Rehab?! Who Needs It?

Well, it turns out that Nephi doesn't need rehab, but his hands sure do.

Here what has happened since his return home. We were planning on getting an at home rehab service, but our insurance and the rehab people could not come to an understanding on the price, so after a week and a half of that battle we were finally told they would not be coming. So it took another week of me calling rehab facilities around us trying to find the right fit, then calling the U of U rehab where we were at trying to get a recommendation for what exactly he needed, then finding out there was not a place around us that fit his needs and our insurance. So finally I talked with the U of U rehab and asked if we could get an evaluation on what he would need at this point (2 1/2 weeks after coming home). After going there and having an RN and a rehab specialist check him and give him lots of physical skill test-with Nephi cracking jokes and goofing off through all of them-we were told that he had no reason to return to rehab. They "couldn't find a thing wrong" with him, "except maybe your left shoulder is a little weak." While walking out of the building Nephi turned to me and said (totally serious), "Yeah my left shoulder does hurt sometimes, I think I might have fallen on it."

Nephi continued on in his progress, still with braces on his hands until a couple weeks ago when he decided he was sick of them. This last week we went back to a follow-up with his Orthopedic Hand Specialist. The doctor took x-rays and wrenched his hands and fingers this way and that, asking what hurt and where it hurt. After the exam he said that most of the pain Nephi was experiencing seemed to be caused by the stiffness and healing done while he was initially immobile in the hospital with braces from his fingertips to his elbows and not from the fractures in his hands. He advised Nephi to do lots of hand therapy and to get out and do anything and everything that he wanted to. He said he needs to start using his hands in everyday life so that he could see if the breaks cause enough pain to warrant surgery.

Needless to say, Nephi jumped at the idea. He is getting back to working--he sprayed four houses with pest control on Friday. He has washed our windows. He has been taking hikes with my brother-in-law, Ryan, as often as they can. On Saturday he went wild-cleaned out the garage, washed the car, fixed our sprinklers, did some yard work (even watered my plants), and mowed the lawn. The mowing was the worst on his hands-the mower is not self-propelled so it is lots of hard pushing on his hands and he says the vibration from it really hurts. That of course didn't stop him; he just threw on his ski gloves for insulation and got back to mowing.

Just so we remember that he is not superman, I must point out a couple things. He tried working out on our weight machine. He could only lift the very top weight, I think it is ten pounds. He also tried to do sit-ups. He says he could do eight, but I was there and am pretty sure it was only six.

Alright, if I am being honest, I still think he is superman.