Saturday was a big win for LSU and we rolled right over that TIDE!! Way to Geaux Tigers! Saturday also marked the 10 month anniversary of that fateful day. Where has the time gone? I haven't worked in 10 mos..... Let me rephrase that.... I haven't BEEN to work in 10 mos. It seems in my mind.... just like yesterday I got the phone call that changed our lives forever. I am so thankful to be able to sit here and write about his progress and how far he has come because it could surely be an entirely different scenario. Internally he still has A Lot of quirks that need to be fixed but I have so much more than I ever anticipated.... Thank You God! What an awesome GOD u are!! I never imagined I would be going thru this with a child oF mine. Funny how I am now thrown into the handicap pool and see the world from a whole new point of view. I tend to let alot of things roll off my shoulders .... And surely not sweating the small stuff ...... picking and choosing my battles. Some things just are not worth the effort. I have enough drama in my every day life with the boy!
He started cognitive therapy last week, only one session... this week he will get three. Cognitive will teach him some coping skills..... learn how to FILTER things he can and can't say that are socially acceptable and what's not, lol. YAY! Thanks to the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program...they got some funding and Alex is able to attend these sessions because insurance does not cover this. Hoping this helps the inside heal with the outside and we can get him back to normal BRAIN activity or as close as normal can be with his condition :0)
We haven't been back to therapy since the Botox so today will be the first day back since and I can't wait to see what GREAT things he is going to do today! POSITIVE THINKING NEVER HURT ANYONE RIGHT!
Funny story to share about yesterday before I go.... I needed to get my nails done, one of my simple pleasures in life that I try to accomplish atleast once a month and Heidi offered to watch the boy while I went. I drop Alex off, get my nails done and call before I head back to see if they want any lunch. Alex had already sent her to Wendy's lol... and ummm ordered 2 spicy chicken sandwiches, large fry and large drink! Funny part is when he was half way thru the second one.. he looks at her and says... " my mom usually only lets me get one" hahahahaha! TRUE THAT! Anyway... I head over there and when I get there Heidi says that Alex is on the golf cart with Stan (her husband) and Maddox (her 4 year old). We go inside and here comes Stan walking in the door... No Alex...No Maddox... "where is Alex?" Stan... "Oh, he is driving Maddox around on the golf cart"......WHAT! "Yeah, he's doing fine"..... "I told him to stay on the dirt road... not to go on the trails"...Heidi and I start sprint walking out the back door... now mind you... they have LOTS of land and Stan did tell him to stay on the road and not go onto the trails.. (yeah right... this is Alex you are talking to). BASICALLY... THIS IS A 4 YEAR OLD DRIVING A 4 YEAR OLD ON A GOLF CART.... hahahahahaha. ALEX HAS NO PERIPHERAL VISION TO THE LEFT IN BOTH EYES...SURELY NOT CLEARED FOR DRIVING ANYTHING. Hell he can't even drive the electric wheelchair he has without bumping into everything! We are sprint walking to find them.... the whole time Heidi and I are going back and forth... "OMG WHAT WAS STAN THINKING?".... "ALEX WILL TELL STAN WHATEVER HE WANTS TO HEAR TO BE ABLE TO DRIVE THAT DANG GOLF CART"....."MADDOX IS PROBABLY FREAKING OUT"...."DID ALEX ANSWER HIS CELL PHONE WHEN YOU CALLED HIM HEIDI?".. "NO"... "THEY ARE PROBABLY STUCK IN A DITCH SOMEWHERE...OR TIPPED OVER.... "STAN IS CRAZY"... we were laughing and freaking the whole way.... McKenzie (her daughter) is following us saying "he was driving good, he was staying on the road"... hahahahahaha. We finally get to where we need to turn left to go back to where the open field is and we look to the right.... here comes Alex and Maddox on the golf cart. ALEX IS DRIVING GOOD! Slow, on the road.... I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. They pull up and I was like... "Alex... you have no peripheral vision out of the left you shouldn't be driving"... "MOM... I'M FINE"... Maddox says.. "He's doing good"... here comes the best line of the day... "MOM... I let Maddox sit on my lap and drive!"... WHAT! "Yeah, but he started trying to really drive and it got hard so we quit". NICE! hahahahaha... two 4 year olds on a golf cart! Then he shows me how he uses his LEFT foot to control the break.... this is the foot that he really has maybe 50% control of. Every time he put his foot on the break to stop... his leg shook like it does when his leg is tired from therapy. OMG. Next... Heidi, McKenzie and I hop on the back because he wants to show me all the cows in the back... The Alex driving us now is NOT the Alex we saw driving Maddox! He is going fast... he is driving close to the right side... hitting tree limbs, they are slapping us in the face and what not.... freaking me out... he TURNS onto a trail... where we are NOT supposed to go... Maddox is in the front saying " Daddy said not to go down here"... Alex saying " We are fine....he said we couldn't go by ourselves... our mom's are with us"..... THIS IS WHERE COGNITIVE WILL COME INTO PLAY... hopefully, lol! Rational thinking.... definitely what he needs! This road has bumps and branches hanging out and uneven path....OMG.... me and Heidi are both yelling... STOP HERE ALEX...SO WE CAN TURN AROUND.... he continues on saying we are fine we are almost there, lol... NO...we see these huge ruts in the path like someone got stuck in the mud... I can only imagine what is fixing to happen to all of us in the cart with him driving...... STOP! Finally he decides HE is going to try to turn us around.... NOT! He pulls to the right.... now we are in thorns... Heidi gets out to try to turn us around.... hard to get into reverse... Alex's foot is stuck on the gas pedal while she is somewhat half in the drivers seat/half out of the cart.... WHAT A MESS, lol! She gets it into drive and is driving half in and half out till she gets us OFF THE BEATEN PATH.... the whole time Alex is saying.. "I'M DRIVING WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE DIRT ROAD".... " "I'M DRIVING WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE DIRT ROAD".... like a broken record. We finally get back to the dirt road... we let him have it back... I can't wait to get off, lol. But you know what.... THAT MADE ALEX'S DAY! He hasn't been able to drive.... he knows he won't ever be able to drive again.... Stan gave him a little independence yesterday....a little food for his soul if you will.... something I don't know that I could have given him, lol! He lived a little yesterday.... he was on cloud 9 and like a kid in a candy store! Once we finally got back to the house... we told him he couldn't drive without Stan... well Stan had to be somewhere at 2:30 so BRAVE Heidi said she would let him go one more run with her. The kids and I stayed in the house lol. She comes back about 10-15 minutes later... I asked how he did... she said.. "He did fine.. he did OK".. Alex says... " I did perfect didn't I Heidi".... she smiled... GOTTA LOVE ALEX! An adventurous day for us all, ha ha! Now he wants to go over there everyday this week and spend the night this weekend, hahahahahaha! It was kinda like dropping him off at kindergarten for the first time and hearing and seeing what he had done in the first day! THANK YOU HEIDI AND STAN..... you gave him a little taste of what it was like to be 17 again.... free like a bird and the wind blowing in his hair!!
10 months.... Thank you God for my many blessings today and every day!
WITH GOD IN YOU, YOU HAVE A MILLION RESOURCES THAT YOU DID NOT HAVE BEFORE!!
I have to close for now... I started blogging last night but Alex called so I had to finish up this morning. Gotta get up, get moving... fold laundry, straighten up around here, get myself and the boy ready and be out of here by 12! WHEW!
HAVE A GREAT MONDAY! :0)
PEACE~LOVE~N~THUMBS UP!!
Lisa
