Wednesday March 8, 2006

Wednesday March 8, 2006 Zacks first full week on our new schedule takes a little getting use to. He went to school Thursday and got to go to chapel which he has really been looking forward to. He said it was very good but he got a little mad when some people started clapping off beat to be funny. He really gets into worship…he knows how much he has to be grateful for. On the days that he goes to Frazier East and is not working with Carol Britton I have to do Rhythmic Writing with him at home. It is difficult carving time out especially on Monday and Wednesday. When he leaves Frazier I have to take him to Vision Therapy which isn’t over until 4:45. We get home at 5:00 and he has to be at church for pageant practice at 6:00. Somewhere in there he needs to eat. We are making it work and know our schedule will be less demanding when the Easter Pageant is over. Although the pageant practices are really cutting into his social life we see positive impacts. One scene always finds Zack watching in the sanctuary. When the blind man calls out for Jesus to heal him Zack stares intently. After that particular scene on Monday, Zack walked up to his Dad and Scott told him he looked tired. Zack shrugged his shoulders and said matter of factly, “I was crying”. He said that is his favorite scene in the pageant and I can’t help thinking that Zack pictures himself as that blind mind and realizes that Jesus healed him. He is making new friends with some wonderful Christian teenagers that are also in the play. He is also starting to connect with some of the Sophomores at school which is great since he will start his Junior year with them in the Fall. He worked on his power point presentation at Frazier and on the weekend. He did much of it himself and I was very surprised when he showed it to me. He presented himself, his accident, therapy and a look ahead. He used pictures from the hospital and therapy. It was very good and I especially liked his ending in “looking ahead”. He stated that he knows it will be hard but he has faith that he can achieve all his goals because “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”. Carol was with him in computer when he presented to his class yesterday. Zack told me that his was the best one and Carol agreed that it was very impressive. He takes great pride in his work and I think this attitude will go a long way to his success in school. He also did a good job on his Ghandi report but got help from Leslie (speech therapist). A lot of his time at Frasier is now spent with them going over his school work and developing strategies for learning. Carol also teaches him strategies and how to apply them in Instrumental Enrichment. All efforts point towards cognitive rehabilitation and Carol is a great addition to our therapy team. Zack looks forward to his sessions with Dr Perri especially when they are able to go to lunch together. He told me that Dr Perri has kind of taken the place of Jose (occupational therapy student) who finished with Frazier in February and who Zack really bonded with. He hopes to get to see Jose again and maybe go bowling.
Today I took Zack and Dylan to the first Regional girl’s varsity basketball game. We were hoping to see Christian Academy play for the championship on Saturday but they lost. It was especially sad since it would be the last time Meredith Marsh would play for CAL since she graduates this year. After the game Zack and I went to University Hospital to meet Josh McIntyre and his family. Josh is 19 years old and was hit by a car while helping a stranger. He suffered a broken leg, hip and spine damage and traumatic brain injury. We met Josh, his mom, grandmother, aunt and two friends and were able to share encouraging words of hope. They immediately recognized Zack from his pictures on the bulletin board in ICU and had even been on the website. Josh had been in the same ICU as Zack but is currently in the critical care unit. His condition is very much like Zack’s when he was transferred to Frazier. His mother now worries about the recommendation to send him to Pathways, the neuro unit of Christopher East nursing home. We talked about the need for her to forgive the women that ran over Josh and keep a positive attitude about his recovery. I think the family was greatly encouraged to see how far Zack has come in such a short time and we exchange numbers so we can follow up with him later. I was pleased that Zack asked them if anyone there believed in God and prayer and when they told him yes he responded “good cause that will help you a lot”. We prayed with them and then his Mom walked down to ICU with us to visit the staff. There were several nurses working that had cared for Zack and they always appreciate when a patient comes back to visit. We also got to see Linda at the information desk. She prayed with Scott the day of Zack’s accident and helped him through some really rough times. As we walked to the car Zack told me he really liked visiting Josh. He pointed out that everyone was crying when I was talking to them about Josh and he liked that. He feels their crying means they care a lot about him and it makes it seem important that we came. He says he wants to keep visiting people in the hospital when they are really “messed up” because he can make them feel better. He knows how blessed he is and feels the same sense of responsibility to offer hope to others that Scott and I feel. He also wants to share how important it is to pray and trust God…he gets it!
These hospital visits do a lot of good for us. I am instantly transported back to the time when we waited desperately for Zack to wake up and can more fully appreciate where we are now. God looms large again. Its like a mini mission trip…we receive as many blessing as the people we come to see. We are looking forward to our visit to Westport Road Church of Christ this Sunday evening where I will speak to the youth group. This is where the Rivards go to church and everyone there has been praying for us since the accident, following Zack’s progress on the website and offering words of encouragement. Many of these people visited us at the hospital and at Frazier Rehab and I am sure they will be excited to see how well Zack is doing. It seems we now have family in Christ all over Louisville. Brought together by a tragedy, bound together by faith and basking in the awesome power of God. He is still in control. We ask for your continued prayers for Zack’s complete recovery for the Glory of God!