| July 8, 2005 Jake has settled nicely into his new life. He is extremely happy and healthy. He eats regular meals now and is given a shower daily. (the 'aides' at the apartment he used to live in figured once a year was enough) |
| Actually his doc has recommended 'every other day' for showers as Jake must sit on a bathroom chair that is rubbing on the wound. So until he can toughen that area his showers will not be daily. Still a huge improvement over 'annually'. |
| His weight is about 132#. Still extremely thin but improving. |
| Jake does not have his computer right now. He has acquired a library card and visits there to access his email. His email address is jake53066@yahoo.com He does not go to the library every day so any email he receives might build up a bit. |
| He has a new chair. "turns on a dime" "it's black and when the sun hits it, it glitters like a rainbow". The new digs are small and the new chair is ideal for this. Jake says he would have had problems maneuvering with his old chair. |
| Jake also does not have his own phone line anymore. He shares a phone with 3 other young men. It seems to be working out ok. |
| All four of the young men at the group home have chores. It was difficult to decide what Jake could do as he is the most limited in regards to physical activity. They decided to buy plastic dinnerware so Jake can load/unload the dishwasher; acquire a 'swiffer' so Jake can wipe the floor; he can also wipe the kitchen counters. He feels good about this. |
| Jake is sleeping well. He has slept through nights and he hasn't done that in a long time. He is non-stressed. |
| And this totally surprised me- they have set up a wireless doorbell by his bed so he can call an aide during the night. They did not know that is how we did it when Jake was living at home. And I thought we had rigged up a unique system for him. I guess great minds think alike. :) |
| Jake hasn't visited the Courage Center yet but that is
part of his plans for next week. He wants to resume physical therapy
to keep in shape. He wants to get back into the water.
The Courage Center has a pool.
He is also getting a trapeze for his bed. This will help in two ways: he will be able to minimally move his body for pressure releases and he will be able to use the trapeze as an exercise tool to tone his arms. |
| He is still in bed for short periods during the day. This is for pressure relief on his healing wound. The wound will not be 'normal', that is, completely healed, for about 2 years. |
| When he is not in bed he is off... to the library, to the store, to the bank, just to hang out. This is freedom he has not had in over two years. |
| His advocate is going to help him in regards to college.
It isn't a far-off dream anymore but a reality.
And now he is able to attend a church service. |
| Tonight he is going to a concert with a friend. |
| July 9, 2005 Jake had a great time at the concert. He met the band and got autographs. We didn't have a very long conversation as he was busy. He has a friend over and they are watching a movie. It was so nice to hear the happy, light, carefree tone in his voice instead of the tired, discouraged tone that unfortunately, became his normal voice for the past two years. |
| He didn't mention the date. I wonder if he has forgotten that today is his anniversary. Five years today he dove into that shallow water and totally changed our lives. |
| July 22, 2005 The news has diminished to almost nothing and that is good news. When Jake is healthy and happy there is nothing to document. So consider 'no news' to be 'good news'. |
| Jake went to the library and looked at this page. He later told me that he remembered his anniversary, it just didn't come up in conversation with me. Also, the library isn't a short trip for him. He must use metro to get there. It's about 2-3 miles from his home. |
| July 23, 2005 The aides that take care of Jake and the other 3 young men are pretty special people. A huge difference from what he had before. They care. And of course Jake does his best to try to wriggle out of things; like any normal boy. :) Well, Lori, one of the aides, won't let him get away with any nonsense. That makes her special in my book. She makes Jake do things for himself and I like that. Way to go, Lori. Thank you and please keep up the good work. He is a smooth talker isn't he? |
| Sept 3, 2005 Jake's had a nice, easy summer. Until last week when he ended up in the hospital. He was running a pretty high fever. He's home again, and feeling good. |
| Terri and Jeff are visiting him this weekend. They took the van and brought back some of his stuff. They are going to put shelves on his bedroom walls and then he can display some of his junk... err, I mean his collections. He has a rather small room so he must pick and choose what to put out and what to save for another time. |
| Tomorrow they are planning on going to the MN state fair for a while. Metro will take them and bring them back. Terri is planning on grilling out tonight. Jake is looking forward to that. |
| He officially weighs 136# now. Still way too thin but I'll take it. Oh boy, will I take it. Much better than 114#. Together, Jake and the chair weigh 480#. :) |