August 11th

Hi guys - I've been doing great. I'm going home this Wednesday and I'm really excited. I've been walking a lot more now. Last night my brother Luke got to spend the night with me at the hospital. It was really nice to wake up and have him here.

On Thursday I went on a out-trip. That's where I get to to go somewhere outside of the hospital that I pick. I decided to go to Wholly Cannoli, they have New York style pizza so very thin crust. It was a lot of fun and my whole family got to go with me.

I got Mr. Buehler for my teacher and I'm really excited. I wish I was able to start school tomorrow with everyone, but I'm still in the hospital. I'm going home on Wednesday and I will be back at school soon.

Bye,
Jake

Another Surgery

Jake had surgery today to replace the piece of his skull that had to be taken out back on May 31st. He was a little nervous this morning about the surgery and didn't like the fact he was going to have to get a breathing tube again. Luckily they put it in and took it out all while he was in the operating room, so he was never awake and didn't feel it. Here is a picture of him before he went to surgery. He was laughing at the silly blue suits we had to put on to take him to surgery.

His surgery went well and he's going to rest today and tomorrow morning before he starts therapy again.

On Wednesday, he walked by himself for the first time without a walker or someone helping him. He was really excited. Here is a video  http://youtu.be/hcsfAwzlZSQ He is working so hard in therapy on his walking and getting more use of his left arm.

Jake won't be out of the hospital yet for the first day of school, but he will be starting school again sometime in August for at least a few hours a day. He's really excited to see all of his friends again!

No Concert & Motorcycles

Yesterday I heard that I can't go to the Rush concert that I've been dying to go to since March. The doctors think that it won't be safe for me since my brain is still healing. I'm really bummed out, but next year is their 40th Anniversary and my mom and dad said we'll travel wherever we need to go so I can see them if they don't come to Denver.

I also found out this week that I'll be out of the hospital in 2-3 weeks and I'm really happy about that. The day of the Rush concert, I'm getting my bone flap (that's the piece of skull they took off when I first had surgery) put back in and I'm really excited. Where my skull is missing, my head is soft and squishy, my brother said it feels like a ripe peach.

Yesterday the Harley Davidson motorcycle guys came and I got to sit on one of the motorcycles and they took a picture of me. They also brought BBQ which was really good.

Last night we had a family night where my entire family was here. We ate dinner all together and played games. We played Uno and Apples to Apples, we also ate popcorn. It was really fun.

Jake

Walking and Drumming

Jake has been working so hard in therapy lately. He now has 5-6 hours every day that he has to be meeting with one of the therapists, or in one of his groups. It's a pretty crazy schedule and he gets pretty wiped out. While his muscles are healing and working hard, so is his brain.

He's been practicing walking more and more each day. He sometimes gets frustrated and says to me "Mom, I know how to walk so why can't I?" It's kind of hard to explain to him, but the part of his brain that was injured controls the left side of his body. So not only is his whole body weak from being in bed for so long, his brain has to find new ways to talk to his legs so they can work together. It's really hard work. Here is a video of him walking with a walker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSX2jsgskSA He is really hoping he'll be walking on his own when it's time to come home.

He also is getting just enough strength back that he has started to drum. He was pretty excited and has been talking about wanting to do this for weeks. Right now the strongest muscles in his upper left side are his shoulder, so all his arm movement starts from there and can be a little awkward. As his whole arm gets stronger, it will get easier for him. You'll see how hard he is concentrating. http://youtu.be/Um2bZNuH-dU

Hi from Jake

Hi guys, I'm doing really good. I'm walking with a walker and can stand up by myself now. Here is a video that my Dad took the other day of me standing. http://youtu.be/lv_kpuU6UYw 

I've got a lot of dog visits while I've been here. I just saw a really fluffy bichon name miles. He was so soft and had a ton of fur. I'm really glad I don't have to groom that dog to keep it brushed and clean, he was really white. My dog got stung by something on the nose and had to go to the vet today but she got some medicine and will be okay. I'm really sad for Molly (my dog).

My brother keeps pushing himself around in my wheelchair when he visits. Yesterday we took a walk and Luke borrowed a wheelchair from the hospital so he could push himself around since I needed my wheelchair. He's crazy. 

Jake
 

Pizza, carrots and apples

Sorry for the long time between posts. Jake was going to post today, but he had a really long day and feel asleep before we could get it done. The thing he is probably most happy about is he can eat almost anything now. He's able to eat pizza, carrots, apples, chips, crackers...just about everything.

Jake is also working super hard in therapy. A few weeks ago, it was hard to stand and hurt his legs really bad. Today, he's standing with just a little bit of support from his therapist and is stronger and more stable. He gets to play a lot of games in therapy, a couple of his favorite are Guess Who?, Kerplunk and Connect 4. They like to give him things like games to do while having him stand so he doesn't think so much about the standing, it's a good distraction.

His left arm is getting stronger to and it's moving more. When he squeezes with his left hard, it's getting to be stronger everyday.

He really misses all of his friends and wants to be having fun this summer instead of in the hospital. I don't think he realizes how hot it's been and how nice this air conditioning feels! We're hoping he'll be home in time to enjoy a little bit of summer, he just needs to get a little stronger first.

Drumsticks....by Jake

Hi guys, I'm doing great. I just found out that I can have soda so I'm having a Barg's root beer. It sometimes tickles my throat a little and it makes me burp a lot. I also get to have popcorn which is one of my favorite snacks. I just got back from therapy and I hated it. They work me really hard and I can barely handle it. My mom said she is adding a video of me in therapy today, this part wasn't too bad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp0trF1SdO8&feature=youtu.be

I got a new pair of drumsticks from my friends in scouts, thanks guys. They all signed them, they're really cool. Before I could not wrap my left hand around my drumsticks but now I can. I'm pretty excited about that.

Thanks everyone for all the comments on the blog, I like reading them.

Jake