Really Awesome Weekend!

Well, I think it's about time to bring this blog to a close. Chase is just doing so well that I think it's ok to wrap things up. And today is a good day to do it. As I said, he's back in school doing half days (unsure if he'll go full days before the end of the year or not, we'll see), he's doing well in therapy, he's rid of his braces (both neck and back) and he's healing remarkably well! I'd like to finish by letting everyone know about our weekend. Yesterday we took the kids out for the first time as a family since before Chase's accident. We went to lunch and then to a movie (Inkheart, great show!). It was a really great day!

Today at about 12:20 or so, we had the pleasure of having a couple of visitors. The boy who was driving the car that hit Chase and his parents came for a visit. His name is Matt. I had met his mother, Pam, after Chase's accident (I talked about that in a previous entry). I was very impressed with them all, such wonderful people! It was very good for Chase to get to meet them and he was glad he had the chance. It took us awhile to get the boys together, but we finally did. I think it was a good thing for them both. They and we were able to see that they both are doing ok. Pam gave Chase a big hug when they left. I also gave a big hug to Matt. It made for a great day. :)

I would like to close this blog by thanking everyone who has been following it. I so appreciate the many prayers that have gone out over the past couple of months in Chase's behalf and in our family's. This has been quite a journey and one I will never forget! I hope I never have to go on one like it again. It's been amazing though, watching Chase through all of this and witnessing the many miracles that have happened. I am a changed person for it. None of our lives will ever be the same. I'm grateful to God for getting us through all of this and for helping Chase to recover and move forward. Again, my thanks and gratitude to all of you who have helped us in so many ways. Thank you!

Love,

Michelle

Great week!

Chase went back to school yesterday (half days) for the first time since his accident. I took him to school in the morning. His friends were so excited to see him. I had a hard time after I left him there. I walked in with him and went to the office to make sure they knew he was there and got things situated for him. Then we met with the Principal for a few minutes. When I got back to the car is when I kind of broke down a little. Taking him to school was harder than I thought it was going to be. I was still crying when I got to work. But after a little bit and hugs from my boss, Tonia, Connie and Dr. Andersen I was ok. I texted Chase when he got out of school and asked how it went. He said it was fun and he was happy to be back and see his friends again. By the end of the day he was wiped out though because he had therapy in the afternoon too. They work him pretty good there and he's usually pretty sore and tired afterwards. He'll have 3 hours of it after school tomorrow too.

Today we took Chase to see his spine doctor (Dr. Warner) and he said his spine had healed enough that we could start weaning him off of the neck brace too. So he is just wearing it at night now for a little while and then he won't have to wear it at all. He doesn't wear the back brace (TLSO) at all anymore either. He'll see the doctor again in 4 weeks.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. He's healing remarkably well and quickly. It's been 2 months now and it is still just incredible to me and everyone else how far he has come. I'm not going to have much to write about in the near future so this blog may be coming to an end soon. But that's ok... it's a good thing! :)

Love,
Michelle

Going back to school

Chase's home and hospital teacher called earlier today and also came over tonight. She said that everything they need is in place so he can go back to school tomorrow. He's very excited! Jeff and I are happy for him too but we're also nervous. The last time he was at school was when he was hit by a car. But mostly we just worry about him getting hurt. I know they'll look out for him and he'll probably be just fine. It feels like the first day of Kindergarten all over again. He will be going to school for 2 periods and also having home and hospital come once a week. This way he'll get credit fot this term. The school has been very good to work with us and accomodate Chase. I'm glad they have these programs.

It's funny that Chase is going to school tomorrow and Breanna & Justin are staying home sick (again). It's been the other way around for the past 2 months (8 weeks tomorrow). Hopefully they'll be on the mend and all 3 will be back in no time.

Well, that's it for today. Short and sweet. I'll try to post again soon to let everyone know how school went and therapy tomorrow too.

Love,
Michelle

Good Reports

I first need to apologize for not posting on here sooner. Life has been so crazy busy with trying to get back into work mode and juggle schedules, therapy, appointments and everything else. Chase's appointment with the Neuro-psychologist went well. She was very impressed with Chase and how far he has come since leaving the hospital. She didn't expect him to be doing so well. She had told him in the hospital that he likely would not be going back to school this year (until maybe next Fall). But she is agreeing with his speech therapist that he is ready to start going back half days. They want to ease him into it and not over-load him. They are working with the doctors and the school to get him back as soon as possible. He will have to have some special accomodations, extra time for things and rest breaks as needed. He'll also have someone available to help him get to class and anything else he might need. He will have the home and hospital teacher come again on Monday evening for more testing and hopefully to leave him some assignments too. He did well with it last time. :)

Therapy is also coming along. He is getting more mobility and better range of motion in his left arm. It keeps getting better each time. Physical therapy was tough on him. His back was hurting enough to need pain medication and heat afterwards. But by bed-time he was ok. Speech therapy also went well. He was given some "homework" to do by next Tuesday when he goes back. the therapist, Kim, gave him a report to type and some Spanish words to learn. So he's busy working on that. I think he enjoys having some type of school work to do again. He's really looking forward to going back to school.

This Wednesday he will see his spine doctor again. We're hoping that he might be able to give us some idea of how much longer Chase will need the neck brace. He doesn't wear the back brace much at all anymore. He likes not having to wear it. The break in his neck was much worse than the ones in his back though so it may still be awhile.

I continue to thank my Father in Heaven every day that I get to hug my son and tell him that I love him. I'm so very grateful to still have him here and to get to be witness to the miracle of his recovery and be part of it. My life, as I'm sure are others, is forever changed.

Love,
Michelle

Home and Hospital

Chase has his first session with home and hospital Monday evening. A teacher from Taylorsville High School was assigned to him. She came over and brought a packet with her for Chase to complete. He did some various problems and math. I think he did pretty well. She spent 2 hours here at our house and Chase finished the packet. When the teacher left (her name escapes me) she said that she was impressed with how well he did. She said he exceeded her expectations by far. She didn't think he would do as well as he did from the information she had about him with his brain injury and such. Chase mentioned that he wants to go back to school when the term starts (Monday the 30th). She said if she could clear it with the doctor and therapists as well as get things set up at the school he might be able to go back half days (2 periods). That just blows my mind to think of that happening (by then just 8 weeks after the accident) so soon. I guess we'll see what happens.

He had therapy today but I was not able to go as I had to be at work. Jeff was there for part of it. Chase said it went well but they worked him really hard in physical and occupational therapy. He said he was sweating by the time physical therapy was over and hurting when occupational therapy was over. But it's good for him. He did well in speech therapy and she is thinking he should be going back to school soon also. He's excited about that. He's anxious to try to go back to a semi-normal routine.

Tomorrow he is seeing the neuro-psychologist that evaluated him when he moved up to the 12th (rehab) floor. I'll be interested to see what she has to say. So more good things happening.

Love,
Michelle

Good Times

It's hard to believe that Chase has been home for 3 weeks. He's made tremendous progress in that amount of time. Actually he's made miraculous progress in 6½ weeks! It continues to amaze me how far he has come in such a short time. Thursday he went to therapy again. They are still working on getting better range of motion and flexibility in his left arm. It's still pretty limited but getting much better. Each week it gets better. We work with him daily at home on balance, strength and range of motion, not only in his arm but other areas as well. In physical therapy they worked with strength in his legs and with balance. He's doing pretty well there too. In Speech/Cognitive therapy she gave him problems to solve and letters to unscramble forming words. He would do pretty well and then after about 15 minutes his thought process would slow and he would take much longer to figure things out. So that would mean a break was needed. After a 5-10 minute break he could get back on task. It's interesting to me to watch all of this. I learn a lot each time we go.

Taylorsville High has assigned a teacher to Chase for Home and Hospital schooling. She will be coming out to our house to start him on that Monday evening. I think it will be good for him to start that and get him working toward going back to school. That's his goal. He wants to get back to his normal routine as much as possible. We'll see how things go over the next 2 weeks and go from there. Jeff talked to Chase's school counselor about him graduating with his class next year (yep, he's going to be a Senior). She said that we could do some Summer credits if needed and even if he ended up being a little short to graduate, he could still graduate with his class and finish up the credits during the Summer after. So that was great news!

I apologize for not posting on the blog as much as I used to but I just don't have as much to write about. And that's a very good thing! I will, however, continue to post as I know a lot of people still want to keep up with his progress and recovery. He's an amazing kid! I'm so proud of him and all the progress he's making. He is doing everything the doctors and therapists are asking him to do. That's what it takes!

Thanks again to everyone for the prayers, love and support!

Love,
Michelle

Six weeks ago today

Chase's accident was 6 weeks ago today. It's hard to believe how far he's come in that amount of time. It's only been 6 weeks but it sure feels a lot longer than that to me. It feels more like 6 months! He is a remarkable kid that's for sure. I marvel every day at the progress he has made in such a short amount of time. His therapists feel the same way. I honestly do attribute much of this to the blessings and prayer he has had in his behalf. Justin told him that he has a definite purpose here and he thinks it's to do something great. I would have to agree. I do believe that God spared him for a reason. I'm so thankful for that.

It looks like Chase will be starting the home and hospital schooling at home this week. We're very excited about that. I know he's anxious to get back to school and for things to be more normal. This is a great step in the right direction. I was unable to go to his therapy yesterday but Jeff was able to be there. He said he did very well and they worked his arm a lot. They work on mobility and stretching (range of motion) in Occupational therapy. Then they worked more on that and strength in physical therapy. Jeff worked it pretty well today too. But it's good. He needs to get that mobility back in his arm. It hurts him to do the therapy but it kind of has to. That's how we know he's making progress. He just pushes through it though. Our neighbor, Matt, says he has a few names for the therapists like Physical Terrorists. Chase loved that one! It made him laugh. So we joke about it now. We won't tell his therapists about it. :)

Well, that's about it for today. Stay tuned until next time. Thanks everyone!

Love,
Michelle