A great end to the work week

Jason continues to have difficulty believing that he sustained a head injury.  He does not recall the accident, he has no scars on his head and by some miracle, he does not have headaches.  Yesterday he had two experiences that brought the situation into sharper focus.  

In the morning, he lost 2 out of 3 games of Connect 4 with the therapist.   He won the third game, and it was easy to see that he had remembered how to play by the end, but he was aware that he should have easily won all three games.  Later in the day, another therapist gave him some bills and had him write out checks, enter the amounts in his check ledger and then balance the ledger.  During this process he admitted that there was definitely something wrong with his brain.  He was a little discouraged at the prospect of having to re-learn what he has lost but we were able to reassure him that much of the information was not lost, it was just that the pathways to it were scrambled and would have to be re-established.

Isabel and I were both strengthened in our certainty that Jason will emerge from this better than ever.  We were encouraged by how much he does remember and by how fast forgotten skills come back to him.  In the morning, two of our favorite therapists showed us a worksheet that Jason had filled out on Tuesday and the same worksheet done that morning.  The difference was night and day.  Isabel had a really wonderful time watching the check writing therapy.   Apparently Jason argued about each bill and the various quackery that it represented.  He launched into a tirade when it was pointed out that he had received the senior citizen discount and another one when he was asked to pay the minimum balance on a credit card bill.  He told the therapist that he was "not a minimum balance kind of guy."  I was not there but according to Isabel, Jason was having a field day.  Isabel was in hysterics and the therapists, who try to be very serious, were unable to keep from laughing out loud.  

Jason continues to require tons of sleep but he is awake enough to be going stir crazy.  He says that the only place more restrictive that a hospital is a federal penitentiary.  Last night he had had it with the hospital and for what seemed like a long time, he was in a very foul mood.  We took him outside, but Upstate is an urban hospital and a far cry from the natural surroundings Jason loves so much.  Isabel took control of the situation and ordered a pizza which we ate in a little cafe area on the edge of the front lobby.  It really felt like we had gone out to celebrate on a Friday night, which we had.  After that we got ice cream and went back to Jason's room and played memory games.  The evening of normalcy was a huge gift to the three of us and we were reminded of how lucky we are.  

Thank you all for your support and positive energy.  It moves us forward every day.  

Peggy