August 19, 2017 9:10 pm

Hi Friends!

This is Eden, Josh's sister.  I am guest posting today to give a different perspective, and am not the most eloquent of writers, so please bear with me.

My parents are staying at a retirement community that is minutes away from Joshua's hospital, which is great!  They are so close, I think it's easier to walk to Joshua's room than it is to drive.  But it has a downside.  Last night, I woke up 11 times from life flights, ambulances and police sirens.  My mom and dad said they have blocked out a lot of the noises.  Mom said it took her 3 weeks to get used to it, but for a newcomer like me, last night was rough.

Last night we were told that Josh may have the opportunity to go fishing with Craig's outpatient programs.  Since Joshua loved fishing before the accident, we thought that he would like to take his first off-campus excursion fishing.  In order for Josh to go fishing, he had to be completely ready to go by 8:00 AM.  So today started really early, at 6:15 AM.  Something I didn't quite understand is that it takes Joshua a LONG time to eat.  A really long time.  He has a small dish of his favorite foods and, if we are lucky, he eats half (at least that's the goal!).  My parents are diligent about trying to get him to feed himself, but they end up helping him much of the time.  Even with the help, and only eating half the plate (if that), it each meal takes him an hour to eat.  He gets distracted wheeling around, looking in the mirror, and meticulously dipping each item of food in ketchup.  Everything is better with ketchup!  Today's breakfast, if you are wondering, was bacon and potatoes with ketchup on top ... of both.

Also, morning meds take quite a while.  Joshua is great at taking his pills, although he sometimes chews them.  But he really hates his eye drops and his morning shot.  So trying to coerce him into those takes a while until he will let the nurse even try.  Interesting that he remembers those things he hates, no?

After ALL that work, and the really early morning, we were all disappointed that there was not enough room on the bus for Joshua go fishing.  Thankfully, he doesn't remember he was supposed to go.  And thus the 8-week streak on hospital campuses continues.  But we did walk outside for a short time, just long enough to get this picture.

I talked to Josh about home for a little bit.  I asked him if he knows where home is.  He said Colorado.  I asked him if he was home.  He said no.  I asked him if he remembers home, and got no answer.  But while talking to Mom and Dad about going home, he said "Must be nice".  I find it interesting that he knows he is not at home, but doesn't remember what home is, where home is, or what it looks like.  But he knows Craig is not it.

He also looks in the mirror a lot.  Sometimes when you ask what he is looking at, he can articulate, but most of the time not. He points out his scars on his head and neck and eye.  He realizes that there is something different about him from everyone else, but he doesn't know what is different.  I overheard Dad in the bathroom with Josh having a very sweet "conversation".  Dad was patiently explaining the scars on Josh's body and where they came from, for maybe the 3rd time today.  I will point out that Joshua 2.0 loves a do-rag and glasses.  We think he likes the head covering to hide his scars.  He definitely doesn't like his scars.

Dad stayed with Josh on campus while Mom and I explored a nearby mall for a couple of hours.  From Dad's report, they hung out down in the PT gym, walked around, played Flow, and ate lunch.  When Mom and I got back, he was finishing his lunch of pork and mashed potatoes which Dad had started an hour prior.  This time, he ate half his plate mostly on his own (HEY-O!).  This was followed by a two hour nap ... for all of us.  Joshua sleeps in a tent that completely zips and clips from the outside in order to keep him in bed so he doesn't fall out when he is sleeping.  It's a little sad to see.

After nap time, we came back to Joshua's room and he was wide awake still in bed in the dark.  So we got him up and got him ready for the afternoon.  He decided he had other plans, and went back to bed.  He didn't sleep, he just wanted to rest.  So we tried to do homework.  This is how his homework goes:

"Josh, do you know what this is?" (Shows him a key chain).
Silence.
"This is a key chain.  What do you use a key chain for?"
Silence.
"To keep your keys on.  What do you use keys for?"
Points to the door.
"Yes.  To open your door.  What else can you use open with a key?"
Silence.

And it continues like this for about 20 minutes.  Poor Josh.  It's pretty sobering to realize how much Josh doesn't know.  Every time I enter the room, I reintroduce myself and ask if he knows who I am.  He never remembers.  He also never remembers who Mom and Dad are even though they are always with him.  His memory lasts about 10 minutes, sometimes less, and then you need to remind him all over again.

This afternoon was very relaxed. We walked around the campus, played a little bit of Foosball, and Mom played a matching card game with Josh which he dominated!  He had a great dinner of pizza, which he was actually interested in.  And a very nice CNA named Haley has been playing with Josh all night.  They played cards and then she took him to the PT gym where they played soccer, Josh's rules.  He had no goal so she couldn't score, but Haley had a goal so he won!!