First, we said goodbye to Dad (Nigel) this morning as we headed off to Virginia with Michelle and Riley for a little shopping. Nigel left for sales meetings in California later today. He will be gone until Saturday. We are so sad that he will be gone for so long and he was sad to leave us. We miss him already! We will try to email him fun pictures and perhaps a few videos. . .
The first thing Michelle needed to do in VA was visit a friend in the hospital. OK. Check this out. A Lithuanian student, Matas, that worked for Michelle at the Brew Thru was at a party about a month ago and had a little too much to drink and dove into the shallow end of a pool. Yep, you guessed it. He broke his neck and spine. He speaks excellent English and was telling us that he remembers hitting his head on the bottom and realizing that he couldn't move. He remembers thinking that he was going to drown. Crazy. Someone pulled him out and they called 911 immediately. He was airlifted to Norfolk General where he was in a coma for a few days and they thought he would pretty much be paralyzed from the neck down. Miraculously, the kid has fought so hard that he has full use of his left leg, his arms (but not so much his fingers) and is doing crazy amounts of physical therapy a day. Matas is scheduled for 2 sessions a day, but he does at least 2 more sessions on his own and with the help of his mom who flew in to be with him. He is so driven and positive. His doctor told him that he was in the 2% of patients who recover from such a trauma. I admire this kid so much. He spoke about how he will never again take anything for granted. How he was so impressed with American doctors and nurses and how it made him want to push for change when he got home. He said he wanted to see a more positive and personal healthcare in Lithuania. He thinks he might want to study medicine when he gets home. Amazing kid. He still needs lots of prayers. His insurance from home won't cover his care here, so they are trying to take him back to Lithuania. He wants to delay that as long as possible so that he can continue to get the great care that he is getting in Norfolk. He is also worried about the 17 hour plane ride. Yikes. Say lots of prayers for Matas. He deserves them.
On a lighter note. . . ! After the hospital we went to the mall, Target and TJ Maxx where I drooled over lots of fun things that I couldn't afford to buy. Here are the things I saw today that I wanted:
1. Every pair of designer jeans in Nordstrom
2. Lots of cute tops and dresses in Forever 21 (I know, a teenybopper store but so cheap and really cute stuff!)
3. The usual cute Sandra Boynton books that Kingston loves. He has a few but would love them all!
4. I REALLY drooled over the fancy cameras at Target. I would love to play with a really good camera some day. I mean, I have such a great subject I could really just use a disposable, but for when I'm needing to shoot other people other than Kingston. . .
5. Pretty pillows to go on my ugly couch.
6. All things Target. Man, I love that store.
Needless to say, I made it to VA and home without purchasing ANYTHING (except for lunch, of course). It's pretty easy to do when you don't have any money to spend! For now, I'll just compile my wishlist and hope for better days!
A real milestone: Kingston is almost crawling. He scoots around pretty good. He can make his way across the living room somehow! So cute. He will be really crawling by the end of the week, I think.
And just to prove that Kingston is scooting:
We had a good day today. As Matas showed us, we won't take any of it for granted. We will appreciate every day.
1 comment:
Look at Kingston go!
It was very kind of your friend (and you guys) to visit the boy in the hospital. His accident was so terrible, and then to be so far away from home too. I'm glad he is receiving such good care in Norfolk.
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