Thank You :0)

This morning started out as it ended last night.... I was still in my moment of weakness stage, tears still falling especially once receiving emails from a few devoted followers of the blog and close friends sending me words of encouragement and letting me know they are still out there.... sending prayers and hugs.... THANK YOU!!

It wasn't until Alex and I were headed to therapy that all sadness faded in an instant when Alex looks over at me in the car and says.... "Mom.... why don't they have a pill that I can take for patience?"  At THAT VERY MOMENT.... once again that 4 year old genuine innocence brought laughter and joy back into my heart.  Thank you God for the precious gift of gab! Truth is... Alex truly wishes there was a pill for that.  He knows how he is but he also knows that no matter how hard he tries... he can't fix it!   Like I said... Alex makes me laugh every day but today of all days... I really and truly needed that to bring me back to the strong side and find the positives in our situation. 



PEACE~LOVE~N~THUMBS UP!
 LISA

Missing Him Today...

I guess I'm having one of those melt down moments and need to write.  You see Alex just woke up,got out of bed, walked to my door with his cane to make sure I was taking him with me when I took Brooks to school....Bless his heart, he thought it was the MORNING already!!!  Love my lil brain injured Alex Ross and the innocence he sometimes genuinely portrays..... I was taken back in time for just a moment.... missing those days more often than not lately :0(  OVERWHELMED... SAD... HAPPY... all at the same time.  Still taking it one day at a time but knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel... one day.  You see Chad is on vacation this week and Alex knew that it was a possibility that I may leave him here in the morning while I take Brooks to school and he was so bent on going that he woke up thinking it was morning and made his way to the living room to MAKE SURE I DIDN'T LEAVE HIM.  Half asleep, I walked out to living room to see what he was doing and he said "I'm up, I'm ready to go with you to take Brooks to school".  It was at that very moment I was taken back in time... missing him... the old Alex... looking at him his demeanor was that of a 4 year old Alex, half asleep wanting to sleep in my bed when he was younger.  Crazy how in a split second I can go from being in control and in check .... to uncontrollable crying and wanting my Alex back.  I guess a part of me is still grieving for the Alex I lost and hopefully in time .... this too shall pass.  He makes me laugh every day, he makes me crazy every day, he absolutely drives me nuts with his OCD anal behavior with time and impatience.  If he thinks it, he says it and not just once.... 15 times and corrects me on how to do everything and when to do it.  When he wants a shower he wants it then, not in one minute, not in 5 minutes and will sit there naked on the toilet until I get in there to do it.... Life is still crazy over here and we are still learning every day how to cope, manage, handle, teach.... get by.  YES... ALEX IS ALIVE... THANK YOU GOD FOR GIVING US THAT.... Thank you for those impossible moments in which I think I can't possibly survive with a sane mind....Thank you for the times you control my mouth as I want to scream I can't do this anymore.... Thank you for the patience you have instilled in me, only YOU know where it comes from!  It has gotten easier to handle of course since we first came home, but there are still soooo many new challenges we face each day that I constantly need to call upon Him and scripture to carry me thru.  I have been burying myself in Brooks' football games and editing the 700 pics I take each game to carry me into another place.... any place but here that might bring back memories of things that I can't get back.  I don't know how much Alex will progress mentally... or how far his therapy may take him...  I can only hope for what I believe is possible with God.  He is in control.... He is in the driver seat and we are his passengers on this jouney of our new path in which he has paved for us.  Sorry to be a debbie downer tonight.... I don't mean to be....however, my blogging is very therapeutic and maybe subconsciously I have been putting it off in fear that these feelings would surface again?  I don't know that I will EVER be able to get over the loss of my old Alex....I certainly hope so.  Alex however is doing great.  He still does not show emotion, not sure that will ever happen or if it's even possible with his frontal lobe gone.  I am forever grateful that his personality and wit are still in tact.... that as we all know... HE NEVER LOST!  My heart aches for him, more often than not..... as his life consists of facebook, movies and videos.  He doesn't have any visitors these days.... all of his friends have their own busy lives with no spare time for Alex, so friends are few and far between these days.  Brooks is his lifeline outside our home and........ understandably so, he has his own life with his friends that doesn't always include Alex. Brooks deserves that.... this certainly wasn't his fault and these are the best years of his life.  So that takes it back to ME.  I have to be HIS everything.... 24-7.  Mom, friend, care taker, teacher, therapist....MAID, lol.... ME... I'M IT.  I gladly accept this challenge as my conversation with God that fateful night on January 6, 2010 was that no matter how he came back to me, I would accept him even if he was paralyzed from the neck down... I would handle the situation as long as I could have Alex back alive.  So I am... doing it... handling what was given to me, some days harder than others... today was one of those days.   Mentally he has a LONG way to go.... I can't stress this enough because to most he looks great and I think people get the sense that Alex is back to normal.  There is no normalcy in our lives.....today is just ONE OF THOSE DAYS... one of those days that I wish I could turn back time and go back... even for if just one day, to see my old Alex, to remember what it was like to be normal, to be able to go to work, to sleep thru the night, to come and go as I please.....to see Alex run up a tree and do a back flip or make up a funny dance.... missing you today Alex Michael Ross..... but very thankful I have the opportunity at a second chance at life with you, no matter how impossible some days seem..... in my heart deep down... I know that ME, YOU and JC... we got this!!!  Philippians 4:13 ( my saving Grace)

PEACE~LOVE~N~THUMBS UP!
LISA

WORK IN PROGRESS!

Hi friends and family.... sorry it's been awhile since I have been online updating you with Alex's progress... I have been a busy bee with taking pics for Brooks high school football team and editing them in my spare time.... which is next to non existent, lol.  An update on baby Caleb real quick... thank you all so much for your prayers and support you will be happy to know that he is now out of ICU and is now a patient at Brooks inpatient Rehab facility and is expected to be released next Wednesday I believe. So thank you prayer warriors and THANK YOU GOD for yet another miracle as he was NOT expected to recover as well as he has!!
Alex has been a busy bee at therapy and his left arm has really started to show signs of improvement in the past three weeks doing tasks that I thought I was NEVER going to see!  I am posting some videos below so you can see how hard he has been working :0)

He could not do this a MONTH a go!

You can see how hard he is working when his hand shakes.  Something we all take for granted being able to bend our arm from the elbow out..... she stimulates the muscles with a vibrator and it WORKS!

If you remember in the past Alex had to have an air cast on his arm to be able to lift it at all.  Now he can lift and straighten all by himself.... I get so excited just watching this again because God truly does continue to perform miracles on this kid... FOR REAL!  Notice the finger and thumb movement..... CLAP CLAP!

The therapists have noticed that when Alex brings his left arm up over his head, his left leg comes in, like rotates inward of which they have been working extremely hard in trying to get him to walk with his knee rotated in instead of out.  Sooooo they had this bright idea that if he walks with his arm over his head maybe his knee would rotate in.... it actually worked some.. funny how the brain connects things in our body, lol!  He won't be walking around like this but I had to video our trial run of it, ha ha!

HE IS DOING AWESOME... SO PROUD!

Practicing stepping up and down

MY LITTLE PINNOCHIO.... HAHAHAHAHA!!

The object is to walk straight in a line... Alex always puts his own spin on therapy lol!  

Alex continues to improve in all areas, however still has a very long way to go mentally.    He still has some kinks we have to get worked out and he goes for another neuropsych evaluation next week.  THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING lol.  He has come a VERY LONG WAY, yet we still have a VERY LONG WAY to go.  WORK IN PROGRESS.... as long as we are still moving forward.... there's light at the end of the tunnel for sure!  After seeing the physical  improvements over the past 6 months... I get very excited and can't wait to see where he is in another year.... AMAZING.. AMAZING... AMMMMAAAAZING!!  God in ALL HIS GLORY.... right before my very eyes.... He never ceases to amaze me!!  THANK YOU GOD for another day with my handsome boy!
Hoping I still have some followers out there and that you are in awe just as I am of how far Alex has come just in the past 6  months.  I dream of the day the WHEELCHAIR is COMPLETELY gone.... in God's time.... not mine :0)

CAT SCAN UPDATE:

He had the cat scan and the doctor does NOT see any reason that we can't try for the baclofen pump trial again.  There was no visible evidence of scar tissue preventing them from getting in the spine so we are going to try again in the beginning of November I think.  Waiting on call from doctors office to schedule so I'll keep you posted on that procedure as well.  Please Start praying now and hopefully the surgery schedule will open up and we can get him in soon :0)

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP........Till NEXT Time......

PEACE~LOVE~N~THUMBS UP!

LISA