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!