Thrusday February 2, 2006

Thursday February 2, 2006 Life seems to be settling down into a very normal routine. Zack has therapy everyday at Frazier East from 9:00 to 3:00 and the rest of the kids are at Christian Academy. Scott and I are back into our work schedule and juggling who is going to cook, go to the grocery and get Kyle and Dylan to basketball practice. Zack really looks forward to evenings bowling with various friends and time alone to run. He doesn’t watch TV much at all. If he is not with friends he spends his evenings playing solitaire on the computer, football or baseball on the Nintendo, pool with Dylan or Scott or cards with Kyle or me. I asked him tonight why he doesn’t watch TV any more and he said that he noticed it too. He says that other than watching a football or basketball game he just doesn’t find TV interesting. He has really buckled down doing his homework which at this point isn’t really very much. Leslie (speech) has started making him summarize what he is reading and he is taking it seriously. He has to hand written it but he often types it out first on the computer as a rough draft. It is only a paragraph but he always brings it to me to read and is proud of his work. He told me yesterday that he feels like he is getting smarter. It is getting easier for him to read and his comprehension is better. Aphasia is still a real barrier. At times I think everything is fine but then we are faced with how prominent this disorder has gripped him. Tonight he was helping me serve dinner. I asked him to put potatoes on everyone’s plate and he picks up the butter and asked, “Is this potatoes?” Then I asked him if he wanted gravy on his potatoes and he asked, “What is gravy?” Food still seems to be an area that he really struggles with but he doesn’t get frustrated. He just asks questions and guesses a lot. Sometimes it seems as though he has never heard of certain foods but then once I tell him “You loved this” he will remember. On the flip side of “dinner aphasia” is his sincere appreciation of good food. He told me three times during dinner how good it was (Stophers sliced turkey breast in gravy…not hard) and thanked me for making it. I guess it is an even trade off. He is very open about his feelings and sometimes rather silly. I caught him doing a “touch down dance” after he scored in Nintendo football and he was not embarrassed at all. He is much less inhibited than before his accident. I hope his friends don’t find his silliness annoying (we find it charming). The girls seem to be more faithful now with visiting. I think the guys are back into their normal routine and don’t want to have to worry about whether an activity will be suitable for Zack. Zack is anxious to get back to school so he can be at the heart of where all the social planning is going on. He is aware that next Wednesday we meet with his therapy team and Carol Britton from school to plan his return later this month.
Yesterday we were scheduled to speak at the Support Group at Frazier Rehab. Mary Beth (Zack’s original occupational therapist) had set it up weeks ago and we were prepared to encourage other families in the early stages of traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately when we arrived we discovered that most of their brain injury patients were stroke victims and not part of this support group. There was only a ten year old girl with a brain injury but her mother was in denial that there was anything wrong with her. She did not want to see the expressionless face and only thought her daughter was depressed. They stay in their room with the door shut, have little contact with the nursing staff and refused to see us. Instead we got a tour of the newly renovated floors by Dr. Mook. Zack was amazed at how nice the patient rooms were, with 42” flat screen TV’s and computers in each room. We got to see much of our old staff so the visit was not wasted. We talked with Mary Beth for a long time and Zack amused her with his quick wit and positive attitude. She pointed to him and said this is why I want to work with pediatrics. They are so much more fun. We promised Mary Beth that we would come back again as long as she assured us we would have families to help. Zack had been eager to talk to these people because he said their kids would be “more messed up than me” and he can “help them see how to get better”. He never complains when I tell him we have to go speak somewhere and seems to have the same sense of obligation to help others that I feel. It is hard to experience such blessing and not want to shout it from the rooftops (or the keypad). Zack was disappointed that it was raining when he got home today because he was looking forward to running. He had made plans to run with Kaitlyn and was chuckling over the idea of her trying to keep up with him. He is still very competitive and it shows in the games he chooses to play with Dylan. Zack is very good at pool, his eye/hand coordination is excellent, and he usually beats me and Dylan. Ping Pong is a different story. The ball is coming at you and speed is a factor. I was told that research on brain imaging had identified Ping Pong as one of the best sports to improve cognitive functioning (crossing midline, interpreting where the ball is going, reacting to different spins) so I am encouraging Zack to play Ping Pong. Dylan can beat him and Zack doesn’t like it. After a few games of Ping Pong they move on to pool where Zack can be assured a victory. He is also a good bowler and we will see his competitive side on the lanes as well. He is bowling in the Brain Injury Association of Ky Bowling Tournament next Saturday February 11th. He has been talking about putting together a winning team that would include several of his friends. For those that use to visit us at Frazier and haven’t seen Zack in a while you must come cheer him on at Rose Bowl. We look forward to the future with excited anticipation. We are anxious to see what God has in store for us. We don’t expect it all to be easy (especially school) but we know we will not have to handle it alone. We are still reciting Psalm 23 and are focused now on “He leads me besides quiet waters. He restores my soul”. God will lead and we will follow. We don’t know what the future holds but we know God’s plan will be perfect. He has promised to be a light unto our path not our crystal ball into the future. We have to depend on His gentle guiding knowing that the obstacles in our path will be character builders, not stumbling blocks. We have learned to trust Him. We have no choice…we can’t do it on our own. He has given us victory over so many things already that I am confident our recovery is far from over. We ask for your continued prayers that God’s glory will shine through Zack. That his recovery will be so amazingly complete that it can not be mistaken for anything but the hand of God!