Wednesday August 31, 2005

Wednesday August 31, 2005 Zack got up early this morning and was finished with breakfast at the nurse’s station when I arrived. I was surprised to see him and he said, “hurry me up”. He was ready to get dressed and go for a walk. We walked all over the 4th floor and down to the lobby by 8:20 so when we got back to the room he decided to nap in his recliner until speech. Kathy arrived at 9:00 and decided to move him from the chair to the table. He had a “spell” and went all the way to the floor. Thankfully we were right on top of him and it was easier to take him to the floor than to stop him from falling. He was upset and started to cry. Within 60 seconds we had 4 or 5 nurses and aids in our room to be sure he was O.K. Kathy tried to get his mind off his fall by getting him involved in therapy. He separated pictures into categories and he had to find the word to put the picture under. He did much better than yesterday. In P.T. with Amy in the gym he worked on various exercises using a big red ball that were designed to help with strength, balance and following directions. O.T. with Mary Beth and she had him separate a deck of cards into suits. He got 100% and he couldn’t do it 2 days ago. They play war and he won. She had him duplicate 23 symbols in writing and he did very well.
Lunch at 12:15 and Jennifer (our nurse today) brings him another dose of Florinef. This is the drug Dr. Puri prescribed to assist his body in retaining fluids, which helps with the
rapid drop in blood pressure when he stands up too quickly. I guess our fall this morning drew some attention. We got a phone call that there was a package downstairs for Zack. I went down to pick it up and knew that it was from Tiger Woods. The Foundation had found out about Zack from Scott’s cousin in California and when they heard that Tiger was his favorite golfer they told us they were sending him something. We were really anxious to have him open it but decided to wait until this evening when Scott could be there too. 1:30 Speech with Kathy again and she shows him a picture and three words and he has to circle the word that goes with the picture. She didn’t help him at all and he missed most of them. Then she had him match an object to the written word (more objects, less words) and he did much better. He was very lethargic and laying his head down on her desk. Kathy asked him if he had a headache and he said yes. Back in the room Jennifer takes his temperature and he does not have a fever. He takes a little nap in the recliner and Tyler from his baseball team stops by. When it was time for P.T. in the gym Tyler went with him. Amy had him throw beanbags into a basketball goal. He did pretty good. He did much better throwing a football. He was getting everybody’s name wrong but the names he was making up were pretty funny. H said Amy’s name was Image Perfume (maybe he likes her smell). Back in his room Jennifer came in to take his temperature again. He thought she had a camera and put his arm around Tyler, smiled and posed for a picture. He has become a big ham and is always ready for a picture. He decided he still had a little time to take a nap so he crawled into bed and said, “Shut the garage door”. I’m not quite sure if he meant to say something else but many nights at home, as we were going to bed, Scott would say shut the garage door.
When it’s time to leave for O.T. there is a fire drill and no one can leave their rooms and he ends up late to the gym. Once they get started Mary Beth has Zack put pins in a pincushion. This helps with fine motor skills and finger dexterity. Then she gave him a hammer and some nails and had him pound them into a piece of wood. She noticed that his right wrist is very weak and asked another therapist for some good wrist exercises that we can do in the room. She had him use a 2-pound weight and raise and lower his wrist 25 times. Zack said it hurt but then he did 25 more without complaining. He is so good about realizing the importance of therapy. I remember people at University telling me that Zack would not want to go to therapy because it was hard. I started telling him our first day at Frazier that we were here for therapy and that is what would make him well. I believe he took that to heart and works hard because he wants to get better. He is very determined. Zack gets visitors before his dinner arrives. When it’s time to eat I have to make them wait in the conference room until he is done. By the time he was through eating a line was forming. I had his friends come in 2 at a time and they were very cooperative. They have listened to me explain things and want to do what’s best for Zack, even though it is inconvenient sometimes. One day when Zack reads this and looks through his photo album he will see the faithfulness of his friends. He will truly understand fellowship and Christian love. Scott arrives with Dylan and the girls and we decide it’s finally time to open our package from Tiger Woods. Everyone is very excited. Tiger sent him 2 hats, a polo shirt, a gumball machine and a Tiger Woods video game. Zack loved his new white hat and had to try it on and of course get his picture taken. Scott is staying with Zack tonight so that I can spend time with Dylan and the girls. We leave and go to Applebee’s to eat dinner. As we look over the menu I am struck by the fact that Zack could not come here for a long time. I never noticed how noisy this place was until now…many conversations going on at the tables around us, music playing, a TV on and sounds from the kitchen. It was almost too much for me so I know it would be more stimulation that Zack could handle. We will have to look for fun places to take him that aren’t quite so noisy. When we get home we walk the dog around the block and I catch up on what the girls have been doing in school. We try to act normal but all of us wonder when Zack will be able to do normal things again. Life has changed. It is not worse, only different. In many ways it is better. We have seen true Christian love from people who barely knew us and immense sacrifices from close friends and family. We have learned to trust God and lean on Him for strength. We have the privilege of each word of scripture taking on intimate meaning. We have Zack. Life is better. We are blessed. Pray that others will recognize that blessings can come from tragedies. Pray that those who are near us will want the peace that passes all understanding and seek to know God. Continue to pray for Zack’s complete recovery.