Monday October 3, 2005

Monday October 3, 2005 Zack gets up at 8:15 eats breakfast, showers and gets dressed. We were going to take a walk but we found out Jerry (the man with a brain injury in the next room) was going to another facility today and we had to say good-bye and take pictures. Then it is time for speech at 9:00 with Brittney. She has him name objects in pictures and he does pretty well with clues. The more pictures she shows him though the harder it is because the previous answers get stuck in his head. He is reading better but he still has trouble matching the words to the pictures. 9:30 P.T. with Gretchen and she works him out-sit ups, pelvic lifts, balance beam, kicking, lifting and balance beam.
O.T. with Mary Beth and she has him write the basic information like name and date. Then they move to math and he takes off with fractions. He completes all the math problems correctly and this is about a 3rd grade level. Lunch with Mom and we talk about Dallas and he says he’s not going (he wants to go home). I tell him we still don’t know anything but if he gets to go to Dallas it will be the best thing for him. Afternoon
P.T. with Carrie and she has him balancing on a big ball. Then it’s more sit-ups, push-ups and side stepping on the balance beam. When he was finished with all her drills, he was pleased with himself and did a dance. He had time for a short nap before speech at 2:00. He was able to answer most questions and if he couldn’t and she gave him time to think about it he would get it right. She had him match objects to words and it was hard for him. Every time he got one right he would do a dance in his chair and a little rap. She gave him letters to spell a word A T H W and he spelled HATW. When she said that’s not a word he put the W under the table. Brittney could hardly keep from laughing. When it was time to go he did a fair well dance. She told Rita “You really got your hands full” and Zack answered, “I know”. O.T. with Mary Beth and Tiffany goes with him. Now Mary Beth has him doing sit-ups. He also does triceps bends, which were very hard, but he wouldn’t give up. He raced Mary Beth in crab walking and Mary Beth won. Then they raced sidestepping and Zack won. When they raced walking backwards they called it a tie. He had to do arm lifts in various positions using a 25# weight. After O.T. Zack wants to go to the cafeteria and get some chocolate milk. Back in the room he catches up on the latest gossip with Tiffany. I start packing some of his things up while he eats dinner. When he is through he starts helping me but soon decides that it’s time for us to go for a walk. We head to Norton’s to see the babies. Unfortunately there is only one in the nursery but they bring it up to the window. The nurse holds the baby up for Zack to see and it is crying. I asked Zack what he thinks and he says, “That’s good”. We head to McDonalds for a milk shake and I get something to eat. Before we are finished we get a call from the nurses desk saying that we have visitors. We head back to the room and as we pass the information booth she tells us we also have visitors. Zack is curious who it is so I ask her if it’s kids. She says it is adults and Zack asked me what she means by that. I tell him our visitors are adults like me and he is disappointed and says, “You mean they are all old”. When we get to the room fortunately Dan is there so they are not all old. Dan’s Mom and little sister are there as well as Aunt Penny and Uncle Jay. We also have visitors that first met us in the surgery waiting room at University and have been following us on the website. Kristy Noland was there with her Mom, who was having surgery, and they both wanted to come meet Zack. Vicky Wolfe was also there for her Mom’s surgery and she too wanted to come see for herself how far Zack has come. It is amazing the strangers that have become attached to our story. We are privileged to get to meet some of the finest people through are tragedy. While they are still visiting Jill Ramsey arrives to shave Zack’s head. We all watch anxiously as she removes all his hair to prepare for his surgery. The doctors will shave it closer where they are going to operate but she does a great job with the rest of his head. He showers and everyone leaves. He lies in bed and asked me questions. “What’s this called” and points to his mustache. “I want to take it off”. I get him a razor and he goes to the bathroom to shave. Then he asked me, “What are these called again?” He is examining his fingernails. “I want to cut them off”. He is going through his grooming ritual now that his hair is taken care of. He climbs in bed and we watch a Packers game while I unload the refrigerator. Different nurses come in to say good-bye since they are not working tomorrow night. It is bittersweet for all of us. Dana tells Zack how far he has come from the first night she cared for him. Melissa makes Zack promise he will come back to visit. It is quiet again and Zack watches the game and eats a Popsicle. I return to the note that Rita gave me earlier. Zack had said he wanted to write a letter. He wrote something to Scott, his brother and sisters and me. Then he wrote a letter to Jesus with a sentiment that we find profound. Dear Jesus, Even though your things went fast, you still saved a bunch of people. You do really good. I love you. Good night.” We will leave each person to read into those words whatever meaning their heart desires. As we prepare for surgery on Wednesday I ask that you pray to guide the surgeons hands and as always for complete recovery.