Sunday, October 2, 2005

Sunday October 2, 2005 Zack slept until after 9:00 when he was finally drug out of bed to eat breakfast. As soon as he finishes eating he gets back in bed and goes to sleep (typical teenager). At 11:30 He gets up and says he wants to go jogging. He puts shorts on and goes out into the hall to stretch. Rita told him she would go with him and he looked at her like she was crazy and said, “you can’t run”. He takes off down the hall and thinks it’s very funny that Grandma can’t keep up. They go outside and she convinces him that a fast walk would be better. When they head back to the room for lunch he wants to know when his Dad is coming because he is bring him steak. He told her it’s been a long time since he had a steak. He takes a shower after lunch and wants to take a walk. He says he needs to take some money because I am a “loser with having money” (I never have cash). As we walk down the hallway to the lobby we see another patient in a helmet being held by his gate belt. After we pass him Zack says, He’s messed up”. I tell him he use to be worse than that and he says, “No I didn’t”. Half the time he still doesn’t believe he was in an accident. We go to Norton’s to get a slushy and take the long way back. When we get back to the room my Mom and sister Colleen are waiting along with Kaitlyn and her Mom. They all play the card game golf (our new favorite pastime and one we like to teach all our visitors). Chuck Kinney from Southeast
Christian Church comes to give Zack communion. He stays for a while to enjoy Zack’s
antics. Soon everyone is gone and Zack is back in bed. The Rivards stop by to get the latest update on Dallas and Zack gets out of bed to eat dinner. He is too hungry to wait for his Dad to bring him a steak. We walk up to the nurse’s station and Jennifer, one of our first nurses here, tells Zack he won’t remember her. Zack assures her he will but she is sad because she knows Zack will not likely remember Frazier at all. He might remember going to therapy and his friends visiting him, but he will probably not remember specific people on the staff. I promise them I will bring Zack back to visit when we return from Dallas (listen at me, I am talking as though he is going for sure). The staff grows close to the patients here because many, like Zack, are here for a long time. They became our family and leaving here will be emotional. Scott arrives with Dylan and the girls and Zack gets his steak. He plays ball first with Dylan, then with Kyle and seems to enjoy it. He takes pleasure in simple things and he is not too cool to enjoy his siblings. After they leave I talk Zack into taking a walk to keep him out of bed. As we are heading out the door several of his friends arrive and I take advantage of extra hands to carry stuff out to my car. I am starting to clean out Zack’s room and he has accumulated a lot of stuff in his 68 days here at Frazier. When we return to the room they get the Nintendo cart and play video games. At times the laughing becomes too loud and I have to quiet them down. I will miss these nights hanging out with Zack’s friends. When we walk them out to the lobby they tell me that they are using their parents frequent flier miles to go to Dallas if Zack ends up there. They don’t intend to let the miles stop them from visiting him although it can’t be as often. Later this week we will be back in the 2nd floor waiting room at University Hospital, only this time we will be much more certain of a positive future. We won’t be waiting for thumbs up but for his beautiful smile and a “whats up” as he comes out of the anesthesia. Maybe as the anesthesia wears off the aphasia will fade with it. Wouldn’t that be a blessing from heaven? Regardless, we will rely on Gods ever-present hand and his promises in scripture. Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for those who believe”. Please continue to pray for complete healing so that God may be glorified!