Day 146 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today we traveled up to Bakersfield, and took Grayson out as soon as he had put his groceries away. Our first stop was lunch. Because of Grayson's continued weight loss, we were determined to make sure that he had enough to eat! We went to Chipotle for lunch, and Grayson had a burrito. After eating about a third of it, he was done. (Remember the loss of taste and smell, and my opinion that it is affecting his appetite.) We encouraged him, and before we left he had finished most of the burrito.

We followed lunch with a trip to Borders Bookstore. There we bought a book for Grayson, an old favorite – The Hobbit. As you may recall, Regina bought him the audio book last week. She thought it a good idea to have the print book alongside so that he could follow along – sort of like learning to read all over again.

We departed Borders, and headed to a pottery store we discovered a few weeks ago. There we found a perfect pot for one of our plants at home that needed more spacious quarters. We were grateful for a little bit of normalcy – shopping for our home. It is hard to describe how nice that feels, even if it is only for a short time. Grayson was actually quite pleasant and fun while we were there, so all was good for everyone!

Next we were off to a special treat – Cold Stone Creamery. There Grayson had an ice cream (OK I did too!) and he enjoyed the experience. The next stop was Target – next door to Cold Stone, as Grayson said that he wanted to go there. Why he wished to go there is still a mystery, but we nonetheless got a bunch of needed "stuff" for home at a fraction of grocery store prices! There was the added benefit of having Grayson doing normal things out in the community.

After Target, we headed back to the residence. There Grayson listened to The Hobbit, while following along in his new book. After reading four chapters, we headed to the rec center for a late afternoon of ping pong, and Wii.

I have been sharing snippets from our patient conference all week. These are the observations of professionals in the field of brain injury. I promise to finish the last of the patient conference reports within the next few days, but I thought you would appreciate our actual experiences instead today.

Some of our observations about Grayson – his speech is still quite difficult to understand, and the stuttering is quite pronounced. His hand tremors have reduced significantly, and he is able to eat more normally. His balance has improved, and his hand to eye coordination gains, as evidenced by ping pong plays this evening, was impressive. He continues to show solid gains, even with a few areas of challenge.

God continues to work small miracles daily in Grayson.

Pax!

Brant