my oldest son bert was in an auto accident 3 and 1/2 years ago when he had just turned 16. the result for bert was a severe traumatic brain injury. he was in a deep coma for about 35 days and then in a vegetative state (yes that's the gross medical terminology used to me by the doctor) for a month or two. he SLOWLY came out of his coma and through herculean efforts has regained many of his life functions. all of his functions are impaired still to some degree, and bert works his ass off every single day to get back to being an independent person. he's a cocky wise-acre with a zinger at every turn.
tonight i blogged on his caringbridge site and am now spent in terms of writing. i'm in need of getting horizontal pronto, so i'm cutting and pasting my caringbridge journal entry here. cheating i know. but i'm completely exhausted. bert just arrived home from atlanta georgia with his dad. they were gone for three months to take part in a treatment for healing brains using a new therapy called gyrostim. more on the ins and outs of gyrostim therapy on a night when i am not propping my eyelids open with toothpicks. kill two birds with one stone
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bert's initial conclusions from gyrostim therapy: my balance is much better. i'm more sure on my feet.
my initial noticings: while walking with bert his steps were more fluid. he took steps by himself with no cane to the sink tonight and that was about 4 steps. his memory is sharper, tenfold. he is quickly remembering some things that he would have required clues for previous to this trip. bert's speech is faster and more clear. he is using more rising and falling intonation. he says things like: i'm just going to practice using my big boom voice now, so no one be alarmed. and then he shouts something just to see how loud he can get and his voice is strong throughout.
in a shocking and necessary turn of events, bert is very satisfied though using his wheelchair so he can do what he wants when he wants, and he has no need to wait for anyone to walk with him and spot him for balance. bert is free and independent.
a big change- he takes all his own supplements- opening up each pill bottle and getting that all done on his own now. genius accomplishments for someone with a still-shaky left tremor hand. just needs a reminder to do it in the first place. but bert will get into a routine here and then he'll be remembering on his own. alien says bert was into a good routine in georgia and needed no help with pills. so he'll get there.
bert arrived home on monday eve. he bought a rifle for hunting while in atlanta, which is now locked with no ammo, but first things first, he needed to buy a locking gun case. on monday night, we stressed that this is a priority for tuesday, and not negotiable. he was totally in agreement. this item i put on the board schedule under his name. he asked me to go to snap with him at 4pm, so i also put that on the board.
then ON HIS OWN bert decided to make a list of the items that he also should complete on tuesday and he wrote his list of 4 to-dos and pinned it to the board.
1. eyeglasses (get them tightened)
2. pick up contacts
3. sort dirty laundry into hamper, ask dad to wash
4. call mrs. mandy to discuss work schedule
alien and i had a long discussion about how much help and reminders we would give to bert about getting HIS list done. we decided that none of the 4 things were essential to be done on tuesday, so we would leave it up to bert to complete or not complete the tasks. according to alien this was still a needy area for brett in georgia- staying on task when not reminded. but we wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt before stepping in.
wellllllll, alien did not help bert a lick with a single reminder or anything yesterday and bert got every single item done!!! he did ask alien for a ride to his meeting with mrs. mandy, but that's all the help his dad did. alien went to snap to lift weights while bert met with mrs. mandy to coordinate his work and academic schedule. SO UTTERLY AWESOME BerT!!! we were so incredibly proud!!!!
it's been a really fun and great couple days all together again.
bert's weekly schedule follows, starting monday.
has 2 paid jobs at minimum wage --
1. dietary aid at good sam's. same job as before he went to atlanta. prepping in the kitchen and the dining room for the nursing home residents. cleaning and busing the tables in the dining room.
2. snap fitness. oh my god he's very excited to get to delve into snap fitness even if it is to clean and sanitize the equipment. for someone who's dream is to one day be a personal trainer, getting your foot in the door at the local gym is golden!!!
bert has two jobs for experience and resume filler --
1. good sam's as an activity assistant. bert will guide the nursing home residents in their physical fitness activities!!!! i cannot imagine a more exciting job for bert at this point in his life!! he is a charming hoot and he loves physical activity. i think these old folks will be putty in his hands. :) i am thrilled at the possibility of bert brightening people's days, people that don't get to see their grandchildren often enough.
2. worker at the recycling center. recycling things, saving the planet one plastic bottle at a time.
bert will also have training to improve his executive function skills called cogmed (continuation from the fall) and focused work with mrs. mandy to bolster his academic skills of writing essays, making computations, and such.
over, on monday through friday, he'll be a busy dude with this schedule:
815-930 cogmed mon-fri
10-1130 good sams kitchen m/w, good sams exercise class t/th,
recycling center friday
11301215 lunch
1215-130 good sams busing tables, cleaning up lunchtime mon-thu, recycling center friday
2-250 academics with mrs mandy m/w/f, snap fitness t/th
home by 3pm
so, since bert is going back to work on monday... he's decided to live it up on a break the next few days. today he slept in til noon. we went to snap after supper and bert killed it on the leg press (yesterday he destroyed his pecs and arms) and then burned off 200 calories on the stationary bike.
tomorrow bert has big plans to sleep til noon again, he actually set his alarm for noon. ahhhh the life!!!! he has showering on his agenda. and then he is going ice fishing at 3pm with his brother and a friend.
on friday, bert again hopes to snooze long time. then he, june, and wim have planned a night out, i think they are going to the casino and i don't know what else, and that's just how bert has engineered it. at one point he let it slip that there was a hotel room maybe???? i am staying out of it and hoping to get a date in with my one and only.
on saturday, bert is going food shopping for work lunches since he doesn't want to get fat eating at mcdonald's every day while working. i think this may be a solo shopping trip, we'll see :) not sure how he'd carry everything while using his wheelchair. a bag on the sides perhaps.
then he needs to maybe get some khakis and polos for his required work duds. not sure, he's going to go through his clothes to see what he has already, and what he needs to purchase.
for sunday, bert told me tonight, 'i'm booked'.
then his nose is back to the grindstone on monday!
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