What a week it has been, so much has happened, Cory has set some goals and we have a challenge for you too!
Tuesday oh Tuesday what an amazing day that was, Cory got up feeling pretty good before transferring to the commode under the supervision of his wonderful OT’s Laura and Monique, he then starting to get a bit of a routine into his “morning duties”.
Hannah and Matt then arrived around 0900hrs the same time as Christina arrived to put Cory through his paces for physio doing some great balance and reach exercises after loosening up his legs. We then helped Cory transfer himself (using the slide board still) into his wheel chair and we headed up to the megazone so Cory could teach Matt how to play air hockey (Matt may have kicked his butt…)
Cory was getting pretty tired and sore after a while and needed to go to the toilet so we headed back down to the room, where Hannah & Matt had a surprise for Cory!
Matt was with us at the time of Cory’s accident and played an important part in the initial emergency response, Cory was wearing his “USA” jersey at the time, now this may not sound like a big thing, but for Cory this jersey is of great sentimental value, you see it is a bit of a tradition to swap a jersey from your own country, with that of a fellow competitor at the BMX World Championships.
The jersey that Cory had swapped with Hayley Rassi from the US of A needed to be cut off Cory at the track. Matt saw all of this take place and saw the horror on Cory’s face when they cut his jersey (and mine…) along with Matt having gone through the same jersey swapping journey at Worlds, he knew how much this jersey meant to Cory!
What did Matt do? Matt did what any absolute legend would do and got to work to organise a USA jersey to be sent over from the USA as a gift, but why stop at any old Jersey?? With the help of Lauren Reynolds, Matt and Hannah were able to get one of Nic Long’s Jerseys from his Worlds campaign!!
Cory then had a session with Peter, our Spinal Team Psychologist, Cory enjoys his sessions with Peter and we believe that this is such an important part of the recovery process.
We then Got Cory back into the wheel chair and we headed back down to Ward 5C where Cory spent the first week after coming out of the Intensive Care Unit, so that we could give them some chocolates and a card to thank them for their help during our stay with them.
Wednesday was another great day with morning routines getting a little bit better and OT being satisfied that Cory could now transfer into and out of his wheel chair/ bed without the use of the slide board (yay another little goal kicked). Aunty Sharna also come up to visit and we spent a little more time in the megazone. Although Wednesday was a pretty good day, Cory was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and prescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics to combat this.
Thursday was a massive day with about 5 hours spent in the wheel chair! by far the biggest day Cory has had since we have been on this little journey.
The day started really well, waking up with minimal pain for a change, although not feeling very hungry, managed to eat about 1/3 of a croissant, before starting his morning routines and having a little vomit.
Cory pretty much did his transfer onto the commode all on his own (aside from us physically wheeling it in etc) He is regaining some energy and some strength nicely.
We then headed out to the Physio Gym with Christina for the very first time where Cory smashed through some more amazing progress. Amongst the myriad of exercises that are done to help keep his muscles and limbs moving Cory was able to roll over on to his stomach (assisted on the legs) and was also able to get himself into a “crawling” position on all fours! He was also then able to do a couple of pushup type movements.
The day did not stop there! After returning to the room for a short rest, Laura and Monique arrived to take us on an outing to the OT Kitchen where Cory was set a task of making himself a smoothie. The whole idea here is for him to learn how to get around the kitchen and normal day to day tasks so that he can lead a semi normal life while confined to a wheel chair.
Just before lunch Sandra Winfield, President of the Southside BMX Club came to visit Cory and to see how he was getting on. Sandra also presented Cory with $500 and some chocolates on behalf of the Southside BMX Club.
Roll on lunch time and one of Cory’s best mates Chad rocked up with his mum Meaghan, His little bro Max and a McChicken Big Mac, legend! We didn’t time Cory to see how long that Big Mac lasted, but we are confident that it was devoured within some sort of world record time!
While Chad was about, Gabe, Lachie and Harry rocked up, the 3 boys had caught the early train up to Perth and made a day of it. They joined us in the Megazone while we enjoyed a bit of basketball then on to some air hockey.
The boys then went and chilled out in LiveWire for a while and played a few video games and a bit of pool before returning back to the room.
It was a big night with probably, once again, too much time spent in the wheel chair.
Friday was a struggle, with a poor nights sleep and lots of pain on Thursday night (no doubt a result of too much time in the chair on Thursday) Cory struggled to get going, he managed to get through his morning routines still doing his own transfers, but just a little slower. We had a very light session of Physio with Nicole, just a few stretches then some bean bag throwing exercises to get him stretching a little in the torso.
He then transferred to the Wheel chair and we went off to our family meeting where we discuss Cory’s progress, any concerns or questions we may have and the Spinal Rehab Team give us a rundown on what we are tackling in the coming week.
Showing just how tired Cory was, he was unable to keep his eyes open for the meeting and several times we are sure he was asleep, although he says he wasn’t… haha
Cory had set some goals for this coming week and we informed the Spinal Team of these at this time, they are;
- Cory wants to be able to put his own shirt and shorts on by the 26th Jan entirely unaided.
- Cory wants to be able to get into a smaller wheelchair by the 26th Jan, even if it is not a permanent chair and he still uses the larger reclining breezy that he presently has, from time to time.
- Cory wants to again roll on to his stomach, be able to get onto all fours, then take four crawling paces on his hands and knees.
These are very ambitious goals and the Spinal Team very excited to have a patient that is so driven to develop their rehab so fast!
We will keep you informed on just how he get on with those goals at the end of next week.
BUNBURY BMX CORY CROMBIE CLUB FUNDRAISER!
Friday the 19th was the Cory Crombie Fundraiser night at the Bunbur BMX Club, with some 190+ riders the night looked to be an absolute success and we are sad that we could not even get there to at least watch.
Massive thanks and shout out to Leon Daymon for live streaming it for us onto Facebook, you’re a bloody champion mate, it made Cory’s night to watch all the love coming in from the WA BMX Community and from a Club that we have poured so much of our energy, love and lives into over the last 8+ years.
There has been a lot of love shown to us from our fellow riders and our community as a whole, it is really humbling to feel so much love coming in from so many places, many of which are completely unexpected.
Thanks again Bunbury BMX Club Committee, Members, Family & Friends, we truly appreciate the love and support that we are being shown.
Our challenge for this week is to set yourself one goal for the week, we would love to see your goal added to the comments of the blog.
You have seen Cory’s goals, we show his results at the end of the week, will you share yours with us?
#corycrombiecan
#muchlove
The Crombies