Thoughts From This Morning

The weekends here at Shepherd Center are a lot quieter.  Less staff.  That's ok, because these hard working nurses need their weekends off.  We'll adapt.  

We did lose our Occupational Therapy time this morning, because when Jasmine came in, no  one had cleaned Kyle yet, gotten him dressed, or out of bed. She came so much earlier today and he just wasn't ready.  Again, that's ok,  I have come up with some of my own ideas for his OT,  I shared them with Jasmine and she said  "That's a great idea!"  Then, continuing to look at me, she said  "You're smart!"   

That made my day  :) 

They have a shower in Kyle's bathroom.  It feels wonderful.  So much so, that I spend too much time in it.  The good thing of course is that it is relaxing, the bad thing is that my mind goes places I'd rather it not sometimes....

Yesterday, Alex posted a status on FB that made me very proud of him, proud that he could share his intimate feelings with everyone.  

"Huge props to my mom for being able to tell the story of the night it all happened. I remember when she finally was able to tell me about it (it took a few days after me getting home for her to get up the strength). I just remember being in tears on the ride home from the hospital that night just envisioning what her and dad went through that night. And let me tell you, I teared up again reading it now, but it makes her that much stronger.

Kyle is also getting plastic surgery done (can't wait to make fun of him for that one!)
And lastly, there are now photos of Kyle on the blog while in the hospital (from the first night and onward). For those who haven't seem him, they're not easy to look at, but they're there all the same."

So what I thought about in the shower was the above and the conversation I had with the ortho surgeon yesterday.  We talked about teenagers and driving.  He said the majority of brain injuries here are from car accidents (second to that are strokes) and many in which a seat belt wasn't worn.  What he said is exactly what I wondered too.  (not a direct quote, but close enough)

"We get in our cars and we watch our children buckle up automatically, and we think they've got it, they understand. But how are we to ever know that they are not doing it when by themselves?  I see it too many times in here."

He said he has grandchildren not driving yet, but when it's time, he is going to bring them all to Shepard and show them what can happen.  It was an interesting conversation.

I went to a support group yesterday in which I met a mom with a teen like Kyle.  He also was not wearing his seat belt.  He is in the next stage up from Kyle.  He is able to talk but the things he says are not what his mom wants to hear.  It was explained to us that the four letter words we know are stored further away from our other vocabulary.  Because these words are simple and easier to "reach" in our brains, it is typical for them to come out in the agitation stage.  

I saw this mom in rehab before I even met her. She was clearly embarrassed by the things he was saying.  Being called a slut over and over is clearly not what she wanted to hear.  I am glad I met her in support and we got to talk about it.  I hope she will not be embarrassed anymore. 

They are so big on support here!  Going to another this afternoon on "caretaker support".  They sure do keep the day busy!   Someday, I'll make it to that great gym and Olympic size pool they have here, and all sorts of classes.  They even have a "boot camp" class. 

 But for now I'd rather sit by Kyle's side and watch him engage in that Motocross race we are currently watching on TV. :D

                                                                       Kyle Pinelli
                                                                            768

Thank you, David Forney!