Thanks to Joey we added a few new photos to the website. We tried to show you some of the activities Jess has been participating in. He has been very busy with therapies, horseback riding, skiing and school (three days a week now). Joey keeps asking us, "mom, how have you and dad been doing this for so many months?" We are constantly just trying to keep up and make sure we give our Jess the best possible chance we can to come back. We are glad to have him here to give us a hand. Chris' job has come to an end due to a lack of snow so now he will have to go back to work full time in construction. We both have such a hard time leaving Jess to go to work but with Joey here it will make it a little easier. What will we do when he leaves? We will just do the best we can.
It's been hard for us to watch the news lately with all of the controversy about Terry Shiavo (the lady with a brain injury whose husband removed her feeding tube after 15 years). I can't imagine what her parents are going through...especially being in our situation. Sometimes it is so hard to understand why these things happen. We are sending a lot of prayers to everyone involved.
On a positive note...Jess is eating blended fruits and vegies now and sips of juice. His swallow is getting stronger and stronger. He was able to trigger a button to turn his music on today by hitting it with his thumb. Chris asked him yesterday to raise his eyebrows if he loved his mom...he did!
We want to wish everyone a Happy Easter! Love, Chris, Pam, Jess, Joey, Jamie, Jahara, Grandma, Grandpa and the little pug!
Friday, March 25, 2005
Thursday, March 17, 2005
3/17/05 at 10:00 p.m.
Jess had a week of one event after the other. On Sunday we had visits from friends and even a visit from a sweet little dog Lola who visits patients in the hospital. Jess' brother Joey and girlfriend Angie arrived on Sunday from Minneapolis. It is so nice to have them here. They brought a little 3 month old puppy with them. She is a "Pug" and loves to crawl all over Jess and give him lots of kisses.
Jess had PT, rode Charlie Brown and had a CT scan on Monday. The CT showed no change in swelling or fluid in his brain and actually showed a decrease in the swelling across the frontal portion of the brain. All good news. He does have enlarged ventricles which are probably a result of the injury. It has been 9 months today. In the evening we took Jess to the high school to watch a Donkey basketball game in which the seniors played the faculty on Donkey's. It was very interesting. Tuesday we had Speech therapy in which Leslie uses an electric stimulator on Jess' throat while we feed him sips of water and fruit in the consistency of applesauce. He swallowed very well. We get to try a few other blended varieties with caution. After speech we took Jess up to Sun Valley to the ski hill Baldy. We loaded him a sled built especially for the handicap, strapped him down and watched 3 ski instructors get him on the lift. He made two runs with the ski instructors and Chris at his side. As they made big GS turns down the slope Chris said Jess was wide eyed. Joey and I stood at the bottom and watched. I couldn't help but cry to see Jess coming down the mountain. He loves to snowboard and when he got down to us his eyes were so big and I know he knew where he was and what he was doing. Our thanks to all who made this possible...and he's going again next week. After that he went to school for 2 hours. Wednesday he had acupuncture, OT and we had a special visit from the school speech therapist who felt very good about Jess' eye contact and responses to commands. We worked on getting Jess to trigger a button that activated a recording that said "hi mom". Each time Maura asked him to move his thumb he did. Movements like that will open other doors for us to help him communicate and have some choices.
And, today, Chris and I left Joey, Angie and Daniel with Jess while we had a meeting in Twin Falls. A big step for us and a fun day for Jess. He rode Charlie and we heard it was his best day ever. I think we only checked in maybe 4 or 5 times. Later we were treated to a wonderful St. Patrick's Day dinner provided by our good friends Linda & Paul.
Jess has also been standing for 10 to 30 minutes a day in his standing machine. The van has been such a gift and has made transporting Jess so much easier. We are still hoping to get his new wheel chair soon. Tomorrow we have PT and Cranial Sacral therapy and a visit from the school OT therapist. I know I have forgotten a lot of details...our days are so packed full. We are so lucky to have so many talented wonderful people helping our Jess recover. He is making small changes and we are just patiently (most of the time) waiting. Good night...
Jess had PT, rode Charlie Brown and had a CT scan on Monday. The CT showed no change in swelling or fluid in his brain and actually showed a decrease in the swelling across the frontal portion of the brain. All good news. He does have enlarged ventricles which are probably a result of the injury. It has been 9 months today. In the evening we took Jess to the high school to watch a Donkey basketball game in which the seniors played the faculty on Donkey's. It was very interesting. Tuesday we had Speech therapy in which Leslie uses an electric stimulator on Jess' throat while we feed him sips of water and fruit in the consistency of applesauce. He swallowed very well. We get to try a few other blended varieties with caution. After speech we took Jess up to Sun Valley to the ski hill Baldy. We loaded him a sled built especially for the handicap, strapped him down and watched 3 ski instructors get him on the lift. He made two runs with the ski instructors and Chris at his side. As they made big GS turns down the slope Chris said Jess was wide eyed. Joey and I stood at the bottom and watched. I couldn't help but cry to see Jess coming down the mountain. He loves to snowboard and when he got down to us his eyes were so big and I know he knew where he was and what he was doing. Our thanks to all who made this possible...and he's going again next week. After that he went to school for 2 hours. Wednesday he had acupuncture, OT and we had a special visit from the school speech therapist who felt very good about Jess' eye contact and responses to commands. We worked on getting Jess to trigger a button that activated a recording that said "hi mom". Each time Maura asked him to move his thumb he did. Movements like that will open other doors for us to help him communicate and have some choices.
And, today, Chris and I left Joey, Angie and Daniel with Jess while we had a meeting in Twin Falls. A big step for us and a fun day for Jess. He rode Charlie and we heard it was his best day ever. I think we only checked in maybe 4 or 5 times. Later we were treated to a wonderful St. Patrick's Day dinner provided by our good friends Linda & Paul.
Jess has also been standing for 10 to 30 minutes a day in his standing machine. The van has been such a gift and has made transporting Jess so much easier. We are still hoping to get his new wheel chair soon. Tomorrow we have PT and Cranial Sacral therapy and a visit from the school OT therapist. I know I have forgotten a lot of details...our days are so packed full. We are so lucky to have so many talented wonderful people helping our Jess recover. He is making small changes and we are just patiently (most of the time) waiting. Good night...
Saturday, March 12, 2005
3/12/05 at 8:00 p.m.
I have a kink in my neck from looking up at my beautiful son. We just got him out of the standing machine. Yes, ask and you shall receive. With the help of Karen, our home health supplier, we were able to borrow a standing machine to do a trial to satisfy the requirements of Medicaid. If we can prove it is beneficial for him to have one they may help us purchase it. Chris and I have been standing him for months by ourselves. At one time it took three of us and we could only go for maybe 20 minutes with a lot of effort. Now, we can reach the hour a day suggestion from the doctor in Salt Lake. Jess is one tall young man. We are guessing he is about 6'1 or 2. And, the standing machine is wonderful.
I am sure we do have angels watching over us. Chris flew to Nebraska last week to buy our new used van. It turned out to be perfect. He drove home and stopped in SLC to have a wheelchair lift installed. Today we were able to wheel Jess into the van and go for a ride. Now, I can take him to school or to the horse arena or wherever I want by myself. I am so grateful. I had the help of my wonderful friend, Sheila, while Chris was away. We came up with some pretty inovative ways to move Jess and accomplished our mission with a few laughs and very strange looks from Jess. Can you imagine what he must think when he hears his mom is going to pick him up?
We had a wonderful experience at the horse arena on Thursday. Jess has a special horse, Merlin, that is brought in on Thursdays for him to touch. He is a beautiful gentle soul that just connects so softly with Jess. We generally have to hold Jess' hand up to feel his breath, touch his wiskers and he always receives a few licks. This time after a few minutes of touching him with his right hand all of a sudden Jess raised his left arm and opened his hand so he could meet Merlin's nose...their eyes connected. It was a very precious moment for all of us.
I also met with the school district on Friday and we came up with an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for Jess to attend school two days a week and hopefully increasing to three days, three hours soon. No, he does not really participate but that's okay. It will come in time. He just needs to be in a familiar environment with the stimulation of school. They have some interesting ideas of using assistive technology aids to help Jess learn to communicate. Everyone is more than willing to help him in any way they can. We rode the school bus last Wednesday and I know Jess was curious as to why he was back on a school bus again. As I said, we will try whatever it takes to help him remember.
Joey is on his way home as we speak. He is in Montana in a snow storm tonight and should arrive in the next couple days. We are truly blessed.
A lady I have never met from Illinois called today and told me she had traveled to California and started a pray group there as well as the one she has going in Illinois. There are so many wonderful people praying for my Jess I know someday in God's time he will be able to communicate and contribute something very special to all of us really soon.
"Never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill-
I am sure we do have angels watching over us. Chris flew to Nebraska last week to buy our new used van. It turned out to be perfect. He drove home and stopped in SLC to have a wheelchair lift installed. Today we were able to wheel Jess into the van and go for a ride. Now, I can take him to school or to the horse arena or wherever I want by myself. I am so grateful. I had the help of my wonderful friend, Sheila, while Chris was away. We came up with some pretty inovative ways to move Jess and accomplished our mission with a few laughs and very strange looks from Jess. Can you imagine what he must think when he hears his mom is going to pick him up?
We had a wonderful experience at the horse arena on Thursday. Jess has a special horse, Merlin, that is brought in on Thursdays for him to touch. He is a beautiful gentle soul that just connects so softly with Jess. We generally have to hold Jess' hand up to feel his breath, touch his wiskers and he always receives a few licks. This time after a few minutes of touching him with his right hand all of a sudden Jess raised his left arm and opened his hand so he could meet Merlin's nose...their eyes connected. It was a very precious moment for all of us.
I also met with the school district on Friday and we came up with an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for Jess to attend school two days a week and hopefully increasing to three days, three hours soon. No, he does not really participate but that's okay. It will come in time. He just needs to be in a familiar environment with the stimulation of school. They have some interesting ideas of using assistive technology aids to help Jess learn to communicate. Everyone is more than willing to help him in any way they can. We rode the school bus last Wednesday and I know Jess was curious as to why he was back on a school bus again. As I said, we will try whatever it takes to help him remember.
Joey is on his way home as we speak. He is in Montana in a snow storm tonight and should arrive in the next couple days. We are truly blessed.
A lady I have never met from Illinois called today and told me she had traveled to California and started a pray group there as well as the one she has going in Illinois. There are so many wonderful people praying for my Jess I know someday in God's time he will be able to communicate and contribute something very special to all of us really soon.
"Never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill-
Sunday, March 6, 2005
3/6/05 at 9:00 a.m.
Jess had a better week. The wonderful helpers at the horse arena said Jess had the best day yet on Thursday. He only needed to be "balanced" by Lisa who sits behind him. We are so lucky to have such wonderful therapy for Jess. He rides twice a week now. He also attended school and watched his classmates work on their computers. Before the accident he spent a lot of time on his computer so I just keep putting his mouse in his hand and hope something comes back to him. We are meeting with the school district again next week to structure a plan for more days at school and to schedule help from the school therapists with some assistive technology and therapy. It is possible to run a computer with your eyes or with very little movement from a finger. I pray for a way to communicate with him so he can have some choices again. We will also want to establish a group of friends that can be there for Jess while he is at school. It is hard for his friends to see Jess different than he was but I know he misses being a part of their world. He needs to know they have not forgotten him.
It was also Jamie's (Jess' sister) birthday this week. Happy Birthday, Jamie! She is coming home today from Boise. And, Joey has decided to come home for 3 months to help us. His office in Minneapolis is going to give him a leave of absence. Thank you so very much! Jess is very close to both his sister and brother. Their interaction is crucial to his recovery. And, we appreciate their help more than they will ever know.
It was also Jamie's (Jess' sister) birthday this week. Happy Birthday, Jamie! She is coming home today from Boise. And, Joey has decided to come home for 3 months to help us. His office in Minneapolis is going to give him a leave of absence. Thank you so very much! Jess is very close to both his sister and brother. Their interaction is crucial to his recovery. And, we appreciate their help more than they will ever know.
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