A Word from the Maniak

Jamie got to see her good friend Stephanie this weekend.  I asked Steph to write a guest blog post about her visit with J. Below are her thoughts about this long awaited visit. 

Have no fear, friends.  Jamie has not left the building. 

I went for my first visit to the rehab facility on Saturday with Lailah.  I have to say that I was mildly apprehensive.  I had grown quite close to Jamie before she left for Kazakhstan and was nervous to see her post accident. 

We arrived at 9.15 during breakfast, bearing a Chai Tea for Jamie from Starbucks.  When we first walked into the room she greeted us half heartedly and did not make eye contact.  This disarmed me a bit.  I was wary; worried that Jamie might not be in the mood for visitors.  But then, I thought,  I am not much for conversation first thing in the morning either and sure enough after a few sips of Chai the caffeine must have kicked in because I started to see the Jamie that I know and love emerge.  She teased Lailah mercilessly (Lailah you’re a saint) and stubbornly tried to avoid taking her meds.  But when we mentioned how the Starbucks barista almost spelled her name JAIME, guess who voiced an opinion.  And soon Jamie, Lailah, and I were reminiscing about times before Kazakhstan, before the accident.  We talked about my new last name (I married Mike Wozniak in her absence) and she recalled my former last name, Maysonave, and even remembered that Mike and I were going to combine our names to be the Maniaks.  She was quick to laugh and regaled us with many stories, some of which I am certain must be from her imagination, including a tale about how her brother named her middle finger ‘Wilbur’ after their cousin ‘Will’ (who doesn’t exist) and the sound you make when you’re cold, ‘burr’. 

Her short term memory seems to be improving.  She was able to remember something that occurred last week and when we told her about some of the silly things she has said while in the hospital she laughed and shook her head.  Lailah told Jamie about how she managed to get out of bed and start to leave her room before Nurse Betty found her and Jamie said, “How embarrassing”.  Lailah said, “Well it’s not as embarrassing as if you had tried to escape without wearing pants” and Jamie replied, “This is true”.

I was there for three hours.  We talked about the past, the accident, her future and I was profoundly aware that while Jamie is limited by what she can do, what she can express, I have the feeling that she is working so hard to come back to her present self.  We played some basketball in a small hoop attached to her window and her hand eye coordination is not bad at all.  She still very much favors her right hand but is working with finger splits (or as she called them ‘finger puppets’) and massage treatments to encourage the strength in the left.

We spent a majority of our time in speech therapy with repetition exercises, going around in a circle asking Jamie to remember our names.  Jamie tends to rush ahead and make a guess before even looking at the person.  I witnessed that Jamie was much better at the exercise the more she concentrated.  After several rounds she was able to ‘see’ our names (she’s still a much better speller than I) and try to attach the spelling of our names with our faces.  It was amazing to watch.

For PT we went on a walk to the fourth floor and up and down some stairs.  Jamie is doing very well walking and sitting but she seems almost like a drunken sailor at times, not fully in control of her body.  Her physical therapist walks next to her with an arm around Jamie’s waist to guide her in a straight path.  This is to prevent Jamie from barreling into something.  I use the verb ‘barreling’ because Jamie is fast!  I think it’s those long legs.

After my visit with Jamie I am convinced that her personality is intact.  Especially that sarcastic side.  Ask Jamie to do something she has luke warm feelings about and you’ll get a monotone “Sure” as a response.  I even saw her roll her eyes at Lailah (behind her back, of course).

She giggles.  She can spell your name backwards.  She can catch a softball sized rubber ‘basketball’ one handed.  She can remember the time your bikini top fell off and you flashed a room full of people.  But sometimes she can’t remember how to say your name.  I know she’s got a long road ahead of her.  But I am very ready to walk along side her.  She’s always been one of the strongest people I know and I have faith that she will emerge from this test a stronger and better person.  I can’t wait.