The Bascom family

The Power of Prayer

2009-02-15T19:05:00.000-08:00

I have had a lot of requests for an update on my niece, Evelyn. Evelyn did have viral encephalitis. She had an MRI done last Tuesday. It did show swelling in her brain, but no tissue damage. That is a really good thing (believe me I know -- Grant had lots of damage and that is what has made his recovery so hard and long). Evelyn actually was doing really really well by Thursday of last week and was able to go home by Thursday night. She even went off of all of the meds the docs had her on (including the seizure medication). Seriously a miracle! The doctors were very shocked to see her doing well so fast! The outcome has been the best case scenario. She is at home and doing well. The only concern is she isn't talking as much as she was before, but hopefully it is just a matter of time! Thank you for the prayers! They were heard and answered. We are just so grateful that little Evelyn is recovering so quickly and doing well. I was so worried about her because I have learned so much about the horrible consequences of encephalitis over the past 3 years. Thanks for the all the prayers. Her parents (my brother Geoff and sister-in-law Linda) and all of Evelyn's family really appreciate it!

Prayers Needed

2009-02-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

My niece, Evelyn, is very ill in the hospital. The doctors think she has viral encephalitis. We could really use a lot of prayers. I am a little shook up by this because encephalitis is what Grant had (ADEM is a type of encephalitis). Why this has happened to two family members, I don't know. But I do know prayers are what pulled him through it. Please prayer for cute baby girl Evelyn and her parents G and L.

The Innocence of a child

2009-02-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

Carson (3 1/2 years old) and I had a very cute (and funny) conversation in the car last night. It was only Carson and I in the car:

Carson: Mom, I am so glad my cut is getting better. (he has a nasty cut on his knee from falling outside on the cement)

Me: Me too. That's why we say prayers to ask Heavenly Father to help us get better.

Carson: I know, Heavenly Father made it better.

(silence for a few seconds)

Carson: (pounding on the car window with his fist) Can I break this glass?

Me: No, please don't bang on it. It would really hurt you if you broke it. You would get cut all over your body and glass could hurt your eyes and make you not see anymore. Then you would have to go to the hospital and we would all be really sad.

Carson: The hospital? My eyes would get hurt? (silent for about 10 seconds while he thinks) That's ok mom, Jesus would just come and bring me two new eyes. Then I would be all better and could go back home.

Me: (my heart just melted and thought that was one of the cutest things I ever heard, but didn't really know how to explain to him that it isn't that simple. So I didn't say anything and left it at that!)

(A few seconds later)

Carson: Did you know Jesus has a body?

Me: Yes, he does. He has a body just like you and you have a body just like him!

Carson: (with excitement in his tone) I know! (Silence for a few second) Jesus lives up in the sky and he comes down from the sky.

Me: Yes he lives in Heaven.

Carson: Can Jesus fly?

Me: Ummmm, well, I don't know if he flies but he can go anywhere he wants to.

Carson: Well, does he have a car?

Me: No, I don't think so.

Carson: You mean he walks everywhere.

Me: Yes, he can walk and go anywhere he wants.

(Silence for a while. Then we pull in the garage and start to get out of the car. I pick up Carson out of the car and I am now holding him.)

Carson: (With a very serious look on his face he looks me in the eyes) Mom, does Jesus have a bum!

(A moment of silence because I am silently busting up).

Me: (with a huge smile on my face) Yes he does. Just like you!

Carson looks at me and hugs me!

End of conversation! Oh he is so dang cute! Why he wanted to know if Jesus had a bum, I don't know, but it was a serious concern of his! And what faith to believe that Jesus would bring him two new eyes!

Getting Hitched

2009-01-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

My sister, Kimberly, just got engage to Steven on Friday night! They have been dating for a little over a year and they met in their singles ward in San Diego. Yeah for singles wards! We are so excited for them! As far as the date goes, it is still being determined! Congrats you two! We love you and are happy for you!

Today is the date......

2008-11-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

to vote YES on Prop 8!

A Well Balanced Meal

2008-11-02T21:01:00.001-08:00

This one is dedicated to Aunt Kimberly, the dietitian. This afternoon Carson came to me with a bag of M&M's. At the time I was starting to make dinner. He hadn't eaten any candy yet today, and I didn't want to deal with any tantrums at the moment so I said he could have it. I started to open the bag for him when suddenly he got really excited -- he saw some broccoli sitting on the kitchen counter ( I was going to steam some broccoli for dinner). He grabbed a huge chunk of broccoli in one hand and M&M's in the other hand. He seriously wanted brocoli even though he had M&M's in his hand. He then did as I asked and went outside to eat his M&M's and broccoli. Kim, would you consider this a well balanced meal? (Ha ha ha ha!) I thought it was pretty funny ! How often do kids want broccoli and M&M's to eat at the same time? The funny part is he chose to eat the broccoli before the M&M's. He loves broccoli! I guess Carson is starting to make some good choices in life!

Carson with a mouth full of brocoli.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

We started off Halloween Day with a field trip to the Pumpkin patch. This was Brian's first Kindergarten field trip this year. He had a lot of fun and I enjoyed being with my Bri for the day.

Brian loved the maze made out of bushes.

These are some of Brian's friends in his Kindergarten class.

So here is a story for you. Carson decided a few weeks ago he wanted to be a pirate. But of course he changed his mind the day of Halloween. He decided he wanted to be Batman, after he saw our neighbor dressed as Batman. I tried to convince him to be a pirate, but he would not budge. So about 3 hours before it was time to trick or treat I found myself at Walmart of all places (I absolutely cannot stand shopping at Walmart -- the only reason I went there is because Walmart's website said they still had Batman costumes in stock)! Have you ever been to Walmart looking for a costume 3 hours before trick or treating time? It was a tornado of costumes and people everywhere. Anyway, we found half of a Batman costume which was perfect because we already had the other half in our collection of dress ups. So we ended up getting the body suit for a discount of $6 because half of the costume was missing. So it all worked out and Carson was happy, and I must add, the cutest little Batman I have ever seen. He was so proud to be Batman. Brian was the cutest little Indiana Jones and he just loved being Indiana!

Brian and Carson at our wards Trunk or Treat. They had a blast and came home with more candy than their mom wanted them to have. They got to go trick or treating in Grandma and Grandpa Carlson's neighborhood too. There favorite part of the night was passing out candy at Grandma and Grandpa's house after they were done trick or treating.

You are my hero

2008-10-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Grant,
You are my forever hero. You have taught me so much as you have so courageously moved forward with life over the past two years. I can't even begin to comprehend how hard life has been for you since you got sick. You have truly taught me what courage and faith are. You have taught me patience and humility. You have taught me about enduring to the end. I am so proud of you. Watching you go through such a devastating experience has hurt so much. So many times I have just wished I could take it all away from you. I secretly cry myself to sleep some nights because I love you so much, and it hurts to think about all you have gone through and all you continue to go through. I am sorry when I get impatient and frustrated. I need to have more courage, faith, humility, and patience like you. Thank you for teaching me and the boys about what it truly means to conquer the battles of life. You have and are conquering this battle so faithfully and courageously. For that you are my hero, and you will always be my hero. I love you with all my heart and want nothing more than to stand by you and hold your hand as we strive to conquer this battle together. What a privilege it is to be married to my very own hero. We are forever, no matter what life deals us.

I love you.

Lora

I have been contemplating......

2008-10-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Why do tragedies happen? It seems as if lately I have heard of so many tragedies that have suddenly struck good, young families. Or maybe I am just more aware of such instances because of the situation our family has been in for the past two and a half years. This has got me thinking about tragedies and trials. What is the purpose? I have been thinking about the trials so many of us are going through or have been through. Sometimes I catch myself wanting to ask, "Why? Why such hard, hurtful trials?" But then I start to remember all the blessings we have received over the past two and a half years. Overwhelming! It brings tears to my eyes when I think about all the blessings we have received from our tragedy. So many people have prayed for us, and we have felt those prayers. What a blessing. We have witnessed and have been part of a true miracle. What a blessing. We have been humbled as we have watch person after person serve us. A blessing. We have learned (and are still learning) patience. A blessing. We have really learned to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. What a blessing. We have learned that prayers are answered. A blessing. We are learning compassion, humility, sacrifice, faith, hope, charity. Blessings. Our testimonies have been strengthened. Yet another blessing. We are learning to have an eternal perspective. A wonderful blessing. These are only a few of the many blessings we have received all because of our tragedy. So are tragedies really tragedies? Or are they opportunities to learn and grow from? Are they opportunities to receive and recognize blessings from above? I truly believe tragedies are for our good and as opportunities to become more like our Savior. I believe trials help shape who we are. They define us. We have a loving Heavenly Father who knows what we need in order to become the person He knows we are capable of becoming. Could we learn and develop certain Christ-like attributes, or recognize blessings, or develop a certain level of gratitude without trials? I highly doubt it. At least for me, I highly doubt it. The Lord knows what we need to become that person He would want us to become in this life time. The past two and a half years have been so painfully hard. Words can't describe how deeply hurtful this tragedy has been, but one thing I do know is that I wouldn't know what I know, and I wouldn't feel what I feel today without it. We must look at tragedies as opportunities to learn, to grow, and to feel the love of the Lord in our life. We must be grateful for tragedies. Tragedies are blessings.

Note to myself: When you feel sad, angry, frustrated, discouraged, lonely, hopeless, impatient, or just feel like giving up, read this post. This post was written to remind myself to always move forward with courage and faith. Blessings will come from enduring tragedy.

We have a lot of catching up to do .... don't we?

2008-09-10T20:43:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know I should blog more...... I guess the fact that I don't blog often is because life is still busy as ever. I will briefly update what is going on with our family and with Grant's recovery:

In May we started taking Grant to therapy in San Diego twice a week. We found a really good therapist in SD who is very experienced with brain injury, stroke, etc. patients and is really making some good progress with Grant's walking and arm. He thinks Grant has the potential of walking normal again, and even eventually running again...... but first comes all the hard work of retraining the brain to do it normally again.
In July Grant and I flew to Kentucky (thanks to my wonderful Aunt Alison and Uncle Roland who flew us out there....... we are so blessed to have such wonderful family who care about us so much). We went to Kentucky to go visit my oldest Bro. Geoff and sis- in- law Linda and their four adorable kids. We had so much fun being with them! Thanks G and L for letting us come and visit! We then drove to Cleveland, OH to go to the Cleveland Clinic.
Grant and I went to Cleveland to go see a world renowned doctor about his diagnosis .... basically he had the most severe kind of ADEM (there is actually another name for it called Acute Necrotizing Hemoragic Leukoencephalopthy) and it is fatal during the first 24 to 48 hours ...... the Cleveland clinic doc was absolutely stunned that Grant survived and is functioning as well as he is. He is very interested in Grant's case and wants us to keep him updated on his recovery since people do not survive from what Grant had. All I have to say is MIRACLE!
While in Cleveland Grant and I went to Kirtland to go see the LDS historical sites. Great experience.
Grant had surgery behind his ear (again) for his bone anchored hearing aid. It wasn't healing right so the doc had to do another surgery.
Brian started Kindergarten on August 13. I was so sad and happy at the same time.
Grant had surgery on his wrist on August 13. He had his tendons released and a tendon transferred. His hand and wrist look so much more normal now! He is still recovering from this surgery.
Grant took his driving test yesterday! And he.......PASSED! I am so proud of him and am so excited I don't have to drive him EVERYWHERE anymore!
Carson (and his mom) are participating in a home preschool. There are other moms and 6 other kids. The moms will all take turns doing the preschool in at their houses. This month we have had preschool at our house and at my other partners houses.
We are failing miserably trying to potty train Carson. He was suppose to go to the same preschool Brian went to, however he was not potty trained when school started so I had to pull him out. I was so sad because I love the preschool I had him enrolled in. Maybe he will get to go later in the year if he ever decides that it is ok to be potty trained..... he is so stubborn and loves to be in control.
Brian and his soccer mom are having fun with AYSO. Yes, I am his assistant coach and it is so much fun! Brian's first game was pretty funny...... we have some teaching and work to do to help his cute little team improve.
I have been having the time of my life playing on my own soccer team. I am playing in a women's soccer league..... and we just have so much fun together. I am loving it!
Grant continues to slowly get better..... in fact the other day(for the first time since he got sick) he mowed to lawn ......front and backyard! It took him probably about 2 to 3 hours .... but he did it! I was so excited because this just shows the progress he has made and continues to make!

I know this is a brief update, however I will try to give a little more details about each of the bullets over the next few weeks, and hopefully get some more pics posted! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE, SUPPORT AND PRAYERS WE CONTINUE TO FEEL AND RECEIVE! WE FEEL SO BLESSED TO HAVE SUCH GREAT FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

We really do still believe in blogging.........

2008-04-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

we have just been extremely busy since we last posted (I know everyone is busy......I guess I am just lazy!) This is why we have been busy:

Grant's Therapy appointments a few days a week or at home on the days he didn't have an appointment at the rehab
3 birthdays, 1 anniversary

Carson's surgery (tonsils and adenoid removed, tubes back in ears) = complete misery for a few weeks.
Grant's surgery (a bone anchored hearing aid)
We all got really sick with that horrible flu
We moved 40 feet from our back house to our front house
We had to do a lot of cleaning, painting, and fixing of the house we are now living in, and some cleaning and painting in the house our tenants moved in to (the one we were living in)
Packing and Unpacking, etc.
Celebrating the fact that Grant has lived 2 more years since he first got sick
More than 1 doctors appointment every week
Trying to sale Grant's truck (We finally sold it today!!!)
Phone calls, phone calls, phone calls with insurance, doctors offices, fighting with verizon to get our Internet back up and working (this only took about 1 month and 10 phone calls before they got it straight that we moved and we would like our Internet service to go to our new address, not our old address, idiots!! VERIZON= VERY INCOMPETENT)
Chasing Carson down the street about 20 times a day
And then just the normal everyday cleaning, making meals, errands, paying bills, taking Brian to and from school, preparing lessons for church, laundry (never ending), spending time with the kids (building stuff out of legos),
And to relieve my stress, I am now on a women's soccer team and we have games on Thursday nights! So much fun, but one more thing to keep me busy.
Oh and Carson will not go to sleep without ME laying by him (he refuses to let Grant lay by him) until he falls asleep -- I know I need to do sleep training all over with him, but by the time 8 pm rolls around I am so dang tired I can't stand to think about putting him back in his bed 127 time or each time he gets out of bed, which would probably be 127 times the first night. I think I need the super nanny to come to my house at bed time.

For all of those who are wondering how Grant is doing, he is doing well. We are still seeing slow progress all the time. He continues to improve with walking, talking, thinking, being able to function and do everyday tasks, etc. He is doing really well at learning to compensate with just one hand. He is getting really close to getting his license back. We have been trying to decide what to do with his left hand which still is very contracted and has little to no movement. We have seen a couple of orthopedic surgeons over the past month. We liked and feel confident with the one we just had an appointment with last week. So we have decided to have Grant's hand and wrist operated on -- he will be having his tendons released on the under part of his wrist, and then one or two of the tendon's transferred from the under part of his wrist to the top to try to pull his wrist up to a more normal position. We are also waiting to hear back from our medical group to see if we got authorization to go see a world-renowned neurologist in Cleveland, Ohio that is specialized in white brain matter diseases. Grant's neurologist wants Grant to see another really good doc that can look at his case and say whether he diagnosis Grant with ADEM like the other neurologists have here at Loma Linda. His doc here wants to take him off of his chemo drug in August, so he wants Grant to get another opinion from a really specialized white matter doc just to make sure it he doesn't have some other diagnosis that may require him taking a chemo drug for the rest of his life, or may cause a relapse if he is taken off his chemo drug. That's the latest! Hopefully I will start blogging more now that we are done moving!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my little sis, Kimberly!

2007-12-30T17:41:00.000-08:00

Happy 25th birthday Kimberly! Wow, my baby sister is the BIG 25 years old. That means I am getting really old! My sister is such a great person and has been such a great sister! Here are 25 great things about my sister that make her such a special and lovable person.
1. She is absolutely beautiful inside and out!

2. Kimberly loves Golden Spoon as much as I do!

3. She is so athletic! She loves to play sports and can play any sport very well!

4. She is a great listener and she gives great advice. She has spent endless hours listening and giving advice to friends and family, and it always helps others!

5. She is very dedicated to living the Gospel and she has a very strong testimony!

6. Kimberly is an awesome cook! I love to eat the food she makes. Watch out boys -- her cooking may capture your heart!

7. She is very self disciplined and dedicated to eating healthy and exercising very consistently! This equals HOT BODY!!

8. Aunt Kimmy loves her nieces and nephews, and they love her! In fact she will wrestle with them and let them jump on her (good thing her abs are strong). My boys absolutely adore their Aunt Kim!

9. She is one of the most determined people I know! Example: She finished her BYU degree in Dietetics (HARD major I must say) with what all A's ?? or almost all A's??!!! You go girl!

10. She knows how to shop for cute clothes! Wow, she has style!

11. She likes to have fun and laugh!

12. She can flare her nostrils wider than anyone in this world -- you see she once put a bead up her nose and had to have in removed in the emergency room. We think this stretched out her nostrils!

13. She never complains about providing free personal training and diet consulting for me! And she is great at it! In fact if she gives me a training session I can't get out of bed the next day!Thanks Kim!

14. She is very organized and likes to get things done. This means she is not a procrastinator!

15. She has GUTS! In fact she went sky diving! Wow, I don't think I could do it!

16. Kimberly is very intelligent and smart. She got the brains!
17. She is a very hard worker. She knows how to achieve something with excellence!
18. Kimberly has always been so supportive of all of her older siblings. How many times has she gone to endless athletic events, music recital, graduation, waited outside the temple with ALL the little kids while a sibling is getting married? Way to many times, but she doesn't complain!
19. She is a very good girl. She has always wanted to do the right thing, and she is such a great example to all of us.
20. She loves to dance! In fact I remember many times when Kim and I would make up our own dance routines to different songs! It was so much fun!
21. She is always willing to help when help is needed!
22. She is nice and kind to others.
23. She has always been loyal to her friends and family. You can always trust her and is a very honest person.
24. She loves shoes as much as I do! Kim and I shopping for shoes means trouble!

Happy Birthday Kimberly. I love you so much! Thanks for being the sweet sister and person you are! You mean the world to me and I have loved having you as my little (well, maybe younger, but definitely not shorter) Sister!

The BUTCHER, the BAKER, the ORNAMENT BREAKER!

2007-12-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

About a week and a half ago we decorated our Christmas tree with these glass ornaments, and with some other plastic "toy like" ornaments. However, Carson loved playing with the toy ornaments so much that I allowed him to take them off of the tree to play with them. So this pretty much left only the glass ornaments on the tree.

Slowly the ornaments have disappeared from off of our tree, or have been found broken on the floor next to the tree. As you can see the bottom of the tree is looking pretty bare!

I think I have found at least 10-15 ornaments on the floor just like this one. WHY?

We have a 2 year old ORNAMENT BREAKER! His new hobby is to pick the glass ornaments off of the tree when no one is in sight, hold it up high above his head, suddenly let go of it, and watch it break as it crashes against the floor. He then continues to laugh out loud, and grab another one off of the tree, until I come storming in the room and rescue the next ornament victim. Look at his face -- he has found pure joy in this new hobby! We no longer have any ornaments at the bottom of the tree, not because I moved all of the them to the top, but because of Carson's new destructive hobby (When would I have found the time to move them?) Thank goodness I decided not to buy the new beautiful glass ornaments I saw and wanted to buy at Target. Hopefully he will forget about this new hobby by next Christmas so I can buy those new ornaments -- I guess since we have hardly any hanging on our tree anymore I have an excuse to buy new ones for next year!

Tonight the boys had fun being BAKERS! We made these simple but delicious little Christmas treats to give to friends and family. Our wonderful Bishop's wife, Carolyn Williams (who also happens to be my mom's neighbor and good friend), shared this cute and tasty little treat with my mom. My boys loved making them at Grandma's house once before, so I decided this would be a great little "Christmas making" activity for my boys, and a delicious little treat for others to enjoy.
All we needed was a bag of Hershey kisses, pretzel squares, and some Christmas M&M's.

Of Course, Carson mostly ate the Hershey kisses and pretzels -- not much of a help.

Brian was a great helper, pretzel treat maker! Can you see Carson's hand reaching for more Hershey kisses to eat??

This was our end result! We had so much fun making (and eating) this cute little Christmas treat. The boys really enjoyed this fun kitchen activity. For those of you who would like to do this fun little baking activity by yourself or with your kids this is how you do it.

Ingredients:

1 bag of Hershey Kisses

1 Bag of Square Crisscross pretzels

1 Bag of Plain M&M's (we used the Christmas Mint M&M's)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200.

Place pretzels on cookie sheet.

Unwrap the Hershey Kisses. Place 1 Hershey Kiss in the middle of each Pretzel.

Heat in oven for 8 minutes or until Hershey kisses are soft (it will still be in a kiss shape).

Take out of oven and place one M&M in the middle of the soft kiss. Gently press down M&M until the kiss is doughnut shape looking!

Let the M&M chocolate pretzel's cool until chocolate is hard again. I usually place them in the freezer to speed up the cooling process!

WARNING: Very addictive little treats! If you are trying to drop some weight, do not try these at home! They will BUTCHER YOUR DIET! Or if you do try to make these at home, duct tape your mouth shut after eating one pretzel!

OK, OK, OK.........

2007-12-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

I will POST again!! I know it has been a long time, but I swear it's because I am really busy and by the end of the day I am so tired I can hardly stand it, so I decide not to update our blog and I crash in bed (until Carson wakes up at 12am because he is "cared" (scared), again at 1:30 am because he is "firsty" (thirsty), 2:30 am because Brian is scared and wants me to lay by him, 4 am because Carson is hungry and wants to watch "tory 2" (toy story 2) etc! And I am tired because??!!!!! Anyway, we are doing well but busy with all of Grant's therapy appointments, doctor appointments, home therapy (on the days he doesn't go to outpatient therapy), working out at the gym with Grant (to get those legs strong again) preschool, chasing Carson down the street, sweeping up a huge pile of dirt Carson just dumped in my house with his "outside only" dump truck, making phone calls regarding insurance and authorization issues, as well as just keeping up with all the house work, bills, making dinner, etc. However, I look back to a year ago and can't help but thank the Lord for all the progress Grant has made over the last year, and not only that but all the help we have received from family and friends, and the healing power and strength the Lord has given me to accept what has happened and to go on with life despite all the challenged and changes I would have never wished upon our family. There is only two words to describe what I have witnessed this last year.... A MIRACLE. Wow, I can't help but get tears in my eyes when I think about it! The Lord has blessed us so much in helping us pull through such a difficult trial. It really has brought so much more meaning and joy this Christmas season as I reflect on the blessings, strength, and miracles we have been blessed with because of our Savior.

Now for a quick update on Grant (before I fall asleep at the computer) : He has recovered from his baclofen pump surgery. And we are seeing some good results from his pump. He no longer has spasticity in his left leg and hip, and his range of motion in his shoulder and elbow have improved a lot. His fingers are a little bit looser, and his wrist has improved a tiny bit (still pretty tight). However, we hope to continue to see improvement in his wrist, elbow and fingers as his doc continues to slowly increase his dose (once a month) until we find the right amount to virtually get rid of his spasticity. We just hope and pray that his wrist will loosen up as his doc continues to increase his baclofen dose. His walking is really improving .... we are really working on strengthening his hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, etc to help his walking and balance improve. However, he can now walk with out his cane small distances with out loosing his balance. In therapy he his working on standing with his legs straight (he tends to bend his knees when he stands and walks), extending his legs all the way back when walking, balance, proper posture when walking, swinging arms when walking, shifting hips and weight from one leg to the next when walking, etc, etc, etc. I am amazed at how much stuff is involved with walking when you have to learn to walk properly again. There is sooooo much involved in walking .............thus so much to work on at home and at therapy to get Grant's walking better. And this is just Physical therapy. We also have occupational therapy for his left arm..... range of motion in his left shoulder is pretty much normal again. His should has gotten much stronger. He can still close his hand very very slowly and with a lot of concentration, but still no opening or extending of the fingers, or moving or rotating of the wrist. But that's ok.... we aren't giving up because we know therapy can pay off as the brain can make new pathways in the brain and there are still lots of different therapies, etc that we haven't tried yet. Grant is so determined to get movement in that hand. However, we know that if he never does the Lord will bless him and the ability to learn to function well with out it. Grant's personality is starting to really come back. He is initiating conversations more often, loud at times again, and he is even starting to really joke around and be sarcastic again. His cognition is improving still too. In fact, Grant has started to go back to work once a week for a few hours just to start getting familiar with work again and relearn work related stuff. Amazing isn't it when you think about how last year he could hardly add two numbers, read, or write. He still has a lot of improvement to make, but some doctors thought he would never even get back as much as he has in a little over one year. A miracle I must say! Over the last month I have been able to leave the boys at home with Grant while I run an errand or two! Sooooooo nice! And such a blessing for me! Carson is really starting to warm up to his Daddy again. He will stay at home with him now with out totally freaking out and crying until I come back home or until my mom comes to the rescue to get him to calm down. So there's the update. We will try to be better about blogging! (by the way I am too tired to proof read .... hope you enjoyed the typos!) Pictures to come soon!

Cochrane Residence (posted by Grant)

2007-10-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is the project that I claim gave me ADEM. I only say that because I was showing my Grandmother the plans for this house when I got a headache (that was Easter Sunday 2006). By Tuesday morning they tell me that I acted like I had had a stroke. At least I am still alive to tell about it. I am a living testament that Jesus Lives and spared my life. Apparently, I still have something to do here on this earth (like provide for my family). I am doing as well as can be expected (considering all I have been through). I go to work for a few hours once a week to get used to working again. Hopefully therapy will get approved so I can have that again. I just wanted to say Hi to everyone and Thank you for all of your prayers. These are some pictures of my Grandma and Uncle's houses being built here in Redlands. I designed the houses right before I got sick.

Garage Storage Room

Loggia and Dennis' office

Grandma's Garage Pop-out

Great Room view of Dennis' House

East Elevation of Grandma's house

Garage and Chimney of Dennis' house

The Pumpkin Patch and The Lot

2007-10-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today I took the boys to the Los Rios Pumpkin Patch in Oak Glen! It was actually a field trip for Brian's preschool. We had fun, but we were ready to leave after 2 hours of cold, foggy weather and I was so happy when Carson was once again buckled in his car seat. He started to get a little out of control the last hour! It was so much fun to learn about all the apple orchards, make apple cider, test taste apples, and go into the pumpkin patches and pick your own pumpkin off of the vine! However, by the end of the field trip the kids were going crazy standing still listening to "Johnny Apple Seed." They were so excited and ready to run through the fields of pumpkins and find the pumpkin they wanted to take home.

Last night we decided to go to "the lot." "The lot" is where Grant's Dad is building a house for Grandma Great (Grant's grandma) and a house for Grant's uncle Dennis. In other words he is building two houses right next door to each other here in Redlands. We hadn't been to the lot for a while so I took the boys up there to see the progress that has been made (Grant was already up there with his dad). The boys were so excited to see the "digger tractor" as they called it and the huge pile of sand.

Brian didn't want to leave. He was having such a fun time rolling and playing in the sand pile. As you can see these pictures were taken after dark -- they were having so much fun they didn't want to leave, not even for dinner!

Carson got to drive the tractor with Grandpa Bascom. He was in absolute heaven! He loves tractors!

This is Grandma Great's house being framed! Grant was so glad I brought the camera because he wanted to take pictures of the framed house. Too bad that I didn't bring the camera out until after in got dark! Grant actually designed both house right before he got sick! So he is very excited to watch them go up!

Too bad I didn't take a picture of the bathtub after the boys took a bath. I think they brought home half of the dirt and sand pile with them! They really needed a bath and the bathtub was filthy dirty after we scrubbed them clean! Thank goodness for bathtubs and running water!

Drive safely, and more importantly, How is your relationship with others?

2007-10-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday, my sisters dear friend Tim Filichia was killed in a head on collision. Kim and Tim became good friends when he was Elders Quorum president and Kim was Relief Society President in their BYU student ward. Here is the article from the BYU Student Newsnet:

"Timothy Filichia Jr.- student killed in weekend accident
A 26-year-old BYU student died in a head-on collision Sunday night.
Timothy L. Filichia Jr. had spent the weekend in Mesa, Ariz., and was returning home when the accident happened at approximately 7 p.m. near Page, Ariz., said Jeanette Lefrandt, a friend from BYU.
"Tim was the only person in his car and he was killed," said Jake Day, Filichia's roommate, a 25-year-old history major from Star Valley, Wyo. "It was on impact. The first people were to the scene in a matter of seconds. [They said] he had a very peaceful look on his face."
It was a two-car accident. Filichia's car was totaled.
"The other guy involved in the accident was able to walk away from the accident," Day said. "We don't know who was at fault."
Filichia left Thursday morning.
"His parents were having an anniversary, his sister is turning 18...and it was conference," Day said.
Filichia owned a flooring company in Mesa and had also spent the weekend there finishing some jobs. "This is how he paid for college," Lefrandt said.
A meeting of family and friends was scheduled to be held Monday evening at his apartment in Provo.
His father, Timothy Filichia Sr., drove from Mesa to Page Monday to monitor the investigation. He has been trying to find more details about the accident, but this has been difficult because Monday was an Arizona state holiday.
"The coroner's office has not been answering [his] calls," Day said.
Filichia was planning to graduate in April with a degree in international relations."

Soo sad, and shocking for all of his friends and family. I know my sister and so many will miss him a lot. I have really been sad by this news ( I have met him before when he came to visit Kim when he was visiting Southern CA) mostly because I know what it feels like to go through a hard traumatic tragedy .... it hurts! But with the Gospel and the Spirit we are comforted and feel peace as we learn to trust Heavenly Father and have faith in the plan that He has for each of His children.

I also have really thought about relationships. Will everyone know that I love them when it is my time to go? And are my relationships with others (especially friends and family) in good standing at all times? We never know how much longer we have on this earth -- I sure hope whether I am called home tomorrow, in 5 years, or when I am 110 years old, I can feel good about my relationship with others and I hope all of my friends and family knew and felt my love for them.

Please pray for all of Tim's family and friends. I know that prayer is powerful. So many prayed for me, Grant, and family while Grant was so ill, and I truly felt those prayers. I know that because of so many prayers on our behalf the Spirit comforted us and gave us peace. Please pray for Tim's family and friends that they may feel this same peace and comfort as they are saddened by the loss of Tim.

Brian's First day back at Preschool

2007-08-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Brian's first day back at Redlands Playschool (he went to preschool there last year too). His first day was a huge improvement from last year. Last year I left him screaming and crying, "Mommy don't leave me," and I think I left crying too! However this year he was a little clingy for just a minute or two, then he decided everything in his classroom looked so much fun. He suddenly let go of me and said, "Bye Mom" with a big smile on his face, and went off to play with the other kids. I was very proud of him and relieved -- he really is maturing and growing up!

This is the garden that Brian and his class planted at the end of the school year last year. He was really excited to come back and see how much it has grown and produced.

Brian will be in the yellow class this year. He is one of the oldest, but there are many who will be turning 5 soon just like him! We decided that we didn't want Brian to start kindergarten at age 4 almost 5. I was glad that most of the kids in Brian's class this year are in the same situation. He just needed a little more time to grow up and develop socially and emotionally -- thus, another year of preschool.

And of course we had to take Carson's picture too. He likes to be just like his older brother Brian!

Isn't my brother cute?!!!

2007-08-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

My brother Greg has always kept me laughing! In fact over the last year I will find myself really discouraged, but then I will read something that Greg has emailed or blogged and my discouragement will be eased by a moment of laughter from Greg. So check out his blog www.delapaz4ever.blogspot.com for a great laugh. He finally updated his blog after a long dry spell of no blogging.

Pump Surgery Successful

2007-08-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Grant had his baclofen pump placement sugery. Things went very well. The neuro surgeons placed the pump (about the size of a hockey puck) on the left side of his stomach, and the catheter (which is in his spinal column) is successfully in his spinal fluid ending at about T1 to C6 (around the bottom of his neck). We are very happy that the catheter was able to be placed so high because usually a higher catheter will help with upper body spasticity, which Grant's Spasticity is the worse in his left arm and hand. The pump is completely inside his body -- there is nothing visible from the outside. So basically what this pump will do is provide a constant drip of baclofen in his spinal fluid that will go to his receptors in his brain and tell his muscles to relax, hopefully resulting in normal muscle tone. He is only on a very low dose right now -- not enough to see a difference in his spasticity yet. The doc will have to slowly increase his dose until they find the right amount for Grant (if they increase it to fast he could have a horrible reaction to it and even die -- yikes!!). This could take weeks to months to do. He is doing well in the hospital. However, yesterday he was in some pain from the huge incision on his stomach and the little incision on his back. We are not sure how long he will be in the hospital -- anywhere from a day to 3 days. And we aren't sure if he will go to an acute rehabilitation center again. His Rehab doc mentioned that he would like him to, however we have to wait and see what the insurance says. We will keep you updated on how he recovers from surgery and what improvements we see from the pump! We are so excited and have so much faith and hope in our hearts that this baclofen pump is really going to help him walk normal again and maybe even get some movement back in his wrist and hand.

The Baclofen Pump Trial!

2007-07-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

So today Grant finally had his baclofen pump trial (it was a trial to see if he is a candidate for a baclofen pump). He was suppose to have this trial two weeks ago, but like always, the insurance didn't have the authorization done in time (oh how the "insurance" bugs the heck out of me!!!) Basically Grant had a spinal tap in which the doc injected a drug called baclofen into his spinal fluid. Grant was then observed for 6 hours to see how his high tone (spastic) muscles reacted to the baclofen. And we are so happy to say that his muscles responded POSITIVELY to the baclofen. His muscle tone IMPROVED in his left leg and is arm! So he will be having surgery (we don't know when yet) to have a baclofen pump placed in his stomach and a catheter placed in his spine (in his spinal fluid). He will then have baclofen constantly dripping into his spinal fluid to help his high tone muscles relax. We are hoping and praying that this will help improve his ability to walk (hopefully more normally, or without a limp), his balance, and hopefully relax his left arm and hand enough to help him get some movement back in his left hand, and improved movement in his left arm. We are excited for this because we feel it is another door being opened for Grant to make more progress and hopefully eventually improve his quality of physical movement and life! I really feel the Lord has blessed us once again with this ITB therapy (Intrathecal Baclofen Therapy as they call it) to help Grant continue to make progress and get better. We appreciate all your prayers as we continue this journey of healing and recovery for Grant.

Father's Day!

2007-06-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

What a blessing it is to still have Grant here with us on Father's Day 2007. Last Father's Day (2006) I honestly thought that it could be his last Father's Day with us! Wow, I am so grateful to still have him here with us. He is such a great husband and father. I love him sooo much and appreciate the great example he is to me and his boys. I am sure as his boys grow older they are going to really learn to understand what exactly their Dad endured and what challenges he overcame with such great faith, courage, and determination. Hopefully as they grow up they will be able to draw strength from his example of determination, courage, faith, etc. Grant has been such an example to so many of us, especially me. He makes me want to be a better person.
I also feel so blessed to have such a great father and father-in-law who are great examples to me, and are always there for help and support! I am so blessed to have such great men in my life! Thank you Grant, Dad and Brian (Dad-in-law) for being such great fathers. You are loved and appreciated!

Grant driving again?!?!

2007-06-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

So, over the past few weeks Grant has had his cognition, eye sight, reaction time, etc. tested in so many different ways by his occupational therapist. And why would she do such a crazy thing like that? WHAT?!?! To see if he is ready to drive again?! No way! Oh yes, you heard me right! And believe it or not, he did very well on all of the tests, and his therapist feels he now has the cognitive and physical ability to learn how to drive again. When Grant's brain got sick his license was automatically revoked -- it's the law when the brain is involved! So he now has permission to start driver training. A little scary, but exciting! It just shows the progress he is making and how far he has come in the last 10 months. As far as driver training goes, he will be working with a trainer who is certified to train handicap drivers. Basically Grant has to be trained by a "handicap trainer" because he has to learn to drive with only one hand. I actually tested out the one hand driving the other day on my own driving (Grant pretty much made fun of me for doing it too!). We were on our way to a birthday party and Grant had a huge bowl of salad on his lap, and a huge bowl of watermelon at his feet. So Grant's lap and foot space were occupied to the max. We also had half of a watermelon to somehow transport. I didn't trust my 4 or 2 year old with it, and I didn't want it to roll all over the floor, so I decided to hold it in my lap. But then I had a grand idea! I would hold it in my left hand just to see what it would be like to drive with only one hand. It wasn't too bad, but my wrist was really hurting by the time we got to our destination (the watermelon was a little heavy!). At least Grant doesn't have a watermelon attached to his left hand. That would start to be painful after a while. I can honestly say from a 5 minute experience, one hand driving is possible! Grant also continues to progress with his speed of walking. This week he went from walking 1 mile in 38 minutes to walking 1 mile in 36 minutes. And actually on Friday he walked more than a mile -- he walked 1 and a quarter miles! We also had a very "Grant" moment this past week (it made me so happy that I really wanted to cry). Grant, his speech therapist, and I were all sitting around a table, and Grant was reading a short story out loud. After reading the first sentence, he made a sarcastic comment about what he just read, and then he quickly kept reading. Pretty much he continued to make funny remarks after each sentence, and his sarcastic remarks got funnier and funnier as the story went on. His therapist and I were dying laughing -- I suddenly thought to myself (holding back the tears), "IT'S GRANT! His personality is coming back!" I was soooo happy to see and hear this!" I seriously think it was an answer to my prayers -- the Lord knew what I needed to see and hear to help me get out of my slump of discouragement! I have felt so thankful for this moment this week! We will keep you updated and let you know how the driver training is going! (By the way, I am a little nervous about him getting behind the wheel again! Is this what it feels like to have a teenager learning how to drive???).

The Ups and Downs of Recovery!

2007-06-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

I realize I was not so good this month at keeping our blog updated! So what has happened since my last post? Here is the run down of the ups and downs of "the recovery". I was in much need of a vacation from being the mom, secretary, lady who calls and threatens the insurance everyday to "fix it or else.....", therapist, nurse, taxi driver, housekeeper, bookkeeper, etc. The weekend of May 17-20 I flew to Salt Lake City to go visit my sister and just do something different! It was definitely different and refreshing -- sleeping in (and getting a full night of sleep), no schedules, shopping (with out kids!), going out to dinner, working out for as long as we wanted, etc. However, I did miss my family, and was glad to come home to them. On my flight to SLC I had a short lay over in Phoenix. As we flew into Phoenix, I became overwhelmed with sad emotions (I actually started crying as we flew beside the campus of ASU). Wow, I really miss Arizona, all the friends, the fun times we had, but mostly the "Grant" that once lived in Arizona -- the Grant that use to take me golfing, or out on a lunch date to the Pita Pit across from the architeture building, or the Grant that would go swimming with me and Brian, or the Grant that would go to the gym with me and make me laugh so hard that I couldn't lift weights or run on the treadmill without almost killing myself. Or even the Grant that would come home so stressed after working all day and all night on some project that was due in a few days and was in need of some help to finish putting together a model of some strucure he designed. Sometimes I just wish we could go back to Arizona and start our lives from where we left off, not that we don't like CA -- I guess it is just my way of feeling bad about Grant getting sick and about how our lives have changed so much. I guess it's my way of saying that I just really miss "Grant." Many of you comment on how strong I am, but really deep down inside I am so weak and absolutely terrified and torn up about "my Grant". I often cry myself to sleep and just feel flat out sad and discouraged. However, I usually feel better in the morning and realize that I get very emotional when I am tired! (is that a girl or what?!) Even through times of discouragement, I still continue to have faith and hope that Grant will keep getting better and be all Grant again someday. I often have to be reminded by others (my parents, Grant's parents, etc.) to not give up yet -- we are still at the beginning of the recovery. One thing that my parents always reminded me to do growing up was to count my many blessings, especially during times of discouragement. So I really have been trying to do this lately. I do feel blessed that he is still here, that he can walk (especially after we were told he wouldn't), that he can talk and continues to talk better all the time, that he still loves me, that his memory is good, that he is still determined, and he is progressing all the time. Now here is a brief update on Grant: Grant was actually discharged from physical therapy because his therapists feel that he is making progress, BUT not fast enough to persuade the insurance to keep paying for physical thearpy. So we now have taken it upon ourselves to do physical therapy with Grant at home. And actually, I think he has made a lot of progress since being discharged (wow, are we good physical therapists or what?). I take him to the gym almost everyday to walk on the treadmill and lift some weights -- a month ago he was walking a half mile at 1 mph which took him 30 minutes. He is now walking 1 mile at 1.5 mph in 38 minutes. His walking is getting faster! He still walks with a definite limp, which we (including his rehab doc) are concerned about. His limp is because of spasticity (uncontrollabe muscle tone, or tight muscles because of the inability for the receptors in his brain to tell his muscles to relax) which unfortunately may never get better, and he will probably have for the rest of his life. His rehab doc has recommended doing a trial for what's called an itrathecal baclofen pump which treats spasticity. A baclofen pump is a electronic device that would be surgically implanted in Grant's stomach, then have a cathetar that run all the way up his spine (in his spinal fluid) and constantly release a drug called baclofen, which is a drug that travels to the neurons or receptors in your brain that tell your muscles to relax. So on June 29, Grant will be hospitalized for a day to have a baclofen pump trial. Basically, he will have one dose of baclofen injected into his spinal fluid, then he will be observed to see how his spastic muscles react to the baclofen. If successful, he will have the surgery a week or two later. Grant's rehab doc thinks it is going to really help his spasticity, and therefore improve his walking. We as a family are hoping it will also help his left arm, since he has moderate to severe spasticity in his left arm and hand. We have done lots of research on the pump. During our research we talked to a lady who had a stroke five years ago. After suffering from spasticity for five years she finally got a pump. A half hour after the baclofen was injected into her spinal fluid she could wiggle her fingers in her left hand for the first time in five years. This was really encouraging for us, so we just pray pray pray that if this is right for Grant, that the trial will go well and if he gets a pump it will improve his quality of life (his walking and maybe be able to use his left hand again?!!!) Grant also finished (completed) the last details on the plans for his Grandma's house. We are just thrilled that he could do this -- 10 months ago he couldn't even make an X on a piece of paper, or tell us what 1+2 was! Grant's cognition seems to improve little by little all the time too. In fact, part of his therapy is to do sudoku puzzles, and he has graduated from the sixes to the nines! Grant and I actually like to lay in bed at night at do them together -- it can be addicting. At occupational therapy he has started working on doing all the testing that has to be done in order for him to drive again. He is doing very well on all of the cognition tests that they do to test if he is ready to learn to drive again. However, he was very dissappointed yesterday when his rehab doc said that he doesn't think he is ready to drive anytime soon. So over all he is getting better, slowly but surely! Patience, patience, patience as the brain heals slowly. Grant also is struggling with life (oh, I wonder why?!?!?!?!? It's not like you have to learn how to do everything again!!!) Actually, this is good -- it shows improvement in his awareness of what is going on. It is so hard for him to try to overcome such challenges that use to be so easy to him. He is so courageous and brave to go to the gym everyday and have people watch him (stare at him -- I hate the stare!!!) as he struggles to walk at a speed of 1.5 mph. Would you be humiliated too? I told him if it was me I would have given up already! However, he never has the slightest ideas of giving up. He is so determined and such a great example of what true courage and humility are. Thank goodness he is determined and stubborn -- it really is helping him get better. What a blessing!

Wow, what a difference!

2007-05-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

While grant was in the hospital we didn't take any pictures of him! Why? Out of respect for him -- I knew he wouldn't want pictures taken of him with a tub going up his nose and down his throat, restraints on both hands, and looking rather unconscious and sick! Why would we want to remember Grant that way anyway? However, we did start taking pictures once he came home! I am posting some of these pics so that you can see how much better he looks! He just looks so much more with it, and more like the "Grant" we all know! And I did get his permission to post these pictures!

This is when Grant came home from acute rehab for a trial run on August 26, 2006

Towards the end of Grant's stay at Loma Linda Acute Rehab, he was able to come home for a trial run. The Acute Rehab sends their patients home for a 6 hour period a week or two before being discharged to make sure that the home is functional for the disabled patient. So Grant got to come home for a few hours. It was more like a party for the family! We barbecued and enjoyed having Grant home again. As you can see, he looks kind of out of it! The blank stare he has on his face was very typical for the first few months after he was responsive again! He still seemed to be in another world, even though he had his eyes open and could somewhat communicate!

Grant on April 24, 2007, 7 months after coming home!

Wow, can't you see the difference? He looks so much more with it in this picture! He doesn't have that blank stare on his face so much. That's because he is a lot more with it now! However, this picture kind of captures Grant's current personality -- quiet and serious! I think part of it is the fact that all the meds he is on makes him constantly tired!

Grant update:

Grant has been working on autocad! He designed a house for his grandma right before he got sick. Well, he actually never finished all the last details. We are so thrilled that over the past couple weeks (after we purchased autocad for him --YIKES!) he has been clicking around on autocad and finishing up his Grandma's plans! I think it is amazing that he can finish up the plans with little problems, but he still struggles with other more basic things! A blessing I guess! Actually I mentioned this to his speech therapist and she said that the most familiar things will come back faster and easier!
Grant walked on the treadmill for a half hour! His endurance is getting better. He walked half of a mile during that time. This may not sound very far for 30 minutes of walking, but believe it or not, it is a huge improvement! He use to struggle walking at a .5 pace, and he walked this half mile at a 1.0 pace. I know that doesn't sound very fast or far, but a few months ago, he couldn't even walk for more than a couple minutes at a .5 or less.
Grant can walk all the way up one flight of stairs now, pretty much by himself. We still like to be close by in case he falls.
Grant is starting to walk short distances without his cane, mostly around the house or at physical therapy with his therapist.
Grant's wrist and hand are starting to get really tight again. The botox is wearing off! The term for tight muscles, or a lot of uncontrollable muscle tone is call spasticity. We are trying to decide what to do to treat his spasticity, which is mostly affecting his left arm and hand. He does have some spasticity in his left leg too. Spasticity is caused by damaged neurons in the brain that are unable to send messages to the muscles to relax. We think this is what may be preventing him from having movement in his left wrist and hand. His muscles are so incredibly tight that he can't move his hand or wrist. We are researching and looking into a lot of different kinds of treatments to that may help his spasticity and to help his overall recovery.

Keep up the hard work Grant! You have come so far in 8 months! A true miracle!

The boys!

2007-04-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

Carson and BrianBath time is crazy hair time!

Many of our friends and family have requested pictures of our boys! It has been a long time since many of you have seen our boys (especially all of our friends in Arizona). So here are some pictures of our boys! Brian is now 4 1/2 and Carson is 2. Brian loves to play any kind of sport or game, collect rocks and sticks, learn anything new, and manipulate his mom! He has mastered manipulating his mom! Carson is cute, but very destructive. The funny thing is that as I was typing the word destructive Grant was yelling, "Carson, get off the counter! Get down! You are going to fall and kill yourself. Get off the counter!" Carson loves my kitchen cupboards -- especially the upper one with all the snacks and the lower one with all of my spices! It is not uncommon to find a trail of salt or some sort of spice that starts in the kitchen, goes down the hallway, and ends in the bedroom(s). We often call Carson our cute little terror. My dad says he has the life expectancy of 3 years -- he is quite the daredevil

Brian and Carson April 24, 2007

The boys love sitting in daddy's lazy boy! We bought Grant a very comfy leather lazy boy when he came home from the hospital! It's a popular seat in the house! The boys love to sit on the chair together and watch movies! It's great to have boys that love each other (most of the time!)!

Anyone can comment now

2007-04-20T11:31:00.001-07:00

So, my bro. calls and tells me that I accidently limited the commenting to only those who have their own blog account! Thanks to Greg and all his help, I have changed it and now anyone can post a comment! Sorry about that!!!

The one year anniversary of Grant being hospitalized

2007-04-19T21:10:00.002-07:00

Ok. So here we go with the blogging thing! I have been wanting to do this for months and months now! Finally I am a "blogger!" I think the last time I gave a "Grant update" was at the end of January! Well, today is the one year anniversary -- Grant was hospitalized one year ago today! Today is a day of gratitude, sorrow, and happiness! We are so happy that Grant is still here with us, even though I (and I know many others) feel like "Grant" was taken from us! The great news is that he is slowly coming back! What a miracle after such a rough year! Wow, as I think about it he has made so much progress since July when he couldn't talk, walk, sit up, eat, etc. He couldn't do anything but stare at you!! Much to be thankful for! Here is a brief update:

Grant is now walking on his own with a one point cane! He graduated from a quad cane to a one point cane a few days ago! Way to go Grant! He still walks pretty slow, and kind of robotic (not so natural looking), but it seems to get better little by little! I think his walking and balancing are coming back a lot slower than we anticipated! However, he can walk!!!! A miracle! I always believed in him, even when so many times the docs said he would probably never walk again!
Grant's speech is coming right along! He actually almost sounds like Grant again -- maybe just a little bit quieter, and a little slower at times! His voice inflection and tone is great now! Thank goodness no more mono-tone!!! (When people call him on the phone they are shocked at how well he is speaking now!!)
Grant got botox in his left forearm on February 28! Two days later he could close his fingers with a lot of concentration and using every muscle in his body! This brought tears of joy!!! He actually could control and close his fingers !!! After his botox injection, his wrist was much more flexible! However, we can tell that the botox is starting to wear off because his wrist seems to be getting a little tight again! More botox maybe????? Please pray for it-- our insurance is very uncooperative!!!!!!!
Grant can now shower himself, dress himself, get himself breakfast, etc! Wow, he really is becoming independent again!
Grant is reading very well now! He is now reading Ray Bradbury books -- all by himself! This is a true miracle -- 8 months ago he could hardly read an easy children's book!
Grant started going to the gym again! Grant's dad takes him to the gym on the days that he doesn't have physical therapy. He is able to ride the bike for about 20 minutes, and lift some weights! This has been really good for him!
Grant will crack a joke or be sarcastic once in a while again! This makes me smile! Oh yes, Grant is coming back!!!!!!
Grant is a little more serious now, a little more quiet, but once in a while he will really shock us with a loud remark! For example, a couple of weeks ago we were at a wedding reception, and Grant saw a good friend. This friend (Ed Voll) was making a funny gesture at Grant, and Grant all of a sudden yelled out with his strong Grant voice, "Bring it on!!!" We all kind of paused and started laughing because it was such a "Grant" thing to do! It made my day! Believe it or not, I actually miss the obnoxious, loud, humorous Grant! Moments like the, "bring it on" moment make me cry tears of happiness!
Grant's math skills, reasoning, problem solving have improved much over the past few months! He use to struggle with simple addition and subtraction, etc. He can now add and subtract 4 digit numbers that involve carrying and borrowing! He is just thinking better!
Grant is now able to sit at the computer, and surf the Internet! Actually he has gotten a little too good at using the Internet -- he has a new hobby called, "online shopping!" He is driving me crazy with all the stuff he keeps buying online!!!! I guess I should just be happy that he has the ability to do this again! However, pretty soon I am going to hide our credit card!!!! I guess we need to sit down and talk about "the budget!" He needs to learn that concept again!!!!
Grant has come a very long way in the 8 months that he has been recovering! He still has a lot of progress to make, but it is truly a miracle how far he has come in such a short period of time!

We have soooo much to be thankful for! I thank the Lord every night for all the progress he has made! The Lord has blessed us soo much! I do admit that I still get very discouraged at times, frustrated, and sometimes I just can't help but cry my heart out! It has been really hard for me to get use to Grant being so different. I really really miss my "Grant" -- the Grant that I use to play soccer with, the Grant that use to tickle me to death, the Grant that use to lay in bed and talk talk talk my ear off, the Grant that use to wrestle and play outside with his boys, the Grant that use go to work then come home and give me a hug and kiss, etc! You get the picture! I guess that's why this day has been kind of a day of sorrow for me, but also a day of gratitude and happiness because of the miracle I have been privileged to witness! I really will be better at updates -- I decided blogging may be kind of fun, and a way for me to escape!