Friday September 9,2005

Friday September 9, 2005 Zack was asleep when I arrived. Scott had come up very late last night and spent the night. He got Zack up for breakfast but as soon as he ate he got back in bed. Dr. Mook came in to discuss Zack’s progress. They are still talking 2 to 3 weeks before he comes home. He really wants to get the blood pressure thing under control. When he comes home he will be taking Amantadine (brain stimulant), Lexapro (depression) Florinef and Midodrine (both for the orthostatic hypotension-blood pressure). He will check his potassium levels to see if those pills can be eliminated and everything else he is on they will start weaning him off in a week. Dr. Mook says it is very important that Zack drinks lots of fluids, both for his potassium levels and his blood pressure. It was almost time for speech so Zack got up, dressed, brushed his teeth and walked to the nurse’s station for a little visit. 9:00 Kathy arrived at our room for speech. We talked about his birthday party last night and he was all smiles. He completes sentences and needs very little help. Every once in a while he comes up with the wrong word and when he knows it’s wrong he will smile. P.T. in the gym with Amy and she takes him to the 1st floor gym. He struggles to do 10 minutes on the stationary bike. He does log presses and stretches. It is painful and he doesn’t like it. He was very emotional but as soon as they were through he was smiling again. Amy explained that when he goes to Frazier East they will work on stamina, social skills and a lot of cognitive therapy. In O.T. with Mary Beth and as he arrives Zack looks around and says, “I gotta get out of this yard”. They sit at the computer and he types his name only missing one letter in his last name. He typed the date 9-9-05. She asked him what he got for his birthday and he typed “perserveration” and then said it exactly as he typed it. I am wondering if he doesn’t mean perseverance. He still gets stuck on the same letter or word. He says, “Mom’s going to give me a driving task”. He would make up silly things and crack Amy up. She gave him a pattern of colors and he had to duplicate it with colored beads. Amy thought it would be hard for him but he got it in no time. He even found his own mistakes. She gave him a harder one and he still completed it with no problem. He was very pleased with himself. Speech with Kathy at 1:30 and there was a student from U of L sitting in. Zack was very talkative and distracted. Kathy asked him yes/no questions and he didn’t do very well. After speech Donna took Zack for a walk outside. They ran into Dr. Densler (the neurosurgeon that removed his bone flap) and he recognized Zack right away. He commented that it would take Zack two years to fully recover but he expected that to happen. Afternoon P.T. with Amy and they toss a football. She stretched out his hamstrings again and he got very upset and mad. It really hurt and he pounded the mat with his fist. Back in his room, Dr. Kraft (Director of the Brain Injury Program) came by to wish Zack a Happy Birthday (one day late). He gave me information on Frazier East including some names of therapist there. At 4:00 we are back in O.T. with Mary Beth. She has him put pushpins by color into the wall. She is working on finger strength and dexterity on the right hand. He does very well and she would like us to do this in our room. Back in his room for a short nap. He just dozes and then tells me, “Mom can we have a conversation?” Yes. “Can you give me my ride home today?” No, Dr. Mook won’t let us leave. “Why”. We have to stay here 2 more weeks to get your mixed up words fixed and to make sure you are not dizzy when you stand up. “Well, that’s not acceptable for two reasons. 1st I can’t stay here two weeks. 2nd I can’t stay here any more”. Zack wants to go home. I told him when Dr. Mood came by he could talk to him about it. Logan (his little sister) comes by with our neighbor Kim Getz, Morgan and Claudia. They brought him a hugh heart shaped balloon and Zack knew Logans name right away. Taylor and her parents visited and when Taylor’s little sister asked Zack what her name was he said, “Midget” and laughed. Dan and his family come and Zack enjoys throwing a ball around with Dan. Before dinner everyone was gone and Zack was lying in bed with his eyes open.. He seemed sullen and when I asked him what was wrong he just shrugged his shoulders. He ate dinner and then we went for a walk. He wasn’t saying much and again seemed sad. I asked what was wrong and he looked at me and said, “You should know”. As I prodded him a little he told me he wants this event over. He has a hard time understanding why he can’t go home. He knows he still mixes up his words but he doesn’t think that’s any reason to stay here. I can only imagine the desire to go home will get progressively worse over the next two weeks. About the only time he isn’t thinking about going home is in therapy, when his friends are here and when he’s sleeping (but for all I know he could be dreaming of going home). He is so loving, funny and polite. Everyone enjoys his singing and he loves entertaining everyone. I asked him if he wanted to play video games and have the aide bring the cart with the x-box to his room. Alyssa Breen (home from Uof K) and her sister play video games with Zack. He sings for them and they listen to different tunes on her cell phone. He decides to take a shower and then heads for bed and is asleep by 10:30. Therapy wears him out. I have been told that the cognitive portion will wear him out even more. When he really starts exercising his brain, building new pathways, his brain will need to sleep to reenergize. When he goes to Frazier East there will be a lot of cognitive therapy (working the brain) and it will be harder than school. He will get a break to eat lunch but no nap. He will come home worn out. But that will be just another phase of his recovery. It seems as soon as we get use to things one way there are changes. Life is different, constantly changing, but Zack is healing. God is still in control and we are fortunate to have a front row seat as he molds a new creation. Zack is the vessel that our maker will use for His purpose. We may not know what that purpose is today, tomorrow or even months from now but we do know He has a perfect plan and we will watch it unfold with anxious hearts. Pray that Zack will be patient with God’s timing on going home. Pray that his mixed up words get properly filed away. Pray for complete recovery.