Blaine is progressing very quickly now!  His sense of time has reestablished, he is getting better at remembering day to day events, his recognition of people and names is improving as well.  He had an appointment at Barrow Neurological Institute and the docs there say he is officially ready for their rehab program.  However, it will take a lot of pushing, cutting of red tape, and positive energy to make it happen.  There is a huge waiting list with patients from St. Joseph’s being at the top of it.

Each day, Blaine shows us how much more he is capable of.  He is almost mobile in his wheel chair.  A little more therapy, and he will be wheeling himself around in no time.  He is aware that he has limitations and that he has to work really hard to overcome them.

He had a lot of visitors today!  When he found out how many people were coming, he told his mom and sister, “I have to call Teresa and tell her to get the house ready!”  He is so cute!

The next few months will be huge for Blaine.  If we can get him into the extensive therapy that he needs, we will be able to get a better idea of how much of his independence he can achieve.  Here’s hoping that the stars align and all fingers are crossed at the right moment!!

Thanks for being with us and keep the spirit!

Pi

Thanks for all my clothes

Today, Dad had a pretty good day. I was told that he was eating more solid and regular foods today while with with the speech therapist. He was also holding more lengthy and lucid conversations with the various people that came to visit. Amongst those visitors, Aunt Kath and Leif went to see Dad. I hear that they had a good time and even brought Dad some ice-cream to enjoy. Heather, Dad’s sister and my Aunt, sent him  a nice looking outfit that he was excited to get. I also picked Dad up some other clothes to make the laundry process easier. While I was visiting him this evening he wanted to thank both Aunt Heather and myself and showed it in writing. To the right you can see that he wrote “Thanks for all my clothes.”

Some other things of note today were:

• One of the nurses printed up some images of things Dad enjoys and stapled them in a make-shift booklet. Dad and I discussed these in length…everything from differences in those Jeeps and his to how he misses cooking and what ingredients are in the entrees in the images.
• Jennifer and I were discussing things about his granddaughter with him. When asked what he should be called he liked “Pop-Pop” and also said “She could call me Mr. Blaine.”
• He told Jennifer that she looked “cute” and that I was “handsome.” I think this was due to me wearing my teacher-clothes…tie and all. He then requested Jennifer to rub his feet and told her to make sure and do it gently.
• Dad requested the T.V. be turned on and to channel 48. He then requested the remote and adjusted the volume to his liking.
• Greg, Dad’s roommate, had some nice things to say about his increasing interaction with Dad. Apparently Dad has been asking for Greg’s help with things like getting out of bed, which Greg isn’t currently capable of helping with. He was still touched by the increase in interaction and knowing what to ask for.
• We called and talked to Zack about various things and he made sure to tell Zack “I love you” numerous times.
• When we left, Dad said “I love you. Bye.” and then waved to us.

Keep the Spirit Dad!

~Aaron

Dad is making wonderful progress. He continues to amaze everyone on a daily basis. A few things of note from earlier this evening were things like him telling many individual people that he loves them, expressing a strong desire to have help standing and walking (despite us not being allowed to help with such a thing at this point for safety reasons), and discussion of memories like the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day party. I have uploaded some more videos and am compiling additional videos as I type this. Check the videos section for some awesome content.

~Aaron

**Edit: I added another five videos from earlier tonight**

As I was driving in for Jennifer’s baby shower this morning, I received a phone call from the nurses station where Blaine is.  Blaine’s nurse was telling me that he was asking for me!!  I assured her that I was on my way.  (Again, I have to say here, “Sorry Jennifer!”) About 15 minutes later, I get a second phone call from them.  She wants to know if I am on my way…yes.  Wants to know if I am currently in the car…yes.  Then she asks, is this your cell phone…for heaven’s sake YES!  Then she says that Blaine does not believe her, that he keeps asking if she is sure that I am coming.  Then she says, here, you talk to him.  So, I told Blaine I was on my way.  He asked me how  long until I get there and I tell him.  Then he says, are you sure and asks if I am kidding him…I assured him that I was on my way and would be there in 10 minutes and he was okay with that.

When I get there, he is sitting in his chair with a love note on his lap like I am picking him up on our first date.  He is beaming from ear to ear and can’t stop smiling.  Not one of his fake forced smiles that he likes to do, but a genuine “I am so happy!” smile.  He reached up and caressed my face, gave me a big kiss and handed me the note.  I, of course, burst into tears!

Blaine's first love note to me since the accident!

You can see that the top 2 lines are in his own hand and they say, Hi Teresa and I “heart” u.  Then he instructed the nurse to write the next line for him.

What a wonderful gift.  To have Blaine remembering us as a couple again is amazing.  He told me that I was the most special woman in the whole world and that he missed me and loved me.

He was lucid for a couple more hours, then slipped back into his fog.  He continues to improve by leaps and bounds.  There WILL be a day when he is himself continuously.  We know that now!!

Thank you all for being a part of this journey.  I will continue to post and update as long as it takes for Blaine to come home.

Hunny Bunny, thank you for the wonderful time we spent together today.  Looking into your eyes and seeing the love you have for me was the best present ever!  The love note was especially amazing and I look forward to more!  Keep working hard and know that I am here for you.  I love you more than ever!!

~Pi – Blaine’s Pirate Queen

Raising the eyebrow for effect...lol

Binga loves you!

Blaine is doing so well.  His motor skills improve on a daily basis now and he is conversing more and more.  The things he says are pretty random…tonight he wanted to fight some random guy that was in the parking lot.  When I asked him why, he responded that he wanted to piss him off.  LOL…it was hilarious!

I brought Binga with me again and he held her and loved on her for a long while as you can see from the pictures.  He didn’t cuss as much tonight and was a lot more calm than usual.  Overall, it was a very satisfactory visit!

Go, go, go, my love!!  I really feel you getting closer and closer.  Nights like tonight give me great hope and assurance that you will soon be back home with your family.  Besides, Binga misses you!!  I love you so very much.

~Pi – Blaine’s Pirate Queen

I have said this many times before…there are bound to be a lot of bad days on this journey to Blaine’s recovery.  Blaine has progressed quite well, but has now reached the stage where he says nasty and inappropriate things to those around him.  He is frustrated, confused, agitated, and cusses like a pirate!!!  Right now he is scoring about a 14 on the Glascow coma scale which is an excellent score for this early in recovery.  He is between a level 5 and level 6 on the Rancho Los Amigos coma scale.  Level 5: Confused, Inappropriate Non-Agitated: Maximal Assistance and Level 6 is Confused, Appropriate: Moderate Assistance.  If you Google either scale, you can get even more information.

His moments of clarity are increasing, but still far apart.  He is eating three meals a day with occasional snacks inbetween.  When he is eating all of his meals consistently, they will remove the peg tube from his stomach.  This is a huge step in his recovery!!

Last night he went through a spell of nastiness, but by the end of the evening he became loving and approachable.  I brought the Binga Dog in to see him again and he held her on his lap, hugged her and kissed her.  He remembered my nickname of Pi all on his own and said that Pi loves him and he loves her.  He was able to recognize us in our wedding pictures and stated that he wants to come home to sleep.

This is a very tough time for all of the family.  Blaine’s inappropriate comments and nastiness are very trying on those around him.  This stage is completely normal for a patient recovering from a brain injury, but so very difficult on the family.  This is especially true of his mom who has never been talked to that way by Blaine before.  This stage will soon pass as his memory awakens.  In the meantime, please keep Blaine’s mom and everyone else in your thoughts and prayers as this is so hard on them.

My love, I know that you are not yourself and if this stage is necessary for you to come back to us, then make the most of it.  Just know that it won’t matter what you say or do, I will not lose faith in you, your strength, or our love.  I will still be right here; your pirate queen, by your side.  I love you unconditionally.

~Pi – Blaine’s Pirate Queen

Happy Father’s Day Dad. You have taught me so many things throughout the years and this year will be the first for me to attempt to emulate you as a father myself. In only a few short weeks, I will join the ranks of fatherhood. One would think that I might be nervous or scared or feel unprepared, but in an odd way, I am not any of those things at all. I probably should feel them, but I don’t. They are instead overshadowed by feelings such as excitement, hopefulness and confidence. You are the reason for this. You have instilled a self-assured sense of being that I have applied to life and hope to apply to fatherhood. My ambitions in life include being a wonderful father and I feel that it will come easily because I have such a wonderful dad. Thank you for being such a great father to all of us. I love you and Keep the Spirit.

~Aaron

Blaine continues to improve and impress us.  He says the funniest things right now.  They make sense to him, but to us they seem completely random.  He told Aaron to follow his brother Clint.  Aaron asked where he should follow him to and Blaine responded to Clint’s car and that they were leaving…

I was able to snuggle up and take a nap with him this morning…he usually doesn’t like to be touched, but this morning was different.  I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful it feels to get a response from the man I love.  He still has a long way to go, but having him capable of being part of the process is such an awesome development.

Today was such an awesome day with you, my love.  I look forward to many more snuggly naps!  I love you.

~Pi – Blaine’s Pirate Queen

Each day just keeps getting better and better!  Blaine’s memory is progressing quite quickly now.  I brought the Binga dog to see him today…he recognized her right away, kissed her and scratched behind her head just like he has always done.  It was so wonderful!!  He couldn’t remember her name, but he knew that she was our dog.  He told me he misses me and loves me and wants to go home.  It was all I could do to keep the tears back.

He talks more to the staff now and will answer their questions.  He is finally following quite a few commands and we are ready to have him evaluated for the next stage of rehabilitation.  Fingers crossed everyone…this next move would be his final one before coming home for good.  I can’t wait!!!

Yay for you, my love!  I am so happy to hear you speak to me and see all the progress you are making.  Keep up the hard work and you WILL be home in no time.  I am so looking forward to that day.  I love you more than ever!

~Pi – Blaine’s Pirate Queen

This is Blaine's first time smiling for the camera since the accident!!!

I haven’t been on for awhile…Blaine’s progress has been changing so quickly and I have also been trying to spend some quality time with our youngest son, Dustin. 

Today was a VERY special day for me.  Blaine recognized me as his wife and said many wonderful things to me that I haven’t heard in over 4 months.  He said he loved me without me saying it first…..He told me I was beautiful and then later said I had a beautiful body…He even smiled for me twice!  It was more difficult than ever to say goodbye to him tonight…I was saying goodbye to him and that I hated to go and he said, “Did you forget that I need to sleep?”  It was his way of saying it was ok to go…he was going to rest anyway. 

The improvements in his cognitive abilities are far more advanced than we could ever hope for!!  This time next year, I see him sitting around a fire with us and telling us all about these moments and what it was like for him.  I can’t wait! 

Aaron has taken some amazing videos of Blaine’s accomplishments and has worked so hard to help his dad remember and make connections.  His patience is vast and his understanding runs deep…I am so very proud of him.  He and Monkeygirl are about to have our first grandchild and what a wonderful father he will be!  MG is healthy and beautiful.  She has been very supportive of Aaron, Blaine and the entire family…she will make a great mommy.

Welcome back, my love!  We have refitted our vessel, swabbed the deck, and hoisted the sails.  The next leg of our voyage has begun, so come aboard and try your sea legs…we are ready for you!  There are so many things to say, do, explain, and explore with you.  We are so lucky to have this new beginning; a fresh start to our relationship and getting to know each other all over again.  Our love will see us through any difficult moments that arise and bring us closer than ever.  My love for you is strong and true.  Each day it grows stronger as do I.  I love you more than there are digits of pi.

~Pi – Blaine’s Pirate Queen