Can I get a weekly update, PLEASE?
February 27, 2009 | Updates
You know on the homepage of this website where it says, “Click here for weekly updates?” Well, I don’t change it because I REALLY DO mean to post every week. It’s just that weeks have gotten shorter than they used to be or at least it seriously seems that way. I mean, honestly, it’s almost March and we JUST BARELY had Christmas. Ah, well…
I am posting today because of my mother or, actually, mothers. Between blood, step and in-laws, I have a few mothers. But 2 of them in particular keep kindly reminding me that I need to post SOMETHING. And I fully agree. But I have been ignoring their kind reminders because, well, my desk is piled high with so many pieces of paper and my inbox has over 400 emails in it and I have a to do list that is probably 4 pages long…TYPED. But my ignoring ended today as I read cjane’s post about the “Ghost of Disobedience” and realized I SHOULD DO what my mom tells me to. And, thus, this post.
Ok, onto Samuel. We went to Texas for 10 days for an ABR review and to see Dr. Tennant. We left on the 12th and returned on the 21st. In the end, the trip was good, but too long. I just can’t plan being gone for that long anymore. It is WAY too hard.
Samuel was so very good on the plane rides there. I had 1 hour of sleep the night before we left because, well, I was ready to go just 1 hour before we had to leave. So I was a good case for not much patience, but Samuel was such a good boy that all was well. We had a short layover in Denver and then arrived in Dallas without any huge hassles. We found our hotel ok and it was a pretty uneventful trip, which is a good thing.
The next 2 days we spent doing training for ABR. We were supposed to have training for 4 days, but there were no other families in our group, so we had our instructor all to ourselves. That made things go a lot faster, so we were done in half the time. That gave us the time to do a little sightseeing so we were able to see the JFK Museum. I enjoyed it - even though I’m not a huge history buff. And Samuel was a good boy the whole time.
Monday, we went to see Dr. Tennant. We had attended his seminar quite some time ago and this was our first chance to come to Dallas and actually have him meet Samuel. He did a full exam on Samuel and gave us a bunch of ideas on things to do for him concerning diet and other issues to ensure his body is in the best condition for healing itself. He did comment that Samuel seemed much more aware than some of the other near drowns he has treated and attributed that and the good readings on many of the tests he did to the hyperbaric treatments that we’ve done with Samuel in the past. We then stayed the remainder of the week to do in-office treatments in Dr. Tennants office. I will write more about those things later on. They are pretty detailed and hard to explain, so I’ll leave them for another post.
Tom had to fly back several days before Samuel and I did, so Samuel and I made the trip back alone. We did pretty well. Samuel had been a little upset the last few days that we were in Dallas and was not nearly as happy on the plane ride home. I finally gave him something to help him sleep through the second flight as I was sure he would scream the whole time if I didn’t. I got A LOT of comments from people on that flight. Mostly things like, “Wow, when he’s asleep he’s really asleep” or “Sheesh, he’s really out!” It’s always hard for me to know what to say to stuff like that because when he’s sleeping, he looks perfectly normal and people must really wonder why a 5-year-old needs a stroller and a carseat to travel on a plane and why in the heck his mom carries him everywhere. I try to just politely smile and say, “Yea, he’s really a deep sleeper.” But by about the 50th person, I really wanted to just say, “I drugged him, I admit it. I know that sounds crazy, but he has brain damage and would have screamed and kicked and been upset the whole way if I hadn’t. It’s prescription stuff. I’m allowed to do it. He really isn’t a sleeper AT ALL without it. So, anyway…” But I didn’t. I figure that just freaks people out and makes for a long explanation on my part, don’t you think?
So, I’m in sort of a funk. Not sure if you can tell. I think it’s a combination of severe and endless stress. It makes me forgetful and a little funky. But I’m just letting it happen because being completely normal is a bit overrated, don’t you think? Plus, being away for awhile starts to drain on me A LOT. I miss my kids and I know there are a million things piling up for me to do at home. And then there’s just the “people” factor when we are constantly out and about. I finally figured out that in our situation, you only really notice the extreme people. There are those wonderful people who go out of their way to help you and simply talk to Samuel like he knows what they’re saying. For instance,
- the doorman at our hotel who held the elevator for us every day
- the nice rental car lady who carried all our bags nearly a block to the bus
- the bus driver who drove us clear back to our stop when we missed getting off
- the 2 nice men who sat next to us on the plane WITHOUT hesitation
- the airport guy who personally carted all our stuff off the plane and then back on during our layover
- the flight attendant who made sure we had assistance getting from the plane to our car without even being asked
- and so many other wonderful people.
And then there are the people who stare obnoxiously to the point where I want to say, “Hey, do you NEED something?!” or at least buy Samuel one of those shirts that says, “Keep staring…maybe I’ll do a trick!” Add to that the fact that Samuel isn’t as comfortable when we’re traveling and he deals with it by constantly griding his teeth and whole bunch of a lack of sleep on my part and, well, I get funky.
Anyway, I’m rambling and we’re just so glad to be home. We saw good things with ABR and they should be sending me some comparison pictures soon, so I’ll post those when I can. And Samuel has gotten right back into his routine this week, so that’s a huge blessing. I can only leave you with one picture because even though I took my camera with us to Dallas, I didn’t take any pictures. Well, that’s not true. I tried to take pictures of all the crazy flocks of birds there - like 500 in every tree I saw - but they didn’t turn out. And nothing else was really interesting enough to snap a picture of. Plus, reference the aforementioned funk and you’ll know I really didn’t feel like taking pictures. So, you get the one picture I took of Samuel in a souvenir shop cause he looked like a hoodlum in this Texas cap! The only reason I put it on him was because I’m making him wear his little swim caps again since he’s growing a bald spot on the back of his head. I was hoping this hat would work instead, but I just couldn’t get past the sterotype…
Well, that’s it. Sorry for the lack of a one track mind in this post. I’ll do better next time - PROMISE!
Love,
The Jewkes
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February 28th, 2009 at 6:37 pm, Sylvia Ripley Says:
I wish there were words that would make you feel better, but I know there are not….instead I will say a prayer and hope strength is sent your way.
March 1st, 2009 at 7:05 pm, Darlene Says:
What a sweet picture of Samuel. I love that smile and his texan beannie. Glad you have the trip behind you. Take care…………….
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 am, Suzi Searles Says:
Please tell me, do you think going to Dr. Tennant was worth the trip? Did you see any amazing results. I’ve often wondered if I should take Luke there, but you know money can be hard to come by at times. Though if I thought it would be amazing results I might just have to go.
Luke had a sleep study recently and seizures showed up on it. He’s never had seizures before, I’m bummed!
I love the picture of Samuel, he is looking great! Keep up the great work, but please find time for yourself, it’s so needed.
Love in Christ,
Suzi Searles
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:48 pm, Jon & Kaye Says:
Teresa,
to have such a passionate and loving mommy and wife. There need to be more of you out there - it must be a challenge everyday for you to focus on everybody else and sometimes get a glimpse of you and your needs.
you are an amazing person. Don’t sell yourself short. You say that you are in a funk - I see you as strong as they come. I have so much respect for you and your family (what a blessing for your boys - well and Tom
Take comfort in knowing that Heavenly Father is mindful of your sacrifice - what a wonderful reward he has in store for you.
We miss your family and wish we could get up to Logan to visit. We love you all!
March 24th, 2009 at 12:15 am, Suzi Searles Says:
Just wondering how Samuel is doing?????
Suzi
May 11th, 2009 at 6:07 pm, Erin Amundsen Says:
Samuel looks great in that picture! Sorry I haven’t been in touch lately. I agree didn’t we just have christmas? Except I’m even farther behind than you are because now it’s May. We had a baclofen pump put in in March. It rotated so we went back for a revision 3 weeks later, then it got infected with staph and then he had staph meningitis. He came home with a PICC line for two weeks and it’s finally out. Yippee for us. So I think we spent 14 days in march down at the hospital. We’re not sure if we’re going to put it back in o not. We meet with the spasticity team on Monday to see if there is anything else to do. So that’s us in a nutshell I’m glad you were able to get out to Texas. I think it’s something we will eventually want to do down the road but right now I”m just tired since he’s still up 4-6 times a night. Oh well. That’s life with a brain injury I guess. Oh and don’t feel bad for drugging him. I do it all the time! =) Ok not all the time but I have some serious issues with some people and their comments. I don’t know what to say half the time either when people make comments like that. How do you explain a stroke in a two year old so that they understand? I guess I need to work on that one. Anyway sorry for the super long post. I hope your doing better!