Hi again friends and neighbors, its Amy, Jenna and Stacy’s neighbor here in Cypress.
I just wanted to give a quick update as to what has been going on as of late…
For any of you that know Jenna personally, you know that she is one of the most positive, optimistic people in the world. I truly think that this attitude shines through in all of her blog posts. She has been so incredibly strong and so incredibly unfailing in her faith throughout this entire turmoil beginning on January 16th. The past few days have been very difficult, as the roller coaster of therapies ups and downs has begun and she has asked me to fill you in.
Stacy is incredibly lucky to be alive and to have progressed as far as he has in his recovery and thank heaven for that!!!!! But the Stacy that we knew before the accident is NOT the same Stacy that is now with us. The most important parts of his personality still shine through; his faith, his humor, his love of friends and family.
Stacy has suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the mysteries of the brain are such that although doctors can ‘guesstimate’ what the future holds for Stacy and his family – they can’t give a definite prognosis.
Currently, at Touchstone, where Stacy is residing, he is involved in many kinds of intense therapies including but not limited to; Cognitive, Behavioral, Physical, Occupational and Speech. His day is spent essentially ‘re-learning’ day to day tasks. To quote his speech therapy report from his first week’s evaluation: Stacy exhibits moderate to severe deficits in recall and mild- moderate deficits in reasoning. He had particular difficulty naming objects to confrontation, generating words in categories, comprehending complex instructions, recalling lengthy information and recalling information after a delay.
The frustrating thing, for everyone involved, is that when you look at Stacy, he looks like the same old Stacy.
When you have a rudimentary conversation with him, you’d never have any idea that he has suffered a massive brain injury. He is able to shoot the breeze and chit-chat just like he did before the accident…. but…. his short term memory is not engaged. He is having trouble trusting his therapists which is making progress difficult. He fluctuates between saying, “I had a brain injury… but don’t anymore” to “I know that I need help and am in the right place.” Two opposite viewpoints that indicate the struggle his mind is going through.
There is a book that I have found extremely helpful in understanding some of what Stacy and his family are currently going through and what they will probably be going through for the rest of their lives. It is called ‘MindStorms’ by John W. Cassidy – who interestingly enough started the Touchstone facility that Stacy is residing at. Here is an excerpt about how TBI can affect personality:
“Many brain-injured people, especially following severe acceleration-deceleration injuries …lost the ability to be self-reflective, to have insight into their problems, and, most frustrating of all for those who love them, to be aware of how they’ve changed. On one level, this can be a blessing; because an individual who lacks self-awareness…is spared the realization that his life will never be the same. For … the survivor’s family, however, facing this situation is a tremendous challenge, for such an individual is biologically unable to recognize his need for help and therefore may resist all attempts at change.”
Stacy’s injury is not one that can be put into a cast or sling until it heals. This is going to be a lifelong journey and until the family can get a handle on what the future holds, they are going to continue to need our assistance.
I am asking for your continued prayers for Stacy and Jenna and the girls – but also any support that you can provide whether it is visiting Stacy at Touchstone or meals for the family . Maybe just a postcard to Stacy to let him know that he’s being prayed for. There are so many things that would be so appreciated. Please see the Care Calendar at the https://stacytempleton.wordpress.com/ page for ways to help.
Thank you so much for your continued support for this wonderful family.
(Romans 5:3-5)
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.