Whew! It's been awhile

Well, Greg is home and G & G have come and gone. It has been some time since I posted anything on this site. What a blast it was to have Gramma and Grandpa here for 3+ days. I think that's a record. They even got to come down to RIM to watch Brian in rehab action. Very nice! We all had a lovely Mothers Day full of food (Dad's ribs were the best) and people. Dan and Kathy and Julie were here too. Deb and Clyde came over early and went to church with us. It was such a nice day and so much fun to sit on the driveway and talk to Julie and Kelsey and Greg and Brian. Lots of laughter...the best medicine.
Today was the perfect day at rehab. Brian now sees Robbin (PT) first in the schedule. She had him doing balance exercises in the parallel bars, one and two leg presses on a piece of exercise equipment, another machine that strengthens the thigh, inner leg, and butt, and even more stuff on the stairway. She really pushed him, he did great,and she was thrilled. Next, he saw Jean (OT). They have such an easy rapport. She teases him and he teases right back. He worked with nerf balls...picking up and tossing them, a dowel that he stretches out and up with, and a "loop-de-loop" arch where he has to grasp a small piece of plastic and work it over a wire hump. There are 2 humps...one is smaller and the other one is very high. Jean only asks him to go over the smaller one but he was trying to do both of them on his own. He was successful about 80% of the time. Very tiring for both his arm and his brain. Last, he was with Tracy (speech and memory). She has him keeping a daily journal of everything that he does. Amazingly, he is getting better at his short term memory. Nothing huge but definately better. He knows that he keeps a journal and mentions it frequently. He can look at it to remember the day, date and important stuff. Like last Sunday, Chris came over with his 4 orphaned raccoon kits. How cute was that?!?!?! Kelsey and 2 of her girlfriends were also in on this and Justyne arrived soon enough to witness the cuteness too. Brian admitted that not only were the girls making squealy noises of joy, he was too! They really were SO adorable. Probably won't be cute for much longer so I'm glad that we had the opportunity to hold them. Maybe I can get a computer genius to put some pics on this blog. (Hint, hint Kelsey)
That's it for now...Love to all, Marcy :)

Dr. Zamorano update

Yesterday, after therapizing, Brian, Rachel and I finally got to see Dr. Zamorano. She is the neurosurgeon who removed Brians bone flap and allowed his brain to swell safely. She was very pleased to see how well he is doing. She actually said that the swelling is gone and the "indent" is great. BUT...no surgery until after he is off of coumadin and no sooner than mid-June. Probably will talk to her again in late June or early July to set the surgery date. As long as he is no longer on blood thinners, the surgery can be scheduled quite quickly. She considers it an easy surgery. He would only be in the hospital overnight or 2 days. Once the bone is back, there is no need for the helmet from hell. It makes his head itch and is uncomfortable to sleep in. We can hardly wait!!!
Today is a beautiful day and we are going to take a stroll outside. Rachel comes back tomorrow to go to therapy with us. Brian has a new OT. Her name is Jean and she replaces Bhawna. Bhawna was on bedrest for a week, she is about 4 months pregnant. We were assigned to Jean and she is the answer to our prayers. She is a mom of 3 boys and she just loves Brian! She is a year or two older than me and might actually remember Kathy. She is fun and funny and keeps his spirits up. Lots of praise for jobs done.
Greg came home yesterday - YAY! G and G are coming over on Saturday - double YAY!
All for now...Love, Marcy :)

Ben's Recap

Gas money to get to the Bowling alley? A few bucks.

Tacky collared bowling shirt? $20

Bowling shoes? $50

Beer? Depends on how much of a boozehound you are.

Bowling 4 Brian? Priceless.

....WELL, not exactly PRICELESS. More like $10,900. That is how much money was raised at the little shindig we threw last weekend. And I am still receiving donations.

(sorry for that unbelievably crappy MasterCard analogy, I've been busy all day and am really tired)

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in knowing what you did to help the Becketts.

All this money came from people who were there, and people who sent money through the mail.

The people who donated their time and money are amazing, and we all thank you for your contributions.

I was thinking, all you hear about on the news is gloom and doom. The world is ending, global warming will destroy us all in the next 5 years, you will surely die if you answer your cell phone while pumping gas, and Britney Spears shaved her head and proceeded to viciously attack a paparazzi dude.

Under this barrage, you tend to forget that positive things happen from time to time.

A little interesting tidbit: 3 or 4 people that we don't know from Adam, but who were bowling at the alley at the same time the fundraiser was going on, came up and gave us cash. Out of the blue. Complete Strangers. Giving us their hard earned cash.

I guess people like you, and the aforementioned strangers, coming together to help a family makes for boring headlines and crappy ratings, but to me, it sure helps maintain one's faith in humanity.

It was unbelievably fun. Sur got top score, and Zo came in second. Of course they had the bumpers up so they wouldn't throw gutterballs.

I took video of the event. We had an after party at Mark and Carey's. Brian loved it too - he remembered it all the next day.

Next bowlathon, he'll be bowling with the rest of us, God willing.

One final thing, a Bible verse my mom brought up the other day has resonated with me, and I thought I'd share it here. This scripture serves as a Biblical shout-out to you fine donater folks, and also as a thank you note expressed in words I couldn't conjure up myself at this late hour:

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galations 6: 9-10)

I'd say that just about sums it up...

Once again to everybody: Thanks!!!