Chris Blais Recovery Updates
7/27/09 Chris is doing great! It will be 2 years now since his accident He is going to a rehab near his house now, which is great too. He can continue to keep in shape and keep moving forward to walk some day. 1/15/09 Chris is doing a lot better, driving and having fun in his off-road Rzr vehicle.. He is still going to Project Walk, keeping toned and working hard towards walking again!
7/24/08 It has almost been a year since his accident and ordeal. It has been a long rough road, but he and us continue to push forward in hopes and prayers that he will walk again. He is pretty much the same when it comes to his legs. He gets frustrated at times and the burning pain is there always. He has gotten stronger in the upper body and arms.
He is not letting any of this get him down and continues to look forward to his goals for the future. Never give up praying for Chris and he will never give up trying to finish this race! Thank you and God Bless!
5/1/08 He still continues to make small improvements each day. He is now almost completely independent of me (Patty) at home (except for driving). Chris has a Ranger Rzr modified so is able to drive that around in the desert. We knew it wouldn’t be long for him to get back out in the dirt.
Thanks to all of you for always asking about his well-being and being concerned for both of us.
THANK YOU EVERYONE! We still love the desert!
3/25/08 Chris is still working hard on his recovery. He feels his muscles working in his upper body, even though he can not feel to the touch yet. His legs are moving on their own with the spasms, which the legs stiffen up and Chris has no control of them yet. The good thing with these spasms, he has good muscle tone, but they are hard to work with, and that is frustrating. He is still having the burning sensation which is constant and can be painful, because it gets so intense at times. He is really doing great and we are proud of him! 2/14/08 Chris has a lot of upper body strength now. You can see it when he works with the therapists. He makes them sweat when doing the resistant exercises. A lot of tingling in his feet and he said he feel some pressure points in his feet also when standing up. 1/10/08 Things are slowly moving forward. Chris is getting a LOT of tingling and burning sensations all the way down his legs now and into his feet and toes. It's uncomfortable for him, but it's a GOOD thing. At Rehab, they say it gets more uncomfortable and painful before it starts to get better!
Right now at rehab, they have him really focusing on balance and building up his ab muscles and his core/trunk. We are now into his 6th month since his accident.
It's really great going out to the races. Everyone gets really excited and happy to see Chris out and about. He is feeling fine and is very healthy, and keeping that positive attitude. 12/21/07 It's getting a little more exciting each day. Every day Chris is feeling more and more of "something". Sometimes it's tingling, sometimes it's burning. Lately he's been feeling some burning sensations in his butt and upper thighs and some tingling in his lower back. Every day he's more and more uncomfortable sitting, which is good! He says the tingling and burning are getting stronger and these are the first signs of when some feeling might be coming back.
He also said he feels some burning in his feet. His muscle spasms are crazy and his legs are so strong. Spasms are great because it's keeping his legs, muscles, stomach pretty toned. He loves to go to Rehab and get a good work out.
He had a deep-tissue massage therapy and that seem to help trigger some things. His collar bone is healed, but makes a lot of clicking noises during movement. I guess the deep massages can work out the scare tissue there too. Chris felt that it helped!
11/26/07 Another good Acupuncture treatment (11/21/07) with the doctor putting the needles in his legs this time, and as soon as the E-STIM device was hooked up to the needles (electronic stimulator), his leg muscles started hopping up and down.
Then later that day at rehab Chris was on an exercise bike and somehow, was doing the pedaling by himself without the help of the trainer. He pedaled for about 10 minutes straight. It was really weird but really great! He was using his whole body and like he said, some things might be working (in his legs) but he just can't feel it yet. This is all good stuff. 10/29/07 At rehab they have Chris 'up' and standing a lot! They also have him doing exercises while he's standing. His left leg is having lots of action. They can tell what muscles are 'firing' when he does certain exercises. He is able to use his lower abs a lot and they are getting stronger and stronger. He still can't feel them to the touch, but he can push them in & out. He is still going strong and never gives up 10/2/07 Chris started his rehab at "Project Walk" today. They worked Chris hard for two hours straight and got him on his feet standing for about 5 mins. We are so excited! He will be going two days a week for 2 hour sessions. It’s expensive and a long drive from his house, but it is well worth it. 9/6/07 Chris is home now, (9/5/07) and adjusting to his home life again, in a different way. He is so happy to be home, he will be going back and fourth to Rehab as an outpatient. We are waiting to hear of any improvements as time goes on.
Chris continues to push forward in getting his movement back completely. He has the strength, faith and perseverance, with all this; he will succeed and win a victory. We are proud of you Chris! 8/31/07: More improvements: He started moving his abdominal muscles even though he still can't feel his stomach to the touch but is able to move his muscles and balance upright to be able to sit up without holding on! Still no feelings below the rib cage, but this is still exciting news. Chris is ready to get out of Rehab very soon and get home. He will be an outpatient instead. The nurses and doctors have said he is doing great. He has a good attitude and determination. Nothing is going to hold Chris down; this is just another challenge to over come for him. Our Chris will do it, determination is his middle name. It’s tough to see what he has to go through daily, but he pushes himself to do everything he can do and learn. Patty (wife) has been by his side everyday giving him praises, encouragement and learning how to help him when he gets home. 8/22/07: It’s been a week now in the Loma Linda Rehabilitation center. He has made amazing progress as we can see it. He is able to sit up in a chair for many hours and already using his upper body and arms. Lots of exercising going on and he is tired by the end of the day. That’s our boy, never give up! 8/17/07: He is out of Renown hospital in Reno, NV and was flown in a medical plane to a Rehabilitation hospital closer to home, family and friends. He is in good spirits and ready to move forward to getting full movement back and make a full recovery.
Please keep Chris in your prayers! | 
