The Next Step:
Since Jordan 's fight began, one thing has remained constant and that is my mom's undying faith. She has reminded us again and again that we must understand that Jordan 's recovery has to unfold in God's time—not ours, and that having faith in that and in Jordan will ultimately lead to his full recovery. There have been times when I was so angry that I told mom I didn't care about God's time or his plan, I miss Jordan and cannot understand why we have to go through this—why Jordan has to go through this. Then mom says that although God may not work as fast as we want, and we may never know or understand why this happened, having faith and patience is all part of the lesson and we cannot give up our faith. That, in essence, would mean giving up on Jordan .
Why Lufkin , Texas ?
The point of this is that when you pray for things, you have to be open minded enough to see that your prayers have been answered, it is up to us to receive whatever we have asked for in whatever way it presents itself. We got an answer nearly a week after Jordan 's story was printed in the Herald Citizen. A man (an angel) named Fred Carrington showed up at Jordan 's door at the nursing home here in Cookeville . He talked with my mom and told her he had read about Jordan and wondered if we had considered hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT). After mom told him that we had read a lot about it and we were definitely open to it, Fred explained that he and his wife Tammy had opened a hyperbaric clinic in Lufkin , Texas . Their son Jonathan had undergone several HBO treatments under Dr. Richard Neubauer who is the leading authority on HBOT here in the US (he is based in Florida ). Jonathan had suffered an aneurysm on his brain as a baby and they have seen amazing results in his recovery as a result of the HBOT. The Carringtons not only invited Jordan to Lufkin to receive the treatments, they set us up with a place to stay, assisted us in finding a suitable place for Jordan to stay in between treatments and helped us find an amazing physical therapist. The Carrington's were (and still are) a Godsend.
We met Fred on a Saturday and nine days later we were on our way to Lufkin , finally leaving the nursing home we had spent the last year in. It was insane and everything just fell into place, we knew this was our answer—this was where we were supposed to be. You are probably asking yourself what happened to Chicago . Well, while we were waiting for the insurance company to make a decision we were also waiting on a returned call from Chicago that finally came after we got to Texas . Jordan 's new caseworker (yes, new) left mom a message on her cell saying it would be “really helpful” if we called them back. It turns out that the caseworker we had originally dealt with left the rehab facility and for whatever reason, Jordan 's case was not discussed with the person who took her place. When we found this out we were furious. Mom had to actually tell the new caseworker where we were in the process with the lady whose place she took. It was infuriating and felt like we were again stuck in quicksand—back at square one. Then, Fred showed up.
How is Jordan doing now?
Jordan has had 22 HBO treatments thus far. It is a process that in simple terms “wakes up” the brain, it's like a kick-start to recovery. The experts say that they usually start to see big results in HBO patients after about 40 treatments. To understand more about HBOT and the process you can visit the web site at www.lufkinhbo.com . Jordan has a very busy schedule during the week. He goes to hyperbaric twice a day, once at 10 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. and each session is an hour. In between treatments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday he sees Brenda his physical therapist. It is so great to finally have a physical therapist who is not lazy or intimidated—Brenda works Jordan 's butt off. She sits him up on the side of the PT table and also lays him on his stomach (both exercises must feel good, as Jordan has neither sat straight up nor lay on his stomach in almost a year). She spends each hour asking him to do things like hold his head, keep his arms straight, turn his head all the while telling him that he controls these things and it is up to him to work hard and get better—we love her. Jordan will start seeing a speech therapist beginning this week and we also have an appointment with a doctor who can begin to wean Jordan from the trachea tube in his throat. He is doing well and his weight is around 169 pounds, which is crucial to his being able to withstand all of his therapy.
Jordan is still trying to talk and his response to things we ask him to do seems quicker. One of the exercises the therapist and we do with him deals with his following things with his eyes. We start on one side of him and walk back and forth talking to him—the point is to get him to “track” your movements with his eyes. This is very important and he gets better at it every day. He can also find people in the room with his eyes. For example, if I say, “ Jordan , can you look at mom?” He will turn his eyes to mom, but not only mom—he knows who we are, he does the same if you ask him to find Dad or Auntie Gail or whoever. He has always done this but now does it quicker and will hold other's gazes a bit longer. It is hard to explain all of his improvements fully because we see things in him we recognize that only a family could know. Like when we ask him to smile, the left corner of his mouth will turn up ever so slightly and you can see the area around his mouth quivering like he is trying so hard to smile. For those who may not have seen Jordan, it is hard to understand that if he moves his head, or lifts his arm or tries to smile—this is huge to us and shows he is improving. Those “small improvements” lead to the big changes. We know if there is anything Jordan can do “a little” his brain and body can be retrained to do it A LOT, thus eventually getting him back to a full—independent—life.
We understand that people want Jordan to be better now —nobody wants that more than us. But it is important to understand that with any kind of brain injury, the rehabilitation takes time. Jordan 's brain must be retrained to understand that he controls all of his movement and this takes great patience on Jordan 's part as well as ours.
The Foreseeable Future:
People often ask us, “how do you do it?” The answer to that is simple, you don't think about how you do it, you just do it. We know that we have a long road ahead but the bottom line is this: when it is your family—your heart, you do whatever you can, whatever it takes to help them. You do not stop just because things get hard or because others say negative things—stupid things. You don't think about all of that, you don't think about you. You can't. All you think about is your loved one and what you can do to help them. In our case there was never a question— Jordan deserves every chance we can give him to recover—and he will get better. For people who choose to doubt, they are entitled to their opinions. We do not allow any negative attitudes around Jordan or ourselves, I guess you could say we are realistic and extremely positive. We understand it will take time but we know if given the chance Jordan will recover fully.
Thank You:
I just returned from Lufkin today after spending a week there with mom and Jordan. He is doing great and mom and I call each other about five times a day. I can't tell you what all of the cards and letters mean to our family. We have already had to buy Jordan another corkboard so we can hang them all up J . Please know that we read every card to Jordan and it is important he realize there are so many people here at home rooting for him and counting on him to work hard and get better. Your words mean so much and carry us through each day. The people at HBOT, Mitzi and Tammy—who are so positive and have quickly become like a second family—are always laughing at the amount of mail Jordan gets, it brings us all joy. A million thank you's for your love and encouragement. I also really appreciate all of your support and kind words about Jordan 's Story in the H-C. I was hesitant to be so open as I am fairly tender these days, but this wasn't about me—this was for Jordan, the one person for whom I was willing to wear my heart so publicly. I so appreciate your taking the time to read it.
Finally, as you gather around your thanksgiving tables, please remember Jordan and his recovery in your prayers. Also, please tell the people you love how you feel. If you love them—tell them! I find peace in the fact that Jordan knows I love him, without a doubt. The last time we spoke it was the last thing we said—what we always said—when we left each other, I'd say “Love you Jor,” and he'd say “Love you Shan.” I can't wait until we are gathered around our own Thanksgiving table, thanking God for all of your prayers and all of our blessings—with Jordan leading that prayer standing at the head of the table.
(Could you post the address below in an obvious place on the website please? Everyone wants to know this address and I told them it would be on the website. Thank You so much!)
Mail letters or surprises to Jordan or Glenda at:
Jordan/Glenda Terry
C/o Lufkin Hyperbaric Center
1514 Ellis Avenue Suite F
Lufkin , TX 75904 |