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