If you missed part one to this story, you can find it here.
When we arrived home, my mom was there with the video camera and Simon hesitantly tottered into the house. He didn’t seem afraid to be there, but he did seem apprehensive. All of this faded away as soon as he saw his best friend, Liam, waiting for him.
The next couple of weeks we returned to “normal”. It’s very strange how you pick up right where you left off, even though you are completely on the edge emotionally. Simon had trouble sleeping at night, I believe from the trauma of being hooked up to machines almost 24/7 and having nurses poke and prod him at all hours, but for the most part he slept soundly.
Oddly enough, he used to be an avid thumb sucker and after the accident, that habit never returned, possibly because he favored his right thumb, which is on his weaker side.
I returned to work after only having missed a couple days while being in the hospital, but had a hard time focusing. It is a very strange feeling to go back to “normal”. Perhaps this is a form of post-traumatic stress.
We were incredibly blessed by people bringing us food every night for a while, which helped us get back into a routine and spend more quality time hanging with our boys.
I haven’t had stress or panics in the bathroom/hall where the accident happened, but there are occasional times when my heart panics and I freak out imagining Simon falling off of something. Once while we were at the splash pad near our house, Simon slipped, not hurting himself, but I ran and scooped him up while trying hard not to bawl my eyes out.
Jesse and I do our best to act normally around the boys and not make big deals out of little accidents, so as not to freak either Liam or Simon out. They are both pretty rough, like most boys, so we know little scrapes and head bumps are normal.
(wrestling the day after he came home from the hospital)
Simon’s speech and fine motor have returned to above normal age-range, but he still has weakness with gross motor activities, mainly running and jumping. Because of the weakness on his right side, he goes up on his toes when trying to walk. He attends physical therapy for this, but we also feel that the best thing he needs is time. We know his brain will heal, since he is still so young and when he gets older he’ll be able to understand us when we say “no toes”. He also needs time to build up his core muscles to help his balance, so that he won’t fall all the time.
We ultimately trust in our Heavenly Father and are extremely thankful to get to spend more time with our beautiful boy. Simon is a sweet, silly little boy and with his personally I’m sure he’ll be the class clown at some point in his life. He has an amazing ability to make faces and make people laugh.
We are thankful for the relationship between he and Liam and believe they were bonded closer because of the trauma they faced together.
The THANKFUL list (in no particular order):
-that this happened while I was on Christmas break and only had to miss a week of work
-family and friends being so helpful with meals, Liam, support, etc.
-the amount of others (friends, acquaintances & total strangers) that supported us through prayer and financially, helping us to cover our bills, including most importantly money for gas to get to the hospital and back.
-the nurses/doctors at Palomar for reacting so quickly to Simon’s situation and getting us the help we needed.
-Electricity and machines for supporting Simon as he healed from surgery and gave us the answers we needed to save his life.
-the amazing nurses and doctors at Rady’s who were INCREDIBLY skilled, kind and caring.
-Kaiser allowing us to go to Rady’s Children’s in Oceanside for physical therapy, so that we don’t have to go to a PT for adults or drive down to San Diego. We are the only people they have ever let do that (I don’t know why, but I’m not asking questions).
-Simon’s sweet little voice. Every time I hear him speak, I smile.
-Health insurance. If we didn’t have it, I have no doubt that we would have lost our car, house and everything else we own.
-My job that gave me the knowledge to do speech therapy on Simon while we were in the hospital.
-Facebook/Instagram for being able to spread prayer requests/pictures quickly and across the world.
-My husband for turning to God in prayer during this difficult time and taking such great care of the boys every day.
-My awesome iPhone with the stellar camera for the ability to take pictures (instead of carting around a giant dslr) and be on the internet (instead of a laptop).
-The Ronald MacDonald house for providing shelter and food for us during such a hectic time.
-The relationship between brothers to act as a friendship and model for the correct way to walk & talk.
-And finally, and most importantly, God for protecting our son and restoring him to us. We know that Simon is here for a reason and believe that God has big plans for his life.
I hope this story moved/strengthened/encouraged/uplifted you and that you hug your kids/niece/nephew/grandkids a little tighter and never take them for granted. Feel free to share this story with whoever you think would like to hear it! 🙂
The Girl With The Smile 