Saturday July 30, 2005

Saturday July 30, 2005 Zack was doing a lot of mumbling this morning. I did not expect very much since he gave me such good things yesterday. Jude Thompson (junior and senior) came by to see Zack. Senior explained that Jude had played a bad game of golf the day before and normally would be very upset about it, but he realized how fortunate he was to be able to play at all. Jude signed his golf glove and left it for Zack. This is a humbling lesson for many of Zack’s friends and they are learning to appreciate activities that they previously had taken for granted. After we get him dressed Mary Beth (O.T.) came through the ward and helped us get Zack into his chair. He says something but the only word we can make out is “head”. Andrew, Taylor and Blake come by to visit and he seems to stare longingly at his bed. He obviously does not want to be in his chair and finally says, “I don’t want get up”. We were all astonished. He undid his seatbelt twice. When it was time for them to leave he gave Andrew and Blake “high five”. The weighed him again and he has lost more weight (down to 133 #). His body burns a lot of calories just healing itself (and then there is those late night river dances) so they have increased his tube feeds to 2160 calories. While he was in his chair we told him several times to move his foot back onto the footrest and he complied. He is following some commands. I don’t expect him to give thumbs up at this point. As we waited to go down to the gym I saw Zack scoot himself back in his chair so he is gaining control over more of his body. At 4:00 PM we begin Occupational Therapy. Mary Beth was supposed to be at Jewish and we were going to have a weekend therapist but when the time came Mary Beth showed up. Ann (weekend O.T.) helped out and Zack was more aggressive in his responses. After 15 minutes or so in a sitting position they decide to lay him down on his back and he threw up. Scott and I were both freaking out a little bit but apparently it is not uncommon. We cleaned up the mess, which also seemed to upset Zack that it was on his face, and continued with O.T. They decided to try Zack in a standing position. He supported his weight with his legs on his own and they just helped with his upper body. You could see him flexing his thigh and stomach muscles to remain standing. We also noticed for the 1st time in 23 days that he has grown taller. He was now taller than Scott (although Scott didn’t want to admit it) and could be over 6’ even though he wasn’t standing as tall as possible. Zack was able to see himself in a full-length mirror as he was standing but I think he was more focused on Scott celebrating behind him. Mary Beth and Ann seem to agree that Zack is a 4 on the Cognitive Scale but his speech therapist will have the final word (no pun intended). He will now move into the next phase, which is a step forward but not necessarily pleasant. He will become increasingly more agitated and aggressive. He will talk a lot more but only to express negative thoughts and emotions (I don’t want to, I can’t, you’re mean to me…). He will also likely get foulmouthed, which is common in recovery of traumatic brain injury. The remaining of the evening was pretty uneventful although we received quite a few visitors. Zack was very tired and I’m sure weak from throwing up. I was encouraged to leave early tonight (9:00 PM) so I could spend time at home with Scott and the girls. I was told that Zack’s Trach came out later when he coughed. Dr. Skolnick (pulmonary) told me that they would start plugging his Trach at night as well as during the day. If he handled it as they expected (oxygen levels close to 100%) with being able to cough up secretions, they would remove his Trach next week. Then we will have one less thing to worry about Zack messing with. Now he can’t seem to keep his hands off his head wound (it itches) which periodically is bleeding. We have seen so many blessings this first week at Frazier. Only 4 days ago he was in ICU and I was worried about some infection killing him. I ask for your continued prayers for his complete recovery. I ask specifically for God to nourish his body so that he can regain strength to help himself in therapy. I ask for some special moments to spend with the rest of my family without fearing that Zack needs me.