WHAT AN AMAZING NIGHT!

Our day started with a visit to the base for an appt with the urologist.  Imagine being in a small confined waiting room with an OCD child... OCD with swishing water in his mouth and then wanting to spit and then wanting you to empty the spit cup.  I know these people were thinking he was a freak.... I couldn't get him in a private room fast enough lol.  We finally got called back with the Doctor Jadick and he was awesome with Alex and really just tried to keep him calm and take his anxiety away.  Prior to this last surgery... Alex was frequently urinating like every 10 - 15 minutes... not normal.. so I made the appt so we could figure out if his brain was misfiring signals.  Basically the doctor explained how the brain relays the message to the brain and said the he really wanted to do a test on Alex called Urodynamics to better asses the situation.  He explained to Alex that he would have to take a catheter through his penis and fill up his bladder... Alex simply looked at him and said "You are NOT coming near me with a catheter".. hahahahaha!  The doctor explained that this was necessary to find out exactly if the brain is triggering the bladder correctly... I asked if he could be sedated for the procedure... response was no because he needs to be awake to properly respond.  Alex again looked at the doctor and said "There is no way you are coming near me with a catheter".  He started getting all anxious and you could tell his whole demeaner changed!  Dr. Jadick went into calming Alex mode and reassured him he wouldn't do this procedure until he had tried several different medications to see if we could fix it that way first.  Alex then gave him the "pound (handshake) and then blew it up".... as if to let him know... OK I'm cool with that!  Because he isn't able to intake thin liquids right now, even with the "thick it" he doesn't seem to want it, I have to force him to drink... but he isn't really urinating that much right now so our visit was kind of pointless at this point and we made another appt for 6 weeks down the road when he is healed and we see if he goes back to urinating frequently.  So we headed back home to rest before our big dinner with the Jaguars and Childrens Miracle Network.

We arrived at about 5:15pm and were seated at our table.  My little OCD Rainman immediately requested two glasses of water, lol.  I will tell you right now... by the end of the night he had about 4-5 glasses of water lined up on the table... totally WAY OVERSTIMULATED and off the chain OCD. Here take a look:

He was out of control over stimulated crazy!  God Bless you Reggie Nelson... you were awesome with him!! THANK YOU!  Reggie was an awesome waiter and catered to Alex's every need.  He would sit with him and ask him... "Alex... why you being so crazy?".... "You need to behave".... Alex was in full "PLAYA" mode with the ladies last night and tricked every single one with asking for a kiss on his cheek and then turning his head and kissing them on the lips, lol!  We both made lots of new friends last night and for once I think I had a smile on my face the entire night!  Thank you to the Jaguars and Children's Miracle Network for having us as your "MIRACLE FAMILY".... I am honored that you chose us and I couldn't be more grateful for such an awesome night out with my family and new friends!  I had to give a little talk about Alex's story and I was all good because Jeff Laugerman was the host and he couldn't quiet the crowd for anything so I just knew it would be ok because I would get up there talk and they would all be into their own conversations so I could do it without crying.  WRONG, lol.  As I come up there... the room stood still and you couldn't hear a pin drop!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME... aaaaaaaaaaahhhh.  I was crying before I even started my speech!  The fact that everyone gave me their undivided attention as I walked up there... was monumental to me.  I mean seriously... they wouldn't give Jeff Laugerman the time of day while he tried over and over to get them to quiet down while he introduced Kerri, the CMN director.  But I walk up and everyone STOPS speaking... I am a nobody compared to the company I was with.  WOW!  I think 10 years from now when I tell his story I will still be crying, lol!  I had so many come up to me after my speech and introduce themselves and they wanted to meet Alex... amazing.  I hope that I touched several peoples hearts last night and that they opened their wallets to the great cause of CMN!  They had a silent auction room and some great things to bid on.  I saw this package for a Sea World/Aquatica package... for 4 people...passes good for 14 days... along with dinner at Arabia Nights for 4... bidding started at 300.00.  I thought this would be a great incentive for Alex to get his walk on for the end of the summer so I started off the bid at $300.00  I could never take my family for that price so I thought ... what the heck, let's go for it!  Watching it throughout the night... noone was bidding on it... we were in the running to taking home our package.  LOW AND BEHOLD.... Michael Munz from the Dalton Agency comes in, purchases the package and graciously gives it to Alex as a generous gift on their behalf!  SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU....soooo very much! 

Alex insisted on going over and thanking in person along with standing to take a picture!  He was showing off alot last night with standing to take pics with everyone!  Yes that's David Garrard, quarterback for the jaguars in the background...he was their waiter.

This will be my carrot to dangle in his face... not that he needs it... he is really motivated already... but there may be days when he doesn't want to walk with his quad cane that I can tell his physical therapist, Christy... to dangle that carrot so he can enjoy a day at the theme parks... walking and swimming!

I have to say one of my favorite parts with Alex last night was:

Jack Del Rio, Alex and Brooks

Jack walks up to introduce himself to Alex as we haven't met him yet in all our encounters with the Jaguars.  Alex turns to me and says... " WHO IS THAT?"... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... seriously... I said "Alex... the coach of the Jaguars?"... He looked at me with the  most surprised expression and said... "Jack Del Rio?"... I said "Yes silly!"  he said "oh.. well it's dark in here I couldn't see"... hahahahaha! 

The other Alex moment was when Wayne Weaver came over to say hi.  Alex gave him, as he did all the gentelmen there last night.. his infamous Alex Michael Ross FIRM, very FIRM handshake, lol.  I said.. "Alex don't you have something you wanted to say to Mr. Weaver the next time you saw him since our visit at the stadium?"... He looked at Mr. Weaver and says... " I told you to draft Tim Tebow!" hahahahaha... I wasn't talking about that!  He pretty much blew Mr. Weaver off the last time we saw him as two Jaguar players were coming up behind him... he was done with Mr. Weaver, lol.  Soooo, Alex said the next time he saw Mr. Weaver he would apologize for blowing him off.  So I reminded Alex of that and he was like oh yeah... Mr Weaver kindly says... "Hey, no need to aplogize for that, he's alright, he was just excited to see the players.".... as Alex is steadily grabbing for Mr. Weaver's cocktail in his hand, lol!  Mr. Weaver says..."Alex... you don't want that"... Alex grabs for the glass again and says..." YES I DO!"... HAHAHAHA... I had to wheel him away because he kept grabbing for his cocktail!  He was sooo overstimulated last night that he kept asking me for a shot of vodka in his glass... what the heck!?! ha ha.  He kept saying... "you can thicken it and I can drink it.. it will calm me down".  CRAZY KID!  He had me cracking up last night with his crazy comments and irratic behavior.... however, put his brothers on edge and they were over it! 

Here are a couple of pics of Alex's favorite peeps at the event -

Ryan Robinson - you are AWESOME and I can't thank you enough for loving Alex the way you do and for always calling and talking with him and making him part of your world!  You are now part of our family and I can never repay you for all you have done and continue to do for Alex on a daily basis.  WE LOVE YOU MAN!

Jennifer and Michael Ray Perkins - we love you!  Michael... you and he have had a connection since our first visit to the stadium... thank you for making Alex a part of your world as well and we look forward to hanging out with you guys!

REGGIE NELSON..... YOU ABSOLUTELY ROCK!  You are one of Alex's BFF and were awesome with him last night... thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so caring and attentive to him and his every need every time we are with you!  You have one of the biggest hearts I have ever encountered and he said to tell you... you better text him now that you have his number, lol!

Maurice, Maurice, Maurice... THANK YOU!  You have been following Alex's story since the beginning, made it a priority to come and meet him and you brought us into your JAGUAR world!  Thank YOU for loving Alex as YOU do and for always making him a priority when you see us!

To all of you who made it a point to come and introduce yourself to Alex and my family... THANK YOU.  This has been an incredible journey thus far... some down times but alot of good times and new roads to be ventured down. Last night was a great night for us!   I look forward to what the future has in store for Alex as well as our family and I welcome all the new friends we have made along the way as you can never have too many friends!  A big thank you to all who continue to follow our story and offer prayers and encouragment on a daily basis.... you help me... help Alex!  You seem to know just when to send an email of encouragement and that goes a looooong way in most of my days as Alex's caregiver.  There are days that I wonder myself how I am surviving losing the son I once had... but I can look at his handsome face and be thankful that even in my most stressful moments with him.... ALEX MICHAEL ROSS IS VERY MUCH ALIVE and will one day be close to what he once was. 

THANK YOU GOD FOR ONE MORE DAY WITH MY HANDSOME BOY!

Thank you Jaguars and Children's Miracle Network again......YOU MADE OUR NIGHT!

PEACE~LOVE~N~THUMBS UP!

Lisa

ps.  I will post a slide show later on the blog of all our pics! :0)