Saturday August 20, 2005

Saturday August 20, 2005 Zack was lying in bed zipped up when I arrived with the girls (Kyle 9 and Logan 6). I tried to unzip his “tent bed” but the zipper was stuck. I went to go get help after telling Kyle not to touch it. When I walked out of the room Kyle tried to open the zipper and Zack told her, “Don’t touch it”. At breakfast Zack got in a hurry and started picking his eggs up with his fingers. Kyle said, “don’t eat with your fingers”. Zack told her to shut up. Some things never change. He told me to put his socks in the cabinet (that’s where we keep them). He decided to take a walk and we ran into Holly (his nurse today) in the hall. She wanted to take Zack's blood pressure and he was very concerned with the numbers. We told him he got an A+ on his blood pressure and he said, “that’s what I was trying to get”. He is now taking all his medication by mouth, which is quite a lot. For those interested here’s his drug list: Amantadine for cognition, Bromocryptine for arousal, Baclofin for muscle tone inhibitor, Colace (stool softener), Previcid (stomach acid) Potassium (4 big pills and Diflucan (thrush). He was resting in bed and talking with Kyle. He kept telling her “I’m going to give you a message” and then he would talk gibberish. He watches the clock waiting top go to speech therapy. Logan messes with his bear and he tells her, “you can take my bear but go away. You all are annoying”. He decided it was time to leave and quickly got out of bed. He walked towards his wheelchair and as I was unlocking the brake he started to fall. Kyle started yelling. He went all the way to the floor but thankfully did not hit his head (he was wearing his helmet). We were both very scared and so were the girls. Zack started crying. I told Kyle to run for Holly. Both girls were crying. We had Zack lay on the floor for a while and asked him if anything hurt. He said he hurt his back. They had a resident I had never seen before there within minutes to check him out. His shoulder blade was a little red but he was moving everything fine and we decided an x-ray wasn’t necessary. Logan was still crying and I was shaky so I had to sit down to rest before taking him to speech therapy at 11:00 (the girls stayed in his room). Erin was our speech therapist today (Kathy is off today) and she asked Zack a lot of opposite questions that were too easy (up/down, yes/no…). She went to harder fill in the blank statements (she’s asleep on the ________, couch). He did excellent, was very cooperative, polite and calm. He is still showing some Aphasia (language comprehension/word mix up) when asked to identify some items. He separated a deck of cards into suites very quickly so she dismissed him 5 minutes early. When we get back to his room he gets upset before he ever gets out of his wheelchair. He asked me, “Why are we in this place”. I tell him we’re here so he can get better. He starts to cry and says, “I want to get better”. He gets up and looks out the window and says, “I’m feeling bad”. I think we are really starting to see signs of depression. He commented that there was nothing to do. He lies down in bed for a while and then gets very emotional. I ask him what is wrong and he shakes his head. I ask him if he’s hungry and he says, “I’m very hungry”. He gets up quickly and wants to go look for the food cart. He walks towards the door and gets right outside his door when he starts to get dizzy again and almost falls but I am there to hold him up. I yell for Holly and get him back in the room to his chair. I explain to Holly exactly what I saw and she thinks that he just needs to eat. He no longer gets insulin shots so his blood sugar could be low. We get his some chocolate pudding to tie him over until lunch arrives. He eats all his lunch and takes a nap. 2:00 In the gym for O.T. with Brook (Mary Beth off today). I tell Zack that I think she’s going to take it easy on him and he says, “I don’t think so”. She gives him a worksheet with a bunch of letters on it all scrambled up and wants him to find the “N” and circle it. It was very confusing and he couldn’t do it (I didn’t like it wither). He sits in his chair and shakes his leg, which makes me think he is nervous about the whole thing. She writes letters on another piece of paper and asks him to find the “Z”. He starts to cry and says, “what happened to the eyes?” Now I am starting to agree with Mary Beth that he is having trouble seeing at times. They will have a doctor check out his eyes once he is more consistent with commands. He successfully put together some pipes and removed caps off bottles. He keeps watching the clock. She decides to try him on the vision board, a large board with many tiny lights on it. When they turn it on a single light will turn on and he has to touch it to make it go off. He gets 27 with his left hand in 60 seconds but only 10 with his right. It is good exercise for his right arm and will also help determine vision problems. We get back to his room and some of his friends come to visit. He is enjoying their company when suddenly he decides to stand up again…too fast. He gets dizzy but fortunately Robbie and I are right there to hold him up. Trey runs to get Holly. She asked me when the last time he had something to drink and we noticed how hot it was in our room. He drinks a big glass of apple juice and we get the air conditioner in our room working again. He changes into shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. He plays cards with his friends and soon it is time for them to leave. He walks them to the elevator but takes the long way. When they stop at the elevator he asks his friends, “are you getting in there” (pointing to the elevator)? When they said yes he said, “that sucks”. Back in his room Taylor and her Dad watch the golf game with him. He tells them his favorite golfer in Tiger Woods and comments on his bunker shot. He is so much more coherent and wants to communicate. I hope they start the Zolfo soon because I don’t want to see depression hamper his therapy. The only comfort is that depression is a sign that he is getting better so we are prepared for it. Scott and I decided to go out for dinner tonight with good friends (everybody keeps telling us it’s time). Scott’s Aunt Penny and Uncle Jay came to stay with Zack while his Mom went to our house with the other kids. Penny said that Zack was no problem. Two of his friends came by (girls of course) to visit and when they left he told them “see you around”. The aid came in to ask about his shower and he told them “my shower will be at 9:00”. Simple statements to try to bring control into his new chaotic world. Of course at the end of dinner Donna and I decided that we needed to see Zack (Scott had to relieve his mother). He was awake when we arrived although Penny and Jay had the lights out so he could sleep. Zack was very funny, asking us about our meal. I told him that tomorrow Grandma wouldn’t be coming before church but instead Daddy would. He seemed very pleased. He was in such a good mood and he pulled my arm so that before I knew it I was laying in bed with him. He joked around and said, “You know how easily it would be to break you?” We laughed, I kissed him and that was all the affection he could take from Mom. We are so very blessed. To think that God could have decided to take him home but instead chose him to be a witness to so many young people. It seems like we have been doing this forever and at the same time it feels like only yesterday we were discussing (O.K. arguing) about curfews. Please pray for all the teenagers that are our future, that we may have a future that includes Godly men and women. To fear God is the beginning of wisdom and I pray that many are seeking his guidance now that they have seen or heard first hand that one of their own has fallen because of one bad decision. Please pray for courage for Zack to see this through to the end and that his testimony will be to the glory of God!