Thursday October 19, 2005

Thursday October 20, 2005 Zack was up at 7:00 for breakfast and a shower. He keeps asking me when he will get picked up to get his “head cut on” (he means get his stitches out). He had a short day of therapy before we had to be at University clinic at 12:00. He is very excited and seems a little hyper. He talks to all the nurses and is asking other patients if they were there to get their head cut on. He takes off his hat, shows them his stitches and asks if it will hurt when they take them out. I had given him a pain pill just in case but he is still very concerned that it will hurt. Our next door neighbor Kim made a phone call for us to the check in desk at the clinic to one of the staff she knows. We got into an exam room much quicker that the last time we were here. Once in an exam room we still had to wait for the doctor to show up from across the street at University Hospital. While we were waiting Zack decides he could take a few of these stitches out himself since they were very loose. He said the first one hurt so he sat down and waited for the doctor. He asked me, “When I get to heaven will my head be perfect?” Of course I told him not just his head but his whole body will be perfect. Then he decides we will take out another stitch because he is tired of waiting on the doctor. The second one doesn’t hurt as bad but he is concerned that the others will. He told me, “If it really hurts I will be holding your hand and screaming”. Then he asked what he should think about so that it wouldn’t hurt so badly and we decided that he should close his eyes, hold my hand and pretend that he was holding Jesus hand as they walked beside a stream of running water in heaven. He liked that idea so we took out a few more stitches ourselves and they didn’t hurt at all. Since it was one long continuous stitch we had about 4” hanging down the side of his head (I didn’t have scissors to cut it off) so I told him we should probably stop until the doctor got there. Dr Ross came in looked over his chart, glanced at his head and then had the nurse come in and remove the stitches (this was the same nurse that had been checking on us since we were put into the exam room). If the nurse was going to take them out I don’t know why we had to wait for the doctor in the first place. It didn’t hurt and Zack was relieved. We left the clinic and stopped by Frazier Rehab to see the staff there. He said the sidewalk from the parking garage looked familiar and then as we approached the entrance to Frazier he said, “I know this place”. I told him it should all seem very familiar since we walked these paths many times in 69 days he was there. Zack was able to lead me right to the gym, which is no small feat when you consider how far it is from the front door. We saw Kathy in speech, Amy in P.T. and Mary Beth in O.T. They were all surprised and happy to see how well Zack was doing. We talked with Amy the longest and she couldn’t get over how normal Zack was talking. She said she was going to cry. We invited her to come over and play pool with us (I think Zack would enjoy beating her since she beat him in bowling at our outing). We went up to 4 south and saw our nursing staff. Many of our friends were there and I think it gives them new incentives to be devoted to their chosen career when they see a patient like Zack doing so well. Zack said he didn’t remember their names but he did remember their faces. He kept taking off his hat and showing everyone his new round head with no stitches. The Frazier staff had never seen Zack with his bone flap on so he looked very different to them. We went home in time for Zack to take a shower before Katie and her friend came to interview him. They are Juniors at Assumption who decided to do a story on teenage driving and accidents for their broadcasting class. They interviewed Zack and I on how his accident happened and the impact it has had on our lives. Even though they already knew all about it they were still moved to tears during the interview. On camera Zack let me do most of the talking (he practiced his lines) but off camera he was the one entertaining everyone. We ate dinner with our family before heading to South Oldham High School for the girl’s soccer game against Christian Academy. At first it was a real treat to be able to sit with Zack and his friends in a social situation (especially since Zack didn’t seem to mind that I was there and never asked me to leave) but then it started to rain…then pour. We managed to make it half way through the second half of the game before Zack asked me again if I was ready to leave. I couldn’t wait to get into my dry, warm car. We left after making arrangements for several of his friends to come over to play pool. Back at our house, Zack and I got into dry clothes and waited for his friends to arrive. It wasn’t long before half dozen kids joined him in the basement for another game of pool. I am happy to have his friends here. I don’t know what Zack would do without them. They are his link to the teenage world out there, his world, and he wants to be normal. Even when he is tired and would rather be in bed he plays the host for his friends. It is the therapy that he thinks is important. I ask for your prayers that his friends will continue to seek his company even if he can’t do all the things they want to go do. I pray that they never give up that Zack will make a full recovery and be back in the halls of CAL. That they continue to give him encouragement, patience and friendship. Please pray for complete recovery and opportunities for us to amaze other people with the power of prayer and Gods awesome mercy.