Really Home

We are home for good.  Andrew has completed his rehab in Vancouver and will finish off using various professionals on Vancouver Island.  It feels great to be home.  He is enjoying having a little more freedom along with those home cooked meals.  Our journey hasn't ended but every day things are a little brighter.  On behalf of Andrew and our whole family, we thank everyone for their support and positive thoughts.  We could not have come this far without you and we are so truly thankful that you have been with us through this difficult time.  The blog will be even more sporadic but I will have the true "Blog King" keep you up to date on anything more exciting than our day to day routine.  Once again, the most heartfelt of thank you's from the Crowley's.

April 15, 2012

Ready to get out for the first time on the 7 week anniversary
with the help of the famous Coach Carr Senior and Junior in
a single at Brentwood College School..   

Says it all.  One happy boy.

Home

It was a lovely weekend.  Relaxing, fun and emotional.  Andrew visited with friends, went to the movies, went to the driving range and generally enjoyed having his own space....or at least as much as his parents would allow him.  He beat his Dad at chess though Steve recovered for game #2.

Andrew received the book of well wishes done by friends and was very touched by all the thoughts, messages and pictures.  He thanks every one for their thoughts and prayers.  The power of human kindness is an amazing thing.

This week will be a busy one.  We will find out at the end of the week what Andrew's "next step" plan will be.  We finished off last week with a 15 minute treadmill run and then another 15 minute run outside with his Aunt.  As you can imagine, Andrew is motivated to move forward.  I can tell that I am going to have to speed up my recovery plan and Andrew might just have to slow down a bit for me to catch up.  I am sure we will meet in the middle.

On this weekend of rebirth, we wish everyone a very Happy Easter and a huge thank you for your continued support and good wishes.

Moving again...

Onwards and upwards!  Today Andrew moved to GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre.  The steady stream of rehab physicians and therapists upon our arrival means that Andrew is going to be a very busy guy fine tuning his recovery.  The next week and a half will allow all of the team involved in Andrew to decide the best treatment plan and his expected length of stay. The best news received was his "Weekend Pass" to home for the Easter weekend.  He isn't the only one excited with the thoughts of sleeping in his/her own bed!

Andrew Land

Bye bye walker & wheelchair, hello hard floors and running shoes.  Andrew continues to amaze us on a daily basis.  He is now motoring around the hospital and is itching to get on with his rehab in a more aggressive manner.  He has had visitors this past week which was a great distraction.  Life is pretty much centered around friends, food and exercise.  He is sporting the new Nike Fuel band and so every exercise/action counts in his daily goal total.  He could be the next "Just Do It" Nike model at this rate. 

Not Counting the Days

March 19, 2012
Greetings from the Queen.  Steve did a fabulous job of blogging through the tough times and so now I can just give you the essentials as we move down the path to recovery.  It had been a busy week with the removal of more medical attachments and final assessments.  Andrew has begun to Skype friends and check email.  If you want to get in touch with him, you can send him a message and he will get back to you.  As you can imagine after a head injury, it doesn't take much to tire him out. It is kind of like our bellies in that if we eat a big meal the next thing that we do is rest and sleep so that we can digest; the brain works like that, too. In other words, after a big 'information meal' the brain needs time to digest the information and so it is time for a nap...lots of those daily. This is typical for this kind of injury even though Andrew continues to amaze us daily So if you Skype Andrew, turn off the video of your face in order to keep the brain meal small and then Andrew won't need such a big nap later. So far we are keeping conversations short but anything beats the heck out of having to talk to your mother all day. As for Facebook, that is the fast food of brain information and that will happen once the brain is 'Olympic-rower- fit' and able to afford the occasional cheeseburger and fries.

Andrew realizes there is still much work ahead but he is up to the challenge every day.  You know he is getting tired of all things medical when he laments the inability to do a 6k erg (rowing speak for hard horrible hard).

Andrew's big brother, Spencer, came by for a visit this weekend and that was a real treat. He will have to wait on Fraser to finish exams for his visit and until then it will be Skype. What a world of difference the technologies have made to bring family together right from Skype to blogging.

On a final note, Steve is being well-fed by friends and neighbours who know that feeding himself his own cooking might be dangerous. Thank you ever so much for that kindness. Steve says that life is taking on its order again and the freezer is getting full...so he will survive from now on. Thanks again!!!!

Day 19

March 15, 2012

Marcie is now blogspot Queen after this post.  Her posts will be short and less frequent (weekly), she tells me.

Andrew is a busy guy.  He is getting lots of support in his new surroundings.  He is making progress every day.  When you are 18 and you have experienced life on basic hospital food, it is a big day when you are told that you can eat a 'general diet'...well, it wasn't fondue and not even bacon, but the first thing was a McDonald's milkshake and french fries.  He is eating everything in sight after losing some of that rowing muscle.  Mobility is improving and we have gone from laying in a hospital bed to becoming ever more mobile, being back on Facebook (if only as an observer...no replies just yet but that will come), a phone call or two to some of his friends, visits from grandparents, aunts and cousins, and of course lots of hospital work to get him going.  He has come a long way in two and a half weeks and we are amazed and blessed.  If you are 18 years old, one could argue that your life is pretty good when it involves a few of your friends, McDonald's, and Facebook.  Andrew will start to take a few phone calls with approval from Marcie (and she would like to be called the "Great Wall of China"), because there has to be tremendous order in Andrew's life as he recovers and she will control visits from family and friends, phone calls and other outside interactions; all key to keeping Andrew on the path to a great recovery.

Steve has returned to work and can't wait for the phone calls to Andrew in the morning and evening as Andrew recovers his energy and tells him about the day's events.  Friends have kept Steve well-fed and so thanks for that.  His next project will be to help create a way for desperate families to navigate the Vancouver International Airport in times of severe emotional distress when trying to reach loved-ones in far away places when a missed plane connection may mean enduring the possibility of loss of the chance to see a critically ill or dying family member...it was by a stroke of luck that we made it to see Andrew quickly on the horrible day two and a half weeks ago; thanks again go out to two people who broke rules to help after pleading our cases.  There is no such fast track process in our international airport to move a desperate family through the ticketting, screening and customs process...that is something that Steve is going to work hard to change so that no family ever has to go through the dreaded uncertainty of not spending precious moments with a loved family member in times like this.  Stay tuned.