One Month Ago Today...............

So I was just finishing putting a few ornaments on the Christmas tree (yes, it is before Thanksgiving, but the boys begged me and I love Christmas, so I wasn't too hard to sell :-) when I realized that it was one month ago today that Tristan had his accident.  I have to be honest.........I don't spend much time thinking about the accident but rather I focus on the fact that God healed Tristan's little body and he was able to walk out of that hospital side by side with Daddy and I...........but as I was sitting here tonight I found myself thinking back and realized that it had been one month ago today that our lives changed profoundly.  Wow, have we come a long way in one month or what?   For those of you that get to see Tristan on a regular basis, you can agree that he has come quite a long way since one month ago.  Tristan is now running around, jumping around, trying to wrestle with his brothers and sister and buddies (much to Mommy's dismay and SCOLDING!) and he is walking, talking, thinking, arguing, speaking and behaving just as he had before the accident!  Praise God!  He does not seem to be experiencing any long term effects of the traumatic brain injury.........at least as near as we can tell.  Just one week ago today the physical therapist told me that his balance was off as well as a list of activities that a 6-year old boy should be able to do.  She requested that Tristan be scheduled for at least the next 5-6 weeks for therapy with her once per week.  Today after Tristan's therapy I was told by the same therapist that he did SO MUCH better today than he did just last week that she thinks she will only need to see him one more time and then we will be able to cancel all the rest of his appointments!  Tristan may be bummed about that as he told me today when we were driving home from therapy that he thought his therapy was fun that morning because she let him run and jump and play................something Mommy hasn't been doing!  Oh well, I'm sure we can find other activities that he will enjoy to occupy his time until he goes back to school.   And speaking of school...........Tristan's teacher, Mrs. Mize, had been working with the principal, Mrs. Heatherly, toward getting a homebound teacher to visit Tristan while he is off school to ensure that he is keeping up and not falling behind on anything.  The neuro doctor had completed the paperwork and everything was turned in to the corporate office at Dysart District and then today I get a call right after therapy from the Principal stating that Tristan is approved...............BUT there is no one in the position of homebound teacher!  Uh oh!  No tutor available!  I guess that means Mommy will just have to continue playing tutor which is totally fine...........I just wanted him to receive all the academic attention that he could and get the full benefit of having a teacher visit him several times per week.  With any luck they will fill that position before he returns to school and perhaps he will still get some benefit there............maybe we could pray about that :-)   Tristan accompanied me to have lunch with Wyatt at school for Thanksgiving last Thursday and a lot of people were sure excited to see him!  Mrs. Boehlert (Wyatt's teacher who was also Tristan's kindergarten teacher) and Mrs. Mize (Tristan's 1st grade teacher) both wanted Tristan to stop by their class after the lunch and recess, so we stuck around for a while.  Mrs. Boehlert's class had made a book for Tristan a while back and was just waiting for the opportunity to give it to Tristan!  She had Wyatt and Tristan take a seat at the front of the class next to her and she read the book out loud to Tristan and had each kid in class raise their hand when she read their letter.  He was just beaming!  It was priceless!  Then we stopped by Mrs. Mize's class so that Tristan could say hi to all of his old buddies and pick up his Boo-Gram that some little boy had bought for Tristan on Halloween while he was in the hospital.  It was a very moving day...........Tristan must have felt like royalty with all the attention!  He is very lucky to be missed by his teachers and good friends.   We are looking forward to having Thanksgiving at our house this year......we have a LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR!  It seemed only appropriate that we offer to host since our traditional plans weren't going to be possible this year.  Tristan's cousin, Carter, showed Emily (Aaron's sister) a project that he did at school with his teacher and it was showing what he said he was grateful for...........and Carter said he was thankful for his cousin Tristan feeling better and being out of the hospital!  AWWWWW!  How sweet is that?  I told Emily to bring it over and we can display it for Thanksgiving and then put it away in the "Tristan accident box" which is filled to the brim with cards and letters and drawings and mementos from all of Tristan's family, classmates and buddies!   Well, it is officially past my bedtime..........more updating to come after Thanksgiving!  Our family will be going to spend the weekend at the Cibola Vista Resort & Spa for some R & R with the kids this coming Friday and I am sure we will have some cool pictures of Tristan to post after that!  Until then, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and much love to all!   Shannon

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A Day in The Park..............Well Sort of..............

Tristan, Wyatt, Bella and I had a lovely day outside yesterday!  It was our first real journey out into the big world.........outside of church last Sunday.............it felt so good to get back out into the mix of things!  We went with the Riehles over to Asante (spelling?) at 163rd and Grand and took some cool family pics.............well, kind of pics of everyone.........and some mixed family pics!  Tristan enjoyed wandering around and seems more and more like his old self every day.........much to our delight!  Well actually, Wyatt and Tristan and Bella enjoyed wandering around a bit too much...........I thought one would end up in the water with the fishies for sure!   After pictures we had some lunch and did a bit of shopping (at Ulta..........the ultimate boy's store, right????) and then headed to the doctor.  Tristan had his first follow up with is own pediatrician, Dr. Serrino.  Doc didn't know what to say except WOW!  He had only read partially through the 29 page discharge report from the hospital, so Mommy had to give him the short version on Boy Wonder.  He was as relieved as anyone to see Tristan sitting in his office fighting with his brother and sister...........a wonderful change from just a few short weeks ago..........Tristan for his part was NOT happy to be going to the doctor.  He told me he didn't want to see any doctors and he didn't want to go back to St. Joe's!  (Sorry any St. Joe's nurses or staff..........nothing personal I'm sure........)  I assured him he was just going to have a check up.  But then he ended up getting the swine flu shot.  Oops.  Guess he got more than we bargained for.  Oh well, nothing an Otter Pop wouldn't fix when we got home.   You would think after his big busy day out that he would have been ready to go home and crash........but no.........on to video games when we got home!  He can't seem to get enough of playing PS3 with his Daddy!  And Daddy can't get enough of Tristan.  He calls home during work to see how his boy is doing.......can we all collectively say, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww!"  All things considered, this has been a pretty life altering event for all of us...........it isn't just Daddy that is uber-sensitive now :-)   I'm posting a few pics so you can see how great Tristan looks now..............and a few just for fun!  Until next time........................   Shannon

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Paramedics Came By to Check Up On Tristan!!

It was a great Sunday!  The Clark Family was finally able to return to our church for services this morning with our boy by our side!  We have really been missing our church and services (though many of our friends from church have been by our side for the duration of this crisis!) and were anxious to return this week to get pumped up for the week ahead.  Tristan was very excited to go and see all of his friends............though Mommy and Daddy did not allow him to go to his children's class with Miss Abby.........we made him sit next to us during service and I can't say that he enjoyed himself (sorry Pastor Mat).  He drew pictures........he asked if he could play his PSP........he made thank you's for his PSP.......all during service.  Well, at least he was productive!   After church we returned home to a great surprise..........the Surprise Fire Department crew of EMT's that had been here the morning of Tristan's accident on October 24 were coming for a visit!  Four EMT's in all came by.......Jesus Rivera, Jason, Ronnie and Randy wanted to see the miracle boy in person!  They stayed for a good 45 minutes to an hour visiting and were SOOOOOOOOO nice!  They spoke with Tristan and Wyatt and Bella and gave them stickers and hats and posed for pictures on the big fire truck!  Tristan didn't hang out with them for long as he was pretty pooped from being at church for most of the morning.  When he went into the house the EMT's were discussing details of the morning of the accident with Mommy and Daddy.  Pretty heavy stuff.  They also told us that they could not stop thinking about Tristan as all four of them have small children, two of whom had 6 year olds just like Tristan (I think)..........it certainly personalized this accident for them.  He was just weighing heavy on their hearts and they were extremely excited to hear that Tristan had been released from the hospital and was now home.......they said they don't often get the chance to come and witness the great outcome that we had experienced after they are an initial part of someone's care.  We were more than happy to let them come over and meet Tristan on a better day and give them many many thanks for their quick, decisive action that ultimately saved Tristan's life.  Thank you's certainly didn't seem like enough.........so we gave them big hugs on their way out as well!   Tristan is doing well.  Walking better.......talking better........all things better every day.  We do not have a therapy schedule yet, so Mommy will be on the phone with Outpatient Rehab center tomorrow to get that going.  Kind of enjoyed the last few days of last week off!  Tristan will not be returning to his class at school until after the Christmas holiday so his teacher, Mrs. Mize, is working with Principal Heatherly to arrange a tutor for Tristan to ensure that he does not fall behind.  That is awesome and we are most appreciative for that!  Mommy can use all the help she can get!    Tristan and Aaron and I and the whole family just want to THANK everyone for all of the wonderful things that you have done for us since the day of the accident.  It feels like the longest two weeks in eternity to me........BUT.........we felt so loved and surrounded by people that were lifting us up and just never felt lonely throughout the whole ordeal.  We are just so grateful for all of the prayers and for people that even made a point to put Tristan on prayer chains at other churches!  The power of prayer is amazing!  We thank God for saving our boy........and the Surprise Fire Department for the ways in which God used them to help saveTristan!   Shannon

Finally Fixing That CRAZY Haircut!

Well, it has been brought to my attention that I have not been keeping the blog up very well since I have been home!  Oops......sorry! For those of you that have been keeping up with the blog, I DO intend to keep updating for a while as Tristan continues through his therapy.  Although, I do not have a therapy schedule yet.........they were supposed to call me today, but that did not happen............instead of stressing over that though, I am just going to enjoy the rest of this week "off" and hopefully we can hit the ground running next week full steam ahead!  Tristan continues to do well at home.  He enjoys spending his time playing video games with friends that drop by.........Billy Hobbs (one of his bigger friends :-) ) and Gavin and the occasional neighbor kid!  And today Mommy had the bright idea to set him up at Daddy's desk since Daddy was at work and Tristan enjoyed drawing and watching cartoons in Mommy's office!  As of this writing, Tristan and Tryston have just finished eating some Fruit Loops (yes, we are still in that "whatever he wants he gets" phase!) and are now watching Johnny Test on the Cartoon Network and playing Nintendo DS.  As you can see from the pics, Tristan had his haircut "cleaned" up a bit by Daddy tonight..........and sweet little Wyatt decided to follow through and shave his head with his big brother.  He really has such a sweet little heart!  I had to draw the line at Bella shaving her head in solidarity!  I have my limits!  Tristan is looking forward to heading to the Horizon House tomorrow night as we have a potluck to kick off our new round of Fall Small Groups!  He doesn't know it yet, but he is going to be observing more than participating..........but I am sure that he will feel good to just be there amongst all his good friends!  Good night for now...............................    Shannon

One Great Day At Home......

Good evening all! We just got Tristan and Wyatt and Bella put to bed after a long first day home! Tristan is sleeping on the trundle bed in his room where his friends always sleep when we have sleepovers, so he is pretty darn excited to get to sleep there! He had a nice bath with his brother Wyatt during which time he gyrated his neck every which way without his neck brace on (!) And listened to a story from Daddy as Mommy got the boys washed up! Bella supervised..........Tristan was very relaxed and had a great big smile on his face as we left the room!! We told him to just yell for us if he needs to go potty in the middle of the night as we don't want him to get up on his own yet!!

Now, some details about coming home........our Horizon Church family along with a few neighbors and Grandma and Grandpa and Bella were WAITING ON ALL SIDES OF OUR STREET HOLDING WELCOME HOME SIGNS AND BALLOONS FOR TRISTAN when we pulled around the corner!!! Is that amazing or what?? Thanks to Abby and Mat for pulling that one off! It was so cool to have a little parade of loved ones here to see him get home and to make him feel special and man, was he ever grinning from ear to ear as we came around the corner! It made Mommy tear up AGAIN......like I haven't cried enough for a lifetime over the last 10 days!!! YIKES! Awesome homecoming friends and family......just awesome!
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We R on the Road........

Nurse Summer promised early discharge and she delivered! It may have helped that Mommy was hiding behind the linen cart waiting to ambush Dr. Kwasnica the second she stepped a toe onto the Rehab floor this morning for discharge papers..........okay, so I was laying wait in our room (in my bed actually)......but you get the picture!!!!! Dr. Kwasnica asked Nurse Summer if she could lay her purse down first to which Nurse Summer replied, "I don't think so!" At any rate, nusring staff complied and then we weren't even ready to go! Daddy had to load the car which took light years as far as Mommy was concerned..........we had accumulated so much stuff (thanks to all of our family and friends) that Daddy had to lay the back seat down and move Tristan's booster up to the middle! YIKES! I see a lot of unpacking in Mommy's future..........the car actually looks like we r coming back from California or something!!! Don't I wish!!!!!! Did I $ention thank you to everyone for the amazing support, love, hugs, prayers, balloons, gifts, toys, cards, snacks, Mt. Dew, Dr. Peppers.............and on and on...........we were all so well taken care of! We feel very loved and very very very blessed! Almost home..........God is good!!!!!!!
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Going Home Tomorrow!!!!!!!

Hello friends and family! Tristan has been having a very very busy day with Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy. It all started at 8:30 am and Daddy and I were just checking out the activity board and noticed that his therapy schedule will not end until 3 pm today. He ought to sleep really good tonight!! And he will need the sleep because tomorrow we are going HOME!!!!!!!!!!!! Nurse Summer said she will push the doctor in the morning to get the discharge orders written and hopefully have us out of here by 9 or 10 am! Praise God.......we are ready to get back home and be a family TOGETHER again!! We are not completely done with this hospital though.......Outpatient Rehab has been ordered for 2 to 3 Times per week for 1 month. All the way down at the hospital again! Oh well, at least we won't be Inpatient! Tristan is now back from PT and wants to "rest" by playing video games with Daddy! Imagine that...............
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Stitches R Out!!!!!

Nurse Summer made it one of her first priorities to get those itchy stitches out of TC's head this morning! He didn't even wince......and she put them in a bag to take home!!! EWWWWWWW.......okay, we are going to have some odd mix of things in his "accident box"! We don't want to throw anything away.........weirdos...........

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A Little Sisterly Love!

Grandma Lisa and Papa Russ brought Wyatt and Bella up to see Tristan last night and we all ventured over to the cafeteria to eat dinner along with Rick, Dawn, Bradley and Wesley! We enjoyed eating outside of our room for a change though Tristan acted grumpy.........he was upset that we made him leave his video games in his room! Once we got back to the room he said, "Come on dad! Let's Play!" The child knows what he wants! But while in the cafeteria Bella took great pleasure in continuing to tease Tristan and pull him away from the dinner table! He laughed at first......then got ticked! All in all though, a great visit! Thanks to grandma and grandpa for braving the car ride with Bella and Wyatt who take great pleasure in teasing one another on long car rides!!!!!

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Green Boys Came to Play PS3 with TC

Tristan has been having another great day! After church was over visitors started trickling in to sit and play video games with Tristan and Rick and Dawn even brought a big box of Dunkin Donuts which got a BIG BIG smile from Tristan! He had one gone in about 30 seconds! Ok......gotta run since Grandma Lisa, Papa Russ and Wyatt and Bella just got here! We are going to go to the cafeteria in a bit to eat a hospital dinner together........in a word.......YUM!!!!!!!
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