Charbel’s November update:

This was a busy month for us, celebrating Charbel’s 21st birthday and finishing up the remodeling of the apartment next door so that Charbel could have a place to stay when he comes home for the day. Charbel has also made some small (but significant) improvements this month!

Charbel’s Birthday

Charbel had three birthday celebrations - one with the nurses at the hospital the morning of November 8th, then later on that afternoon with his family and Robert and Doug. Charb received many phone calls to wish him a happy b-day from all of his aunts, uncles and cousins from around the world.

On the weekend, Charbel’s friends and family gathered in the new apartment to eat cake and wish him a happy birthday. Charbel was relaxed the entire day, and was happy to his friends and family surrounding him. Check out the pictures linked to this page!

Thanks to everyone who sent messages and cards, we read them all to Charb. He really pays attention when we put him in front of the computer, especially when he sees his website, so keep the inspirational messages coming!

New Apartment

We decided that remodeling Charbel’s old exercise room would be too difficult, so we came up with another idea to use an existing apartment that we own across the parking lot, as Charbel’s new space.

We built a ramp for Charbel’s easy access, and the whole apartment has been painted and freshened up.

Charbel now has a cozy place to stay when he comes home, and there is a lot more room for him to receive treatments at home, such as massages and stretching. Soon he will begin using a tilt table and we will be trying other therapies.

There is also a place for family and guests to visit with Charbel, to sit and talk, or watch television – so feel free to stop by any time for a visit!

Smiling

Charbel continues to improve slowly day by day. We have been noticing lately that he smiles when he is happy, or when he hears a voice that he recognizes. It’s a small smile, but it’s a big start!

Holding his head up high!

Charbel has recently begun to use his neck muscles more often. Since his bone flap operation, we have noticed a difference in Charbel’s head control. Now he moves his head from side to side and holds his head up longer. Before we used to hold his head up on the head rest, and if we let him go, it would fall down. As time has progressed, Charbel is now able to hold his head up on the headrest and when he drops it, he can (with a little help) put his head back. Also, when we sit him up on the edge of the bed (also a new development) he has begun to hold his head on his own for a short period. This is encouraging, and we will continue to work on increasing the strength required to hold his head up.

Spasticity and Tremor

Charbel’s tone and spasticity were much better this month. We have been noticing that his hands and arms are much more relaxed and loose. This is a great thing for his overall health and muscle tone.

Unfortunately, ten days ago Charbel developed a tremor on his right side – arm and leg/foot. The tremor has increased slowly over the past few days, but we weren’t sure if this was a negative thing.

Yesterday, Charbel’s family doctor told us that one of the side effects of his medication (pregabalin - Lyrica) is tremor. So we have decided to slowly decrease this dosage until we can completely stop giving it to him. Charbel has been on this medication since June when he started taking it while at rehab in Halifax. The medication is used to keep his spasticity and tone under control, to help with nerve pain and to reduce the risk of seizure.

However, we have been thinking about stopping his medication for a while now because it’s possible that it is making him less responsive and aware of his surroundings. We feel that by continual physiotherapy, massage and range of motion exercises, Charbel’s spasticity can be minimized and his muscles kept in good condition – reducing the need of medications, which have negative side-effects. So, let’s hope that his tone does not increase, and we get him off this medication successfully.

Please stay tuned, hopefully we’ll have better news next month!