Friday October 28, 2005

Friday October 28, 2005 Zack was up at 7:00 and I fixed sausage, eggs and pancakes. I felt after a couple days of cereal and Pop Tarts it was time for a good breakfast. He was still tired and quiet as we drove to Frazier East. I told him I would be with him at 10:00 for his meeting with Dr. Perri (psychologist). Dr. Perri needed me to fill in some missing information that Zack couldn’t remember, like his sleeping habits and physical condition before his accident. We talked about his visual perception difficulties, aphasia and attention deficit. All of these he expects to improve with time. He asked if I had seen any “anhedonia”, which is a loss of interest in things he used to enjoy, and I told him Zack wants to do all the same things as he did before the accident. He still wants to hang out with his friends, go bowling, play cards and has asked to go to the movies. He is starting to instant message his friends on the computer although that is harder for him. He can type like a pro but reading is difficult. We talked about the amount of sleep Zack is requiring and although Dr Perri says at this point it is not a problem, he would be concerned in the future if Zack was taking long naps and also sleeping 10 hours at night.
He works so hard in therapy that it wears him out but as he heals he should require less sleep. He asked Zack if he liked it there and Zack told him “a little bit”. I had to inform Dr Perri that Zack tells most people he doesn’t like it because there are “old people there who are weird”. Zack said that we (Dr Perri and I) weren’t old but we were “older”. Dr Perri mentioned the website and said that everyone there gets a little nervous when they see me writing but he thinks the whole idea is good. He suggested that he would like to spend some of his time with Zack reading the website and I told him to be sure to read the comments as well. Then he mentioned that they were talking about scheduling Zack’s Neuro Psych Exam which is an extensive day of cognitive testing (like the S.A.T.’s for brain injury). His therapy team isn’t sure that Zack is quite ready to take the exam yet but it is the first step to going back to school so we want to get it scheduled. Unfortunately there is 1 ½ month waiting list so at least that will give Zack more time for cognitive recall. The meeting was pleasant and informative. Zack proceeded to the gym for occupational therapy with Scott and then on to speech with Megan. I am glad that they are able to do two speech sessions a day because they work on reading, word retrieval and sequencing. I remember when we first arrived at Frazier Rehab I didn’t think much of speech therapy because all he ever did was work on swallowing. Back then I wanted physical therapy because that was where he learned to walk and hold his head up to midline again. Now the importance of those therapies has reversed. Zack doesn’t need as much physical therapy and speech therapy is the most significant. Occupational therapy has been kind of in the middle because in the beginning they worked on more physical aspects and now they do a lot of cognitive work. On the way home Zack was very tired and ready for a nap. I reminded him that we were going to the Varsity Football game at Christian Academy but he would have time to sleep before dinner. It was very cold at the game but Zack enjoyed himself immensely. He got to hang with “his people” and there were several of his friends there that had already graduated. He had to be the envy of many of the guys because he was constantly surrounded by girls. Since I am relegated to sitting with the parents, I feel much safer when the girls are with him. They are more attentive (quite nurturing) and they advise him when he wants to do something that is not a good idea (like take his hoodie off when it is 33 degrees). The guys can’t always think that way for themselves, as evident with 5 or 6 of the high school boys with their shirts off and chests painted for the game. We go to BW3’s after the game with a crew of his friends. Zack got upset with me because I wouldn’t left him ride with one of the girls but I am not ready to give any teenager that responsibility. My mistake came when I let Dylan ride with Kara to BW3’s and had to explain the whole way there why it was O.K. for Dylan but not Zack. It didn’t make any sense to Zack and I can understand why. This is one instance that I hope he doesn’t remember. While he was standing in line with Kara and Caroline, Dylan and I went to search for a table where there was no smoking in the area. Then I saw a table of girls from Eastern that got excited when they noticed Zack standing in line. I heard one girl comment that it was Zack and he was walking and another said that he talks too. I couldn’t help but giggle at their astonishment (but then I remember that his recovery is quite amazing). I go up to the counter and tell Zack that there were several girls from Eastern talking about him and of course that peaked his curiosity. We sat in the booth next to them and when I came back from the bathroom Zack looked like some kind of celebrity. He was in a booth with 5 girls and Jeremy, with another girl leaning over Jeremy to talk to Zack. The other guys standing around didn’t see any deficits…just one lucky guy surrounded by girls. As soon as I can figure out how to do it I promise to get new pictures on the website so those that don’t see him often can be encouraged. A bunch of kids came back to the house to play pool. They stayed until after midnight and Zack was pleased with their company but as soon as they left he went straight to bed. If he dreams tonight I’m sure it will be pleasant (as long as he doesn’t remember the ride to BW3’s). Everyone is astonished at how well he is doing and we feel so blessed that he has come this far so quickly. I pray that he will continue to amaze us and that God will bless us with complete recovery. I ask that you pray that his Neuro Psych Exam will go smoothly and that it will clarify he is ready to go back to school. Please pray that his vision screening will successfully pinpoint his perception problems and a clear course of action will be obvious. Praise God for the little victories and stand in reverent awe of His miracles!