Home Sweet Home

Well, as some of you may know, James was finally discharged last Tuesday night from GF Strong! It was so exciting but a bit surreal at the same time. I had been looking forward to that day for so long but knew it was so far away and now it finally happened.

James is doing really well and is obviously super excited to be home. We were so appreciative of the amazing staff at GF Strong, but being in hospital for that long was definitely taking its toll on both of us.

James had a busy celebratory weekend. He was able to go to a hockey game with a friend on Friday then was greeted with open arms at his “Freedom Party” at the Railway where his good friends, The Pack AD played along with the Beladeans in celebration. Thanks to Doug, Maya and Becky for making James as comfortable as possible in that very crowded bar. It was a great night but very tiring. For the remainder of the weekend we were visited by a few great friends from the island and went to a pub to celebrate our dear friends birthday. Happy Birthday PJ!

James has certainly been asked to attend a lot of outings since being discharged however after experiencing this very busy weekend we would like people to know that he has been advised by his therapists to take things easy.  It is very common for people with brain injuries to get very fatigued very quickly which is obviously not ideal when he needs to be focusing on rehab. Right now James will take things one thing at a time and will make it out to whatever he possibly can but please don’t be offended if he is not able to make it out. This is tearing him up a bit because after he has been shown so much support, all he wants to do is be supportive to his friends.

This week James has been organizing appointments with an Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist so he can continue his rehab at home. He’s walking only with a cane now for indoors and outdoors, and can walk for a good 30 minutes now. 

James has truly amazed me in every way possible throughout this awful experience. His body and mind have come so far in the last few months even with the setbacks he had. 

I suppose this will be our last blog entry since James is well on his way to recovery at home. Before we end this however we really would like to thank both of our families for their unbelievable support. Judy, Brian, Tara, Brooke, Chris, Bill, Tara and Rachel have been absolutely incredible and have made this journey that much easier to handle. James and I are so thankful from the bottom of our hearts because we would not have been able to get through it alone.

Our friends, (there are just too many of you to name but I hope you know who you all are), have also been amazingly supportive. We’ve asked so much of our friends in the past several months and we are so so grateful to have you all their to lean on.

Lastly we would like to thank everyone out there who sent all the positive energy they could muster. I believe this is the reason why James is doing so well. Thank you everyone for your thoughtful support. There are not enough words to express our gratitude. We will simply never forget the support we've received from family, friends and complete strangers out there.

Love always,

Kim and James

Less than two weeks!

First of all, I must apologize to those of you who have been checking the blog and seeing no updates for about a month. James and I have been rather busy with rehab, appointments, coming home for weekends and just plain life.

James is doing incredibly well. He’s now using a cane for indoors and the walker for outdoors. He’s playing and writing more music, which is so lovely for me to hear. He’s working really hard on the “thinking” skills that were shaken up from the brain injury and I’m seeing a little more of the real James everyday.

Our weekends are fantastic. We’ve been going to movies, going out for dinner and having friends over. James even went to a music show without the loving support of me! One of our dear friends was able to take him and help him throughout the night while I was able to have a night on the town with some girlfriends. Thanks PJ!

James and I were also able to go to see our friend Rod from the Hurricanes play the Canucks but were disappointed when the Canucks decided to choose the one game we don’t cheer for them to pull up their socks and play well! We went to see Rod afterwards and had a great visit. I think it lifted both our spirits.

In the last few weeks James had several appointments. One was with an orthopedic doctor who was very happy with how his pelvis has healed. He said the surgeon in Winnipeg did an incredible job with lining up the bones and making sure it would heal well, which it has. At the time when they did the pelvic surgery we weren’t sure if James would be able to walk or run again. Now, I’m amazed at how well he’s done and how quickly the time has gone. James started jogging a little bit with his physiotherapist. This was incredible news!

James also had another CT scan which showed more fluid against the brain. However, we were happy and relieved to hear that it wasn’t putting pressure on the brain causing clinical problems. They plan to observe James clinically for the next month or so, then will do another CT scan to see if the fluid has moved. We’re hoping it won’t cause any more problems and will be reabsorbed.

As some of you may remember James had a fall back in November and chipped his tooth. Last week he was seen by his dentist and finally had a permanent crown inserted! He’s now got a beautiful smile that looks just like the old James.

We had our last team meeting today. James has a week and a half left at GF Strong before he’s discharged home. Despite our appreciation for the GF Strong staff, James is definitely ready to get home! 

Happy Times and Hard Times in our brand New Year

In the past couple of weeks, James and I have had incredibly amazing times and incredibly hard times. After our wonderful Christmas at Grandpa’s, James’ physiotherapist had him doing stairs, which meant he was able to spend New Years at home. It was so special and meaningful to James and I to be able to start the New Year together in our home. After a night out with my family, James and I cheers’ed our ginger ale filled wine glasses together and celebrated the New Year.

Just a few days later James celebrated his 28th birthday and was again able to come home. His family came over from the Island and took us out for a nice dinner then his friends came over to our home the following day to celebrate and visit. I felt unbelievably lucky to have my James here to celebrate another year.

After the hype of the holidays it was back to work for James. The therapists have been blown away by his progress and are now starting to reassess where he is at so they can work on new things.

Getting weekend passes home is becoming a regular thing for James. Something for him and I to look forward to throughout the difficult week. This past weekend James and I went to see a movie with my sister and her boyfriend who kindly helped with getting James in and out of the car along with hauling the equipment James is coming home with these days. I must say it felt really good to do something we used to enjoy doing before the accident.  Doing these kind of activities, lying in bed looking at him across from me, eating meals with him at home, playing with our dog Bettie, listening to our favorite music… these were the things I hoped for and looked forward to when he was lying there, helpless in that ICU bed in Winnipeg. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was hoping for what I now have.

The hardest part for him and I now is saying goodbye on Sunday nights. It’s so hard to take him back to GF Strong after having a somewhat normal weekend with my husband. It seems I just get used to him being home, then before we know it, I am obliged to take him back.

Since things have stabilized over the past several weeks, James and I have been really missing Mike, James’ wonderful and true friend that was tragically killed in the accident.  Our grieving was put on hold as James fought for his life several times in hospital and although I have been thinking of Mike and his family since the day of the accident, it wasn’t until the last few weeks that I have truly missed him. It seems there is something missing from our lives and we are so unbelievably sad. Our hearts go out to Mike’s girlfriend, Melina and the Gurr family in Nanaimo. There is not a day that goes by that we do not think about Mike and his family.

For now, James continues to work hard at GF Strong and we are trying to get the most out of the time we have together.