We have had a rough couple of weeks. Chris was down in bed with a virus for a couple of weeks. He tried to stay away from all of us and especially Jess so it wouldn't go through the family. He is feeling much better today so he took the night shift last night with Jess and is spending the day with him in therapies. Amanda is home sick too. I sure miss everyone when they can't help me with Jess. Luckily my shoulder is doing much better and I am so thankful for the ceiling lift.
Jess has been very quiet since we came home from Atlanta. He seems to be contemplating what is going on around him. I was worried that he was also coming down with something but so far he has not had a temperature or any signs of a cold. It is hard to know what is going on since he can't tell me. I can't tell you how much I wish he could communicate his wants and needs. It must be so frustrating for him. We are still only seeing minimal movement but he tries so hard. He has been making a lot of sounds especially during the night which is positive.
We had a school meeting and it was agreed that he should continue to attend as long as he can. It is a good way for him to interact socially with kids close to his age and the stimulation and energy of high school may trigger a response. I still struggle with a lack of speech therapists in our area. We will not have any speech therapy for the month of June. Of all the therapies, I feel that is the most important for Jess' recovery.
I know everyone wonders how long we can continue on this path. All I can say is, "as long as it takes". Our family and friends worry about our health and well being but we just don't see any other choice but to continue holding on to a positive outcome. There are no areas of our lives that haven't been affected by this accident to Jess. I try not to elaborate on the struggles we go through because it just doesn't help the situation. For today, we are managing and that is all that matters. Just keep sending those prayers...someone has to be listening!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Sunday, April 9, 2006
April 9, 2006
We are home now from our journey to Atlanta. Of course all of the planning I did really didn't matter. I was so worried about flying with Jess that I had called all of the airports to see how they handled someone in a wheelchair. I had a map of the Chicago airport so I would know exactly where we were going and I had both the arrival and departure gates memorized. Well, we get to the Boise airport at 5:30 a.m. so we can be sure to be on time for our 7:20 flight. They take Jess through a different security check because of his wheelchair. They do a special blot scan on different parts of his chair. We could stand near him but not touch him. So, we get to the gate and they inform us the flight is delayed and we will not be able to go through Chicago. We would be rerouted through Denver. Oh boy...there goes my great organizing. Another lesson in just trusting that everything will work out as it should. Everyone was very kind and tried to help us as much as possible to get Jess in the seat on the plane (they even upgraded us to first class on the flight out of Boise). Jess had to wear his neck brace so his head would be stable. When we arrived in Denver we were late for our next flight. They failed to have the transfer wheelchair there for us so Chris just picked Jess up and carried him out to his wheelchair that we had gate checked. We had to run through the airport. It is quite amazing how people trust that when you have momentum going in a wheelchair you can just stop on a dime. Not! Darting in front of a moving wheelchair is not a good idea. At the next gate we had to transfer him to a very small wheelchair (with his 6'2 legs) to get him down the aisle. My preplanning of getting bulk head seats with extra leg room went out the window with my map of Chicago. They had to ask passengers to move so we could have the bulk head seats. So, being the "celebrities" that we are...everyone in the whole plane was watching us as we transferred Jess into his seat. The 737 I thought we had must have been lost. We were on a much smaller airplane with only two seats in the bulk head so Chris had to sit in back of the plane. He actually did quite well with that...and I am not really sure how he let that happen. He doesn’t like being very far from his son. Anyway, traveling in a wheelchair is a little more challenging than one might think. As I mentioned, there are a lot of caring people in this world though.
The reason for our trip is a bit hard to explain. It is one of those...”Ya just had to be there!” Here is the website with somewhat of an explanation of where and why we were in Atlanta - www.johnofgodinatlanta.com. Let's call it a spiritual retreat...not just for Jess but for us too. We had been directed on this path over a year ago from several different messages and we actually even had a wonderful person here that we had never met ask us if she could take a picture of Jess to John of God in Brazil. We agreed, of course. She returned with some herbs and a crystal from Brazil for Jess. We had thought about taking Jess to Brazil several times and were very excited to hear he was coming for the first time in 15 years to the US. It took 5 years to get him here. There were around 2,000 people there for the 3 day event. Many ministers from local churches came to support his work. We meditated, we rested, and we had spiritual healings, spiritual blessing, and spiritual procedures and slept for a whole day in our hotel room. That was very strange. We were told to rest as much as possible for 7 days and we have special instructions for 40 days. There is a lot on the internet about this man and what he does. It was similar to our experience with the Dahli Lama...very peaceful, very special and reassuring. When Jess passed by this respected man, he gently reached for Jess' hand and looked at me with a smile. He rolled his eyes back, spoke in Portuguese to the translator who in turn smiled at us and said, "He is going to get better".
It was not hard for us to want to be at this event and in his presence. We know there are those blessed with a gift of healing and with a direct connection to God. We could all do the same if we would just slow down long enough to acknowledge we have the same special gift. We are all one...connected to a higher power. We will continue to trust that God has a plan and we will keep following it.
P.S. Blue Shield has denied our request for a rotating mattress. They seem o think that it is not a medical necessity. Imagine that! I wonder if they would change their mind if they would lie in one spot for 24 hours and couldn’t move. It's okay, I don’t give up.
The reason for our trip is a bit hard to explain. It is one of those...”Ya just had to be there!” Here is the website with somewhat of an explanation of where and why we were in Atlanta - www.johnofgodinatlanta.com. Let's call it a spiritual retreat...not just for Jess but for us too. We had been directed on this path over a year ago from several different messages and we actually even had a wonderful person here that we had never met ask us if she could take a picture of Jess to John of God in Brazil. We agreed, of course. She returned with some herbs and a crystal from Brazil for Jess. We had thought about taking Jess to Brazil several times and were very excited to hear he was coming for the first time in 15 years to the US. It took 5 years to get him here. There were around 2,000 people there for the 3 day event. Many ministers from local churches came to support his work. We meditated, we rested, and we had spiritual healings, spiritual blessing, and spiritual procedures and slept for a whole day in our hotel room. That was very strange. We were told to rest as much as possible for 7 days and we have special instructions for 40 days. There is a lot on the internet about this man and what he does. It was similar to our experience with the Dahli Lama...very peaceful, very special and reassuring. When Jess passed by this respected man, he gently reached for Jess' hand and looked at me with a smile. He rolled his eyes back, spoke in Portuguese to the translator who in turn smiled at us and said, "He is going to get better".
It was not hard for us to want to be at this event and in his presence. We know there are those blessed with a gift of healing and with a direct connection to God. We could all do the same if we would just slow down long enough to acknowledge we have the same special gift. We are all one...connected to a higher power. We will continue to trust that God has a plan and we will keep following it.
P.S. Blue Shield has denied our request for a rotating mattress. They seem o think that it is not a medical necessity. Imagine that! I wonder if they would change their mind if they would lie in one spot for 24 hours and couldn’t move. It's okay, I don’t give up.
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