Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Mom Graduates to the Next Level of her Healing Journey

On February 22, 2010, I received a call from the social worker who works in the Burn Unit at Hamilton General Hospital where my mother had been admitted since January 3rd.  The social worker explained to me that mom was now officially past the very acute stages of her injuries and was being transferred to another health care facility closer to home. Mom had been placed on a waiting list for this program and a bed had become available in the Reactivation program on the Complex Continuing Care Unit at Brantford General Hospital in Brantford, Ontario.  On this unit, mom will continue her healing, build her strength back up, and re-gain her mobility.

Because her right arm was so burned and received two different grafting surgeries, a condition called Hypertrophic Ossification developed in her elbow.  This is described as an over abundance of calcium, in turn, causing rapid bone growth, which leads to limited mobility and much debilitating pain. Just another issue that has presented itself, likely because of the trauma she has been through.

She has become quite good at using her left hand considering she has been right handed all her life up until this unfortunate development.  Mom is frustrated by her inability to use her right arm, although she has worked really hard to re-gain some movement here.  Things that a normal person would take for granted are huge obstacles for a person who has gone through trauma and has lost mobility.  For example, touch your index finger to your thumb. This movement may seem easy for you, but to my mother, to be able to achieve this goal has taken a lot of hard work.  One of the most difficult tasks is to try and bend her arm at the elbow. That may never happen due to the hypertrophic ossification, but we are not giving up hope because we know what mom is already capable of.

Each day we see improvement in mom's burns and grafting sites.  Her strength is slowly coming back and she has recently been able to walk a short distance with the assistance of a walker.  She is working toward total independence.  Her Physio Therapist and Occupational Therapist are working diligently with her to help her achieve this goal.  This progress is exhilarating and gives us all much joy.  To see her coming out of her cocoon and continue to develop her beautiful wings is elating.  The healing that she has done so far is incredible.

It will be several more weeks before we will see mom come home again.  She will go back to Hamilton at the end of the month to follow up with her plastic surgeon.  The surgeon will take a look at her burns and grafting sites and determine whether they are healing as expected.  Mom will likely be referred for fitting of pressure garments depending on how far her healing has come.  These specially fitted garments will be worn for 23 hours a day and will help minimize scarring.

The journey continues and is still much like a roller coaster for all of us.  When one is down, the other will help bring them up.  Mom is definitely in need of constant accolades and encouragement.  Understandably, she does get frustrated from time to time.  The good thing is she knows what her goal is and will continue to strive to reach it.  Mom and the rest of us are very thankful for the support of her health care team, family, friends, and many others that continue cheering for us all.