Tuesday September 27, 2005

Tuesday September 27, 2005 Several accidents on I64 made me late this morning so when I arrived Zack had already eaten and was in the shower. Jennifer (our nurse today) was sitting in his room to see that everything went OK. When Zack came out of the bathroom he smiled at me and said you’re late. I apologized and then he said to Jennifer “thanks for watching me”. She explained that Dr Mook had discontinued the Midodrine (for low blood pressure) yesterday and they were stopping the Bromocryptine (cognitive) today. He will be left only taking three medications. 8:30 went for a walk outside because he said he wanted to feel the sun on his face. Back in our room our caseworker Sarah came to tell us that we still did not have insurance approval on Dallas yet but they hadn’t said no. The people from the Centre will come on Thursday to evaluate him. A UofL student named John who will be shadowing us today arrives and introduces himself to Zack. He asked Zack what school he went to and the sports he played. 9:00 Speech with Kathy and they work on picture identification. He can spell the word but has a hard time identifying the picture without lots of help. She tests his memory by hiding something in the drawer and in the sink. After 10 minutes he got to the general area around the sink and then found the item. He immediately went to the drawer for the other item. They work on 4 word puzzles and he has to work hard to name the pictures. He is stuck on the word “eclipse” today. PT with Amy and they work on balance (standing on alternate legs with his eyes closed). O.T. with Mary Beth and he is on the computer. She brings him a calendar and wants him to type the date. He needs help with the numbers. Then she asked him to type some sentences. Once she helps him figure out what he wants to say, he is able to type it correctly, although the aphasia is very apparent. He has no problem with asking for help or saying that he doesn’t understand something. Zack and John toss a medicine ball and he is all smiles (he loves to play with the guys). They play bat mitten with a balloon. Back in the room to rest before lunch. Donna tells Zack that I am going to teach her how to play the card game “golf” and what a challenge that will be. She is not good at cards and Zack will be happy to beat her. Zack’s arms are sore from tossing the medicine ball and he asked, “Did you beat me up this morning?” In speech this afternoon he wants to know how long he is in therapy. He does not remember our UofL student John from this morning. He explains, “I was sleeping during that”. Kathy shows him two items, a belt and a sock, and asked him to point to the belt. He points to it right away. Then she asked him to point to the spoon and he points to the sock. Now the aphasia kicks in strongly and he cannot identify the objects by their name. She gave him various letters to spell words and he got everyone correct. Had a little trouble with some of the longer words but would find his mistake and correct it. When she would show him a picture and give him letters to spell the picture he couldn’t do it (aphasia is killing me). After speech he wanted to walk outside again. He really is enjoying our changing weather. He likes the breeze and feeling the sun on his face. He understands to cross the street where the sidewalk is closed so that he doesn’t have to walk in the street. Afternoon PT and he is on the stationary bike for 15 minutes. Then he does sit-ups and hydrant leg lifts. He thought these were really funny and laughed and laughed. Back in the room to rest before O.T. and Rita (Grandma) asked him what he would de if Dylan tried to sneak out of the house at night. “I’d smack him”. She asked the same thing about Kyle and Logan and he said he’d smack them too. “A big, large hand of smack’em”. 4:00 OT with Mary Beth and he does more push ups off the bed and several different types of arm lifts. She is really working to strengthen the upper body. He worked on the parallel bars and the pullies. She had him lean against a wall with his legs bent (like he was sitting in a chair) and hold that position. It was very hard (try it yourself for 10 minutes). He was worn out after all the exercises and came back to his room, jumped in bed and went right to sleep. I had to wake him at 6:15 to eat dinner. Scott is coming with the girls tonight and I will leave with them. When Scott arrives we are visiting with Mary Rivard. Zack’s nurse comes in to get his blood pressure and he is acting silly. Scott tells him to settle down and then asked him who was the boss. Zack looks at me but them points to his Dad (when he has a wife of his own he will learn who the real boss is). Several of Zacks friends arrive and they talk about what is going on in school. He asked if he could go to McDonalds alone with his friends (sorry). Kaitlyn and her Mom arrive and they ask Zack what he wanted me to write about him on the website. He responded, “That I’m sexy”. I think he is looking for a wife because he told them he plans to get married at 23 and have three kids. Isn’t it a blessing that we can look to the future with such hope, fulfilling dreams we have had for him since he was born. Scott and Zack walk Kaitlyn and her Mom to the garage and say good-bye. Once everyone has left Scott talks to him about Texas. Zack says he’s a little scared to go but after they talk a while he wasn’t scared any more. We can’t let him know that we are scared too. It is only normal to fear the unknown but I am sure that God will lead us to the best place for Zack. It is just the next step in his recovery. We trust in God and His word. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corr 5:17 Please pray that we will find out soon so we have time to adjust to the next move. Pray for an end to the aphasia and for complete recovery.