November Update

- November 03, 2016

Earlier this week I received a phone call from Mary Free Bed, reminding me I had to schedule an appointment for Troy. I couldn't help but think, where has the last year gone? Our physician, Dr. Vandenberg has been on a six month sebatical and plans to return beginning of the year just in time for our annual check up. It's quite amazing the relationship we have created with Dr. Vandenberg. We have been through a lot with him. He has stuck with us through our every struggle in this journey. There were times where I wanted to drop kick him but he has really done so much in getting Troy to where he is today. For that, we are so grateful!

As many of you know, Dr. Vandenberg didn't ever promise us Troy would go back as a journeyman electrican. In fact, he let us know many times that it may never happen. (That was one of those times drop kicking him sounded real good) Today, Troy has been working as a journeyman electrician for several months already. Even running the job at the new Golden Corral that is currently going up in Holland. I wish I could explain well enough for you to understand how much goes into a job like this. Many, many hours of planning and prints that just look like a a big headache to me. Doing this has been a dream of his for as long as I've known him. When he works he puts in 110% and still comes home frustrated he couldn't give 120%. This has been a huge growing experience for Troy; physically, emotionally, and mentally. I can't tell you how many days he has come completely overwhelmed and mentally spent. I often times have to remind him that his expectations are usually unrealistic for any normal person, let alone someone wth a TBI. He can be extremely hard on himself. He likes perfection and even more so, likes to make sure others see him as good enough as well. This leads to lots of long pep talks after work. I'm turning into quite the therapist over here :)

As far as Troy goes in his recovery we have noticed huge gains even in the last year. One thing Troy has struggled with is exhaustion which leads to twitching episodes. We seemed to find a fix for the tiredness by having him go on Concerta. That has been a major life saver for us. The twitching episodes are very sporadic and come and go throughout the day as they please. It seems to me the more tired he is, the worse his episodes are. However, they have improved greatly from what they were before. He has gone from full body twitching spasims to a hand twitch on occasion. What a relief to have that somewhat resolved! He is much more present at home after work now a days. It was always tough having him go right for a nap when he got home when I wanted him to spend time with Brody and I, or take Brody off my hands for a bit. Troy is much more involved with life and it's so good to have that back.

Since Troy's accident we have made it our mission to walk along side others who have to journey through this life experience of a TBI. We have met some pretty incredible people and what a huge blessing it has been to be able to share our story with others. This past August we introduced ourselves to a family who had just entered the TBI world. For some reason, this was differentt. I tried introducing myself to his wife but couldn't fight back the tears as all the emotions crept back in of how I felt after Troy's injury. There really are no good words to say and I knew that. I knew I had come to "help" but quickly realized I couldn't really help with anything at that time. Since that day we have met up almost every week and really become good friends. I think as much I'm "helping" her, she is helping me. She knows and understands like no one else what I went through with Troy. It's so therapeutic talking with her because we both GET IT. I haven't had that and what a breath of fresh air it is to finally feel like I'm not alone in this. She holds a special place in my heart and I'm so very thankful for her!

In other news, Brody is turning one this weekend. How this happened so quickly, I have not one clue. He has been the definition of a perfect baby. I would sit here and tell you every thing he does that makes him the perfect baby but we would be here for days. He is so happy and full of smiles everyday. Popping through teeth like they are nothin', 6 now and working on the 7th. I'm not sure I've ever seen a baby drool more than he does. My word! Buckets and buckets of drool! He loves playing tractors and has the truck noises down to a tee. He has been walking for a while now, his latest adventure is trying to run, mostly away from me. That had ended in many bumps and bruises. The kid is non stop, on the go. We hear a lot that he looks and acts a lot like Troy. Which couldn't be more true. Those two... I'm going to have my hands full later on in life with those mischievous boys! I'd like to say I see some resemblance of me in him too but so far, our mutual hate for vanilla yogurt is the only similarity.