AaRoN aNd ThE tErRiBlE hOrRiBlE nO gOoD vErY bAd FeW dAyS!

      One of my favorite children's books of all time is Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. It's about a little boy who has everything go wrong from the moment he wakes up until the time he goes to bed. When he gets really frustrated he tells his family, "I think I will move to Australia!" (Which I've been known to quote on quite a few occasions!) 


      At the end of a bad day last week, this blog idea popped into my head! Although I tend to focus on the good stuff, we have plenty of bad days but I am always thankful there are far more good days than bad days after six years. It all started Tuesday night. Aaron was complaining about pain in his side. I didn't think too much of it since he's still getting used to physical therapy and they are giving him a good work out. 

      Early Wednesday morning I got up for work (I had training) and I noticed he was shivering. He complained of being cold and when I felt him it was obvious he had a temperature. I was on high alert by this point because fevers usually indicate infections which can lead to one of his seizures. To make matters worse, on the way to urgent care he started to complain of feeling like he had to cough, seconds later he vomited all over himself and the front seat and floor of the car. 

    His new doctor is in Lakeland so we made sure to be at the urgent care affiliated with her clinic when it opened at 8am. After getting Aaron in a wheelchair, he could barely walk at this point and into the clinic we were told we had to go to north side (for those of you who do not know the area that mean at least 15-30 more minutes acrosss town). We got to north side and they sent us upstairs to a primary doctor. When we got upstairs to the primary doctor they first were confused why we just didn't see his doctor and then started to be concerned with my choice to bring him to urgent care instead of the ER. Anyone who has ever spent as many days and nights in the ER as we have probably understands that choice and it really wasn't an emergency. 

Aaron fell as asleep waiting for the doctor to come in!

    After some IV fluid (given right at the clinic...AMEN), some tylenol, and a prescription for antibiotics we were finally on our way home to sleep this off!

Much better place for a nap! 

     I dropped Aaron off at the house with our caregiver and went to get his prescriptions at Walmart. Due to unknown construction on the road that I use for a short cut, I arrived at the pharmacy at 1:30...just in time for it to be closed for lunch go figure. So I waited until 2 when they reopened only to find out I had to wait another 45 minutes for the prescription. 

     Around 4, I finally got home. It was a pretty quiet night. I made Aaron some mac and cheese and we found some Netflix shows to watch thanks to some recommendations from friends on Facebook and went to bed early (well Aaron did). 

    Fast forward to the next morning, which was Thursday. I set the alarm for 7:30 because Aaron had therapy and another doctor appointment. Aaron and the dog don't seem to know how to sleep in so they were bothering me before the alarm went off as usual. I felt Aaron stretch (my back was to him) but it was prolonged. I said something to him and after no answer so I turned over to realize he was having a seizure. He was in bed and laying flat, which is always good because it means he will be safe during the seizure. I started timing it, if it goes longer than 3 minutes then I need to call for help. After about 2 minutes I saw him starting to "come out of it" which was a relief. 

    Within minutes my sweet hubby was apologizing and then trying to make me laugh. Of all the seizures I have seen, he has never been so alert and oriented when they have finished which made things one thousand times easier. 

    Since he was doing so well, I got him up and was able to take him to his doctor's appointment. I also called his neurologist to let him know about the seizure to see if we needed to make an appointment, which thankfully we were able to take care of everything over the phone as well as get a good reason why the seizure occurred. 

    After the doctor's appointment, we cancelled therapy and went home to hang out...which we did for the next few days. I was ready to move to Australia after being cooped up in the house and I think Aaron would have gladly gone with me lol! I finally knew Aaron was better on Saturday when he woke up at 8am trying to explain to me that ice cream would make his stomach feel better ;0)

Jasper helping take care of Aaron!

SiX yEaRs LaTeR!

Where does the time go? Today marks SIX years since Aaron's accident. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. From what we can tell, Aaron still has no recollection of that day or the months that followed it.  Many of the things he does remember from early on are from the pictures he has seen and the stories he has heard. 

Aaron of course is doing great at home and we couldn't be happier! He has started to unload the dishwasher for me (although I sometimes find things in strange places or simply can not find them at all), he can get his own drink (he loves to turn the ice machine on when he gets it and by the time I notice it's overflowing), and he can put his dirty laundry away (except for socks, they seem to like the floor next to his side of the bed for some reason). And if you follow Aaron on Facebook you might have noticed that he is bored...a lot! I promise you that we really do try to keep him busy and he often posts once he gets done doing something fun and is resting for a bit! 

Aaron has also been reevaluated for therapies since coming home and is working on some new physical and occupational therapy goals. During another evaluation, a psychologist was surprised to hear the progress Aaron continues to make as far as SIX post accident and said it is rather unusual...GO Aaron :0) Most of Aaron's medicines have been discontinued as well (we haven't messed with the seizure medicines at this point and don't have any plans to for a long time)! 

Our first SIX months...

Aaron in his high back wheelchair

The staff helped slide Aaron over enough so I could squeeze into bed with him!

Hanging out at FINR

More hanging out!

Taking a break at therapy!

Selfie!

Our last SIX months...

Dinner at Mannys!

Wedding date!

Pretending to be tourists!

Water park!

Hanging out at home!

Vacation! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped us get to where we are SIX years later, there are way too many of you to list by name but you are an important part of this journey too! So many of you (family, old friends, and new friends) have played very important parts in our lives over the past six years...for those who have been our cheerleaders...for those who let me believe in miracles...for those who listen to Aaron stories...for those who celebrate milestones big and small with us...for those who help me take care of Aaron...and most of all for those of you who continue to be a blessing in our lives!

Don't worry about anything instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. -Philippians 4:6