Home and Garden Show, Exercising and Injuries

This past Friday Mike, John, William and Frans headed to the Home and Garden Trade Show in Lethbridge. Getting out of the unit and out of the house is always refreshing for everyone!

No two weeks are really ever the same for Mike, which is awesome! It keeps things interesting for Mike, where some of his daily routines stay the same, but others things change day to day. Some of the routine parts of Mikes days are:

7-7:30 – Wake up and get up….Mike doesn’t enjoy lounging in bed too long…when he wakes up, he is ready to start his day. Years and years of being at work by 7 am (or much earlier during his milking years) and the body doesn’t forget that!

After changing, bathroom, etc, Mike hangs out in the living room while getting his breakfast tube feed and listens to his book on Audible.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, William comes and works with Mike from about 9 or 10 until 4 or 5. It all depends on what they are doing those days as to how long William is there or what time he gets there at.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Mom and Dad usually go visit for the morning. When the weather cooperates, they go for a walk, and when it is cold or the sidewalks are covered, they usually hang out in the “plant room” which has lots of plants, big windows, and a bird soundtrack playing.

After morning visits or exercises, Mike returns to the living room couch to have his lunch tube feed and listen to his book some more.

Usually once a week, often on a Tuesday afternoon, Mike’s sister in law Andrelei comes to work on communication with Mike. They have been trying the eye scan on an I-Pad device, but that has been a challenge as Mike doesn’t seem to be able to focus his eyes as well as he used to. This past week, Mike and Andrelei worked on writing letters. This is another way for Mike to practice his words and hopefully it will also help him express himself as well.

**If anyone would like a letter from Mike, please send us your mailing address!!** (contact@mikegrisnich.com) Also if you would like to send Mike a letter, you can send it to the same email, or to Mike Grisnich, Box 2049, Fort Macleod AB, T0L 0Z0.

Auntie Nita also often goes for a walk with Mike in the afternoons. We have a calendar that we try to keep up to date, so if you would like to visit with someone or on your own when no one else is there, let us know and we will put you in the calendar!

After afternoon visits or activities, Mike has his supper tube feed and then enjoys the evening visits with Stephanie and sometimes friends as well.

Saturday mornings Mom and Dad typically take Mike to Picture Butte to visit Oma Grisnich as well as Auntie Marg and Uncle Ken, and Mike’s cousin Cathy also stops in there for a visit sometimes too! If the weather is bad or on weeks that they don’t go to Picture Butte they often visit Auntie Marion in Fort Macleod as well. And Sunday mornings, Mike goes to church.

It is definitely a blessing to have such a large extended family and great friends!

Exercising

When William would work on walking with Mike at his house, there was a smaller amount of space to walk around in. Now while Mike is staying at the Community Transition Beds, there is a lot of hallway space to walk in, and Mike wants to do more and more before stopping for a break.

Up until now, they would walk with Mike holding tightly onto Williams arm with his good arm. Mike is gaining some endurance, but is still unstable on his feet, and it is taking a toll on Williams body, particularly his shoulder.

So they are trying out different standing walkers, but this is a learning curve as well. There are a few different options out there, it is just trying to find something Mike can use to walk, without injury to those helping him.

One option that is intriguing is the Go-Zeen. This is the cadillac of a hybrid between a walker and a wheelchair, but also has a hefty price tag and is not sold in Canada! Mike isn’t able to trial it and we don’t know for sure if it would work for Mike, but if you have a family member with mobility issues, this could be an option! We would love to hear if you know of someone who has tried this and if it works for them.

There are different options to try, and when something is found that works for Mike we will update that.

Mike has been working on his right side mobility on his arm as well. His right leg gets more movement from walking, but his right arm needs movement as well!

As always, thanks to everyone keeping up with Mike’s life and continuing to pray for him. He really appreciates all of it and is thankful for everything everyone does for him!