Sunday, September 4, 2005

Sunday September 4, 2005 Zack was up early with Rita (Scott’s Mom) while I went to church with the rest of the family. Louie’s (Scott’s Dad) and his sisters in from Florida came to visit at 10:00. Zack said the 23 Psalm for them and rapped, “Our God is an awesome God”. They were going to the mall and asked him if there was anything they could get him. He told them to get him a destination. I think he was trying to tell them he’s ready to get out of here. He hugged everyone and told them he loved them as they left. Rita showed him some of the pictures from University Hospital in his photo album. She asked him what happened to him and he told her he got his butt whipped. He is still unemotional and disconnected when he looks at his hospital pictures. She showed him a picture of Donna and I with him and asked him who we were. He said, “My Mom and my Grandma”. He better be referring to Donna as Grandma and not me. He lay down to take a nap and when she got him up at 12:15 for lunch he had a “spell”. She sat him down and 5 minutes later he got up and had another “spell” and this time went all the way to the floor. When it was over, he cried and said I’m sorry. I arrived 5 minutes later. Ironically I had been sitting in church feeling uneasy and told Scott I needed to leave and get to the hospital. At about that time Zack was falling. I talked to Jennifer (his nurse today) and she called Dr. Mook. They raised his Florinef to 3 mm starting today. After discussing with Rita how it happened I think we concluded that he was not pumping his knees high enough to get the blood to his brain, after lying down and before walking. My brother and his wife arrive and Zack shows off for them, shooting hoops in the little basket attached to his bed. He tires of that and we take a walk with Tiffany (his friend). Zack took a short nap after lunch and then we decided to head to the conference room to watch the game (UofK vs UofL). When we arrive the conference room is pretty crowded with a few other patients and their families. The game hadn’t started yet so Zack decided he wanted to go to the bathroom. Tiffany saved our seats while we headed to his room. On the way back he said, “We can’t stay in there with all those people for the whole game”. I told him we would leave at half time and he agreed. My Mom and sister Karen come join us in the conference room. He was getting into the game but was also conscious of other people being there. We made it through the 1st quarter when he looked at me and said we have to go. We went back to his room and watched some other professional football game and he dozed Scott arrived and Zack was glad to see him. He said, “Hey buddy, I’ve been missing you. What happened to your hair?” We all laughed because Scott just got a haircut and his hairdresser took a little bit too much off (it’s very short). I thought it was quite insightful that Zack recognized it. Andrew, Trey and a bunch of girls arrive at the same time. They get to visit a little while before Zack’s dinner came and they had to leave. After dinner Zack lies down for a nap and Scott goes to pick Dylan and the girls up. When Zack wakes up he wants to go somewhere. We head to McDonalds at 8:30 P.M. Zack loves these little trips out of Frazier but as soon as he is done eating he always says, “we gotta go!” It doesn’t matter if you are not finished he is ready to leave. Back in the room Beth (his nurse tonight) brings him his meds. I ask her if she would like to hear the song Taylor Barton wrote for Zack. As I play it, Zack stands and snaps his fingers to the beat, closes his eyes and sings along. It really is a beautiful song and he enjoys it. He asked her to open his can of nuts…out pops a snake. Rita had brought this for him to play tricks on his friends so he decides we have to get all the nurses tonight. He goes to Big Johns room and scares him to death. He thinks it’s hilarious. When we finish with the staff in the children’s wing we walk to the north end of the floor and surprise some nurses there. He really has a good time with it, laughing and then apologizing to everyone he tricks. When we finish on that end of the floor he wants to go out to the street and find more victims. I convince him to wait until tomorrow and we will get Dr. Mook and his therapists. After his shower we settle down to work with some of the word cards that Mrs. Funderberk left us. Zack is cooperative but he doesn’t understand why we have to do it. He would much rather go out and trick more people with his snake-in-the-can-joke. After he takes his shower we walk the halls some more. He says we have to go look for Lake Forest (the subdivision where we live). He is ready to go home and get on with life. I have to explain that we still have work to do here, to get his mixed up words fixed. He knows that he uses the wrong words sometimes but doesn’t think it is a problem. I have read in one of the many research booklets given to me on traumatic brain injury, that one of the problems we will face in the future is that Zack will not recognize his deficits. He will feel that everything is fine and not understand why we won’t let him do certain things. I have to just keep talking with him to make him understand. I have to keep his friends informed so that they understand that Zack may appear fine but he still has issues to deal with that will keep us by his side. Again, we have to stay “in the day” because it is ever changing. He progresses and what was a problem last week is not an issue any more but new things have to be dealt with. We will manage and learn as we go. By the grace of God we will carry on. Pray for Zack to recover completely, for his friends to be patient and for us to have wisdom through it all.