Bouncing back like a champ

Sept. 9, 2012

About a month ago I asked on Facebook for suggestions on motivational songs to help me workout. My brother was one who responded with a former favorite song of mine that I had forgotten about.

Tubthumping by Chumbawumba is a mouthful and a one-hit-wonder, yet the repetitive message rings true for many parts of my life. The majority of the song repeats the same two lines. “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down.” Life is never promised to be easy, but those who fight through the tough times are frequently the ones who survive.

As many of you know, Nathan has been battling the return of seizures which seem to have popped up all of the sudden and without any real reason. They have been bad enough to require two trips to the ER over two weeks, and the most recent trip ended up with being admitted for four days.

During the first few days, Nathan was drugged pretty well to calm his mind and body, but gone too were the smiles, giggles and fun guy we’re used to seeing. The meds also made him nauseous negating the little bit of food we were getting into him.

As the days slowly passed by, there were talks with neurologists, doctors, and nurses, No one could talk with absolute certainty as to why, how to avoid future problems, or how to make even tomorrow better. Even with lots of visitors throughout the week, he definitely was not himself.

As I woke up in the hospital room, day 4, Nathan was already awake and as I sat up I saw a whole new little boy. Once he made eye contact, he was immediately waving his arms wanting to get out of bed, and out of the hospital. He had to pass a certain set of criteria to even be a possibility of heading home.

If any doctor questions Nathan’s ability to understand directions, all they had to do was observe the ‘deals’ we worked. “If you take your medicine well, we’ll go out for a walk.” “We can’t go home until you eat a full meal.” As I headed out for work, it was not received well by Nathan. Why did Dad get to leave if he didn’t? Why wouldn’t Dad take me with him?

I got the call around 4 p.m. that the doctors thought he was well enough to go home. It was after 5 until I was able to get back and almost 6 before we were packed up and on the road home. At first, Nathan was disappointed that he wasn’t going some place more fun or exciting, but alas it was better than the hospital.

The next day, his energy seemed to be building, he was more interested in playing with toys and rolling around on the floor. By the next day, when our home health aide arrived he was squealing, rolling around scooting to where ever he wanted to go. That evening, another friend came over to play as Annette and I got out for a little bit.

Our night ended with a trip to Grater’s for ice cream. I was eating mine from across the room and sat on the floor watching Nathan play with his toys. When he saw the cup in my hand and spoon head into my mouth, he decided he needed some as well.

He rotated himself 180 degrees and scooted the full length of the room.  After working that hard I couldn’t deny him. I gave him a few spoons worth and I had to laugh as he complained if I thought of eating any more myself.

Nathan’s resilience and determination is what gives him a fighting chance later in life. All I will say, is that it's apparently true that you can't keep a good li'l guy down.