Saturday September 24, 2005

Saturday September 24, 2005 Zack slept until after 9:00 and I had to wake him up to eat breakfast. He always wakes up with a smile. He showered and we went to the gym for O.T. with Angela. She had him thread a metal hose through wooden holes and he completed it easily. Then she had him go to the Frazier grocery store. She gave him three items to get- corn, soup and Cascade. He needed lots of help finding them. Once he found them he put them back in their place right away. She gave him three more items to find and this time had him write them down – salt, soap and soda. He still had a difficult time it was almost like he didn’t see them. He tries one more time to find three new items and he does better but the aphasia is so strong it is hard for him to recognize the items. 10:30 we head to the conference room for recreational therapy and one of the therapy dogs come. Zack is amused for a while but soon tells me it’s time to go back to his room. I work with him on flash cards with sight words and he does pretty good. Then he completes sentences and is very creative when he is not being silly. Tiffany shows up and we work on foot drills in the hall. He walks backwards all around 4 south. Then sideways, lunges and skipping. He tells me that is enough and we return to the room for lunch. He doesn’t finish all his food, says his stomach hurts and gets in bed to rest. Once he wakes up we teach Tiffany how to play the card game “Golf” and Zack beats us both. We head to the gym and play Chinese Checkers (2 games and Zack comes in second both times). It’s time for a walk and since it is nice outside we walk to University Hospital and say hi to the nurses in Neuro ICU. They are delighted and amazed to see how well Zack in doing. As we walk back to the room we play memory games. Zack gets so tickled trying to remember what objects each of us are taking on our imaginary trip. He starts laughing so hard he says it hurts. Once we get back to the room, Tiffany has to leave and Zack jumps in bed to watch football. Dale and Lauren come by and Zack decides he is no longer tired. They watch the football game and then we play “Golf” again. He tells them he will be home soon and I know he wants so badly to leave with them. Before they have to leave we put on some music and Zack shows off his dance moves. Once they are gone it’s back in bed to watch more football. Scott comes up with a pizza for Zack and they hunt for a T.V. that will have the U of L game on. Once Zack goes to sleep Scott and I will go out for dinner. Tonight is Christian Academy’s Homecoming Dance and I know none of his friends will be visiting. I look forward to the day when Zack can get out and enjoy normal activities with his friends. Things will actually never be normal again but that doesn’t mean they won’t be better. We try to be prepared no matter which path God decides to put us on. Please pray for an end to the aphasia. Pray for complete recovery.