One week left of school

Jess only has one week of school left. He graduates this year and will receive a diploma. He only needed 5 credits in 2008 to graduate. It will be the end of our having kids in the school district for the last 30 years. I wish Jess was on his way to college. He wanted to get his computer science degree. We are not sure what direction we will head now.

Brandie is pregnant and will be leaving us on July 3rd...Jess' birthday. She has been an incredibly wonderful addition to our family and we will miss her very much. We have not heard from the Cleveland Clinic so we have not been able to look for someone to take her place. This is a real test in patience!

We have gotten Jess to blow bubbles through the little kid's plastic wand, make a sound on a harmonica and blow on a whistle. Tracy, our speech therapist, has gotten him to stick out his tongue and touch his lips. He is still trying hard to lift his left knee up and his eyes are tracking in all directions now. Little improvements that mean so much. We just keep on keeping on!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

If you are interested, there is going to be a doctor (neuroanatomist) on Oprah's website tonight that had a stroke. Because of her knowledge she knew what she was going through and explains what was happening to her brain during the stroke and how it took her 8 years to come back. Here is the link to read about it: http://www.oprah.com/xm/oprah/oprah_main.jhtml?promocode=HP_oaf .

Jess has been blowing out a flame consistently. He also pushed my hand away before I could change the bandage on his belly that protects his feeding tube last night and then he grinned at me. Yes! It was so cool. He has been moving his arm out of the way of his dad when he teases him and pretends to bite his finger for quite awhile, which is fun to watch. But, my Mother's Day present from him last night was him pushing my arm away several times and then grinning at me.

Jenn sent me a video on neuroplasticity http://www.hd.net/drr313.html that is really interesting. It talks about what meditation can do for the brain with an interview with the Dalai Lama. It verifies that exercising the brain is most important and shows how a stroke victim was able to relearn how to use his arm when he was not given much hope. We know the brain can repair itself. So, we wait!

Yesterday, we drove Jess to St. Anthony, Idaho where my mom is living now. We wanted to make sure he could see she was ok and in a nice place. He gave her a big smile when he saw her. It made her day! It was so good to see her. It made my day!

No news from Cleveland. Yes, we are very anxious!

Still waiting...

We are still waiting to hear any news from our trip to Cleveland. Maybe this week!

We heard the dance a student, Mauro Zavala, organized in Ketchum for Jess was a great success! What a wonderful young man to think of Jess and incorporate his senior project all in one! Brandie took Jess into the dance but they went pretty early and didn't stay long so they didn't get to socialize much. Jess gets pretty tired after a long day at school and so does Brandie. Thank you, Mauro, for showing your caring and wonderful spirit to Jess! Hopefully, we can meet you soon!