Life Changing Begins

I don't know about you, but watching a baby learning to take those first few steps is pretty emotional for me.  Well we didn't have any babies yet but I quickly learned that it doesn't have to be a baby for it to be emotional!

Adam started his physical rehab right away when we got to Younkers.  Let me tell you........This place is AMAZING!!!!!!!!  The nursing staff..........WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!  The therapists.........WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE!!!!!!!! Everyone there treated us like we were family and it was WONDERFUL!!!

I wasn't the one that had to go through the hard work day in and day out.  That was Adam.

They run a tight ship there at Younkers.  You are up early and work on Occupational Therapy (getting dressed, brushing your teeth, hand eye things) Speech Therapy (not just talking but understanding things too) Physical Therapy (walking, sitting up, getting out of bed) and Recreational Therapy (playing games).

When he got there on December 30th, he couldn't sit in a chair, let a lone stand up on his own, shower on his own, get dressed on his own or even walk on his own. So they started his therapy's right away the next morning.

The goal was to get his muscles built back up so he could care for himself again. By this time he had lost about 100 pounds and he was looking like skin and bones.  They worked on everything from getting him to be able to concentrate on a task for more than 1 minute to being able to be held by three staff members and a machine along with braces on his legs just to take two steps and sit back down.

Watching your husband relearn to walk and sit up on his own is very motivating. He had a few set backs here and there and a small seizure once while in Younkers but for the most part it was hard work and determination from day one and nothing else!

I know if it wasn't for his wonderful team of therapist we had there, he wouldn't be where he is today!!  Dana, Darcy, Terri, and all the other wonderful girls there worked him hard but it was worth it in the end.  He had physical therapy sometimes twice a day even on Saturday and Sunday just to get him up and moving and they pushed him as far as they could.

About halfway through his rehab, something sparked in me and I realized that if my husband could learn to walk again...........I surely could get back in shape and start running again.  So, I slowly started by just walking the laps at the hospital.  What else did I have to do.  We were there for 53 days!!!!  For the most part I was eating healthy food, I was eating there everyday so it wasn't terrible food!!

So I was doing what I could during the day while Adam was working his butt off to get better every day!!  If he did weights for his arms..........I did too.  If he did weights for his legs, you guessed it! I did too!!

Soon we received the news from the staff and doctor that he was well enough and strong enough to go HOME!!!!!!!!!!

So shortly after returning home and adjusting to being back home after nearly 3 months of being in the hospital Adam started outpatient therapy.  Cheryl was a GOD SEND!!!  She worked Adam just as hard as the in-patient girls did and then some.  Since he was able to go home, he still had to go to therapy 2-3 times a week.

This made my decision to start working out that much easier! Adam had to go through all this, then I could too!  I signed myself up for Kees Camp shortly there after!  Now that women changed my life FOREVER!! Jennifer Kees is an ANGEL sent from heaven to make you WANT to love yourself!!  I will have a blog about her very soon!!  

Now, this blog makes it sound A LOT easier than it really was! I want you to know my husband is the strongest fighter I have ever met when it comes to working to walk again!  Getting to see him take those first steps on his own without a walker, or help from the therapists!!!!  Talk about PRICELESS!!!!!!  I was a emotional basket case!!!!! This is something I HOPE no one ever has to go through but if you do, it is something you will never forget.

Having a spouse go through a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or something that effects their brain to the point of disruption is VERY difficult.  There aren't manuals for how to handle things or books you can read on how to get better.  You are as better as you can get.  Scarring on a brain doesn't go away.  It doesn't get better with time.  It is what it is and you just have to make the best of it.

I hope to be able to either right a short book about our experience with TBI or something along those lines someday.  We all have to have goals, right?!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!