Superman is BACK...

...in Waco at least!!!

After two VERY long months in San Antonio

at RIOSA, Travis just couldn't take it anymore

so Lynna decided to bring him home. 

It still makes us SICK that Scott & White

Insurance forced him to leave CNS

in Irving where he was thriving. :(

While the therapy was top notch at RIOSA,

Travis being stuck in a hospital room

ALONE with no voice, and no way to

move and NOBODY close by

(Waco is almost four hours from RIOSA)

was not working!!!

I believe him being in that dreadful

hospital room those two months

did NOTHING for Trav's state

of mind and his spirit.  Makes

 me so sad to think of how he must

have felt.  NOOOOOO more of that

now though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first week Lynna had him at her house.

This was of course NOT without its

challenges.  Her house is not yet

equipped to take on someone

in the condition Travis is in.  Plus there

are just SO many things you have to

think about...medical supplies,

equipment, how to administer about

20 different types of medicine (crushed)

 each day through a feeding tube,

feedings, not being able to leave on

a moment's notice, not being able to

leave Travis at all as a matter of fact,

and I could go on and on.

It definitely takes a village to handle

a person with a TBI and thankfully

our family makes up a village.

PaPa, Grandmother, Aunt Michelle,

La Tante (French for aunt and what

Travis calls me!), Wendell, Uncle Troy,

and even the STORM all tried to help

out.  But God bless Lynna, Travis and

Hunter's hearts.......none of us have to

endure what they do.  I don't

know how they make it.

I really, really don't. 

Most people haven't a clue

what all this is like. 

In order for Lynna to qualify for some

special programs to assist with making her

house handicapped accessible,

Travis has to serve some time in a

nursing home.  I think it goes without saying

that he was not the least bit thrilled

over this, but we had no choice. 

After visiting several in Waco

and not really feeling too confident

in any of our choices, I thought I

remembered that one of Walker's best

bud's dad worked in the nursing home

business.  We have recently become

friends with them and I called his wife

to see.  You can't even believe

what happened next!  I called her

on a Sunday afternoon and her

husband, Chad, asked Lynna to

meet him at the facility that

VERY afternoon.  First of all,

the place is literally five minutes

from all of us AND it is VERY nice

and new.  Naturally only the elderly

live there, but that very afternoon,

Lynna KNEW that this was the place.

Chad HOOKED us UP!!!!!!

He's a really cool guy anyways

and has taken to Travis like you

wouldn't believe.  God is good!!!

I took this picture right after

Lynna & Travis checked into

his room with TWO flat screen

TV's...again, thanks to Chad!  ha;)

Also that day on my first visit, I set off

the alarm to get into the building!!!...

Then Michelle did it on her first

time in...AND then Lynna did it!

Trav was lookin' all handsome

in his new Superman shirt that Kelli G

got him!  Hudson was just happy to be

with his kindred spirit!!!

AND then Hudson found some Carmex;)

The STORM made their initial first

visit to Sr. Care that afternoon after school...

Travis had missed one week of

therapy and we knew that his new

outpatient therapy would not start for

another couple of weeks.

SO, Lynna & Wendell go and walk

Travis up and down the halls

every night.  So amazing!
They AND Travis!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scott & Grandma Bigham

surprised Travis that night :)

Wendell said he had been

"STORMED"!!!!!!!!!!!

It has been so cool to be able to pop

in on Travis every single day...

most days more than once!  ;)
Huds might be Trav's favorite

guest...especially when he gets

on his UT bed!  ha!

Hope Travis doesn't put this on

Troy's facebook!!!  ;)

This one is now the screen

saver on Trav's phone.....

Travis...you are LOVED!

The STORM outside

Trav's room...

Kind of behaving......

BUT not for long!!!  ;)

Just "hanging out" at Sr. Care.....

Travis came to one of Walker's

basketball games at the Family Center

one Friday night!  Then we all

came to our house...

They walked Travis around

our cul-de-sac...

This was the first time for my

handsome, AMAZING nephew

to walk back into my house

in over a year and a half.

Thank you, Sweet Jesus...

Thank you with all of my heart. 

SUPERMAN STRONG!!!

Due to the major cerebellum damage,

Trav's balance is VERY much affected.

This is why doctors and therapists do not

give us much hope that he will ever

be able to walk unassisted.

Here he is practicing standing

alone though!!!!!!!!

Troy even encouraged him to take

a couple of steps on his own

and HE DID!!!!!!!!!!

I got it on video!

It's the craziest thing to watch someone

completely have to learn to walk again.

To have to be reminded to take a step.

A brain injury is THE worst. 

Lynna was SOOOOOOOOO

 proud of those steps!!! 

Tdawg makes a great therapist!  :)

One of Lynna's friends from grade school has

a daughter going to Baylor.  They have been

following Trav's story (although Lynna and this

friend had not been in touch in years).

Well, her daughter and some Baylor friends

asked if they could start visiting Travis.

Meet Laura, Cameron & Marie...

beautiful Baylor girls who have truly

restored my faith in this age group!!!

I met these girls up there on their first

visit just to tell them to talk and just let

Travis chime in when he wants with his

iPad or letter board.  They weren't nervous

at all...went right in and started talking

and making him laugh.  I loved it!!!

Unfortunately the days at Sr. Care

started to get rather long.  The nursing home

was not able to provide actual therapy

for him because of insurance reasons

and the program that Travis is on.

BUT one day, I showed up to find him

with these sweet therapists.

They had figured out a way to work

the system a little bit and at least

give him some restorative therapy each day! 

He gets to ride the bike everyday,
 lift some weights

and then they walk him back to his room.

ANY therapy we can get is

such a GREAT thing!!!

We have made lots of new friends

at Sr. Care.  Really reminds me that

I should visit places like that with my kids.

The people there LOVE to see

my kids coming in...

especially Mrs. Ross!

Hudson is always so sweet to her...

This was a day I was trying to get

these two guys to behave!!! 

Didn't work;)

Working out...

Travis lifts some weights that Troy

got him ALL the time in his room.

You should feel his muscles!

He loves to get these work-outs in, too..

Hudson manages to have some

fun working out, too!  ;)

Our oldest and our youngest...

two precious souls!

This was a random Friday night that we

spent with Superman while Troy

and Walker were gone to a movie...

We laughed ALL night long at

Janitor Hudson playing with the trash cans!

SO funny that this started way

back at Texas Neuro Hospital! 

Hadlee also did Hudson's hair ;)

And sweet girl decorated his white board...

Like I said earlier, the residents and staff

at Sr. Care enjoy my kids SO much! 

Especially Hudson:)

The therapist had Hudson playing

catch with one of the patients...

Sweet Alyssa was home for a
weekend from Texas State.  I love

seeing these two together...

Jessica is the PT who helps Travis

during restorative therapy.  She has really

taken an interest in him and that is so nice.

We have met such amazing, caring

people along this journey!

We also met a lady and her family

across the hall.  Her granddaughters

just love Travis.  One named Sandy

brought him this hat.  They often pop

in to hang out with Trav...

One morning Lynna showed up to

pick Travis up for therapy and he

was completely lethargic and he was

having some major feeding tube issues.

The nursing home insisted that he needed

to go to the ER by ambulance...

SOOOO, that meant we ALL went to the ER!

It didn't take very long for Travis to be

all smiles again!  :)

Thankfully after some IV fluids and x-rays,

it was determined that the feeding tube

had straightened itself out and

Travis was released...

Unfortunately that same afternoon we took

Travis to see a new doctor and the doctor 

was not encouraging about Trav's

overall future (to say the least).

Now not only was Travis not feeling well,

but he was down.......really, really down.  :(

This week also culminated with Travis being

extremely (and RIGHTFULLY) so very tired

of the four walls of his nursing home room,

missing his old life desperately,

and wanting his friends to visit him

more than anything

and just realizing that his life

will never be the same
For quite a few days, all Travis

wanted to do was lay in his bed.

This made us so, so sad... :(

BUT we tried to perk him up any way

we possibly could by spending

random days and nights with him...

playing charades and what not

to keep him laughing;)

Walker is SO Travis at this age!

It's crazy:)

Thank Goodness for the Storm...

AND for iPads that entertain

the Storm and even moreso TRAVIS!  :)

Most of the time, Travis is pretty much

"there"...his mind is all intact. 

But unfortunately there are times

when we are sucker punched with a reminder

that he does indeed have a Traumatic

Brain Injury.  Sometimes it's in the form

of him treating someone in a way that

he NEVER would have before in his life,

or him not remembering something

that just happened, or him becoming

very confused and, most of all...

as is common for TBI patients,

him thinking that he can do a whole

lot more than he actually can. 

It is a CONSTANT battle trying

to help him realize things

and also trying to keep him

from posting things he shouldn't

on Facebook! ;)

The brain is a crazy thing and I would

give anything if Trav's was not

injured the way it is.  ANYTHING.

Sweet Beth sent my sisters and me

the "Jesus Calling" devotional at Christmas.

It is AMAZING and I swear it speaks

directly to me every single day. 

My sisters say the same thing!

Another dear friend of mine, Amy Christie,

bought the very same book for 

 Travis.  One day I walked in

to find Lynna reading this particular

page to Travis on a day that he

was refusing to get out of bed...

I had literally just taken a

picture of that page to make sure

that Travis had read it!!!!!

For so long, my family and I desperately

and BOLDY prayed for Travis to

be able to talk, walk and eat.

We of course STILL very much pray

for these things...but, moreso,

we pray that Travis can find

happiness and purpose in this

new life of his and that he can take

heart in the way he has changed

lives for the better.

Thank you for praying with me........