ThErE iS nO pLaCe LikE hOmE...

It's been a few months...and a few years in the making but we are excited to announce that we have reached another milestone. 

Aaron is MOVING home...effective immediately!

If you know me well or have asked me about this particular topic then you know this was always a part of MY plan! 

     I'm thrilled to share our BIG secret! I have been avoiding phone calls with Aaron's family for months in order to surprise them with this exciting news! We even visited with his brother and sister in law a few weeks ago and it was all I could do to keep it quiet! And even Aaron didn't know the news until this morning, I figured it would be better that way (if you are Facebook friends with him and have seen his posts then you know exactly what I am talking about)!

     Even though it has come up in conversations many times, in January I received THE call to make it official. I actually got a message first telling me not to worry but we needed to talk about Aaron! There had been a recent care plan meeting and there was good news and bad news. The good news was that he was doing well and he actually surpassed the level of care that the rehab offers! Them the bad news, which wasn't that bad, we needed to find a better fit for him.  So we started talking about all of our options. Without thought, I said no to a group home setting, assisted living was another idea (and still can be if we need it in the future), and last but definitely not least was the option of coming home with help. 

     It has taken a lot of coordination, I am so thankful and beyond blessed with an amazing team of people to help us throughout this process! Just for starters we needed to have a doctor and nurse available as needed, get prescriptions in order, find someone to stay with Aaron and help Aaron at home if I am not there, and find backups to stay with Aaron just in case! (There's actually more than that but I won't bore you with any more details, you get the idea!)


     One of the obstacles we still have is that Aaron still needs 24 hour supervision.  Part of this is due to safety and the rest is because he still needs help with a lot of things like showering and getting dressed. Our most important job was finding the right person to care for Aaron and help him when I am at work or when I am gone. (Cool job right?!) We will also need to have a few back up plans of course.

    We have decide to hire a home health care aide through a local agency. We hope to have one main person that will be with us full time and be with Aaron as much as possible when I can't.  One of our back up plans is an adult day care that the county we live in has. It sounds really funny but it's actually a pretty cool program that we tried out a few summers ago! 

     There will definitely be an adjustment process for everyone and we are all still figuring it out! We are hanging out with our new home health care aide for the new two days, she's great by the way. The dog loves her too which is a plus, our silly dog seems to like four legged friends much better! 

     We will spend the next few days working on the transition from the rehab to home. Aaron will need to do another trial at the daycare (it's their protocol) since it's the back up plan during the beginning of next week. Then we will go from there! 


     

    Thanks to all who have been and continue to be a part of this journey and have prayed and continue to pray for Aaron! Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. 1: Cor. 13-7


     I also couldn't forget to give a very special thanks to our amazing friend, Beth Carter, who I can always count on to help take pictures to celebrate these special memories! You can check her out at http://www.bethcarterphotography.com 

OuT wItH tHe Old...

        Now that I have a little free time, otherwise known as Spring Break, I planned to try to do some updating and possibly add some updates here! I am also working on my Spring Cleaning, which is how I got to this post! 

     Just another small blessing that reminds me of how far we have come and puts a smile on my face...

        When Aaron first started traveling after his accident he required a rather large reusable shopping bag filled with stuff. I imagine it is much like a diaper bag for a child except with adult sized items which requires a much larger (or more full) bag! This bag was one of about three that was stocked completely full of many things including a change of clothes, medical supplies, and even a few bottles of water! I carried it everywhere with us and when it wasn't with us, it stayed in the car in case we needed it! Just recently my bags wore out so I was in need of at least one replacement. 

Old...

      For Christmas, one of Aaron's aunts surprised us and got him a super cool new bag! It is much smaller and holds only the necessities that we absolutely need. As I emptied the old bag out, I realized most of the items were obsolete! I still carry a change of clothes...just in case but I can't tell you the last time we needed them. There are no medical supplies in this bag, did I mention there were no medical supplies in this bag?! It's looks pretty cool if Aaron wants to carry it around too, well if you are an OSU fan! 

New...