you to all,your emails,phone calls ,visits,food and everything else mean the world to donna and I. Again keep spencer in your prayers and good thoughts. (this is a continuation of the last post)

What's Up With Spence Now?

Sunday 1/27- Spencer was able to write notes to my mother. He wrote several times that he wanted to keep his CT scans, so we know he's the same old Spence. Later in the day, he went through another surgery to relieve the swelling and pressure in his brain. The surgery went exactly as planned. January 27th was day 1 of stroke so we still have 4 more days left of the danger period.

Again, please keep Spencer in your prayers.

What's Up With Spence

Saturday 1/26: Spencer was med flighted to Mass General Hospital. He had a stroke, a blood clot had travelled to his carotid artery and blocked the supply of blood to his brain. He underwent a 6 hour procedure where most of the clot was removed. There is now a 5 day danger period where brain swelling and bleeding are of utmost concern.

Sunday 1/27: Spence was awake and made hand signals to his mother. he has feeling on his right side but not his left side. We are now awaiting the results of the next CAT scan.

Please keep Spencer in your prayers.