Alright, recap of yesterday:
Yesterday was Justin Bieber's 17th birthday. Happy birthday Biebs.
Trevor decided yesterday that he is now a middle-aged housewife. Not only did he watch Oprah, but he also watched Friends and Eat Pray Love. I think this might be his way of letting us know that it's time to shave off that manly beard!
Okay, so how confusing and frustrating would it be to have a traumatic brain injury and be taken out to a PARKING LOT to go FISHING? Yes, that is what he did in recreational therapy today. Fish weren't biting, who'da guessed?During physical therapy, one of the therapists in the room coughed. My mom got mad and asked her if she was sick, and why she wasn't wearing a mask. Just then, Trevor coughed, hacked up a loogey and spat on the floor.
Speech therapy was yet again a struggle.
The therapist (or "rehabist" as we like to call them) told Trevor to finish the phrase "hot and ___." He said "cold." And then got stuck on the word "cold", along with "nope" and "sure" from previous days.
She then asked him a bunch of yes or no questions. He answered each one with "sure" and then "cold." Oh great!
She explained to Trevor that he is repeating a lot of words, that the word "sure" is getting stuck in his head and that this word is no longer to be in his vocabulary. By the end of the therapy session, she tallied him saying "sure" 47 times. I'm pretty sure it is still in his vocabulary...
She asked him a question where the response from a normal person would be "baseball." What was his? "Strawberry." Strawberry? Where did this word come from?
And for today:
The speech therapist wrote "Trevor" on a piece of paper and then told him to write his name. He wrote "Jenny." The therapist's name isn't Jenny and I'm not sure he even knows anybody named Jenny. She then wrote "Trevor" and told him once again to write his name. He wrote "Sbbbb." I am 100% positive he doesn't know anybody named Sbbbb. She got out a new sheet of paper and told him they were going to go word-by-word. She wrote T; he wrote B. She re-wrote T; he wrote T. She wrote R; he wrote B. She re-wrote R; he wrote R. And so on. How in the world did he get the letter B stuck in his head? He literally hasn't written that letter since the accident...
The therapist touched my mom and asked Trevor if that was Mom. He said "mother." He has always referred to her as Mother, not Mom.
She then gave him an iPad and told him to point to the banana icon; he poked everything on the screen. He has always claimed to be a terrible test-taker, and now I believe him. Somehow he always seems to pick the correct answer last.
All of Trevor's "rehabists" are extremely impressed by his recovery. Although it is remarkable that he has survived this near-death experience, I cannot even force myself to be impressed with his progression, or lack there of, in the past couple weeks. Honestly, I'm still not sure that he is completely comprehending what we are saying. I know he understands that we want him to do something, but I'm almost positive he just guesses what it is we are looking for. There's about a 50/50 chance that he does what you tell him to do and there's about a 50/50 chance that he responds to your questions correctly. To me it seems like at this point, life is just a big guessing game for him.
Trevor goes in for his sixth, yes I said sixth, brain surgery on Friday, March 4th. They are going to put in a titanium plate covered in a methama-something membrane to replace the missing portion of his skull. Watching Juno today, I learned that this substance is the same one used to protect acrylic nails. Hopefully he doesn't constantly smell nail polish from the inside of his head!
Lastly, today is national "Don't say the R word day," the R word being *etarded. According to MedicineNet.Com, *etarded is a term used "when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and in skills such as communicating, taking care of him or herself, and social skills... [Those] with mental retardation may take longer to learn to speak, walk, and take care of their personal needs such as dressing or eating." That whole definition pretty much screams Trevor Rhoda. Ah crack! Happy F'ing Don't say the R word day, USA.
Oh, and if you're still wondering if there's anything I need or if there's anything you can do for me: Computer, phone, boyfriend... Get on it!
Maybe Strawberry came from Daryl Strawberry? (Baseball player)
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