Stadium fever...

Tomorrow Sam and the football team are playing their last game at the stadium in Winnipeg!!! I am so excited for them! It is the 'consolation prize' to the play off. See the Tigers lost every game this season but then they are a young team... but a team with great potential!I cant wait to watch them play...

It is so hard to imagine that last year (Sept7) we were taking Sam to watch the Banjo Bowl (Sask-Wpg game) and he walked up the long ramp to the top of the stadium to watch the game. He didn't want to use the wheelchair, the carts or the elevator. This boy used all his strength and walked up to our seats-- only about 6 weeks after his brain injury. Even as I am typing this tears of pride roll down my cheeks to know how far he has come. I am so proud of all he has accomplished this past year and to see that he is not only going to school full time (for the most part) but he made his goals reality!

We were told in the emerg. room that his dreams of football were going to be just that... dreams. (along with his dream of being a pilot and doing woodwork-- so far his peripheral vision has not only healed but his 'regular' has improved so there is no longer glasses-- so both dreams are a real possibility!) I want to go back to the emerg. and meet the surgeon and tell him how great Sam is doing. I know that the doctor would be very amazed and happy...maybe one day we will.

Sam has been having a few minor issues with his left side of late but since that is his weak side we will work on it over the winter and help him to strengthen it... bow flex, elliptical, picking up marbles with his toes, eating more and getting rest.

I am so excited about tomorrow I just cant explain it. I will have to work so hard to keep my tears of joy in check as other wont understand...

"Thank You God for all of Your miracles, and for Your unfailing, unwavering love! Without You this past year would have not been what it has been! Thank You for everyone that has read and still reads this blog. Thank You for being understanding and supporting. I wish I could give you all a big hug so you know how much I appreciate your comments, emails and stopping in. Thank you for putting up with my tears, rants and praises. I am truly blessed."

where does the time go?

Well things with my dad are stabilized now, but still no date on a new dental surgery and he is finally going to his doctor tomorrow. I am supposed to go but i am sick with the flu and wont be able to make it.... so i will have to do what i can via the phone!

Sam has been quite busy with football and is loving it! It is so great to see him out there running, throwing and catching, and yes..... **gulp** getting tackled! it is so hard to believe that last year this time we were working hard to get his endurance and strength up! he was still walking up and down the drive way in his combat boots (they are very heavy) to build up his legs to help keep the left side from dragging. He was still sleeping lots and going to school parttime, there were still major attitudes and crying jags... a totally different kid (for the most part) than who is here with us now.

It never ceases to amaze me just how awesome God is and what He can and will do for His children. Answered prayers, unsnanswered prayers that when you look back make sense, prayers answered that you never even thought to ask... awesome is all I can say.

Oh ya! Our Isaac went with Sam last week to Air Cadets, just to see if he would enjoy it (which i thought he would since he loves things to be organized and structured). We asked him to just go and see what all cadets were about for a few weeks and then make his decision, but low and behold he came to the van with registration papers stating that he LOVED IT and was joining! I think we will start to see changes in this young man too soon... **sigh** it is so great to see the kids growing up and yet it makes my heart tug a bit and somedays I just want to sit and cry over where the time has gone...

I just read this book by Patricia Jones. She is my step dad's sister and she writes about how she dealt with her mom's dementia and alzhiemers. I found it so enouraging to read as I find alot of it was what I deal with, with my dad. He knows me--sometimes, he is extremely repetitive with "i love you" and a few other choice phrases (but he also tells absolutely EVERYONE that he loves them), he shows extreme anger towards me... the list is endless. I told Pat how the book was helpful to me to know that I am not alone in this and that with TBI (in our case with both dad and Samuel) that there is not much help for us-- dad is considered to be'too far gone' with his TBI and Samuel not enough to warrant help (or so it seems to us...). But her book hit so close to home that at times I had to put it down since tears were so busy clouding my vision that I couldnt read but as soon as I could regain my composure I was back reading it again. I strongly suggest that others read this even if you dont have a loved one or know of anyone that is struggling in any of these areas -- knowledge is power and you never know when you may be called on by God to share what you know!

You have got to be kidding me!!!

As you know Sam is not the only person in my family with a brain injury. My dad has a severe brain injury and is a quadrilpelgic. He lives in the local personal care home (30 miles away). well yesterday Dennis and I were in Npw picking up the rest of our appliances to move to the new house. We werent even home 15 minutes and the phone rang and it was the PCH... dad had been having some major seizures ALL DAY... so they were transporting him to the hospital to see the doctor. we jumped back into the van and headed the 30 miles back to town to the hospital. The doctor there gave him dilantin -- but not after he had 2 seizures in 20 minutes while we were there. The doctors explanation for them (please keep in mind that this is NOT his regular doctor) is that there iscar tissue forming and causing these siezures. after 14 yrs..... never a real issue with seizures before but now after 14 yrs. to say the least i was, and still am, not impressed with this doctor. he doesnt even know what the history is surrounding my dad and his injury is and he is going to just flippantly give me an answer of "scar tissue". I had to also warn the nurses (at both the PCH and the hospital) that even when dad was on dilantin before he had seizures.... but not of these magnitude.

Dennis and I went for lunch while he was getting his med's (dad was sleeping at this time) and then I went to the PCH to see if there was any reason that they would know of why he is having them -- I asked if his routine had changed, if he had been dropped or his head hit, etc and i got a very loud "NO!" -- shock and horror on thier faces... i was trying to be polite and not accusatory. They had no answer to why things have changed... so back to the hospital we go and wait... and wait... no seizures-- good sign.... "he is resting and we will send him back to the PCH tonight." "OK then we will go and please call me when you are transporting him back. Thank you"

By the time 7pm rolled around there was still no call so i called and low and behold dad was back in his room sleeping.

Today I called and was informed that he had had 3 more seizures this morning... even while on dilantin... his regular doctor was not in his office today, so they (the nurses at the PCH) cancelled dad's appt that we have been waiting for in Wpg (for dental surgery) for MONTHS but never spoke to the doctor about it. I was hoping that they might be able to make a CT scan appt for him too while we were in the city. (Dad needs to be transported by ambulance for most of his appts and this makes him extremely agitated) You would think that if all of a sudden a resident with severe TBI starts having seizures that you would try contact his doctor.... i mean we live in a small town... i am just so frustrated!!!!!!!!

The first doctors 'diagnosis' of scar tissue makes me want to not only scream but it makes me wonder about Sam.... he has never had seizure activity and he actually has physical scar tissue -- does this mean in 14yrs we can expect more to pop up in our life? That the local doctors will be so callous and ignorant about it all that they wont care or the nurses wont fight to alk to a doctor when we need it?

I am so angry right now and frustrated... i am sure this post makes no sense what so ever.