"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"

This is a quote from a poem about slaying a dragon by Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland fame:

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

Jon's dragon these last 8 months has been his head gear. First, the halo and then the Miami J neck brace. We spent a total of 4 and a half hours at OSU getting Cat scans, consulting with the doctor and then back again for x-rays, that were initially ordered but not communicated to the EMTs. Dr. Mendell looked at them and pronounced the spine healed and stable. Only one hitch; what looks like the major point of impact at the 5 T vertebrae looks almost like the spine is making a major turn toward the front of his body. The doctor didn't think that the spine was being pulled toward either side of his body but he didn't have any other explanation why he tilts so in bed. It may just be due to poor trunk control (my guess, not his.) He is allowed to remove the brace gradually. At first, when he's not very active and after he has built up some strength through physical therapy he can be without it for longer periods of time. We go back in six weeks for the final word. Dr. Mendell also had no idea why either of the two operations involving the spine that were suggested several months ago would even be considered. Redoing the back in major surgery seems like a step backward to him and he never heard of stretching the muscles by weakening them--perhaps I just didn't explain it well. Although he was very surprised they did not do surgery in the very beginning, before everything had a chance to heal.

Other news: he has major constipation and a urinary tract infection. X rays show there is no other problem than constipation to make his tummy swell so that's good news.

He has been in the chair almost every day and is gaining confidence in his driving. Matt, the physical therapist, is changing the handle from a joy stick to something that will look a little like a goal post. The pressure mapping has still not been done due to the chair reps computer program not working. Although the pressure mapping will allow Jon to sit in the chair for longer periods of time and not endanger the healing process of his bedsore, he has a reclining feature as well to help relieve the pressure of sitting upright. Matt has Jon reclining every 20 minutes for at least 30 seconds. Jon usually reclines for more than that.

The special bed has not gone back yet and we think that we may have some valid reasons for continuing using it. We just have to convince the doctor at the Village that a paralyzed person with arthritis of the spine, in addition to his blown vertebrae, needs to have a bed which is healing and prevents further sores from developing.

Jon has had the pleasure of a good friend from Defiance dropping by three evenings this week. He wasn't feeling great the third day but hopefully that won't interfere with future visits. Thanks so much Mark for stopping by. We really appreciate it.

To see the whole poem go to: www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky/html The poem has been set to music and we had a great time singing it in my high school choir days.