Thursday September 29, 2005

Thursday September 29, 2005 Zack is up early again today and has had breakfast when I arrived. He showered, dressed and we go for a walk. 9:00 Speech with Kathy and she asked him questions about his morning. Then she gave him a piece of paper and asked him to spell various words and he did very well. Then she would write words and asked him what they were and before long he was reading them upside down and answering before she could turn the paper around. Then she showed him a picture and pointed to something in the picture and asked him what it was. This is where the aphasia gets us. He cannot associate words with objects. P.T. with Amy and she stretches him. They work on balance and flexibility (both has improved). He does 20 minutes on the stationary bike and they talk about his outing to the bowling alley tonight. He is confident that he is going to beat Amy and really talks it up. O.T. with Mary Beth and they work with money. They review the value of different coins and then she gives him different verbal problems (If you have $20 and buy a CD for $15.45 how much do you have left). He did very well. 11:30 our evaluation with Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS) begins. Wendi (a clinical nurse evaluator) asked him a variety of questions about his abilities and Zack answers accurately. The aphasia kicks in at times but they need to see that. She checks his hearing and eyesight (no problems). She has him draw a floor plan of his room showing the furniture. That was interesting. Zack worked very hard on it and you could see his bed but that was it. She asked him a variety of questions to test his cognitive skills. She asked, “What would be the reason a letter would be returned to you”
He answered “The Lord”. I don’t think that was the answer she was looking for but she can’t say that was wrong. She asked him to spell various words (some fairly difficult) and he does very well. After our evaluation ends Wendi tells me Zack is an ideal candidate for their program and she would be making that request of our insurance company. She has to give them a written evaluation and what the Centre would do to address his needs that couldn’t be done here. We should have their answer tomorrow. As soon as she leaves Fox 41 News arrives to interview us. They have heard about Zack’s recovery and wanted to know more. I get an opportunity to tell them that we feel led by God to teach other teenagers how simple decisions can change their lives forever and that through therapy and prayer, amazing things can happen. The reporter, Stephan Johnson said he would stay in touch because he knew a follow up story would be in line. Zack When they leave Zack could hardly wait to get in bed. His evaluation and interview cut into his naptime and he intends to catch up. While in bed he asked for the phone and calls his Dad (he knew the number) and leaves a message. Then he calls my cell phone (he knew that number as well). He says he wants Rita to write a letter for him. He wants to write, “ball fat material” in the letter and finally says, “No that doesn’t sound nice”. He gets up to change his clothes and starts dancing. He goes out to the nurse’s station and dances for the nurses (they love it). 4:00 OT with Mary Beth and they practice bowling to get ready for his outing. Once he gets his timing down he throws strikes and spares. He tells her he really likes bowling. Mary Beth comments that his right wrist is still very weak and he should use a light ball at Lucky Strike. He tells her he likes dancing better than bowling. Back in the room he want to write another letter, this time to his Dad. He wants to say, “I can barely follow him”. Rita asked him do you mean because he is fast or because he is good. Zack answers, “Because he is good”. Then he wants to write me a letter that says, “You stink at watching the clock”. He is always watching the clock and is ready to leave for therapy so he won’t be late.
Finally it’s time to leave. Amy (P.T.) and Karri (recreational therapist) come to get us and we walk the 4 or 5 blocks to 4th Street Live. It is a beautiful day and Zack loves it. He is always a fast walker and I notice he keeps slowing down. When I ask him why he is walking so slow, he looks back and says, “Because of that lady back there”. Rita had been walking with us but she couldn’t keep up and had fallen way behind. Zack was trying to slow down so she could catch up to us. So sweet to be concerned about his grandmother. We get our shoes, go to our land and select our balls. Zack bowls first and starts off great. By the time we get to the second frame his friends start to arrive. Before the first game is over there are about 10 kids here to cheer him on. Amy and Kerri are very impressed with how well he does. We all had a great time although Amy ended up beating Zack by 5 pins, but he still beat Kerri and me. He doesn’t want to leave but after we take pictures we have to head back to Frazier. His dinner is waiting for us when we get back and before he is finished his friends arrive. Several of them missed us at the bowling alley and still wanted to come to the room. Zack decides we need to play the card game “Golf” so we teach Rob, Kaitlyn and Brooke how to play and Tiffany joins in. There is laughter and joking around. At one point Tiffany doesn’t play fast enough and Zack tells her, “Should we skip you”. When he gets tired he hops in bed and half his friends end up in there with them. The girls ask Zack how he got so hot and he responds, “My Mom and Dad made me this way”. Everyone laughs and Brooke teases me with hot Mamma Hornback. We had a wonderful, exciting day as we wind down our stay here at Frazier. Zack will remain here until his surgery on Oct 5th. He will recover at University Hospital until Saturday Oct 8th, when he will be released to go home or to Texas. Our lives are about to change drastically again and we seem to be taking it in stride. It is part of God’s plan and we have learned not to question, only follow. We still worry like normal parents about the unknown but we except it much easier now that God has taught us that He is in control. Please pray that all the pieces fall perfectly in place the next 24 hours. We ask for your continued prayers for the aphasia to end and for Zack’s complete recovery.