Jeremy made the move to TIRR in Houston, Texas today. He seems to like it from what my parents have said. The staff there is very professional and respectful which is nice to hear after what we experienced while he was in the long term acute care facility. He will have the weekend off and then they will start in hard on Monday. They weighed him when he arrived and he's finally put on a decent amount of weight and is up to 118 pounds. He still has a ways to go, but that's over 30 pounds weight gained so we are pleased! It still blows my mind that he got under 85 pounds. If I weighed 85 pounds it would be ridiculous and he has about 8 inches on me! Now on to a post I wrote on Wednesday before Jeremy was approved to move to his new facility...
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| Jeremy settled into his new facility. |
For the most part I've gotten used to our new normal. Jeremy in the hospital. Mom and dad living out of our house. Nightly visits to see Jeremy and how he's progressing. But then I have moments where the reality of our situation hits me like a ton of bricks. Wednesday morning I was out for a run with the kids in the double stroller and all the sudden the image of that split second mistake Jeremy made flashed into my head. It had been weeks since I had pictured him stepping down off the curb to cross the road and looking over just in time to see the flat bed trailer slam into his leg. It reminds me that each step we take is precious, each breath we take a gift. I appreciate how lucky we are. Jeremy wasn't wearing his road ID and it took the police over 4 hours to locate his car which they did simply by having a Honda key and searching parking lots up and down the trail. The police officer who was called to the scene works fatality crashes. He was called in because Jeremy was believed to be a fatality. Those 4 hours of searching for Jeremy's car could have been the difference between us saying good bye one last time and us walking in to identify his body. But it wasn't. Somehow, miraculously, Jeremy survived. Somehow, miraculously, Jeremy is talking. Somehow, miraculously, Jeremy is starting to read and write. Somehow, miraculously, Jeremy remembers who we are.
There have been so many sweet and well meaning people who have said they just know Jeremy will be "back to normal." While he is progressing amazingly, there will be no back to normal for him. With the extent of brain damage he suffered the question isn't: will he be different? The question is: how different will he be? And, strangely enough, that doesn't bother me. All I wanted was for him to have some quality of life and we already have that. He smiles, he laughs, he talks, mostly to and about Carter. What I hoped for the most was for Jeremy to remember Carter and continue to have a sweet relationship with him and we already have that too. From here on out each step he takes toward independent living is remarkable and wonderful and more than I had reason to hope for but hoped for none the less. Each day we have with him is a gift and we know that. It makes each difficult moment easier to bear. It makes the cursing and the frustration he shows a laughable moment because we are so happy he is able to feel emotions and to say words. We continue to hope he moves forward in recovery, relearns skills, and progresses through the levels of healing from a traumatic brain injury. This is a long road for Jeremy and a difficult and frustrating one, but we are happy to walk it with him, to know we get to be there for him. To know we get to breathe the same air he breathes. To feel the warmth of his hand. To know he is here for another day. A day that we were lucky to get. One that we very nearly had taken away. We have been gifted with over a month of extra memories with Jeremy that I cherish and I know there are more to come!
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| We miss him already and Carter was already expressing that at dinner as he normally goes with me to visit Jeremy in the evening and he knew he wouldn't get to tonight. |
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