Monday August 22, 2005

Monday August 22, 2005 Zack was awake in bed with his lights out trying to get undressed. He saw me and started laughing. He said he gave his uniform pants to some girl. 9:00 speech therapy with Kathy in his room and she informs us that he can’t go to group lunch because he had MRSA at University Hospital and hasn’t had 3 negative cultures (only 2 but they never ordered the 3rd). She said they would schedule a private feeding in his room to hopefully remove the restrictions from his diet. Kathy showed him large cards with pictures of things on them (apple, horse, toilet) and asked him what they were. He was very frustrated because he knew what they were but retrieved the wrong word. Once she gave him the beginning sound he was able to finish the word. He counted the correct number of people in the pictures and did very well on word association. P.T./O.T. at 10:00 in the gym and his blood pressure and dizziness were discussed. Mary Beth (O.T.) really thinks the problem is with his eyes, which, she identified as vesicular, neurological or eyes reacting slow. We may have to do a more thorough blood pressure check by putting him on a tilt table. Once we rule out blood pressure we can research his vision more in depth. I believe it is a combination of both (I’m his mother so I’m probably right). Mary Beth started a paper airplane but Zack took it from her and finished it. He then started throwing it with his right hand. He had to walk/maneuver around an obstacle course with the goal to make him focus on his right side. He asked to go look for Melissa (his nurse many nights who takes him for late night rides in his wheelchair) because he needs to find her a passenger. He does remember people here that he never knew before his accident. At 12:30 Lorri from Speech Therapy arrives to watch how Zack eats and introduce new foods. His lunch consisted of mashed potatoes, applesauce, greens (all of which he has had before) and pork (whole this time). She wanted him to cut his meat with a butter knife, which was impossible for him (she had difficulty doing it herself). He did not enjoy lunch and I don’t think he liked Lorri, who kept stopping him from taking bites until he chewed (how do you chew mashed potatoes or applesauce). At one point he became very upset and started banging his fork on his plate. He was hungry, she was late and all he wanted to do was eat. He failed his eating test because Lorri says he eats too fast, takes too big of bites and doesn’t chew his food long enough (sounds like most teenage boys I know). So he will still have to have his meat ground, can’t have sandwiches or rolls (although they have sent them up on his tray before and he ate them with no problem) nothing crunchy, chewy or hard. The only part about it that bothers me is that he would really like to have pretzels (his favorite snack) and they would give him the salt he needs. I will lobby to get just pretzels added and be happy. Right now I am frustrated because I was sure Zack would pass the feeding test and I could keep my promise We arrived for speech a little late and I asked Rebecca (another speech therapist filling in for Kathy) if she would just try small pieces of pretzels. She did let him eat 3 small pieces, which he chewed and swallowed with no problems. She made a note to have Kathy see him eat pretzels. He easily answered her yes or no questions and followed directions. Back in the gym for afternoon P.T./O.T. and we have a new P.T. Angela who is very sweet and gentle. Maybe a little too sweet because she didn’t quite know what to do (she is new) and Zack could sense that and he took over. Then we got Mary Beth (O.T). Who knows Zack well. She worked with him on putting a sequence of pictures in order. She put post-it-notes all over his body and he had to stand in front of a mirror to remove them. Dr. Miller (physiatrist resident) came to discuss Zack’s shoulder with Mary Beth. He is still having a lot of trouble with it and they will put together a program and explain it to us in the Family Meeting Wednesday. Back in his room he naps before Scott comes with Dylan, Kyle and Logan. At first he handles their visit pretty good but he starts to get upset and is showing signs of depression. He keeps checking the clock. Later we start to get visitors and Jules from our dentist office stops by with some things for Zack. He brushes his teeth with a new rotary toothbrush and flosses. He has always taken good care of his teeth and it is nice to see him interested in them again. He glances at the clock and says, “ We have 2 more minutes”. He thinks he is going to therapy tonight and gets very upset when I tell him there is no more therapy today. He goes for a walk with Charlie (one of his nurses) to get the ants out of his pants and then comes back ready to visit with his friends. Andrew, Trey, Taylor and Kelsey all play baseball with him. They keep encouraging him to throw with his right hand and dare him to try to hit the ceiling. This is such good therapy because he has to extend his right arm over his head in order to throw it that high. Soon he gets tired and heads for his bed. Melissa (his nurse tonight) comes in to check his blood pressure and he tells her that he feels bad, very sad. He says goodbye to his friends and takes another nap. Now I can see first hand what people mean when they say they are depressed and don’t want to get out of bed. After his shower I talk him into sitting up in his recliner and watching the football game. He finally seems relaxed. He points to my laptop and says to write compliments. He has noticed me before taking notes and now I think he realizes I am writing about him. I know one day he will want to know what happened while he was “gone” and I can hand him this manuscript of the missing pieces. He will see how many people prayed for him, encouraged him and loved him. He will read of the lesson he taught to many people he didn’t even know and realize how he was carried in the arms of Christ through his suffering. I told him tonight that there are people all over the world praying that he will get better and he told me to listen to his prayers. One day he will be able to thank those people himself and pray for them. Scott calls and reminds me to thank everyone again from him. He gets emotional at the outpouring of compassion from close friends to people who barely know our family. If you don’t read the comments please go back to August 17th and read the posting from Scott. Pray tonight that God will whisper in Zack’s ear 1st Peter 5:7 “Cast all your burdens on the Lord for he cares for you” and this will ease his depression.