Sunday, September 30, 2012

In Other Words

When Brian called me last night the excitement in his voice was contagious!  Though he had talked to his brother on the phone, yesterday was his first time seeing Jason in person since the awful trauma center days, so he wasn't sure how he would look or how things would go.  He and Jenn, and their 3 kids, Alyssa, 6, Mason, 18 months, and Audrey, 3 months, drove up to Bryn Mawr yesterday morning and arrived just after Jason's Saturday morning therapy session.  Carolin brought Jason downstairs to where the Ronald McDonald family room was and caught up to them just as Jenn was wheeling the stroller in.  Because it's still hard to know just what Jason remembers and doesn't it's such a feeling of relief when he says a name and we all especially wondered if he would remember all his nieces and nephews.  So it was awesome to them when he greeted Jenn and then said, "Hi Mason!".  Here is Jenn's account of their happy visit:

Once in the room, we all got comfortable along with Jason who (with Carolin's help) sat in a regular chair. We all chatted and Jason engaged in the conversation with us. Alyssa made Jason two pictures that she gave to him and he complimented them and thanked her. He read her picture that said "I like Jason Shepard, from Alyssa." We then gave him the box of stuff that we got from O.A.R. The box included an autographed album poster, a limited edition album collector set which had a CD, a DVD, a photo CD, a compass, individual photos of the band members, and a signed lyric book. There was also a certificate in the box authenticating the limited copy. The band also sent him a picture that they personally signed for him telling him to "get well soon" and we framed it for him. Jason kept saying that he wasn't worthy of such a gift and we kept telling him that he was more than worthy! 


We sat and talked with Jason and Carolin where she told us about his therapies and how far he has come. He would chime in and say, "it's a work in progress", when we would talk about all the things he has accomplished. Every once in a while, Jason's humor would come out and he would crack jokes or make his usual sarcastic comments.


We told Jason how Alyssa was just like him and loved to draw and read. She picked a book out from the little library they had there so she could show her Uncle Jason how well she reads. She picked a book about being a big sister. She sat on the little coffee table in front of him and read him the entire book. He was fascinated with her reading to him and just watched her intently while smiling every so often.


He then kicked his shoes off and got comfortable while we all settled into random conversation and watching the kids play. Another patient came in and put football on the TV which Jason seemed to enjoy. We started talking about how Carolin's due date is just around the corner. Brian asked Jason if he felt the baby kick yet and at first he said no but when Carolin reminded him that he has he said, "I probably have but don't remember", and then he said, "it felt weird".   Brian agreed!

Around 1:30 we all decided that we needed to have lunch. We asked Jason if we could have lunch with him and he said yes. Carolin made sure that it was okay with him and asked him if he wanted to have lunch downstairs or upstairs in his room. He decided he wanted to have lunch with us downstairs. So we all went upstairs to his room to grab his lunch. It was nice to see all the pictures and personal stuff crowding the ledge next to his bed.

As we were waiting for the elevator to go back downstairs, the doors open and Carolin's dad, Fred and brother, Maddock, came out.  So they went back in and came down with us. We walked to the cafeteria to find that it had closed 3 minutes before we got there. We went and sat at a round table in one if the common areas and Fred and Maddock offered to pick us all up lunch. Carolin asked Jason if he wanted to eat his sandwich or share a bowl from Chipotle with her. He kept saying "sure" and then he said "I don't know, I'll let my body decide." Once they left to pick lunch up, it was time for Jason to have his meds so Carolin took him up for that.   When they came back, we all sat around and Alyssa came to sit at the table across from Jason and started reading her book. He, once again, watched her read while the rest of us chatted.


When lunch came, he enjoyed spoon fed bites of Carolin's chicken bowl. Mason was enjoying some pieces of bread when he randomly passes gas and starts laughing. All of a sudden this HUGE smile spreads across Jason's face and he started laughing out loud and Mason joined him in his laughter. Then Mason did it again and sure enough, Jason started laughing again!  Mason kept laughing while watching Jason laugh. Mason reached his hand out to Jason to give him a high five and Jason did, then Mason gave him "pounds".  It was awesome! Then Mason got down and started running around playing and Jason watched him smiling.  When we were all done, Carolin asked him something to the extent of whether he was full or not and he said "I am pleasantly full".

 
Carolin asked Jason a few times if he wanted to go upstairs to rest and he kept telling her no. After a while, we could all see that he was getting tired and even though he didn't want to he agreed to go up and rest. He said, "I'll see you soon", before heading up to his room and we headed back to the Ronald McDonald room. After a few minutes, Carolin came in to see us before heading out to run errands. She told us how much she enjoyed our being there and that it was the best visit Jason has had and that he has never eaten with anyone so that was a wonderful first!

 
Jason rested for a while but Mason, (who hadn't had either of his naps he usually does), was starting to get fussy around 5:30.   Brian went upstairs to say bye to Jason. When getting up there he was greeted by Jason and he told him we were going to head out and that we had a great visit and how awesome he's doing. He told Jason he can't wait to see him again and that he loved him. He also told Jason he missed him. Jason told him he loved him and that he missed him too.

We had a wonderful visit and couldn't have asked for anything better!!!! We were so amazed with how well he's doing and everything he has accomplished in this short amount of time.


Who knows what miracles can occur by October 12 with your help! 

 

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