9/14/04 at 8:57 p.m.

My server has been down for a few days. During one of the storms passing through Jen heard a zap and the next thing I knew my computer connection went down. So, today after telling Jess that he should help me fix my computer (which he was very good at it) something mysteriously showed me the way to our central networking box and I was able to fix it. Thank you, Jess! So, we have had very good days and a few hard nights. He seems to wake up a lot with a frightened look on his face. One of us sleeps in his room. We wonder if he is reliving the accident.

We found out Jess was allergic to the formula the hospital was using in his feeding tube. The first two ingredients were sugar and corn syrup. He was having trouble breathing after every feeding so we are now giving him our own special formula with the help of our nutritionalist Daniella Chace. She is awesome. The therapies have been going well. Tammy the PT has had him standing with our help and John OT is reconnecting his movements to feel his own body again. Chris and I are thankful for Jen's wonderful help. Chris has been able to go to work a few hours a day and I have been to my office for two hours a day. We don't want her to leave. We have had Jess holding and dropping a ball, moving his legs on command and he is making more noises with my hopes that a loud "mom" will emerge.

We are feeling the support, the love and the hope that everyone is generating for Jess and we are staying strong to attend to whatever is necessary for his recovery. Some moments are easier than others. With love...

9/10/04 at 10:58 p.m.

Jess had acupuncture this morning which seems to relax him for the day. She took a look at me and said I think you need a little help too. How lucky could I get? He also had physical therapy and a visit from his doctor. He said everything looked good and he was glad to see how alert he was and glad to hear he was responding to some commands. It is a slow process as we have been told many times. We also had a visit from a new friend in the valley who has walked in our footsteps. She was so encouraging to let us know there is hope and things do get better. Chris' sister from Cleveland arrived today to spend two weeks with us. Jen is a registered nurse with many years experience. What a gift we have received with her presence. The highlight of Jess' day was a visit from Kelsey. And, now he is sleeping so we all are going to get some rest too. Good night...God bless you all!

9/8/04 at 9:47 p.m.

Jess had a busy day starting at 8:00 a.m. with John Vladimiroff our occupational therapist. He had Jess on his bedroom floor bending him and moving his body into positions he has not been in for 12 weeks. Jess seemed to enjoy it. He also felt Jess looked directly at him as though he wanted to know who he was. Then, the physical therapist Tammy was encouraged by getting Jess to respond to her asking him to wiggle toes and open and close his hand and move his arm. All very good things for us to witness. Early in the afternoon Joan, our acupuncturist, worked with Jess to help ease the muscle spasms and send energy to the brain for healing. We feel very fortunate to have these wonderful caring people helping Jess. The hardest part of a brain injury is no one knows the outcome or the speed at which someone's brain can heal. We just have to trust that his outcome will be the very best.

We are still in awe at the abundance we are receiving from Jess' benefit. We are forever grateful...

"I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks."
- William Shakespeare Twelfth Night

9/6/04 at 7:35 p.m.

We put Jess on the living room floor and exercised his legs and arms today. It was fun to have him down on the floor and sitting up against the couch. We also put him on the couch and put some music on so he could enjoy different surroundings, textures, sounds and sunlight from the window instead of remembering the sterile hospital bed. It is nice to have him home! Kelsey came again to visit. He looks at her with such love and blinks his eyes slowly to let her know he knows she is there. I also invited a nutritionalist, Daniella Chase, down to help me make sure I am giving him the right supplements. She is awesome and felt we were doing an excellent job with our choices. She said his skin, nails and eyes looked really good. I am giving him the Omega 3 oils for brain development, magnesium for muscle relaxation, a secret green drink for his vegies, a multivitamin, acidophilus to introduce good bacteria, 10 cans of a protein vitamin supplement that is like Ensure (3,500 calories) and 1500 cc's of optimized Pi Water (close to brain fluid). It all goes through a tube in his stomach. Another good reason to be home...I couldn't do that in the hospital. As today comes to an end, we wish everyone a peaceful good night....

9/5/04 at 1:16 p.m.

I am sorry I have not updated the website for a few days. Chris and I have been a little unorganized and overwhelmed trying to make sure Jess gets all of the care he needs. I think I will just update on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now on. I hope that is ok with everyone.

I have been asked to let everyone know what you might see if you were walking in our footsteps. Jess looks just like Jess when he is sleeping. When he is awake his eyes are the same beautiful blue eyes we all know and love. Kelsey says he looks brighter and better every time she visits. Sometimes he is right with us and sometimes he is away somewhere. Talking to God...I hope. Jess is not awake enough to hold his head up, sit or stand alone, he cannot move his arms and legs when he wants, he needs to be fed every 3 hours, turned every 2 hours...he basically needs everything done for him that we all do and take for granted. I guess my optimistic messages have made some believe he should be out playing basketball any day.

We have all the hope in the world that Jess will come out of this. No one can give us any prognosis of when that will be except that it will take a long time. That's ok...we have a long time. I received a card from a good friend the other day that said...Life takes some crazy directions sometimes, causing changes we can't hope to anticipate. Even though we try to cope as best we can, some things are beyond our control...we can only accept them and try to move forward, as best we can.

We are moving forward "as best we can" and we know that someday Jess will be back out on his basketball court. We hope you have a great holiday and please know how much we appreciate all you do on our behalf. Love, Chris, Pam & Jess

9/2/04 at 10:18 p.m.

Jess was very restless last night. We are not sure why. The day went well. He was responding to some commands when I was putting a ball in his hand and asking him to put one finger up for a yes. It was good to see him trying again. We have not got our routine down yet but every day will get better...we hope. We have a wonderful occupational therapist (who actually is a long time friend) and incorporates the Feldencrist method which is very interesting. He brings a table for Jess to lie on and gently works his body in relaxing movements. We are lucky to have him helping Jess. Tomorrow morning we have an acupuncturist coming to help with the muscle tension and toning. Our days are packed full....have a restful evening.

9/1/04 at 10:38 p.m.

Jess had a good day with a bit of sunshine on the back deck and a shave by his dad, a visit by a new physical therapist and a new occupational therapist (which were both awesome), and is sleeping as we speak. We also listened to an Izzy CD from Maui in our living room. Hopefully it brought back good memories. He does like being home but he is showing some frustration. This is a good thing...we hope. So, another day with the Matey's is coming to an end. We hope you all had a very good day too. Don't waste any possible good day with bad one. good night....