It Has Been Two Years As Of Today Since Jake's Accident

I have been thinking a lot about our Jacob today, as today is his two year anniversary since his accident in El Paso, TX on April 5, 2014. So much has changed in two year's for him, for our family and now our future lives. He went from being a full-time active military soldier, to a permanently disabled veteran with a 100% disability due to his TBI and broken body. He was married just prior to the accident and within 8 months he was divorced from this same person that turned brutally ugly on Jacob and our entire family, and was none supportive of Jacob and his medical and physical condition. It was all part of the plan- we now realize this....

As Jacob needed us as parents more than ever- and if we were not there for him, he would have ended up in a poorly run VA medical facility in Texas. He would have eventually recovered from all of his broken bones, but his TBI and mental state would have been so deteriorated and a high risk candidate for suicide and depression in a VA facility. Reflecting back on these past two years- we as parents know we did the right thing, to fight the US Army to bring Jake back to Minnesota ,to provide him with the best TBI medical facility of Bethesda in St. Paul, MN, and to fight for every right and then some by providing Jacob the chance to rebuild, reconnect and formulate new memories with his brain to the degree that he has. 

Jacob will be going in for another round of cognitive testing in mid April to document his progress of brain development since his last visit, cross compare data sets of growth, and the quality retention of long term and short term memory. Jake is getting flash backs every so often of past events that we thought he would never get back, and this is being sparked by family interactions during sharing of stories during our family dinners and small group social gatherings. We are so excited that these bits and pieces are coming back from his childhood and he can reclaim these memories

Jake has been physically progressing on his progression of walking and fast paced walking. Jake clearly remembers his morning runs in the Army, and because of this, he still enjoys the physical exertion of exercise. So he makes it a point to every day to either lift weights or go for a walk- as he loves the feeling of "I feel great" when I am done exercising. As many of you know, exercise increases dopamine storage in the brain and triggers the production of enzymes that create dopamine receptors in the reward center of the brain. And Jake is all about this and feeling good. He has even increased his walking to fast paced walking to get up his heart rate and to feel like he is getting a workout. Below is a video of Jake's fast pace walk as an ongoing exercise race between Jake and Jeff his dad- it is now a daily ritual- and as long as it is not snowing or raining. We still have to be very close during this exercise to make sure he does not fall, loose his balance or miss-step.

Thanks everyone for your virtual support and kind words you have sent to us these past two years through cards, emails, donations to Jake personally to support Jake's physical accommodations for his adaptive personal living space in our home, and the supportive comments on this Post Hope page. To celebrate this two year mark and Jake's 21st birthday, we will once again be "celebrating life" and will be taking our family on holiday in April to the Caribbean where we can soak up the warmth and wonderful sun once again. #LifeISGrand and each day is a wonderful learning opportunity  and adventure in our Harm household!