T.C. – The Comeback

Hello friends,

It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? As proof of my dedication to all of you, I am writing this post during the Vikings’ inspiring, but inevitably heartbreaking game against the 49ers.

First and foremost, as my Catholic education has taught me, the thank yous.

-Thank you to the Triggs/Wallerius families for their hospitality and generosity in our time of transition. Since apparently it takes more than three weeks to completely renovate and adapt the first floor of a house, having a fantastic apartment three blocks from our home while construction was taking place was a God send.

-The UW hospital 4th floor rehab staff (I think now that I have left your care you can finally see this website). You guys are all amazing and I wish I could hang out with each of you, but in a setting where I am not naked half the time.

-To John Henry Hunter whose fancy fingers are typing this post. Thanks for the help in moving, you’ll receive your paycheck via mail, I promise.

-Thanks to the transition team that got the house ready for renovation (especially EClo and KJ- your sweat and blood never goes unappreciated) and helped move us back once construction was done.

-And finally to the two people without whom none of this would be possible, including that one time that I broke my neck: Dr. James C. Cloyd III and Mrs. Therese Bowman Cloyd, my loving parents. Both of you have been amazing, inspiring, frustrating, and unconditionally loving supporters throughout this entire crazy experience. Though this injury is terrible and I wish it never happened, it has brought our family closer together (but mom I don’t need to wear my seatbelt in the shower, I’m not going anywhere).

Phew, now that we’re done with the required thanking stuff, we can get to the real story. This will be formatted in more chronological order beginning with me leaving the hospital and ending with me in my new, amazing room at 4820 Maple Road eating sour skittles.

(to enter a midstory gem, I no longer have to wear my neck brace, making my everyday life roughly 750% better.)

On August 30th I was discharged from the UW-Madison Hospital. I was hoping to roll through a gauntlet of high-fives from all the staff who had undoubtedly grown to love me over the 8 weeks I was there; unfortunately I was not able to create enough force on the wheel chair to roll through more than 1 high-five at a time. Next came the death van ride provided by Uncomfortable Industries. For the 4 hour ride from Madison to Minneapolis (it’s definitely 4 hours, anyone that says its more, to you I say nay) I imagined the helicopter to be furnished with steak sandwiches and Blackberry Izzies. But the helicopter must have been double booked. Now, I’m not a big complainer and if you were to ask my mom to tell this story she might even use the word “suck”, but I’m going to complain about this van ride. After a few hours of keeping my head free from sharp, malicious objects; the relentless radiating bumps of the road began to affect me. Apparently 5 weeks after a spinal surgery, 4 hours packed into the rear of a ten-year old mini van is contraindicated. I could go into detail about the pain and discomfort of the ride, the claustrophobic nature of being in the van “trunk” (no vents), wearing a neck brace and two seat belts on my power chair, and, lastly, the disappointment of not easily being able to go into the gas station and get a 99 cent rib sandwich… I could complain but I won’t.

As noted above, the first floor of my parents home has been redesigned to make it wheelchair and Thomas accessible. This includes many awesome things: a expanded and redesigned bathroom with a roll-in shower (complete with sand-toned tile for a calming effect), a personalized brick sidewalk into the house, widened and automatic operated doors, and a taken over living room (you know that room in your house that no one ever goes into? That’s the room I’m in). Though I have no formal training in home construction and design, it apparently takes more than three weeks to redo an entire house with the amenities as described above. We stayed in an apartment for 12 days while the construction was completed. Many episodes of NCIS were watched in the apartment (Thanks again Triggs/Wallerius families).

After my comfortable stay in the apartment, my parents and I moved back to our home on Sept 12 to a buzzing hive of activity as the builders rushed to finish construction. A lot has happened since then including starting PT and OT at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, adjusting to my life with a spinal cord injury (I hate the term “handicap”, it sounds permanent), adapting to the reality of my limitations in such familiar surroundings, which has proven to be challenging and disheartening.

Given the length of this post and the closeness of the Viking’s game, I am closing for the time being, but expect more details sooner rather than later.

As always, thanks to everyone who reads, thinks, prays, or vibes my way. I’m just now realizing how long my road will be. So please keep it coming, the vibes help.

Click here to see comments from Thomas’s orignal blog post on Care Pages. 

Hello all. Let’s keep this one short because another post is coming through the pipes.

Jason Curry is a good friend of mine and a semi-awesome guy. I asked him to write a post from his perspective after spending about a week with me in the hospital. He worked for 2.5 years as an advertising copywriter for Leo Burnett. So direct any complaints regarding the humor, logic or quality of this post to the company.

By Jason Curry
August 30, 2012

Over the last week we’ve been filming some of Thomas’ rehab work: A) to document and remember what Thomas has gone through here (not really) and B) to send a video into Jamba Juice to try and trick them into sponsoring his recovery. We figure if Terri Cloyd has gone into the Madison Jamba Juice 4+ days/week for the greater part of six weeks there is a pretty solid chance they’ll agree to it.

Less importantly than the above, Thomas is leaving the hospital for good today. He is officially the most tenured patient in the rehab unit; so basically, he’s been running the show. And somehow this gave the nurses license to mess with him. On Sunday he woke up with his right big toe painted red thanks to a nurse named Mary. Then on Wednesday, the day before discharge, he woke up with his left big toe painted turquoise thanks to an old little Tibetan woman named Neelam (also a nurse; I have to say that for quality assurance purposes). Thomas will get them back someday. He doesn’t know when and he doesn’t know how, but it will be way over the top.

Alright, gotta run… roll… out of here, tis a glorious day and it’s only up from here. Thomas again says thanks to everyone for the amazingly thoughtful cards, care packages, movies, etc.

Good day everyone, it has been for me. My good amigo Jason Curry is in the house and providing the dexterous keystrokes to post this message.

The most important thing I need to say is thank you. Thank you to Pat, Julie, Cassie, Jesse, Darwin, Michael, and especially Casey. You are all to thank for me being alive today. All of those who read this post, please pray for them as you pray for me, for without their quick thinking and calm demeanor there would be no CarePages update to read today.

Another quick thing to get out in the open. In this post, as well as future posts, I may or may not make a few “I can’t feel my legs” jokes. These are for me as much as they are for you, because without comedy–especially in the face of tragedy–what are we but animals? For example, in a recent PT session, I was in a rather vulnerable position when in walked my Attending and no less than 15 medical students. As both my jaw and legs dropped, they continued to move towards me in a menacing fashion. As they approached me, I inquired of their intentions, which were to observe my spasms and the reactions that drive them. Fortunately I crave attention so I was happy to have the audience. After a few foot taps and twists, the “Oooos” and “Ahhhhs” started pouring from the crowd. Then a very young looking third-year medical student came to test the reflex of my left knee. After tapping my patella, I immediately shrieked, “OWWW!” and stared at the medical student. The mix of confusion and fear on his face, along with the shock of the crowd, made the invasion of my privacy completely worthwhile.

And thus the “I can’t feel my legs” joke was born.

On a more serious note, I know I always emphasize the positive: the milkshakes, the candy, the double quarter pounders with cheese’s whenever I need them… and of course my recovery progress. But to be fair, there are some challenges I face daily. The spasms I spoke of before have actually calmed down in severity, but with that comes an increase in neuropathic (nerve) pain in my forearms, fingers, and entire lower body. When I wake up in the morning it’s a stiffness of pain like I’ve never felt before, but fortunately throughout movement during the day the pain does subside. Again, I see this as a sign of my body waking up and have a reason to fight through the pain.

One other challenge that I have faced, and made me respect the wheelchair bound even more, was my brief trip to the market on the first floor of the hospital. Not only could I not open the freezer doors to reach my Vanilla Frappucino, but when at the register I could barely reach the counter top to hand over my credit card. This all took four times longer than normal, which clearly made a line behind me. Although no one seemed to mind, it was embarrassing and extremely humbling. But I know after a few more weeks in my wheelchair, I will be doing wheelies in the aisles and endo-ing up to the register.

To end on a positive note, my Occupational Therapist mentioned that in her substantial history of working in a rehab unit, I have by far the most function for any patient that she has seen with a C5 injury. I take this as a jump start to my recovery, so I’m already ahead of the game and know my progress will continue.

Thank you for your time. Sorry for the long post. Thanks to all for your messages; I read each and every one of them (the flattering ones twice).

No need for hellos, we just spoke. On top on everything else you all have done for me, I’m again asking you to continue to pray for a quick recovery of my fingers.

Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay in putting up a new post. I’ve been busy strengthening my shoulders and transferring to and from my bed (actually milkshakes and watching the Olympics-closing ceremony is going to be great)-Spice Girls are on in 30). A lot has happen since the last post-some good, some bad. This injury has taught me to start with the bad.

The nurses call it tone, my PT calls it clonus; I call it spasms. They struck with a vengance in the last few days. It began with a few leg shakes, then progressed to more intense movements. These spasms have moved from my legs to my mid-section to my arms. This often happens with a spinal cord injury. I’m not worried because this is a sign that my body is waking up from the initial spinal shock. Fortunately, God invented a thing called drugs. In this case a antispasticity product called baclofen, which helps reduce the intensity of the spasm. However, it may take some time to get the full benefit from it.

Now on to the good news. I’ve officially regained the use of two muscles-one in my upper chest and in my wrists! The one in my wrists is controlled by the C7 area of my spinal cord, which is two better than the original injury. That’s a good thing. Beyond that I gotten stronger and much more competent in use of my manual wheelchair, which is the chair I prefer to use. Along with my muscles, I’ve also regained sensation in several parts of my body including my back, my legs and, most excitingly, tingling in my feet. Understandably my doctors are not able to tell me this could mean, but I do know its a good thing. Is another sign of my body waking up.

With an official discharge date of Aug 20, reconstruction of my parents home in Edina has begun. The re-modeling will accommodate my wheelchair and unique needs (Thanks mom and dad). Though the 4th floor rehab team at the UW Hospital has treated me well, I’m excited about coming home and beginning outpatient rehab at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis so I can focus on re-gaining what I have loss. I’m looking forward to being close to my many friends in the Twin Cities, which will allow me to take another step toward returning to a normal life.

Millions of thanks for the millions of things you have done to help me and my family through this unfortunate period of time. Goodbye to you all. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be training like Missy Franklin in my recovery.

Hello all. I hope you are doing well. I apologize for the lack of posts over the past week. I’ve been busy with rehab, visitors, and some expected complications. As an update on my function, I now have sensation in 3/5 of my fingers in my left hand and 2/5 in my right hand. I’m told that this is the first sign of regaining finger function.

I’ve been using different types of medications and exercises to regain finger movement as quickly as possible. I’ve also identified a manual wheelchair that has most of the functions that I require. Its tiring, but fun, to roll around the hospital in a manual chair.

This weekend, Aug 3-5, my good friends Ryan Ball, Clay Herman, Abbey, and Eric Anderson came to visit. We went to see a movie-Total Recall (awesome!). Getting out of the hospital is always nice! We hung out and laughed just as we did before the accident.

Two more weeks of in-patient rehab and then its back to Minnesota before I know it.

Thanks again for all your prayers and positive thoughts. I truly appreciate them.

Hello. Hope everyone’s day is going well. It looks as if its a million degrees outside here in Madison, but I’m still shivering in my room and begging for more heated blankets. This will be a two part post: an update and a request.

UPDATE
I can now wash the entire right side of my face with my right hand, which I couldn’t do last week. And I can anow operate my phone and text at the same speed as my mom (slow).

REQUEST
As of now, I don’t have finger function, but I can feel something. I’m working everyday to make it happen. So please focus your prayers and thoughts on the return of my finger function.

I will keep you updated on my progress and let you of any unique success stories as they occur. Again, thank you all so very much for your concern. Not a day passes that I don’t think of your prayers and thoughts, which empowers me and keeps me going.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Olympics begin in three days. Oh yeah.

On Monday, July 16 Thomas moved to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison to begin inpatient rehab. He will likely be in Madison until late August, at which time he will move to Minneapolis, where he will start his outpatient rehab.

He program involves a range of interventions including physical, occupational, recreational therapy; as well as vocational rehab. He is adapting to a new hospital and personnel and was able, for the first time in 4-5 days, a pretty good night of sleep.

If today is representative, he will be busy from 8 AM to 3-4 PM. He is spending more time in a wheel chair and today cruised around several halls of the hospital.

It may be another week or two before he is ready for visitors.

If you want to send him a note, his mailing address is:

Thomas Cloyd
Rm 460
B4/4 Rehab
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics
600 Highland Ave
Madison, WI 53792

From Thomas “Thanks again to everybody for your prayers, thoughts and concerns. At times its been really hard to stay positive, but knowing that you all are there makes me see the brighter side of life. Knowing that I could/should have died in the accident, its good to know that I have second shot at life.”

Hello again everyone and thank you for all your suppport. I just finished reading all the amazing responses and messages for the first time. I can honestly say I am more inspired and driven by what you have said than at any other time in my life.

Update: I am moving to acute inpatient rehab with limited mobility. As I said, it is early in the game and with lots of work and a little luck… along with your support and positive energy…I hope to see improvement. Thanks you for everything, love you all. More updates to come.

Love Thomas.

Today Thomas reached another milestone. He pulled out of Rm 12, Neurosurgery ICU in a wheelchair under his own power! Family and ICU staff cheered (and cried) as he rolled out of the unit, down the hallway, stopping at the spinal cord rehab center where he begin leaning how to operate his chair. Later he moved into his new room at the spinal cord injury center. For dinner we dined on a Canadian bacon, pepperoni, mushroom and cheese pizza followed by milkshakes for desert. Needless to say his appetite is back. All the activity and effort was exhausting, but progress felt good.