Sunday October 9, 2005

Sunday October 9, 2005 Zack was asleep when I arrived. When he woke up he reminded me that we were going home today. I ordered his breakfast and we waited for Kim Meyers or Dr Janjua to come around. Finally at 9:00 Dr. Janjua gave us our prescriptions and signs the release. He sent us home with very little instructions, just follow the directions on the bottle, if the stitches start leaking or he runs a fever bring him into the emergency room. Come into the clinic on Thursday to have the stitches removed. That’s it (I get more instructions when I take my kids to the doctors for flu shots). Zack eats breakfast and gets dressed. We stop by Neuro ICU and say goodbye to the staff there and to Linda downstairs at the information desk. I pull the car up and Zack gets in. He looks at me and says, “See how easy it was to get out of here. You said I couldn’t leave until I got my words fixed”. I laugh and tell him he’s right but he has to continue therapy at Frazier East. He looks at me surprised and wonders why he is not going back to school. I have to explain that when Frazier East says he is ready he will get to go back to school. We drive to church and I am so excited. Ruth from the Outlook calls and says she wants to get pictures as we walk in the door. We park and walk to the main entrance and Zack keeps pulling his pants up. This morning I mistakenly grabbed Dylan’s belt (which obviously didn’t fit Zack) so he is without a belt on pants that are already too big. We laugh about it and he tells me if he puts his hands in his pockets he can hold them up. When we walk in the front door we are greeted by Linda, many of Zack’s friends and finally Scott and the kids. Scott eagerly gives Zack his belt to wear. Dave Stone comes and reminds Zack that he and Sam have the first golf game. Tears well up in my eyes as I remember when I thought this day may never come. And there are his friends. Faithfully there to support him. Complimenting him on his cowboy hat and his shirt that says “Thunder”. We head to our seats and are surrounded by family and friends. I was afraid that the music may be too much for Zack but it wasn’t. He sang the songs he knew and on the ones he didn’t he was content to listen. He wasn’t anxious during the sermon and didn’t even shake his leg like he does during speech. He seems at peace and we are joyous. At the end the ushers are passing out information to new visitors and Zack raises his hand. As he is handed a paper I tell them he doesn’t need it and Zack gets tickled. Something strikes him as extremely funny that he was “acting like a visitor” and he starts to laugh. Soon the rest of the church gets quiet but Zack is losing it laughing so hard. Now I am laughing and his friends start up. Scott finally has to calm Zack down and I look at Zack with his big grin. We head home and stop at Walgreens to get prescriptions filled. I receive phone calls telling me to stall because his friends are putting signs up. As we pull into the neighborhood we see signs nailed to trees…Welcome…Home…we love you. His friends are waiting for him in the street and cheering when he gets out of the car. He goes in to check out his bedroom for the first time in 3 months. We proudly show off the basement as his new hangout and before you know it he is playing pool. They move outside and throw a football (I had to threaten to kill anybody that got to close to him with the ball). We had a wonderful day and when his friends were gone he was content to play basketball with Dylan and Kyle. When we tucked him into bed (a mattress on the floor of our room) he starts to laugh. I ask him what he is laughing about and he shakes his head unable to talk. I finally decipher that he is deliriously happy to be home. Our family is complete again. Now when I am tired and posting on the website, I can just walk upstairs and go to bed. No more long drives home. God is good. We are blessed. And the ants are still gone! Please pray that now that Zack is home the aphasia will start to disappear. Pray for Zack’s complete recovery.