You just have to know in your heart it's his way of making u smile, lord help us all 0; 3 hours to live to now I praise God for saving my handsome boy I thank you Chad Dillard for being our rock, for working hard every day to provide a home with the financial burden going from 2 incomes to now just 1. Thank you for your sacrifices so that we can have the things we do and so that I can stay home and take care of Alex It won't be a forever thing, I promise.
I love you with all my heart and appreciate you, your love and support more than you could ever comprehend! Brooks and Nick You are two amazing brothers and I couldn't do it without you!
Brooks, you are his right hand man and I give you most of the credit in how far he has come. You have been there every step of the way, picking up the slack so Nick could finish college.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for rolling with the punches, for the patience you have endured and for letting him tag along with you and your friends You are my sunshine on my darkest days and I absolutely could not have gotten thru this without YOU!
I love u boo! Raymond Ross Thank you for continuing to help with Alexs finances so that I am able to stay home and care for him This has played a huge part in Alex's recovery with me being able to be his caretaker in every aspect and it will pay off one day, this I know. When he marries the girl of his dreams and has children of his own That will be our payback A normal life for Alex is the thing I pray for most.
For him to have a full life as tho he would have To find that special someone who will love him unconditionally as I do. To my family, my friends and especially Nick and Brooks' friends It takes a lot of patience to be around Alex on a daily basis. He can talk you into things you never would dream of doing on your own, lol Thank you for the gift of your friendship, for accepting him for who he is and for treating him as your very own friend!
He loves you all and just wants his life back Thank you for giving him a piece of that back! My friends and family You are a blessing to me Angels in disguise! Thank you for the smiles, the laughter and the tears.
I still have my moments when I mourn the loss of who Alex was and you pick me up and cry with me when I need it as we switch to laughter in praise of all he has become! Crazy non filter ridiculously quick witted self that he is Gods amazing grace all rolled up into one You never anger at what has happened, you have always stayed positive with a smile on your face and a joke out of your mouth. I have no doubt that God will continue to work on you, in you and around you Keep reaching for the stars and jumping those hurdles because you will do great things for the glory of God and I am truly honored to be your mom!
I love you Alex Michael! Thank you God for another day with my handsome boy! Well Well Well God is still over here working his miracles on my handsome boy! So many little improvements have taken place since August I have since joined a gym where I take him twice a week where he gets on the tread mill by himself Here's some videos for your laughs and enjoyment lol.
Alex is much taller than me now about 5'8" and weighs lbs Those that knew him before surely would never have guessed this little 16 year old Junior 4' nothing and all of pounds lol. Those little things he may never get back but we are still making progress I feel like some neurons may finally be reconnecting as Alex has become more aware of peoples emotions and feelings of regret when he acts up or gets in trouble for inappropriate behavior.
Thank God they love Alex and have compassion in their souls because had it been my yard I don't know that I could be so gracious! Although the neighbors asked me not to sell it A lot has been going on since I last updated ya'll! We have not been in therapy as they decided to drop Alex until he had his baclofen pump surgery in September.
You will be happy to hear he no longer uses his cane He has increased his 1. He wore that hat for the rest of our stay! Alex climbed over stairs in a spiral tower to get to the top! He was definitely out of breath by the time we got to the top He dreaded going back down lol Our summer has since been filled with Brooks' travel baseball team and a couple of FABULOUS trips to Destin to stay with an old high school friend of mine that has a summer house there.
YOUR generosity and hospitality is out of this world and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love for Alex, kind spirits and giving hearts! Mr Impatient couldn't wait on me to take him down to water! Hi friends We visited Nick in Tampa this past weekend for his college graduation at the University of South Florida. I remember when our worlds changed and Nicholas so selflessly said "Mom, I will come home and help you".
My response was NO He has grown into an awesome young man and I am beaming with pride at this huge accomplishment in the midst of our storm. God Bless him and his craziness, lol! He dressed up for the boys Home baseball game Yes my friends we are still alive and kicking Today is Alex's 19th birthday Another birthday Where has the time gone It seems as though time has flown by I feel like I totally missed !
I am truly thankful to have been given a second chance at life and be able to celebrate yet another birthday of the Miracle Boy. Just yesterday God sent two angels my way God was just reminding me that He is still with us and that our journey is not over. You see Alex will be having another surgery in August and for now, I am helping the therapy along somewhat by having Alex ride his bike twice a week and walk around the neighborhood.
This surely isn't an easy task for him by any means but he agrees to push forward, sometimes even harder than I would have him, lol. Monday I told him we were going to walk to the stop sign and back.
His reply was pointing to the stop sign closest to our house of which I smiled and said No, the other one to the left, lol. He made a face I told him I was going to time him so he better make it good, ha ha! We made it to the stop sign and I noticed he was looking to the right around the corner I said "you ready to head back to the house now or are we walking around the block? I said Heck yeah we are It wasn't an easy feat for him but he kept pushing forward and ended up walking.
Here is a little clip of him walking, lol. He kept saying We have been really busy with Brooks' baseball schedule Mr Social Butterfly lol. The kids are awesome with him and I can't thank them enough for their love and support with Alex They love him and accept him with his crazy behavior and random texts over and over and OvOO chats Sunday, February 19, Hanging in there My mom and her two dogs, Max and Sugar, have since had to move in with us as it is too painful and lonely an hour away in such a big house.
We put her house on the market in Fernandina and have been busy getting all of her affairs in order. Last week I was down with the flu for 4 days and am just getting back to the land of the living. God must certainly think I am wonder woman with all of the trials and tribulations he has put upon me these past two years. I am rolling with the punches facing adversity and jumping through hoops to make our lives as normal as possible under the current circumstances.
Please keep my mother in your prayers as this has been a very very difficult transition for her and I pray that she finds peace and comfort, her home sells quickly so that she can close that chapter of her life and begin a new one here in Jacksonville in a new place she calls her HOME. Being strong for her has kept me from falling apart with grief myself, I am surely going to miss him as will my boys. On a positive note, Alex has been moving right along in his therapy He has been working on walking on uneven surfaces such as grass, sidewalks, streets etc without his cane Life goes on He has come so far yet still has a VERY long way to go!
We all take for granted things that come natural to us He is a trooper and keeps on going, even when he doesn't feel like it. Love our therapist and their patience with him We have decided to go thru with the baclofen pump surgery however we will be putting it off until August.
I'll keep you all posted on that as it gets closer to that time frame. Alex not excited about it however knows it will help in the long run. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers He continues to make us laugh every day Thank you God for our beautiful, crazy, hectic life I give you all the Glory, Honor and Praise I still get emotional this time of year but very thankful I still have him here and full of hope that things will continue to improve with his recovery.
As I look back on the website in the archive of blogs it is amazing to me to see just how far he really has come in 2 years. It has flown by and then again.. From 3 hours to live to 2 years This year has really been a GREAT year in recovery as Alex has really come leaps and bounds with things that he can now do that he was having trouble doing the previous year.
He still has a very long way to go cognitively speaking Reflecting back He was so excited to get that Trach out and be able to go under water We also had his Celebration at Macedonia Baptist where we got to meet a lot of our prayer warriors! He also SWAM for the first time! I wanna go back and stay lol! Words cannot tell you what that trip did for our family. It was refreshing and we got to step away from reality for 7 days, much needed to reboot and regroup and not have to think about what our lives are really like on a day to day basis.
Alex turned 18 while in Hawaii and got to surf! Finished his senior year school work! What an amazing adventure that was! Had our first baclofen pump trial and failed. They couldn't get into his spine but we didn't give up! Alex finished and graduated his day treatment program..
Finally some independence for this young man Just when I think I will give up and think this is how it's going to be forever He will show me what he is capable of and pull me right back! Alex wore a cast on his left arm for most of the month He decided he wanted to do chores that lasted the month of september, lol He became Brooks' biggest fan on the football field at Baldwin and LOVED going to his games and cheering him on.
Would show off occasionally with a special Alex dance or walking on track for crowd Was able to start bending his arm from elbow out.
Never could do this before. I really feel like that left arm will come around I think God is saving that for his grand finale'!! Alex had neuropsych evaluation where I was told that basically what he is today is what he will be for the rest of his life. Alex was able to get up from the floor by himself no cane, no help Thank you God for the many miracles you continue to bless us with on a daily basis.
We arrived at Wolfson's Children's Hospital at am got Alex all checked in and they videoed him prior to the procedure so that they could measure his ranges of movement once the baclofen was injected into his spine. They measured him at 2 hours after the procedure and again at 4 hours. An amazing thing to see right before my eyes that Alex could go from having so much tone in his left wrist and left foot to looking like a rubberband man!
She could take his toes and bend them forward and backward like crazy! She could bend that left wrist forward and backward without the tone fighting gravity There was one side effect that was on the downside and that was when he went to walk, his left ankle was SO LOOSE and relaxed that his ankle rolled like nobody's business and it was hard for him to get that foot straight onto the ground for mobility. This I am told can be controlled with his brace and hard work at physical therapy once the pump is installed.
Physical therapy will help regain strength in that ankle as it is weak now and tends to roll when he walks barefooted. The medicine had such a great effect on him that it made it too relaxed. Docs think that they will place the catheter further up the spine to focus more on the left arm but whole left side will still get relief with the medication.
You are all probably thinking the same thing I am Alex is not so caught up in the whirlwind as we are and insisting he is NOT having another surgery. Soooo, this is where I need my prayer warriors again Please pray for Alex's peace of mind that this surgery is just like putting a band aid on compared to the 10 surgeries he has already had! Of course there are always risks with any surgery but nothing so severe that it isn't worth a shot to see if we can get that left arm responding once the tone is gone.
I asked him one morning as I was helping him cover himself in bed But I truly feel like he is content. He is ok with life and how he lives it day to day. Why can't we all live life that way?
Things were so much simpler when we were children ages Our major worries were if we were going to be able to eat at McDonalds and get some of those delicious french fries in our happy meal. There are times when he gets anxious and I KNOW that something is bothering him, but he really doesn't know.
He can't comprehend it He can't quite put his finger on it I have just gotten used to the tell tell signs of his discomfort and things that make him anxious. I pray that his heart is lightened with the possibility of the baclofen pump surgery. I think that this could be the beginning of new life in that left side. He is still progressing, making movements we haven't seen yet. Squeezing and picking up things Our 2 year mark is coming up Looking back how much we have endured and conquered You know what We are blessed beyond measures.
I made a statement on FB the other day When any of you get down or think that life is horrible or not turning out how you wanted it to. Stop and think of Alex If you are reading this Health, Shelter, Family and Love Ross' life changed January 6th. Stephens made a frantic call. At that time police didn't know Stephens shot Ross.
Weeks later, Ross told this to police. I turned around to walk back, not thinking anything of is 'cuz I thought we were friends, then I turned around and he was still there. I turned around and he was pointing it at me in the head area," said Ross to police. Ross says in his online blog it was a rough day in court. From his wheelchair he told Stephens quote "No friend of mine would point a loaded gun at my head and pull the trigger.
You may be stuck in a jail cell for a portion of time, but I may be stuck in this chair for the rest of my life. The 16 year old had dreams of playing baseball in college, ut now he's had to re-learn how to do everything. That's something his dad says has been hard, but he's been getting support, even from football player Tim Tebow. His family is just happy to have their son.
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