Wednesday August 3, 2005

Wednesday August 3, 2005 Zack looks very good this morning. He is very relaxed with his left arm up over his head. I decide to tickle his arm and ask him if he likes it. He shakes his head no. I found his bear on the floor and asked him if he wants it. He shakes his head yes. He nods to several other questions. Dr. Mook (Physiatrist) comes in and says Zack is doing well. He explains that we have to have 3 negative cultures for MRSA two weeks apart before Zack can come out of controlled isolation, which just means no more gloves. Thank you for all your prayers because Zack is up to 140# although he still looks too skinny to me. 8:30 I brush Zack’s teeth and give him the toothbrush and he does it on his own. He gets a chest x-ray, which looks very good so they will probably remove his Trach tomorrow. We go to the gym for our morning P.T./O.T. therapy at 10:00. Zack is sitting up by himself on the edge of the mat supporting himself with his hands. He is very nosey and constantly trying to look to see what is going on outside of our curtained therapy area. Mary Beth (O.T.) saw him with his baseball and commented that there is no reason to think that he can’t read. He turns the ball around in his hand to read what is written on it. He loves this baseball because his Dad brought it to him. On July 28 Scott was on his way to the hospital from work. He was driving past the stadium when someone hit a homerun out of the park. Scott saw it hit the street, turned his flashers on, jumped out of his truck and chased after the ball. He wrote on the ball “Home run hit out of park for you. 7-28-05 I love you, Your Dad Scott” and brought it to Zack. Zack always has this ball in his hand rolling it between his fingers. At 12:00 we get an unexpected visit from Yolanda, one of his nurses at University ICU. She was so happy to see Zack in regular clothes sitting in his wheelchair and we were delighted to tell her how well he was doing. Just to set the record straight for all those people teasing Yolanda, “The Vine” is just what we call our Sunday night service at Southeast Christian Church (not some wacky cult). We would feel privileged if Yolanda wanted to come to church with us at any time. She told us Zack was the first patient she ever visited so we feel very special. In speech today Zack ate a little more applesauce but we fought his right side neglect throughout the session. In our afternoon P.T./O.T. therapy Zack stood up (assisted) and looked at himself in the mirror. He is so tall. He still has so much tone in his right arm. His brain is sending the wrong messages of abnormal tone to his body. This causes contracture (in Zack’s case he holds his right arm way up near his shoulder because his brain tells him that is normal). By wearing a brace on his arm it stretches the muscle fiber and sends the brain the message of correct position. Sooner or later the brain and muscles will work together. We move Zack to the edge of the mat in a sitting position. He sits totally unsupported with his hands on the mat beside him. He sways slightly back and forth shifting his weight. Suddenly he stands up and fixes a wedgie and sits back down. We are flabbergasted. Mary Beth (O.T.) says sometimes they need their own personal incentive. For Zack it’s a wedgie. Mary Beth mentions that a soft neck brace may help us at least keep his head up even though he may still turn it to the left. Right now we are using a towel wrapped around his neck and he doesn’t really like it. He nods yes when we ask him if he wants to take the towel off. They try a bell to get him to look to the right, but he is not interested. Then Donna gets a brilliant idea to try her cell phone ring. Perfect! Zack immediately takes the cell phone and puts it up to his ear. Teenagers…what else but a cell phone! When we get back to the room Dr. Miller stops by to discuss Zack’s progress. They will not officially move him up to a 4 until he is consistent with his responses. Zack never wants to perform when the doctors are around. After Dr. Miller leaves we ask Zack several questions about Dylan starting football practice and his cell phone. He nods responses to all of them. We give Zack Rita’s (Scott’s Mom) cell phone and he is in his own element. We call the phone; he flips it open, puts it to his ear and listens. We hope he will talk but he just listens. When we say goodbye he hangs up. A large group of his friends show up and have a cell phone party with him. He goes through the menu and address book on Rita’s phone. He changes rings on my phone. For 2 ½ hours he plays with cell phones. It is so good to see him act like a teenager. I thank God for the creativity of everyone around us that help find new ways to reach Zack. Today I ask you to pray that we can find the right avenue to teach Zack’s brain where midline is (looking straight ahead) and to welcome him into the world on the right. I ask for prayers for me when I lose patience with people around me because they don’t always understand what’s best for Zack. I ask you to worship the God that is carrying us when we are too weak to go on. Ask him to keep talking with Zack and to make him whole again.