Dona Luisa, the 92 year old resident at the nursing home, came to visit us and gave David a Divine Mercy prayer card that I had given her a few days before. She was so happy she had something special to offer to him. It was wonderful to think that my gift to her would come back to us along with her joy of giving. We have learned and experienced the blessing in giving and also in receiving.
She liked to call David – “bulls eyes” and would laugh about it. We thanked her and off she went pushing her wheelchair down the hallway. Dona Luisa had been a well renowned clothes designer and seamstress back in her country of Argentina. By her looks you could tell that she must have been a beautiful woman. She would dressed color coordinated and wore fantasy jewelry every day. Her Spanish was perfect with her Argentinean accent and carried herself with a distinguished flair. She had no family in the US and constantly talked about going back home.
During this time, a few nurses had mentioned about a young man who had suffered a TBI and who had been in David’s room two years prior. His mother wanted to meet us to what I agreed. When she entered the room, I could read the anguish in her face and I held her as if I knew her. She started crying and repeatedly said that she would pray for David. I promised I would do the same for her son. Her son had only been a few months at the nursing home when she arranged to care for him at home. After two years, he continued being fed through a tube and remained with a trache. I was overwhelmed to imagine the uncertainty of dealing with the reality of a TBI without the help of a medical staff such as all those that surrounded David.
I prayed that fear would not take over any decisions regarding us leaving the nursing home - while I dealt with the deep longing of going back home and caring for David myself in our own corner with our own routines, etc. I kept reminding myself that my deep love for David could not interfere with God’s divine plans. I had to learn to discern and keep my ears, eyes and heart open to see His signs.
I prayed that fear would not take over any decisions regarding us leaving the nursing home - while I dealt with the deep longing of going back home and caring for David myself in our own corner with our own routines, etc. I kept reminding myself that my deep love for David could not interfere with God’s divine plans. I had to learn to discern and keep my ears, eyes and heart open to see His signs.
Stacey, the ST diagnosed David having Apraxia of speech. Apraxia is not a problem with language comprehension, instead it refers to the difficulty with certain motor movements to initiate and perform speech regardless of the desire to speak and the mouth and tongue muscles physically able to form words. Another form of apraxia affects a person's ability to intentionally move arms and legs.
We all missed David’s voice and wondered when he would speak again and which first word he would say. That same day a special friend told me not to fear because “there is no Apraxia for God”, to what invaded my heart with peace and hope.
We all missed David’s voice and wondered when he would speak again and which first word he would say. That same day a special friend told me not to fear because “there is no Apraxia for God”, to what invaded my heart with peace and hope.
Jorge and David One afternoon, Jorge and I were talking to each other and as I laid my arms on David’s legs at the end of the bed, he made a movement that scared me to the point of jumping off the edge of the bed and this action made David laugh. We were in shock – David was laughing. Jorge and I started laughing about what had happened and at the same time, we laughed of joy hearing David’s laugh. It was as if he had awakened to a different level.
Now that David was eating and gaining weight, the feeding milk was taken away. We waited for the hospital to give us an appointment to remove the abdominal peg feeding tube. He also was able to hold his head up straight so his wheelchair was changed to one with no head support. He was stepping up.
To our surprise, Chris and Steven came to visit David. They had visited at the hospital and remained close to us with messages and prayers. They had been friends of our sons for over 15 years. They went to middle and high school together. They had played sports together, worked and partied together and we knew their visit would be special. At one point Chris told David - “I don’t know her”, - to what David burst into laughter with intensity. By remembering the inside joke, he demonstrated his long-term memory was working.
To our surprise, Chris and Steven came to visit David. They had visited at the hospital and remained close to us with messages and prayers. They had been friends of our sons for over 15 years. They went to middle and high school together. They had played sports together, worked and partied together and we knew their visit would be special. At one point Chris told David - “I don’t know her”, - to what David burst into laughter with intensity. By remembering the inside joke, he demonstrated his long-term memory was working.
For the removal of the peg, David had to be fasting and his blood pressure had to be normal in order to proceed. We had everyone praying for the procedure. Jorge and I arrived real early and left to Jackson Memorial hoping all would go well. We kept reminding ourselves not to fear because we knew who was in charge. To our amazement, David stood still during the 3-hour wait and his blood pressure remained normal the whole time. Because he was so relaxed, they proceeded without sedation or IV and the removal was a success.
We got to the nursing home in time for dinner and Ana Carolina brought David a special red velvet cupcake to celebrate the accomplishment. She always had these details that made every moment special.
A few days later, Ana Carolina shared the song, “Please don’t go” and mentioned how much she missed talking with David and hanging out with him.
She was constantly checking that I would be OK and kept planning for the day David would go visit their apartment. Whenever she could, she would arrange for me to stay in bed a few extra hours in the morning while she would attend to David or she would take care of him in the evening so I could go to the apartment, shower and lay in bed watching “Shrek, which became my favorite movie and must have watched it 100 times.
They continued to do away with medications as David showed improvement. He would still get agitated once in a while but was becoming more aware as well. Jorge would continue to travel twice a week to see us. He was preparing to fly to Puerto Rico for the wedding celebration of his niece Cristina. My sister Gaby and mom were in Europe visiting France and Rome. My sister Noemy and Hector were getting ready to visit us again.
There had been so many accomplishments; I couldn’t wait for them to see how much David had improved.
There had been so many accomplishments; I couldn’t wait for them to see how much David had improved.
Hector and Noemy were on their way to be with us again.
There are two kinds of fear. The type of fear, which gives us the necessary hold to ponder before making decisions and which reduces compulsiveness and promotes reverence – this is the type of fear we need to be encouraged. The other type of fear is the one, which paralyzes us from making changes to move forward and grow, that which pushes us to rush into situations or keeps us stagnant resulting many times in despair - this is the type of fear we need to overcome. God has promised to guide us and fill us with courage. Once we learn to trust in God, it is possible to overcome the fear to confront the challenges ahead of us.
