Saturday, February 5, 2011

STILL recovering

This, of course, is just my (and Dennis') perception of things but Sam is still recuperating from his TBI...ummm, yes, STILL. But then when you think of it... he still has 3 small fragments in his brain.
3 small pieces of the single bullet that entered his skull...
(I still have troubles with typing that -- especially after this week)

anyhow, back to my thot process...
Sam had exams this week on Monday and Tuesday. He also went to school on Wednesday to finish some work in Woods class. Then he was home sick yesterday (he missed cadets last night), and today he went into town to his gf house for the afternoon and to wait to leave on a weekend trip with cadets. They are heading to Morden for some fun with the Morden cadets.
We had a talk with him yesterday about having to take ownership of his recovery and that we can't make ALL his decisions about things. He is going to have to learn to watch for his own health issues at some point and what better time to learn about this while at home where we can help him in seeing things. We talked about how he was going to be having an incredibly busy semester now with a heavy academic load and spring football and cadets (nt to mention calving and other spring farm work) So HE made the decision about not going to cadets last night so he could stay home, sleep, rest, drink lots of tea and rest some more! (I was so proud that he took that step!)
He woke up this morning feeling and sounding MUCH better than he did last night, and so off to town we went. On our way to town he says to me,"Mom, my face is doing it again!" and as I turn to look at him the left side of his face is twitching uncontrollably. This went on for about a minute after he told me  (and I forgot to ask him how long it had been b4 he told me!).
I started thinking that with it being the left side of his face, and YES this has happened before, that must mean there is some recovery stuff going on in the right side of his brain (where the bullet entered and the fragments sit). So even 2.5 years after the accident we are still dealing with recovery issues, which again brought to mind (I am feeling a bit like the Mouse in the children's book "If you give a mouse a cookie..")that this is what we have been trying to get thru to the school.
He is still recovering!
He is still having fatigue issues!
We are still working on sleep issues!
But no one but us really seem to see these facts...
Sam is a miracle kid, but there is still a struggle that he is going to have for not only a few months but most possibly his entire life.
He may look fine on the outside but there are still things working to  fix itself on the inside...

There is another area or issue that I deal with...
When do I, as his mom and caregiver, stop having to wondering if I should be writing this down, watching for this or that, if that is just a normal reaction/teen issue/ life issue or part of the TBI... what if I don't catch something and it turns out to be something that I should have? What if I am worrying about thing that are normal and nothing to do with TBI? When can I stop second guessing every move or thot I have!?

so ...
for now...
I will mark down the week and his twitching and see if it coincides with tiredness or anything else and then let a doctor know.... and see what they say...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Jodi, just fate that brought me to your site just after you posted. We are 5 years into it and I am doing the same thing. Write down whatever you need to. It keeps you from forgetting, and one less thing to worry about. God Bless you, Mom. He is still recovering and it will be a lifelong recovery. I am still not in the acceptance stage of that, but I will say to trust your instincts. I have a lot of books of notes in my calendar...you never know when the dr. will ask something that we don't know if it is important or not, but they do. Thanks for sharing this and keep you chin up. You are both (Mom and Dad) doing a great job. My husbands injury was also an object to the brain, and had to be removed and he also has a VP shunt this is a constant worry about infection. Hang in.

Heather said...

Joid , I will keep you and your family and especially Sam in my prayers

Marianne said...

Phew girl you have a lot on your plate but all of you have some so far!
I remember the day Sam had the accident - and the prayers that went up for him then.
You are Sams rock - you may not think he feels that way now but when he gets to the point of moving out of the nest...that is when they start showing thier appreciation. (speaking from experience here :)
You are right, he is a miracle child and every day when he reacts either in a good or bad way is yet another miracle!
(((hugs)))