What a difference a year makes!! Today has been a year since your accident. I am so thankful that you are still with us although the journey for you has been hard! You have really made some great strides this week and had a set back or two but that's been true for this whole year! There was a point this year when Mom said that if all you were ever able to do was tell you daughter you love her, that would be enough and you do that ... and so much more! Your family is so proud of you and love you so much!!
I've included a few pictures from a year ago so we can remember how far you've come. This picture is of you and Jackie at Select Specialty. You were still in a coma and it was still very much touch and go. At one point during your stay at this hospital, the doctor told Mom that it was inhuman for her to leave you hooked up to your feeding tube. He suggested that we turn it off and let you pass. Oh Lord! That was not the right thing to say to our mother! You were not in that hospital for too much longer. Mom can not wait for the day that you walk into that doctors office and say what a mistake you suggested!
Your still in a coma but we were told that you could hear the music so mom would play your favorite songs for you through out the day.
Johnny and Mom at Select Specialty. That woman barely left your bedside! She was and continues to be dedicated to your care. You are so blessed!
Jackie and Jennifer praying for you. It was so hard seeing you like that! I remember the first time I saw you open your eyes just a sliver. I thought for sure you were waking up from your coma. I yelled for the nurse and she came in and said, oh, that's great progress ... I was a little disappointed! I wanted you to wake up now! At this point, we still didn't know the extent of your injuries to your brain.
Fast forward to the present:
You were typing on your dynavox this morning (6/8/10) while waiting for your physical therapist to arrive. You typed out "take me home". Mom explained to you that you had an accident and where you were, etc. Then you typed "I'm ready". Mom told you that you needed more therapy before you could live in your own house. You typed "when can I". Mom took you outside for a while and y'all watched Jackie swim. Mom asked you if you were hot and if you wanted to go in the house. You said something that sounded like "home" and pointed towards where you had lived. Mom was so heartbroken but she knows that it is yet another step in your recovery process. Now we're going to have to be careful because as you become more able to more you will begin to try to get out of bed and go home. Later that afternoon, mom asked you to tell her what you wantedand you immediately spelled "outside" so she took you out for a while. You chose to watch Jackie in the pool again.
Mom walked into your room this evening (6/8/10) and you had sweat on your forehead. Your AC was set on 73 and the temperature gauge showed 75.2. Mom asked you if you were cold. You raised up in the bed and said a string of words that she couldn't understand. Mom got the magnetic letters and you immediately spelled "I'm freezing" At least one thing about you hasn't changed...you are always cold. You seem to want so much to talk.
6/9/10
This morning Mom put the dynavox on keyboard and you spelled "I'm ready for this to end". We know this is a stage you have to go through but it is still upsetting! Tonight when Dad and Diana came over you pointed to your chest and then pointed to Diana and then towards the window. Mom thought you were saying you wanted to go outside with Diana. She got the magnetic letters and you wrote "lets go outside". After 10 minutes outside you were cold and wanted to go back to bed. You are so smart! When Mom got home from church, Jackie went into see you and told you to give her a kiss. You did. Then she told you she loved you and gave you the sign for I love you. You pointed to yourself, made the I love you sign and then pointed at her. How amazing! That's what we said all along...that would be good enough... but now we want the whole Johnny package back!
6/10/10
This morning you typed "I'm ry to end". When mom asked you what you were ready to end you typed "all of this". I know it's hard Johnny and I know your tired but, you have no choice...you have to beat this! We love you!!
Jackie is reading you a book. You seemed to enjoy it.
6/11/10
Mom and Robert ran some errands and while they were gone, Dad visited you.
At some point you wrote with your magnetic letters “my right toes”. When mom got home, she put you in bed and took off your shoes…then saw what you wrote. Whatever the problem was with your toes must have been worked out with the removal of the shoes. I love how you communicate now! Speaking of communicating, you typed out tonight: “I need to pee”, “how do I pee”, “I swear this is a joke”…mom asked you what was a joke and you typed “everything” and “when can I go home”. Mom took pictures of what you typed and then asked you whose camera she was using. You pointed to mom. Mom said, no, it’s your camera. You asked her “where did I buy camera”. Mom asked you some specific questions you could answer yes or no to, we are trying to determine what year your mentally in. She asked you who your best friend in school was...was it Bob? You said no. Was it Mike? You said no. Was it Donny? You said yes. That's correct. Mom asked you if you have a daughter and you said yes. She asked if you were ever married and you said no. She asked if you knew someone named Ashlee and you said yes. She asked did she have a daughter and you said yes. She said was Ashlee married and you said no. She asked if you were ever divorced and you said no. She asked if Ashlee had more than one child and you said yes. (You and Ashlee were married and divorced and Ashlee does have a daughter but no other children, so you got that partly right) She asked if you knew Adena and you said yes. She asked if Adena had a daughter and you said yes. She asked if Adena was married and you said no. She asked if Adena had any other children and you said no. (Adena was a friend from high school. She is married and has 4 children, so you got this one partly right too). She asked if your friends had been visiting you and you said no. (They have been visiting) She said, do you know Buddy and you said yes. She said, has Buddy been coming to visit you and you said no. She told you that in fact Buddy had been coming to see you since he found out about your accident. You didn’t remember that. She asked if you remembered your passwords to email or facebook and you said no. I'm sure all the questions are frustrating for you. It's a big help to know what you remember though. For anyone who reads this, I don't post this to hurt feelings...I look forward to the day when I can post and say Johnny remembers EVERYTHING!!
When can I go home?
I swear its a joke (everything)
How do I pee?
my right toes
You are asking Jackie if she had a good time at church.
Jackie is feeding you while you are spelling.
I picked you up a surprise when I went shopping...a head massager...Your enjoying it.
Your holding your head massager and laughing about something I said. We decided to call your head massager BOB so if you want someone to use it on you all you have to do is spell Bob.
6/14/10
After two days of constant pain, your waiting for Dr. Thomas to make it all better. Dr. Thomas increased the Baclofen pump by 15%. It is now at 543.7. Originally they told us it would need to be at 600 to 700 to get the full effect. They also prescribed you some liquid baclofen so you could get some immediate relief if this happened again. Seems your brain is starting to register pain and you have pain from arthritis caused by previous injuries. You seem pretty comfortable now.
After your pain management appointment, you had a dentist appointment. The dentist fixed some of your teeth that were damaged and you did really well. After the appoinment, mom and Robert drove you home but first they went through a state park.
Mom was thinking it might be a nice place to picnic until she saw a sign that there were alligators in the park. Ha! She changed her mind pretty quick.
This is a picture of the sunflowers outside you window. They came up from the seeds that fell from your birdfeeder.
6/16/10
Well, today is officially 1 year since...Your work is not over. April came and casted your right hand and your fingers are nearly straight. The left hand is a little behind, it's stiff from not being casted for a while so maybe next time you can have a straighter cast. We need to get your hands all fixed up so you can hold your nephew if he ever comes : )
Johnny, we are so proud of you. Keep up the great work!!
Love you!! Xo Jen
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