Say Goodbye to 2006

I happily say goodbye to 2006. This has been a very tough year. I am ready to let go of all of the "bad" that came in 2006 and move on to all of the good that is yet to come with all of the wisdom and understanding we have gained from this year.

This time last year, we were eagerly awaiting 2006 and making New Year's resolutions of how we wanted to improve our lives. We had the usual resolutions of losing weight and exercising more (you know, the ones that are really never meant to be kept but it is tradition that they be made) and I am sure we had some lofty ones in there as well like not grumping at Randy so much for not putting his tools away and finally get around to training our dogs how not to lick people to death when they come in the door. But as 2006 came, not much changed. Randy and I continued in our busy lives of working full time and taking college classes and still trying to balance family time in all of that, which we were not very successful at. June 20th changed the course of our year and put our lives on a new journey. It has been a very tough one. There were quite a few times that we thought we were going to lose Randy.

Though we have had many ups and downs (as many relationships do), Randy has been my best friend since 1993. He is my partner in life and I cannot and do not want to imagine life without him.

Things that mattered in life went from what grade I got on my last exam to Randy opening his eyes for the first time after the accident. My definition of a good day changed from having everything to well at work to Randy being able to say my name.

I have always known Randy to be a strong headed (at times stubborn) person with a gentle spirit. This has taken him places within his career at Boeing. Well, those qualities mixed with his brilliant mind. I knew he loved his job, but I never knew how many people he had touched within the company until he was lying in the hospital bed. All of the words of concern and encouragement I received affirmation that I had married a good man.

Randy, of course, did pull through and those qualities that drew people to Randy are also the qualities that brought him to where he is at today at the close of 2006. Randy has surpassed where the medical profession thought he would be at this time. He has adopted the attitude of "I don't know what I can or cannot do until I try" and "Just because I can't do it now doesn't mean I won't be able to do it two weeks from now". He doesn't give up. Randy believes in himself. I believe it is because so many out there believe in him and hope for him.

Through the second half of this year, I have also gotten to see the strength within my little girl. This time has been very hard for her. Her dad promised that the playhouse he had started the year before would definitely be finished in summer of 2006. Not only did she not get the finished playhouse, but she lost her playmate for the summer as well. When her dad did come home he was different, not as much fun and tended to be a lot grumpier. When she asked about returning to go to karate or guitar lessons she got the answer "when dad gets back to work". She has turned what would be a sucky situation to most ten year olds into a positive experience. She focuses on the positives and reminds me to do the same. For Christmas, she cheerfully got busy in her bedroom and made very creative Christmas gifts for those in the family. She is an amazing person with an amazing spirit.

On June 20th, there was a lot that was lost.

Randy's mom gave up the comforts of her home to come live with us. Boeing lost the temporary use of a good employee.

So much more was gained. We have new friends, new focus, new purpose.

I am happy to see 2006 go and look forward to all that 2007 will bring. My New Year's resolution this year? To take things one day at a time because you never know what the end of the day brings. And of course, I will exercise and be healthier and all that too.

Riding a Bike Take 2

Randy was determined today to try riding a bike again. So I followed him outside with camera in hand. Since he doesn't have a bicycle helmet, I made him wear his motorcycle helmet (he wouldn't let me post a picture with him wearing it, though, so you have to go to the Family Pictures link to the couple I got with him actuallly on the bike). Our neighbor was pulling into her drivway as he put his motorcycle helmet on. It worried her a bit, until we explained it was for his bicycle!

He got on the bicycle, started pushing the pedal forward, and managed to stay on. That is absolutely amazing! His balance has improved so much in the last month that he went from falling over (Thanksgiving weekend), to successfully riding a bike. I am so proud of him for his spirit of not giving up! He is so amazing.

During the rest of the day, he and I started organzing the mountain of paperwork and mail we have accumulated since the accident. I had asked him to grab a stapler. He goes and grabs it and then we begin to look for where the staples go in ~ it is an odd looking stapler. There was one area that looked like they should go there, but they didn’t quite fit. He took the whole thing apart and couldn’t find where they fit. I even spent a bit looking at it. Finally, as I am holding it in my hand feeling hopelessly stupid, Randy says “Is this a hole puncher?” We decided to label that a "brain injury" moment. I haven't figured out what my excuse is, though.

In the evening, Randy went out to dinner and hung out with Brandon while the rest of us went out to Paolo's (an Italian restaurant here in Kent) to celebrate an early birthday for Melinda. She is leaving bright and early in the morning to return to California to bring in the new year. Going out to dinner proved a bit much for me and my back. I was definitely ready to head back home!

All in all, today was a fun day. As I said earlier in the post, I am so very proud of Randy and how he just doesn't give up trying. He has made it so far, and it has a lot to do with stubborness and his willingness to try and try until he succeeds. I think he is an absolutely amazing person and definitely an inspiration for me ~ he inspires me to keep going and just keep trying until you get it right.

Randy's Last Day of Therapy

Randy had his last day of speech therapy today. Vanessa had him show her the plans he had entered into his PDA for all of the assignment she had given him. She asked to see the homework she had given him last time. She had had him start a task sheet with letts and numbers (the one that he had to cross off a specific number on one and then 2 specific letters on the other). She was pleased to see Randy taking out a sheet of paper to help him follow along on the lines. She liked the strategies that he used to complete the task. He rechecked his homework starting with line 2 and figuredout a way to look for the letters he had to find ~ he narrowed the search to just 1 letter at a time, and then would go back and search for the others. When he added them all up at the end, he received a 98% on the task. Vanessa gave him praise for using his compensatory strategies and for figuring out what works best for him.

Vanessa reminded Randy that part of the assignments he was given was to give her 2 phone calls and leave her messages. He actually remembered the days that he needed to do this on. I have been seeing some great improvments in his short term memory! Vanessa said she would be around if he needed to to tune anything ~ he could come in for appointments when he felt he needed to.

Randy's mom had written thank you notes for all of the therapists and had pictures printed of each of them with Randy ~ a very nice parting gift. Randy has also been working in his own thank you notes for them, but didn't finish them in time to hand them out today. We will either drop them by later, or mail them out. Randy did the last two blogs for me since I wasn't here the one day and then wasn't up to the next. He did quite well with writing them. Other times, though, with things such as Thank you Notes or letters to people he wants to write, it takes him longer even to just get started. That too, will come with time.

The rest of the day, Randy hung out with me. He got me out of the house for a short walk ~ I am suppose to be walking 2 to 3 times a day. Most of those consist of walking from one side of the house to the other for the bathroom. On our walk, we took the dogs. It turned out to be a good exercise for both Randy and I. He ended up having to hang on to both of the dogs because the pull on the leash proved too much for my back. Having to hang on to both dogs was a work on Randy's balance and he did excellent.

I am feeling much better than I was Wednesday. The surgery went well. Afterward, though, I woke up in excruciating pain. They gave me some pain medicine that was causing me to fall asleep and then I would forget to breathe, so the nurse had to keep waking me up. Because of the pain level, they decided to admit me. That turned out to be a good idea. When I got up to the room, I was really wanting to go home, but they wouldn't let me go home without walking first. Everytime I tried to even sit up I got sick. I am very glad it is all over. Today, I am still pretty sore where the surgery was at, but for the most part, feeling alright. I still do have numbness in two of my toes, but not as much throughout my leg and the shooting pain I use to feel all down my leg is gone.

Rachel can travel

(post is by Randy on Rachel’s behalf) Rachel was able to return home today. Her original problems caused by the pinched nerve have subsided, so she only has the recovery from the surgery left as something to feel crummy over. She’s looking forward to some time away from current life as she recovers. I’m just happy to have her back home, we’ve spent enough time apart. Thankfully, she was able to stay the night with me Good Samaritan because they didn’t have a policy that would keep her from spending the night with me in the private room (thanks to the MRSA), so I constantly encouraged her to not leave me at the hospital.

She and I have been lounging around the house today. She says I’ve taken very good care of her, I guess it’s my turn.

Never as expected

Hi everyone, it’s Randy making the post for Rachel today. It is late Wednesday evening as I write this information. Rachel was held at Virginia Mason for the night. The back surgery went incredible well, but she was experiencing pretty extreme motion sickness as a side affect (even when walking to the restroom), so the Virginia Mason team thought it best to keep her admitted for observation. This surgery was supposed to be an outpatient procedure

Rachel, in addition to constantly experiencing debilitating pain prior to the surgery, had lost most of her sensations in her left leg. Almost immediately after “waking up,” Rachel regained sensation and most of her consistent pain vanished. In my opinion, most of the after effects will subside after recovering from the anesthesia.

I really hope this surgery works for her. I’m not an advocate for modern healing methodologies, but I am thankful we live in a time and society where people dedicate their lives and studies to bettering lives of others.

My father, Rachel and I got to spend 14+ hours at Virginia Mason before they had Rachel stay the night.

I did find out that technically I have my license (having no fault in the accident). I won’t drive until my therapist feels it will be safe and I won’t injure another person (as a direct result from some of my deficiencies caused by my accident). I can’t wait until it’s safe to return to driving so I can be a major contributor on days like today. Thankfully, my dad ferried us around to and from Rachel’s appointment. In additional, my mom takes me to most of my many appointments. Driving is around the corner for me though, and something I’ve tagged as my next major milestone in recovery.

Have a great day and Holiday season.

Not Much to Report

Randy slept in quite a bit today, which isn't surprising considering that he was up until I made him come to bed at 1:30 this morning. After he got up and around, he and his dad began working on the floor in the bathroom.

He and his mom made a trip to the chiropractor and then came to pick me up. I had to drop the car off to get the brakes fixed. They started making an awful noise whenever I was trying to use them. Since they aren't covered by warranty, I called the guy at Imports N Sorts in Renton. It is right across from where Randy had worked when he was in Renton. The guy there has always taken very good care of us. I had never met or talked to him before (that I recall). He asked which Saab it was and I told him we only had one now ~ the other became a convertible during the summer. He is taking this week off for vacation, but said he would come in and try to get them done sometime this week. He is a very nice man!

Tomorrow is the day of my surgery. I am a little nervous, but feeling ready for it. I have to be there at 5:45 in the morning, though. Not quite sure how that is going to work! I am wondering how I am going to get Randy going that early.

Christmas 2006

Our day started out at 9 am today with Cass running in our room jumping up and down letting us know it was Christmas. Thankfully, she slept in today!

We tortured her a bit, though. Randy decided that he wanted "real" coffee today. The doctor had advised him that it isn't a good idea to have on a regular basis. Randy thought it would be a nice Christmas treat today. So he and I ventured out to find an open store.

Shortly after we finished cleaning up the living room from the opening of presents, Christine and her son Rick came by our house. I think that was the best Christmas present ever ~ getting to meet them! She talked a little of that day. She stayed in the car with Randy for quite some time keeping his head up so he can breathe. They gave her a helmet to wear as they took the top of the car off. When it was mentioned that Randy was a 5 on the Glasgow coma scale, she commented that even the cup sitting in front of her was a 4! It was so very nice to meet them.

When they left, we ate a very late breakfast. Then Randy's dad, sister and Cass went in search of a store that was open (the one we had found earlier had closed) and Randy's mom took a nap ~ she was up until after 4 in the morning, waiting for Santa I am sure! Randy and I started talking a bit about his time in Harborview. I dragged out "our song", which I had played for him many times. We both kind of laughed as we listened to it, realizing the lyrics have a whole new meaning now:

"I don't know what day it is,

I can't recall the seasons

And I don't remember how we got this far.

All I know is I'm loving you for all the right reasons

In my sky you'll always be my morning star"

~"All the Right Reasons" by The Jayhawks

I love that Randy has a sense of humor about his memory loss.

When everyone returned, everyone except Randy's mom (who was still sleeping) played "The Wrong Game", which Cass got for Christmas. It was kind of a fun game. You are read questions (each card contains 5) and you have to answer it wrong, but your wrong answer has to be in the same category as the right answer. What makes it even more hard is that it is timed. I think this was a great game for Randy to play. Many times, his mind would get stuck on the right answer and it would be hard to come up with a wrong one. He did excellent, though. In fact, he almost won, but his dad ended up getting to the goal first. He did much better than I did!

Randy and I then made dinner. We had chicken cordon bleu and green bean casserole. It turned out very nice. We moved the table into the living room in front of the fire place and used the fire, Christmas tree lights, and candles as our only light. It was a very nice meal. I have updated our photos on our msn spaces with Christmas photos if anyone wants to check them out.

The evening ended with Randy doing the Brain Age game. He rechecked his "brain age". Last he checked was right after coming home from Good Sam. His brain age at the time was 80. Tonight, he tested at 74. A little better... we are getting there.

Merry Christmas to All

The picture is of the ornaments that Randy and Cass made. Randy I picked them up today. Randy made the orangish one and Cass's is blue (her favorite color).

Today was a pretty nice relaxing day. We all went to church for the candle lit service. From there, we all went out separate ways. Randy's parents took Cass and went Christmas shopping. Randy and I went down to pick up the ornaments. When we got back, Randy attempted to make another white chocolate cheesecake. The one he made for Thanksgiving turned out very nice, but today he got a little confused on the recipe and added a bit much heavy cream. We went ahead and cooked it, but it was suppose be for our neighbors and we didn't want to risk it turning out bad so we ended up just buying a white chocolate cheesecake for them. We might brave trying the one Randy made tomorrow. Normally, he makes an excellent cheesecake. What happened, though, was that the recipe is for cheesecake with Brandy sauce and we don't make the brandy sauce ~ we usually top it with rasberry sauce. The recipe says 1 1/2 cup of heavy cream, but 1 cup of that is for the sauce. Randy put the entire 1 1/2 cup into the cheesecake!

As he was making it, Randy's parents dropped Cass off. She isn't a big shopper and was ready to come home. She worked on getting her room clean for her Aunt Melinda who is flying in tonight from California.

Randy made dinner tonight (simple BLT sandwhiches) and then Randy's parents took Cass and headed to a candle lit service at another church and then headed to the airport to pick up Randy's sister. Randy and I had a very nice relaxing evening hanging out in our living room by the fire listening to Christmas music. There were quite a few times tonight that little mannerisms Randy use to always do kind of popped out. I also noticed that quite often, as he was talking to me, the monotoneness that is now often in his speech disappeared throughout tonight and he sounded a bit more like himself. It was a very nice day.

I feel so blessed with all that we have. Life isn't what I thought it would be like right now. We have had many changes throughout the year. At the start of 2006, we had just come back from Disneyland. As the year progressed, Randy and I became busy with both working full time and going to school. Everything changed mid-point. We were put on a new path that included meeting many new people (for me, anyway ~ all of those amazing Boeing people!) and making new friends. Instead of student, I took on the role of caregiver, rehab coach, and cheerleader. I have gained so much more from those roles than I ever did in any class I have taken. I have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season.

We hope everyone out there has a very Merry Christmas.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Our day started a little earlier than Randy would have liked. I woke up at 7 this morning and realized we still needed to get a little something for Cass and I also realized that everyone else would be needing to grab a little something for someone. So Randy and I jumped out of bed and headed to Fred Meyer in Covington. The store started getting a little crazy just as we were leaving.

When we came home, I went back to bed and Randy went out and helped his dad get the roofing material on the playhouse. When it was all done, Randy wanted to go up the ladder to look at it. As long as he stayed on the ladder and didn't try to get on the actual roof, I had absolutely no problem with that.

After the playhouse, Randy's dad went to work on pruning our apple trees in the backyard. He is definitely the expert on pruning trees!

Randy and I then headed to the grocery store for a couple of things. It was an absolute zoo! People were all fighting for spots in the parking lot.

This evening, we had a few neighbors stop by and drop of Christmas goodies. I think all of the weight that I lost this summe I will be happily gaining back with all of the goodies.

Also this evening, I came across a disc with pictures from Christmas 2 years ago on it. The picture on this post is from that. We were at Randy's parent's house. Randy is outside exercising the dogs.

Glass Blowing

Randy had speech therapy this morning. He had asked me to get him up before I left this morning. It was a little difficult. Since he stopped taking the Amitriptyline his sleeping habits haven't been the greatest, so he was awake rather late last night. I did finally get him up. He very sweetly went outside and started my car for me. He was so cold, though, from going outside that he went back to bed to get warm and fell back to sleep. He ended up being a little late to his speech therapy.

In his speech therapy, Vanessa gave Randy a couple of sheets. One contained a bunch of numbers and the other a bunch of letters. The one with the numbers, Randy had to go through and cross out all of the 3's. He said he found that one rather easy to do. The letters one, though, he had to cross out j's and s's. He said that one was a bit more challenging.

Vanessa also gave him a packet of stuff to do. It contains 10 weeks worth of weekly functional memory tasks. It also had 50 daily assignments as well that each contain 5 things that need to be accomplished each day.

Vanessa then had him start 3 of the activites to approximate multitasking. The idea was to attain accuracy and efficiency.

Later in the afternoon, Randy's mom took Randy and Cass to a glass blowing studio in Renton. We had started the tradition a few years ago to go there every Christmas and make a couple of Christmas Ornaments. I didn't get to go this year because I had work, but it really is a lot of fun to do. You pick out the colors you want and then you get to blow into the thing to puff out the glass to make the ornament. We get to pick up the ornaments that were made today on Christmas Eve.

When I got home this evening, I thought I was coming home to an empty house because there was no car here and the lights were out. When I walked into our bedroom though, Randy was lying on the bed, fast asleep. Apparently it wasn't a planned nap, though, because he had his PDA and the keyboard to it lying on him. As I walked in the door, the noise of the dogs greeting me woke him up. I walked out into the kitchen area and he followed me. A little bit after getting up, he looked down at what he was wearing and said in a very confused tone "Is it AM or PM?" I told him it was PM and he kind of laughed and said he thought it was funny that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday and thought it was odd that I would be up and ready that early in the morning. It actually took him a little bit to get oriented.

Later in the evening, he and his dad were sitting in the living room and his mom and I were sitting at the table. His mom yelled something into the living room to his dad about having him make his famous chilli. Randy then started in on telling his dad about his speech assignment. A couple words into it, though, he realized he had said something without responding to what his mom said (something I have been talking to him about because he does it quite often ~ ignoring the conversation around him and then starting off on his own subject), so he quickly added "Oh, yeah Chilli, sounds good" and then went right back to telling his dad about the assignment. I just had to start laughing. At least he noticed what he had done!

I also wanted to post on here that Randy has been walking around a lot without his cane. He has been only taking it when he knows he is going to go places where there are a lot of people. His balance has greatly improved!

Randy's dad came over the pass tonight and brought with him a huge basket from Harrah Community Christian School and the Yakima County Fire Distric #5, station #7 & #8. What they sent us is absolutely amazing! We got a bunch of different teas (which Randy and I drink every night) and a bunch of hot chocolates. There was also homemade fudge, cookies, these really cute candy covered spoons, and caramel popcorn. There was also a very nice gift certificate to Home Depot, which Randy quickly grabbed and pocketed. We are so very thankful!

I also want to thank my coworkers. The other 4 supervisors that I work with went in together and got Cass a gift certificate to Toy's R Us, which she is beyond excited about! They also gave Randy and I a gift certificate to Maggiano's in Bellevue (Italian food if my favorite and I have been telling Randy about this place for awhile, so I am very excited to get to take him there).

People have been so amazing to us throughout this year. We feel very blessed to have had all of the support of so many people right from the beginning through until now.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and stress-free weekend before Christmas!

Thursday

We have internet access again. Woohoo! Hopefully, we have it back for good.

For updates for today, when I asked Randy what he did today (it was just he and Cass until early afternoon when his mom came back over the pass), he answered with "Well, I did not climb up on a ladder!" Being that we have internet access back, I felt it was necessary to tell him that his ladder was hidden since I figured he would find out by reading the blog. He thought for sure that his dad would be on his side about allowing him to climb up the ladder on top of the playhouse. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong. I think we all are very skiddish about things that might wind him back up at the hospital! What is really funny, though, is that when I told him where I hid the ladder (in the furthest corner of our property, behind a tree), he said "You know what would have been a great hiding place? Under the big tree". This is funny because this is exactly what his daughter had said the night we hid it.

Today, Randy and Cass hung out playing ping pong and various other games. His mom got back in time to take everyone to the chiropractor. They actually left just a little bit before I got there. I had given Dr Petett a copy of my MRI the night before (he also ended up recommending surgery due to the extent of the issues with my disc and the time constraints I have with the insurance). As I got home, Randy and I headed down to the support group.

At the support group, they had a potluck. Randy made sweet and sour meatballs. Everyone loved them. I think we only had two meatballs left by the end. We met some "new" people. They are old timers of the group, but haven't been there the last 3 times. One lady had a brain tumor removed. Her and her two daughters (who are probably around our age, perhaps just a little younger) were there. There was also a young man who had his first TBI when he was 11. He had a second head injury in July of this year. There was another lady there who never did tell her story, but she too has had 2 head injuries. I have heard that is common but have yet to figure out why.

Tonight, on the way home, Randy and I talked about anger. I have had several people comment to me that I must feel angry or saying they would have a hard time not being angry. Randy has dealt with feelings of anger about the situation on a few occassions, but really not often. I have found that I have no time and no energy to devote to that. I really don't allow myself to think about what life was like before the accident or where our life was headed. I dont' think about what we have potentially "lost". I focus on today and try to focus on what is really necessary to help Randy succeed in healing and in continuing to get better. As for Randy's anger, he went through a period where he was angry at the guy who caused the accident and he went through a period of being angry that he was having to deal with all of this, but his anger now is more aimed at the laws that we have. Specifically, he is angry that the man who caused it didn't have insurance and that his punishment was a fine that is less than it would have cost most people to pay for a month or two of insurance.

Update for last couple of days

Okay, so our home access to the internet was short lived. We only had it for a that short period and then it went out again. Not that we have any room to complain ~ there are many people who still do not have any power. One of my coworkers has been told by the energy company that his area will most likely not get power back on until after the first of the year.

So here is what has been going on with us: Tuesday, I took Randy to his speech therapy. Vanessa had him doing a few different activities, quickly switching between them throughout the session. One was trying to name 25 items in a category that she would give him within a 1 minute timeframe. He did quite well with a couple of the categories, but he still really needs to work on his recall ability. Another activity was to give me clues to try to guess words from a list that he had. He did quite well with his clues. There was only one word I couldn't guess and it was more because of me than him ~ I could picture he object in my head but couldn't come up with the word. Another activity she had for him was to give him three words to remember and then she would work on the other two activities for a bit and then ask him what the three words were. She did this three times throughout the session. The first time, she allowed him to write it down and keep the piece of paper. When asked for the words, he remembered that he had written them down and where, so he was able to give them to her. The second time, after he wrote them down, she had him give me the piece of paper. Amazingly, he was still able to remember the three words. Of those three, there was one that he knew he would have a hard time remembering, so he said he kept that word "close" to him (periodically reminding himself of it) and the other two words fell in place. The third time, Vanessa forgot to have him give me the sheet he wrote them down on, so he easily got those three words as well. At the end of the session, we talked about different activities that Randy can work on at home after this month is over. She recommended online games that are timed and games that require quick recall. So if anyone wants to come over and play pictionary or charades, let me know!

After therapy, we headed to Fred Meyer. Randy had asked to go there the day before to pick up something he had wanted to get his dad. On the way to therapy, I mentioned our plan of going to Fred Meyer and he asked me what we needed there. i refused to tell him. I think it frustrated him a bit, but it was a good reminder of the need to write things down! I was prepared, though, to let him walk down all of the isles until he remembered on his own, but thankfully he remembered before we got to the store.

During the windstorm, the roofing material came off of the rooftop of Cass's playhouse. For those who have not seen the playhouse, it is something that Randy had started building a couple of Summers ago. It still isn't finished ~ Randy loves starting projects, but finishing them has never been his strong point! The playhouse, though, is 2 stories high. Randy has been determined to get up on top of the roof of it and put new material down. I have no doubt that Randy has the capability of doing it, but of course I worry that he might lose his balance and fall and I am, quite frankly, tired of hospitals. I had asked him not to do it and/or wait until his dad is here this weekend to help. He never quite gave me an answer on whether or not he was going to wait. Since it was just he and Cass home on Wednesday, I worried a bit that he might attempt to do it without me around. So as he went out with his friend Brandon, Cass and I hid his ladder (which, mind you is no small feat) and I put the roofing material in my car. He wasn't too happy when he noticed the roofing material gone, but he said he understood. When I got home last night, he took it out of my car. He still hasn't noticed, though, that his ladder is "missing"! Life really is a constant adventure now!

As for me and my back, I went to the doctor recommended by Darcee in one of her comments for a second opinion. He looked at my MRI for all of two seconds and said he has seen enough. He recommended surgery. It made me feel more confident about going through with the surgery. Tomorrow I will go through all of my pre-op stuff and then next Wednesday, I am set for surgery.

We Finally Have Internet Access!

We are finally connected to the rest of the world. Yeah!

So to catch up on our last few days:

We lost power for a couple of hours on Thursday, but it came on shortly after we got back from dinner. By the time we got up in the morning, We had no power. I went in search of a generator, but was too late. Everywhere was sold out. I got home early afternoon and was only home for a short time before our neighbor came over and hooked us up to their generator (Yes, we have amazing neighbors!). Last year when the power went out, they couldn't have both houses hooked up at once because our furnace drew too much energy. Shortly thereafter, we got a new furnace so they were able to provide heat to both houses. We were very thankful. Randy is planning on baking a white chocolate cheesecake to show our appreciation. Our power came back on around noon on Saturday. There are still many people around here without power and I feel so awful for them. It is very cold!

Friday, Randy still went to his speech therapy session. Since, it is attached to a hospital, they had at least some power, though it was limited power. Randy talked to the therapist about why his therapies are ending. She assured him that it had nothing to do with insurance. Many people have insurance that will limit them to only so many hours of therapy. Randy has amazing insurance. They continue as long as Randy shows improvements. All of the therapists feel that Randy has made such vast improvements over the last few weeks that he no longer needs their services. Now we need to take things we learned from them and keep Randy going with the work. The hard part, I think, is going to keep him motivated. He is motivated to do stuff that he knows he has to show someone ~ such as the homework he has to do for his speech therapy. I think it could be easy for him to fall into a "hole" where he, being frustrated that he isn't back to work right now, starts doing less and less of those activities that are going to get him back there because the end result feels so far off to him right now. My idea is to set him up a daily schedule of what he needs to do and have him check off everything as he does it. I just need to come up with that short reward that is going to be his motivator. Somehow I think "not having me nag him" is not going to be it. He does have a current obsession with gummy worms - so I suppose that is a possibility!

The return to work thing came back up today because Randy had to call and get some info for his SSI application. The Vocational therapist from Harborview told Randy that the average time to return back to work is 18 months. Randy, however, has never been average. Once we get the tests done by the Neuropsychologist, we should have a better idea of how soon Randy can get back into the swing of things.

So, for the rest of our weekend: Friday night, with needing to conserve power, we all (Randy, his mom, Cass and I) sat around playing a game together and then headed to our beds to keep warm (the generator needed to be disconnected at night). At one point during the evening, something was brought up that happened recently, but Randy hadn't written it down. Randy stated, "If I didn't write it down, it doesn't exist." This is a very true statement for his current reality! Saturday we stayed in bed until Ron came over to re-connect it. Sunday, I woke up with an incredibly bad headache and a fever. Randy took very good care of me all day. Then today, I expected to wake up feeling fine (it's called the "24 hour flu", right?), but again, I felt like my head was going to explode, so I stayed home again today. I only ventured out to get to the chiropractor, hoping he could alleviate some of the headache.

Sunday, I was suppose to take Cass and her friend ice skating. Randy's mom took them instead. While she was there, though, she fell ~ not on the ice, but while going down some stairs. Today, her foot was very swollen and very much hurting. She had it x-rayed today and she has a fracture. She is suppose to stay off of it for the next few days.

Randy had speech therapy today. Randy read a story to himself and then answered questions. Vanessa told him he could use whatever compensatory strategies he neded to use to help recall the facts. He said he used deduction to help him choose an answer to one and then he made a couple of educated guesses on others. After answering some of the questions, Randy checked over the story to double-check his answers. He second guessed himself on 2 questions, but self-corrected them. Vanessa suggested that he do reading every day to keep his mind working in the right way. Vanessa decided she wanted to go ahead and see him tomorrow as well. She believes he is doing well enough that she will be ending his therapy soon. I thought she was going to be working with him on his reaction times for his driving, though.

His physical therapist also told Randy today that he will be finishing up his pool therapies this week. He was originaly scheduled for 8 to 12 weeks. It feels as though they are closing things up very quickly with him. I am not quite sure if it is because they think he is doing just that great or if there might be insurance reasons. I know Randy has made great improvements, but it kind of feels "all of a sudden" with stopping of things. I really thought the pool therapy would continue for the full 8 to 12 week duration and we were expecting the speech therapy to go through January at the very least.

After his therapy, Randy and his mom headed to see Dr Baxstrom. He tested Randy's eye's with reading of a chart. The only line Randy was able to somewhat read was the very top line with the largest of letters. Dr Baxstrom said that his eyes could be strained by his using the PDA. He has been using it alot, but I think once he gets it completely set up (and it becomes less of a new "toy") it will be used in more short spurts of times ~ just inputting and viewing appointments rather than all of the playing of figuring out all it can do. Randy asked Dr Baxstrom about the eye drops that the Harborview doctor's had prescribed ~ the ones that paralyze the muscle. Dr Baxstrom said that the case studies are divided about their effectiveness. He explained that the drops relax and actually paralyze the focusng muscle of the eyes, but they wear off in 4 to 6 hours. Dr Baxstrom said he agreed with the Harborview doctors about Randy's eyes overworking right now. He said the eyes are trying to correct the double images they are seeing. However, he said that the drops might actually have the opposite of the desired affect and might make Randy's eyes work harder as the drops are wearing off. He advised Randy to try them for a few days and then report the results to him.

Dr Baxstrom then had Randy do some beanbag exercises. The first part of the exercises would include Randy moving his head as he watches the beanbag move, tossing it from hand to hand. As he tosses the beanbag, he is to think about how he would catch it. The second part would be Randy not moving his head but instead watching his eyes. He is to go back to the baby steps of visual awareness, asking "where is everything" and "what is it".

This evening, as we all came home, we found we were some of the lucky many who were without power due to the wind storm. We all piled into the car and headed to Covington (which, of course, had power) to grab food. Unfortunately, the place we chose was very loud, so we had to yell at each other to hear anything, but at least we had heat and lights!

Tonight, Randy's dad spent quite awhile on the phone with Christine. We found out that Randy was airlifted to Harborview. It's funny ~ during the first few days while he was in ICU, we had speculated that he might have been, but one of the nurses shot the idea down, telling us he was too close to have been. However, with the seriousness of his injuries and the back up of the traffic, it makes sense. Randy is really wanting to meet Christine, as am I and the rest of the family. We owe her so much! We want to get all of the details of what Randy went through that night (it is rather off how finding out details that seem very trivial in the whole scheme of things actually provides some sense of comfort and completion in having as much knowledge as can be obtained of the incident), but also, we want to have the chance to thank her personally for all that she did, because he wouldn't be here if she hadn't of been there. It would be nice if we could head up and meet her before I am "down and out" for a bit after surgery.

What A Day

The day started with lightening and thunder. It is the first time I have ever heard my car alarm.

Randy pretty much slept through it. He was exhausted from such a busy day the day before. He slept in until after 10. He and his mom then headed down to the chiropractor. When they got back, Randy's mom headed to one of our neighbor's houses to hang out for awhile. Randy spent that time doing what he likes to do best ~ working on his PDA, continuing to work towards getting everything he wants set up on it. Later in the afternoon, Randy and his mom and Cass all headed to Randy's pool therapy.

My day today wasn't so good. A friend emailed me a news article about a laptop that was stolen from a Boeing employee's car. It had information of over 300,000 Boeing employees on it. Through the checking that I did, we found out that, unfortunately, Randy's information was on that computer. It had names, socials, home addresses, home telephone numbers, and driver's licenses. The stress of the last 6 months, with dealing with Randy's injury and recovery, with my back issues, I guess I had had enough today. My boss graciously let me leave a little early today ~ I went into her office a little emotional and told her I was just tired and just had enough.

I got him and got Randy set up on the 3 year credit watch that Boeing is providing. I also put the fraud alert on the bureaus.

Tonight, Randy and I had plans with our friends from church. He was to go to a tool exchange with Terry and I was going to attend a jewelry exchange with Cyndi. I thought about canceling tonight, but fortunately didn't. It was what I really needed. I am not a jewelry person, but I had so much fun. Cyndi and Terry have been through a lot with their son, who suffered a TBI over 2 years ago. It was good to be around her tonight and get to step away from everything. Randy had a great time as well.

Busy, Busy Day

I never thought this day would come... Randy asked for a haircut! He has been debating whether or not to grow his hair out again. I guess he decided to keep it short.

He had a busy day today. He got up at the same time I got up today (around 5:45), so his day started early. He had a 9 am appointment with Harborview opthamologist. He made it to Harborview, but shortly after getting out of the car, he got sick. Since he spent a lot of the rest of the day in the car, he never did feel quite right. As soon as his stomach would start to settle down, we would have to get back in the car and head to the next thing. I felt bad for him.

At Harborview, Randy saw Dr Almond (a resident). She tested his sight with letters on a screen. There was a difference ~ he was less able to read them than last time. She also tested the pressures in his eyes. They were different from last time, but not in a way that should be a problem. Last time Randy was there, they had tried some eye drops to help with the eye muscle spasms. Today, they gave Randy the drops while in the office and the prescribed them for the next two weeks. Dr Mudumbal (the neuro opthamologist that worked alongside the resident) said that Randy overcompensates with his eyes and the drops should help by paralyzing the muscles that focus the eye. We shall see how much they help during the next couple of weeks. He goes back for a follow up visit in 6 weeks. He was really hoping that the drops would help with his double vision, but they had no affect on it.

After the opthamologist, Randy's mom dropped him off at my office. I took the afternoon off to take him to the Neurophsychologist, Dr Lloyd. Randy had an evaluation with Dr Lloyd while he was in rehab at Good Samaritan. That evaluation was just to get a base point for when Randy would go in for his full evaluation. When I had scheduled the appointment for today, Dr Lloyd's receptionist had misunderstood me and she only scheduled us for an hour, but the evaluation that Dr Lloyd wants to do with Randy is a full day affair. So we didn't get to accomplish what we wanted today, but Dr Lloyd still met with us and answered some questions we had. Most of the questions were from Randy. He wanted to know about the evaluation, specifically whether the evaluation could give him some insight on how far he is off from getting to return to work, if the evaluation could test his current IQ and how it can be compared to his previous IQ (previous meaning prior to the accident). To that last question, Dr Lloyd explained that there are methods to test what a person's level of intelligence was prior to head injury. He didn't elaborate much more than that, but it intrigued me, so I plan on researching it. The question I asked was whether or not there was any correlation between the score of the Glasgow Coma Scale at time of injury and the outcome of a person's recovery. He said there have been studies on that and there is believed to be a correlation. I plan to research that more as well. The lowest score on the Glasgow scale is a 3 and Randy was at a 5. I am interested in seeing what the studies have shown for those who scored so low on the scale. I personally believe Randy is doing amazing things.

He told me tonight that he is using what he learned from controlling processes at work to help him during his recovery with things such as putting together a process (the steps) for things that he does on a regular basis. He is definitely missing being at work. Many people have told him that they envy the time off he is getting. It was always hard for me to pull Randy away from his work. He is definitely a process guy!

Short Post

There isn't much to report today. Randy ended up sleeping most of the
day away. I called him a little after 11:30 and he said he had just
gotten up. He really needed it after not getting much sleep the night
before. He said he felt much better today than he did yesterday. He
did do some work around the house. Then later, he had his pool
therapy. He is still really enjoying it. He says it has really been
helping his balance get better and he hopes he can get rid of the cane
here soon.

My surgery has been scheduled for December 27th. I admit I am a little
scared, though it sounds like it is going to be a pretty simple
procedure. They said it will only be 20 minutes and I will only be
there a total of 3 hours and then I get to go home. I haven't quite
gotten out of them how long I will be missing work. I should find out
for sure on the 22nd when I go in for all of the pre-op stuff.

A couple of things I forgot from yesterday

I forgot to include a picture of Randy at the Museum of flight. We can't remember the name of the plane that he is in.

I also forgot to tell a story. Randy has always been a very polite guy. Even as he was coming out of his coma, he was incredibly polite, down to the thanking the nurses for taking his blood. It was funny, though, yesterday when Randy was walking into the kitchen and Cass was standing right where he wanted to go. Instead of telling her "excuse me", he told her that she needed to move whenever she sees someone coming toward her. Cass was taken aback by this and didn't respond. Later, though, when her and I were alone, she asked me if her daddy's head injury had taken away all of his manners and she referenced the incident above. I thought it was funny in kind of a not-so-funny way.

Today, there isn't much to report. Neither Randy or I slept much ~ me because of the steriods and him due to a mixture of me not sleeping and then him staying up too late fiddling with his PDA. Due to the lack of sleep, Randy didn't feel good throughout most of the day. Not getting enough sleep affects him more than it would have before the accident.

As for me and my back issues, I have been on steriods for only a couple of days, but am seeing the same results as the last time I took them. It is lessening the pain, but no feeling comes back into my leg or toes. Randy has been doing a good job of taking care of me and helping me out so I don't do the things that I am not suppose to be doing.

Busy But Good Day!

Today was very busy but we had a great day. We stared off by going to the Museum of Flight. Randy had bought both he and his dad memberships earlier this year so we were all able to get in "free". We didn't make it through the Da Vinci exhibit, but we plan to go back and go through that in the next month and a half. Randy was getting tired of the walking around. Cass got to build a little helicopter type thing and go up some stairs and send it down. She thought that was cool. Then her and her grandfather went into a flight simulator. Cass had a great time!

We then all headed up to Edmonds to visit the Centala family. They have a stream in their backyeard and this time of year the Salmon run through there. It was really neat to see. We got to sit and visit with Sandy for awhile. Randy, of course, loves talking about work and anything he was involved in before the accident.

We got home in time to get ready to go out to dinner with friends for Jon's birthday. We had a great time. It was nice to see everyone Kelli's best friend Janette's parents were there and they are just a kick in the pants. it was fun to watch their antics throughout the night. It was like having a comedy show at our own private table. Later in the evening, the conversation moved to Randy and things he did in the hospital. We were all rolling with laughter as Kelli told the story of Randy licking his friend Jon's hand, how he was spitting at anyone and everyone, how he would beg different people to remove the glove on his hand, and of course how he recommended the fish. It was good to laugh. We had a great time!

End of OT

Randy had speech and occupational therapy today. Randy said that Vanessa in speech still commented that she was impressed on how well he is doing with the using of the PDA to keep track of things.

For occupational therapy, Tina re-evaluated Randy on his grip. There were improvements in the left side (about 15 to 20 percent), which of course is a great thing! Tina signed off on his Occupational therapy today. She will now just be administering his driving evaluation when he is ready to do them. He will be working on his reaction times with Vanessa during speech therapy. As the reaction times improve, he will schedule the time to take the driving evalation. By saying "reacion times" though, I am not adequately desribing the area that he needs to work on. When he has to make a decision quickly and respond to something, he is slower than he needs to be for driving. As long as he does not have to process information, he reacts very quickly.

Right now, the plan for speech therapy is to continue through December and then in January go down to once a week. He has been making great improvements.

I went to see a Neurosurgeon today. He recommended surgery. I have made an appointment with the Neurosurgeon that Darcee suggested for a second opinion, but I did feel very comfortable with the doctor I saw today, so I think surgery will be the way that I go. I explained to the Neurosurgeon I saw today why surgery was not a good option for me right now. I told him about Randy's accident (I was reading one of my many books on brain injury so he asked about it), and I explained that I didn't have time to take off because it was all used when Randy was in the hospital. I won't get time back until the first of the year. However, at the first of the year I will no longer have double insurance coverage. Because of the length of time Randy has been on leave, we will need to go on Cobra as of Janurary 1st. Beause of the expense of Cobra, we won't have double coverage for Cass and I anymore. As a last effort, the Neurosurgeon today prescribed me another weeks work of steriods. He didn't seem to believe they will work, though.

Randy had speech therapy today with Vanessa. He said she was very impressed with how organized he was as well as with his follow through with things such as doing his homeworkl. He is definitely making improvements! She talked to him about reading. He said he loses track of information by the time he finishes a chapter and mentioned that he has trouble following movie plots. I really noticed this when he and I rented a movie a couple of weekends ago. By the end of the movie, I was having to explain what was going on. Then again, I am sure it didn't help that we had watched the movie over a 2 day period.

Vanessa then read a story to Randy and had him retell the story with the main points. She then had him do a question sheet without reading the printed information. He had 3 questions that he was unsure about and said he would like to read the printed info to help with him. While he was reading and completing the questions, his mom noticed that his tremors were quite pronounced. They seem to appear more when he is really concentrating. She then had Randy highlight the info which would hlpe him answer the questions he didn't complete. He had to read the questions over a couple of times before they made sense to him. In the end, he did a great job.

Tonight, Randy and I went to the brain injury support group down in Puyallup. There were some people there from last time. The coordinators were there ~ the man who suffered a head injury over 20 years ago and his wife. Also, the man who suffered a head injury in the late 80's was there. He was almost 22 at the time. He has no short term memory. He tried to live on his own for awhile but was unsuccessful. He and his dad come to group together. There were also some people who we hadn't met yet. There was a man who fell off of a roof 4 1/2 years ago. By looking at him and talking to him you could not tell he had a head injury. There was also a man who has had two head injuries. The first was from rock climbing and the second was a collision on highway 18 involving a hit and run driver. He lost his son in the accident. I am not sure how long ago the accidents were. Then there was a lady who was hit by a drunk driver over 2 years ago. She is on her 20 something surgery that will be taking place December 20th ~ she will spend Christmas in the hospital. She is missing the top part of her skull. Randy walked out of the room feeling very fortunate.

Randy's Day of Frustration

Randy had a frustrating day. He had his driving evaluation today. The first part was a repeat of the reaction time test from the last time. Randy actually did very well with this part. He actually scored above the national average. The second portion included actual driving situations on the screen and Randy had to interpret and react. He was allowed to do a practice drive before beginning the evaluation. The test included many different driving situations including hazardous driving conditions, such as cars pulling out in front of him or turning ahead of him. Tina, the therapist, said that he had improved on the beginning section and he did well on the general driving, but had some difficulties with the hazardous driving situations. She said he is steadily improving but needs more time before getting behind the wheel again. Randy was very disappointed. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have that freedom taken away from you. I am not sure when the next driving evaluation will be. I assume next month. In the meantime, Randy will be working on his reaction time and the time it takes him to process information.

After the driving evaluation, Randy went to meet Dr Vira, whom I had hoped he would like enough to make his primary care physician. She is my doctor and I find her to be absolutely amazing. Thankfully, Randy was very impressed with her as well. He hadn't been convinced that the doctor we had seen close to home was a bad choice, but then, upon meeting Dr Vira, he said he now agrees with me. Dr Vira asked great questions in taking his history. She had also requested that I get her the medical records prior to the visit. The previous doctor had never requested the records. Dr Vira also appears to be very knowledgable about medications and seemed gunuinely concerned about finding the correct medications and the correct dosages of those medications to help Randy with the pain. She said that the dosage of the Gabapentin Randy is on is "like peanuts". She immediately doubled it. She also prescribed him some other medication for pain, as needed until we find the correct dosage of pain. The pain medication is called Ultram. Randy was so excited to get the Ultram since the Gabapentin hasn't started working yet. Unfortunately, when we went to the pharmacy to pick up the Ultram and a refill of Amitriptyline, the pharmacist handed a piece of paper stating the the two medications together can increase the chances of seizures. Well, the fact that Randy has a head injury increases his chances of seizures. I didn't want to add to the chances. So Randy didn't get to try the new pain medication tonight. I will have to call the doctor tomorrow to either get another medication or to have her ease my fears. Randy was very frustrated, but he said he understood my concern.

Randy met with a Vocational counselor today at Harborview. The counselor,Dave,told Randy that he is early in his recovery and the optimal timeframe to return to work is 18 months and 6 months post injury, while not impossible, is not likely. We met a man in our support group who was told the same 18 month timeframe and he successfully returned to work at 10 months, but we fully understand that every injury is different and therefore every recovery process is different.

Dave encouraged Randy to apply for SSI benefits, of which I had already began the process. Randy is getting ready to move from short term disability benefits to long-term disability benefits and the application for the SSI is required to receive those. I had actually began the application over a month ago, but was given the false impression that Randy had to be off work for a year before we could apply, so I had stopped filling out the application.

Randy had expressed fear about returning to work, that he would go back and do something wrong and have it stick with him or be permanently viewed as someone who can no longer meet expectations. What's funny is that Dave used the analogy of getting on a bike ~ you won't know if you can ride the bike until you try. It's funny because Randy hadn't told him the bicycle story.

Dave stressed to Randy that he needs to make sure he sets himself up to succeed when it is time for him to return for work. The example that Randy gave to me tonight as we were discussing this was the following: Randy is aware that he has issues now with what I refer to as his navigational skills. Before the accident, Randy was great with direction, having a good sense of where he was at and could easily find where he wanted to go. That isn't the case right now. So, if he were to use pre-injury way of life, he might have chosen to become a tour guide. Post-accident, that wouldn't be such a good idea. He might instead (let me remind you this was his example), become a race car driver because the chances of him getting lost on the race track is very slim. The idea is that he needs to first become aware of what has changed about him and allow himself to accept those changes so that he can then find things that fit better for him now. A great example of that would be his organizational tools. Pre-accident, Randy used notebooks to keep track of everything in ~ his meeting notes, action items, etc. He tried using notebooks in the same manner post-accident and they ended up very disorganized and he kept losing track of things. He now uses the PDA. Pre-accident, Randy wouldn't come near a PDA, he loved his notebooks. I am thankful that Randy has the ability to be aware of what his changes are because I have read so many stories of those with head injuries that have no clue what their deficits are ~ for example, they don't realize their memory isn't working.

One thing of note ~ Dave stated that Randy was a 5 on the Glasgow coma scale at the scene of the accident. For those who are not aware of what the Glasgow scale is, they test whether or not the eyes open, verbal response, an motor response and come up with a score. A score of 12 or more means minor injury. A score of 9 to 12 is an injury of moderate severity. A score of 8 or less means severe head injury. 90% of those who score less than 8 are in a coma and from those who are at 8 or less at 6 hours post injury, 50% die.

Randy said Dave was impressed that, with a Glasgow score of 5 at the beginning, Randy is doing as well as he is now. I think Randy is doing amazing.

Sunday and Monday

Sunday, we had a quick burial service for Hammy the hamster.

We also got an email from Christine, the woman to saved Randy's life, that answered one of Randy's burning questions. In the hospital, one of the nurses in ICU had told us that he thought Randy was not wearing a seatbelt because he didn't have any marks on his chest from the seatbelt. Also, throughout Randy's medical records, Randy is referred to as an "unrestrained driver". Randy became very obsessed with the whole "was he wearing his seatbelt or not". He was very insistent that he would not have had his seatbelt off. Knowing Randy, I admitted it didn't seem like him, but I figured since he was at a stop, he might have unbuckled it for a second to grab something (which is still unlike him, but could have happened). With the injury, once Randy gets a thought in his head, he becomes rather obsessive about it until it gets resolved. So I figured the best person to ask would be the first one to Randy, so I emailed Christine. She said she did indeed have to unbuckle Randy's seatbelt. Randy's was ecstatic to get that response ~ thank you Christine!

Now he can move on to his next obsession...

Today, Randy and his mom did some volunteer work at Cass's school. Later in the day, they visited the chiropractor and then went to Randy's pool therapy. Randy also talked to Alana from his work today. He told me tonight that he greatly enjoys talking to anyone about anything and everything that connects him to his life before the accident.

I got the results from the MRI that I had done on Friday for my nerve issue. I apparently have a herniated disk, which is why I cannot feel my lower leg or my toes. My doctor recommends I see a Neurosurgeon to discuss options for taking care of it. I haven't heard back from them on when that appointment is.

Our Saturday

There isn't much to report today. With only 4 hours of sleep, I went to work today. It was a very long day!

Cass went to friend's house to work on a school project. She was gone pretty much all day and had a great time.

Randy did a little shopping with his mom and then hung out at the house finishing setting up his PDA ~ he loves playing with that thing. He and I tried to watch a movie tonight, but with his one track mind, he could only focus on his PDA. The only time he put it down was to go hang out with Brandon (now I know how I rate!)

We were suppose to have the burial ceremony for Hammy the Hamster today, but it go postponed until tomorrow. We have reserved spot right next to Henry for him.

There are never any dull moments in the Rush Family anymore.

In Memory of Hammy

A couple of years ago, Cassandra had a hamster by the name of Henry. Upon coming home from a weekend in Yakima, we found Henry's eye had kind of popped out. Cassandra was so distraught. We rushed him to a 24-hour vet who gave us eye drops to keep the eye moist. Randy and I had promised our little girl that we woul administer the drops throughout the night (Randy took one turn and then snored through any attempts to wake him for subsequent turns). Upon morning, we took Henry the hamster to a vet that was more familiar with hamsters. That vet offerred to do surgery to try to put the eye back in. One look into our daughter's red, tear-stained eyes and we agreed to do the surgery. Henry made it through surgery, but died a few hours later. A couple of days later, we added Hammy the hamster to our family.

This evening, as we came home from a party at Cass's school, we noticed that Hammy wasn't doing so well. His entire body was cold and he was barely moving. Cassandra was completely distraught. She begged us to take him to the vet. It was evident that he wouldn't be with us for long. As Cass went to put him back into his cage, he sank his teeth into her thumb and refused to let go. Cass became hysterical! It took me a bit to pry his teeth out. Cass's thumb was bleeding and began to turn purple. We rushed her to the Urgent Care facility. They washed it out and told us to watch it the next few days. By the time we left, the purpleness was starting to go away. By the time we got home, Hammy had passed away. Cass was inconsolible, so we did what I am sure any parent would do ~ we welcomed Georgie the Guinea Pig into our family. We really need to be living out on a farm and start charging for admission to our little petting zoo!

In other updates, Randy had speech therapy again today. He worked on naming things in categories again. Today, he achieved 82%, which is an improvement from the 78% from last Friday.

Randy had his last day of physical therapy today. Julie had him walking outside without his cane. They started with a rock walkway, then went on to grass going downhills, then onto pavement, and then uneven rocks, and then a dirt path that was a tuny bit muddy, across a bark covered hill. Randy did well with walking without his cane on the uneven surfaces. Inside, Julie had him do ewights with his ankles. She also discussed having him use kickboards and weights during his pool therapies.

Later in the day, at the store, Randy had found he had forgotten his wallet. He thought he had left it in the car. His mom gave him directions to the car, but he wasn't able to go out and find it. I have noticed that he really gets turned around and confused on his location. This is definitely a "since the accident" issue. Randy was always a great navigator prior to the accident.

This evening, we went to a winter party at Cass's school. Cass is in the choir ~ the choir sang a few songs during the evening. We returned home with intentions of playing a game together and heading to bed early since I have to be at work at 6 am tomorrow. Of course,the rest of the evening went nothing as planned.

Tonight, on the way to the store to buy food for Georgie, Cass commented that in with "sad" there seems to always come "happy" too, but sometimes we don't always get to see the "happy" right away. In her case, she is thinking of the sad losing Hammy, the beloved hamster, and the happy is Georgie, a new friend. It made me think of all of the "sad" going on in my life right now and made me realize that I need to look for that "happy" more often. The accident was a horrible thing and life has been rather tough since, but it has deepend my relationship with Randy, and I think it has made me a stronger person and put me into a position that I can help others out there going through awful times in their lives.

Today, Cass's school was a couple of hours late in starting. Randy's mom went to the school to do some volunteer work while Cass and Randy hung out at the house cooking brownies. Randy hasn't been feeling that well lately, mostly from the pain on the left side of his head.

Randy only had speech therapy today. He showed Vanessa, his therapist, his new PDA. She liked it alot, but stressed the need to only have one area that he is keeping information at. Right now, he has a few notebooks and his planner and his PDA. He has been slowely transferring things out of the notebooks into his planner and his PDA. They also reviewed Randy's homework. They came across a couple of packets he had not yet completed. Vanessa stressed the necessity of following through with things. They also reviewed ways to improve at switching gears ~ she said he should practice doing 3 things at once and try to switch from one to another quickly. The goals for December are:

1. Improve his ability to switch tasks quickly
2. Focus his concentration
3. Lengthen his attention span
4. Improve his executive functioning, especially streamlining his organizational methods and helping him follow-up on tasks and action items.

During the therapy session the therapist and Randy's mom noticed that Randy was having more tremors today than usual. He said his head was hurting more than usual. Next week, Randy will meet with the doctor that we hope will be his new primary care physician (she is currently my primary care physician). Hopefully she can provide insight on where the tremors are coming from ~ the medication, stress, or just part of the inury.

Organization

The roads today weren't quite as bad as yesterday. I was able to make it into work and then make it home with only a couple of scary instances of having my car slide a little.

Randy was scheduled to have a driving evaluation in occupational therapy today, but the therapist canceled therapy due to icy roads. Randy spent the day getting more organized. Organization is a very important part of Randy's recovery. Getting him organized and finding organizational tools that work for him helps make him more successful. During his Good Sam stay, they got Randy started on using a planner. After Good Sam, we found a planner system that has really worked for him. At first, he wasn't very consistent on using it, but lately, he has done an exceptional job at making sure the planner is updated with all of his appointments. Since he was mastering the use of a planner, I thought it would be a good idea to try him out on a PDA to enhance the use of the planner and be used as his reminder system (it alerts him when it is time to do something). I found him a very nice inexpensive PDA. It has turned out to be a very beneficial tool. Randy has done an excellent job at updating the PDA with appointments and tasks. He spent a good part of his day really learning how to use quite a few of the different functions of the PDA, such as syncing it to the calendar on his computer. I also got him a file thing to organize all of his speech therapy stuff in so he could better track the homework he needed to do, the stuff that was done but needed to be "turned in", and then the homework that was done but he wanted to keep.

Many times in life Randy has mentioned the desire to become more organized. Now it is essential to the success of his recovery. He is doing an amazing job at implementing the tools he has been provided and has shown great initiative in trying to organize as many things as he can.

Snow Day

With the snow and ice on the roads today, we had a snow day today. Cass didn't have school and I didn't try to get into work today. Later in the day, I did try to brave the roads to try to get Randy to his Opthamology appointment because his eyes have really been hurting him, but the roads were too bad. One of the main roads by our house was closed, so we didn't get very far. Randy was very bummed. We had to reschedule for 2 weeks out.

Some Improvements for eyes

Randy had an appointment with Dr Baxstrom today (he is the opthamologist that saw Randy while he was in Good Samaritan). Randy described his double vision. Dr Baxstrom called is diagonal displacement. Images are more level through Randy's right eye. Randy has also been having some pain in his left eye along the bottom.

Dr. Baxstrom tried some other prisms to test the double vision and then checked Randy's vision using the usual method of letter testing through the regular lens machine. Dr Baxstrom says the components of the test showed that before (meaning during the hospital stay and the first out of hospital visit), Randy had 3 types of double vision going on. There have been some improvements. Randy now only has one type showing up now, but it is the hardest to correct.

Dr Baxstrom advised to have Randy wear new prescription glasses throughout most of the day and then do some therapy while wearing the glasses ~ move head side to side gently, then up and down gently, then tilted. The goal is to have eyes work together as a team. It was noted that Randy has single vision closer in, but double vision for things further out. Dr Baxstrom said this is similar to how a baby's vision works ~ they focus on things within arm's length first and then learn to focus further out. Randy will be going back to see Dr Baxstrom on a follow up visit in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow, Randy has an appointment with the Neuro-opthamologists at Harborview. I am interested in what they have to say ~ if they will see the same improvements and what naught.

Randy also had his pool therapy today. He really enjoys going to that. After doing some of his exercises, he asked the therapist if he could try swimming. He said he did alright with it ~ not as good as he use to but probably better than I would. He said he was able to go about half-way to the other side with dog paddling and then got too tired. He also tried going on his back and he said he did quite well with that.

Today, I am really missing him being able to drive. It has been snowing here. Normally, I can do alright with driving in traffic around here, but I hate driving in the snow. I get so nervous. Anytime the roads are snowy or icy, Randy would drive me to work. He always did a great job of remaining calm (or at least, looking like he was calm) while driving in icky conditions.

Cass is back

Randy's mom and Cass came back today. Randy's dad drove them over the pass because of the weather. He hung out for a little bit and then took the shuttle bus back over.

We spent this evening decorating our living room with all of our Christmas stuff. Christmas is my favorite time of year. We put up our fake tree (we have had it for about 8 years) and strung lights across our mantle. It was a very nice evening.

Friday and Saturday

We have had a very busy last couple of days!

Friday, Randy had therapies. We started off with speech therapy. Vanessa tested him

his categories. She gives him a category and he has to name 15 items in that category within 30 seconds. From this week to last week, his performance was about the same ~ around 78%. Her goal is for him to reach 85% by the end of this month (which means by the next session since it is the last one of the month). He and I practiced throughout the rest of the day. As we were riding in the car, I would name a category and he would name items, and occassionally I would give him hints to get his mind going.

Next, Randy had physical therapy. This session was kind of fun. Tammie made an obstacle course for him. She really wanted to work on his balance on uneven surfaces. The obstacle course consisted of different objects with different "squishy" levels. He did alright with it, but needed her to hang on to him during some steps.

After therapies, we had a few errands to run and got done just in time to head over to Jon and Kelli's for another Thanksgiving dinner. It was very nice! Unfortunately, with the new medication, Randy was very tired so we didn't get to stay long after eating.

Today (Saturday), was very nice. We both slept in ~ which was absolutely wonderful. We had intended on going out on a lunch "date" with each other, but ended up going to Home Depot. Randy and I use to drag Cass down there quite often ~ we would just walk the whole store and dream about all of the things that we want to eventually do around the house. So that is what Randy and I ended up doing for our "date" ~ we walked the store and dreamt together. It was actually a lot of fun.

Today, I also decided that I was done with my long hair. I have been growing it out to donate to Locks of Love, which is what we did with Randy's hair. Today, I scheduled time with Gene Juarez and got it all chopped off. The pic is of my new hair do. It was kind of fun. I am one of those people who just walks into a Supercuts type place whenever I decide it's time to cut my hair. It was kind of fun to get pampered a little bit. I think it is great that kids can benefit from my hair and I get a free hair cut!

I think that is it for the updates.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year. I am very thankful that Randy is here with me on this day. We are also very thankful for all of those that have been so supportive of us over the last 5 months, for the new friends we have found and the deeper relationships that we have now.

We had a great Thanksgiving. Randy made white chocolate cheesecake and pecan pie (I helped only when needed). The cheesecake turned out well. The pecan pie was made this morning so it wasn't quite set. But all in all he did a great job.

Early afternoon, we went over to our neighbors, Ron and Virginia's and hung out with their family until later this evening. We had a great time! The food was great. After dinner, we all played a game. Randy enjoyed it enough that he wrote down the name of it ~ it was Apples to Apples.

I missed having Cass around, but I know that she was really looking forward to seeing her cousins.

All in all, we had a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

It's like riding a bike!

Randy's mom and Cass left early afternoon today to head to Spokane for the Thanksgiving weekend. Randy called me quite a few times to find out what I was doing and when I would be home. During many of these conversations, I reminded Randy that no one was there with him so he really needed to be aware of what his limits were. He would say that one cannot tell their limits without trying. I would then tell him that, without someone there to catch him when he falls, trying was not a good idea for right now. He would agree, I would feel confident that he was going to remain safe and the conversation would end.

Then he calls me to tell me that he is out for a walk. I asked him to call me when he got home to make me feel better. Half hour later, I still hadn't heard from him, so I tried to call him. No answer. I waited a few minutes and tried again. Still no answer. I began to think of going home to check on him, but he then returns my call, telling me he wasn't quite home yet. I question why he was out for so long and he passes it off as wanting to go on a long walk. He called me when he was safely home and he begins talking of taking a shower. I instead steer him towards watching a movie, not feeling comfortable with not having anyone in the house with him in case he looses his balance.

I get home and he is watching a movie ~ no shower was taken.

Then, he hands me a Thanksgiving card and instead is a gift certificate to a store a little ways away from our house. I asked him if his mom had had time to drive him there before she left because I thought she was in a hurry to get on the road. He says she didn't take him. Then it hits me - he walked all the way to the store and back. Part of me thinks it is very sweet and the other part wants to lecture him on going that far on his own. So I played up the sweet part and put in a little bit on how he probably shouldn't have done that without one of us here in case something happened. His response was "Well, if one of you guys were here I would have had you drive me!". Then, after a little while (once he realizes I am not upset at him for walking that far by himself) he decides to tell me the entire story.

Randy thought it would be a great idea to ride his bicycle down to the store. Awhile ago, when he had mentioned wanting to ride his bike, I had strongly advised against it, mentioning that his balance was still very off. He argued and argued and then finally gave up. So today, with no one there to argue with him, he dragged his bike out of the garage, bound and determined to get to ride it. He began to get onto the bike and quickly realized it was not going to work out when the he continued to fall over while trying to get going. So he put it away and walked the entire way. I think he has decided to wait awhile on the bicycle riding! I am just very thankful it was his bicycle and not the motorcycle that he had attempted to ride.

Therapy Tuesday

Randy had his therapies today. While waiting for the first therapist, Randy's mom noticed that Randy's pupils were unequal (the left was larger than the right) and Randy was groggy. He told me last night that the new medication is making him a lot more tired during the day. I am hoping that his body adjusts to it and the tiredness goes away.

During speech, Vanessa reviewed Randy's homework. She also worked on the category task. The goal is to get 15 items in the given category within 30 seconds. With the categories given, the first try, Randy achieved 78.3% and the second time he achieved 85%.

In physical therapy, Julie re-assessed today. In strength, Randy has made good improvement on his legs and feet. She suggested that he continue to do hamstring stretches at home. In the ankles, the range of motion could still improve on the left side (it had improved about 3 degrees from last time checked). With balance, she tested Randy on standing with his eyes open and closed, then with standing on one foot in front of the other. His ankles are still a bit wobby. She also tested him with standing on one loeg. It was difficult for him to hold still and balance on either leg. With walking, Julie had to remind him to put his heel down first because he continues to step on the outsides of his feet. Julie said that she sees much improvement overall, though walking is still not as flluid and smooth as it could be. The physical therapy will be ending next week, but she will arrange for an additional pool session per week (so 2 per week) beginning the week of December 11th.

For occupational therapy, Tina has decided to go down to 1 session per week, concentrating only on Randy's goal to return to driving. Today, they did a circle story activity where each person would say a word and the next person would have to add to that word to continue the sentence to create a story. The activity is a good one for quick-thiking and creativity.

This evening, Randy hung out with Brandon and Cass and I played games and read together while Randy's mom hung out at one of our neighbor's houses.

Lunch with Brother

Randy and his mom met with Randy's brother and his wife for lunch today. His brother hasn't gotten to see him since July (he is in the Airforce). Randy is looking a little better than he was back then!

Tonight, Randy and I worked on his homework assignment. He and I each had to plan our day at an amusment park. It is essentially a logic problem. It gave us a few hints, such as the time we arrived and the time we had to be home by, and then we had to plan out the day from there depending on the different "clues" we were given. Randy has had to do the assignment before. This time, he was instructed to have someone else do it and time both himself and the other person. I have always loved doing logic problems and figuring out those sort of puzzles, so I finished the task relatively quickly. Randy wasn't too far behind me in finishing, though.

As for my sciatic nerve problem, I have been trying various exercises and stretches given by my physical therapist and other who have had the same issue, and my body has refused to cooperate. My muscles just aren't relaxing around the nerve. Last night was the worst of it. I, at one point, was shaking from the intense pain. Today I gave in and went to the doctor. She put me on some steroid. I will start taking them tomorrow. I hope they begin working very quickly! Before last Wednesday, the stretches Doug had emailed me were working great and then my therapist was teaching me exercises to strengthen my muscles to prevent it from happening again. I have no idea what happened, but I am ready for it to be over!

Not Much to Report

I don't have a lot to report today. We slept in a little this morning, which was very nice! I then took Randy to the store so he could work on one of his assignments ~ the one where he has to plan a meal, shop for items needed, and make it. At the store, he and I got all of other items we needed and then I turned it over to him to shop for items needed for the taco salad he was making. He had made a shopping list (actually, I think he ended up with 3 lists). At first, he turned to me for getting started, but I reminded him that this was his assignment and I was just there to help carry things. A couple of times, he would look to me to help determine what the best deal was for products, but I kept pushing it back onto him. He ended up doing well with it and dinner turned out nice.

I revisited the conversation that Randy and I and Randy and his speech therapist have had before ~ finding a way to remind him to do tasks. He has been great at using his planner and planning tasks, but sometimes forgets to do them. I am currently reading a great book about a doctor who suffered a head injury. Her method would be to set a timer and carry notes with her to remind her what the timer going off meant. I was thinking something a bit more high tech than that, something that would allow Randy to set up reminders for a serious of tasks for more than a day at a time. I was thinking an inexpensive PDA that can sync up to his Outlook on his computer. I know that when Randy was working, he used his Outlook to plan out the majority of his tasks and that worked well for reminding him and keeping him organized.

A Long Day

Today has been a long day. We started the day by going down to Good Sam to visit the Merrills. We took them the shower chair that was given to us when Randy came home. We also offerred up other things that we thought they might need to get ready for his return home. We stayed and visited awhile and watched the first part of his therapy today. At Good Sam, they have a little apartment that they let people live in so that people can see what things they need to learn about taking care of their loved one before taking them home. The Merrills will be staying in the apartment one night next week before they are discharged. The therapist today worked with teaching Mrs Merrill how to transfer him from the bed to his chair. He needs a lot of help ~ a lot of cues to remind him what he is doing.

After the time down in Puyallup, we went to tour the Kent Bally Fitness center. With his physical therapy stopping here soon, he and I have talked of us joining a gym to contine with exercises. We haven't quite decided if we will start now or wait until after his pool therapy is done as well. We went to Ballys because it was the only fitness center around here that I could find that had a pool. Randy really enjoys the pool therapy he is currently doing.

When we got home from touring the facility, I took Cass down to the clinic down the street from our house. She has had headaches for the past couple of weeks and a couple of days ago she started having pains in her side. 2 1/2 hours later, we are given antibiotics. We are all falling apart here! My leg is still not better. Not being able to have any time to rest does not help. I think tomorrow we are all resting!

Therapy Friday

Randy had his therapies today. During his speech therapy, he showed Vanessa his new planner. It is a smaller Franklin covey planner. Its size makes it easier to carry. Vanessa said she likes the smaller planner and suggested that he only keep 3 months in the planner at a time, which is what the Franlin Covey "What Matter's Most" recommends as well (I went through that class at my work a few years ago and it made me a big advocate for the Franklin Covey planner system).

Vanessa also had Randy do a 15 minute multi-tasking and planning exercise. The exercise contained 5 tasks. He had to finish one of the tasks completely and complete the first 2 items of each of the other tasks. Some suggestions she had were 1. If Randy is having difficulty, go back and reread the instructions and clarify and 2. Scan for timeframes or to determine what applies to the task.

In physical therapy, Tammy had Randy go through his normal exercises. His physical therapy is coming to an end here real soon. They have taught him the exercises he needs to do and believe he can do them at home now. I think he will go through the rest of this month and then no more of the PT.

Tina, Randy's occupational therapist, also believes that his OT therapy will be ending here soon. We don't have an end date yet, though. Today, Tina checked Randy's left shoulder. It is feeling much better and seems to be healing. She had given Randy and assignment to plan a meal, so today he told her that he is planning on making his taco salad. I love Randy's taco salad! He said he is going to make it sometime this weekend ~ not sure when, though, as we have a very busy weekend ahead of us.

Today in OT, Randy was re-evaluated. He has made some great improvements. In September, his grip in his right hand was at a 67 and now it is 100+. His grip in his left hand was 22.3 and now is 39. He is definitely gaining strength.

For other updates for us, things have been very frustrating this week. My body is not cooperating with me currently. I think all of the stress of the last few months is catching up to me. The issues I was having with my sciatic nerve was getting a lot better. I had gone to the chiropractor and have been going to physical therapy. Right as I thought I was in the clear, the muscles in my neck started spasming. I went to the doctor and got that fixed and two days later, I moved wrong and am back to not being able to feel my foot and am walking worse that Randy! We make a humorous pair walking about.

The biggest frustration we have had this week, though, has been in learning that Mr Merrill is being "kicked out" of the inpatient rehab at Good Sam. He plateaued. With no improvement, insurance companies will not cover the rehab. The problem is that the only insurance they have is Medicare and they have used all of the benefit for nursing home so Mrs Merrill has no option other than taking home her husband and trying to care for him herself. So he will not be getting any rehab. This weekend, we will be taking them a couple of things that Randy needed when he first came home. It is frustrating that Mr Merrill will not get the rehab that he needs or the care that he needs because of the insurance that he has.

More Harborview today

Randy had his follow up appointment with Harborview Neurology clinic today. We got the EEG results today ~ it was normal. So no seizures. That doesn't mean he will never have seizures, but it is good news for now.

The doctor did some of the same little tests on Randy she had done 6 weeks ago. She noticed he was tilting his head to the right a bit and she said it is common for the 4th nerve palsy damage that he has, which is what is causing his double vision. The hope is still that things heal on their own and the double vision goes away. Randy has a follow up appointment with the Neuro-opthamology appointment on the 28th of this month.

They also talked about the pain in his head and how the Amatriptalin hasn't touched the pain. They said he could continue taking the amatriptalin if he feels it helps him with sleeping and his moods. For the pain, they want to try Gabapeutin (Neurontin). It, like the Lyrica that was prescribed by the one neurologist, the Gabapeutin was originally used for seizures, but was found to be great for nerve pain. Now it isn't used for seizures, but still used for pain. We hope that it works with no side effects.

Tonight, Randy and I went to a Brain Injury support group. It was an interesting group. The 2 who chair it are a couple. The husband was in a car accident when he was 15. Together, they have led this support group for over 10 years. It was a mixed group ~ a couple car accidents, a stroke victim, and then care givers of those with the brain injury. It was good to hear everyone's story and to hear their advice and their trials and tribulations.