a day in the life

The first verse of this Beatles song was written about the death of John and Paul’s friend who crashed his Lotus Elan at the age of 21. He was to be the heir to the Guinness fortune.

I read the news today oh, boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, i just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn’t notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They’d seen his face before…

A Day In The Life- our Michael blew his mind out in a car on what was just a regular Sunday for most people. Unless you were immediately affected by his accident, you probably don’t remember what you were doing the morning of October 21, 2007. I remember everything. As I’ve gotten older my memory has not served me well (or did I not serve my mind well leading up to this older age thing?) and although it felt like I was in a fog, I remember it clearly. Memory is a vital function of the brain – as vital as it gets. Outside of the cognitive musts, our memories help us heal. Remembering October ’07 helps us heal.

Thinking back to the days during the first month after the accident -we weren’t given much hope that Michael would ever wake.  I tried to remember everything I could about him outside of the stillness of the coma.  We embrace the sound of someone’s voice, their laughter, the smell of their skin, the touch of their hand, the way they made us feel.  Although we feel it in our hearts, that memory is planted deep within our brain, in the hippocampus. Short-term memory is transformed to long-term memory through the hippocampus which is a part of the cortex and is located in the inner fold of the temporal lobe. When our dear friends were losing their fathers and husbands I added a poem to one of the postings. That poem speaks to those that are left with the memory – “Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped into the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.” Denny and Sonny are there still…in the hippocapus. It is memory that helps us heal. Mc families – we love you deeply. We are here, when you’re ready.

A Day In The Life (if and when I’m not working)
8-8:30AM (he’s finally sleeping in) – Breakfast
9AM – Reading the Intellectual Devotional – Michael reads to himself, some days he reads out loud to me, then I read it to him and he takes notes. I test him weekly to see what new information he has learned. He ALWAYS remembers more than me.
10AM – Exercise – stretching every day, push ups every day, we are walking 2 miles daily weather permitting and have incorporated about a half mile run during the walk. Our goal is to run the two miles by October. Running at times bothers his right knee so we play it by ear. Some days – elliptical or stationary bike. Some days – weight training with a rowing workout using resistance bands. Michael is not swimming as much as he was before but he is still swimming. This weekend we visited with my brother and his family. Their house and property in Fredericksburg is on the Rappahannock and we hiked downhill to the river (maybe half an hour), filled backpacks full of river rocks and then hiked back UP the hill. Michael was amazing! There was alot of huffing and puffing from all of us and I know it was especially tough terrain for him, but Michael never complained. He pushed himself harder than I’ve ever seen him push. I had a feeling he did not want to let his Uncle Ron down. (He’s a Marine) oohrah
11AM – Shower, brush teeth, shave (he’s not fond of shaving so that doesn’t happen everyday) and clean clothes. Most on his own, sometimes needs a reminder as a checklist. Paper checklists do not work.
12PM – LUNCH – rest
1PM – Cognitive brain training – a variety of activities; crossword puzzles, word search, worksheets from a speech therapy CD, etc., etc. Some days we add laundry or working outside in the yard.
2-4:30PM – Outing of some sort will usually include a search and find at a store. Mike will have items on a list and his job is to locate those items and then return to me.
5-6PM – Dinner – most times at home, at least one meal a week out.
After dinner I don’t bother him too much except for being the constant thorn in his side about remembering to use his right arm and hand and that he is right handed and MUST become right side dominant again. “LIVESTRONG” is my subtle reminder to him.

Throughout the day he meanders to his laptop to check email, which leads to Facebook and My Space and the occasional GChat. He checks the blog several times a day and on his own will do research about schools, or politics (thanks David), or a brain injury site (thanks Karl). Yesterday he was looking at HULU and the new Google product (thanks Jimmy), or a memory training site. He will pick up Nintendo DS and play Brain Age or Flash Focus for half an hour or so. AND now he has Nintendo Wii Sports and Fitness…thank you Jeff and Jeanine. It seems like a game but trust me when I tell you, it is a WORKOUT!

Our days are full of love and laughs. Our days are full of strength and courage. Our days are full of hope. We are still keeping HOPE alive here on Roseberry Farm in Manassalacki.

LIVESTRONG Michael
xxoo