Looking Forward

Sleep Therapy
Gabe's Occupational Therapy

Our first attempt at a night out to watch Dave Matthews.

(Thanks Aunt Trin)

Physical Therapy~Running

Wii Therapy

Recreational Therapy

Love Therapy

Occupational Therapy

For those of you who have been waiting to hear news of how Gabe is doing, I apologize it took me so long to update the blog. We are adjusting to our new daily routine of medicines, therapies, Dr.'s appointments, phone calls with insurance adjusters, etc. etc. Not to mention the girls and I started back to school. Rainee started middle school, Kaiya is in 3rd grade, and Tori is usually running around with us to "the hopipal and Daddy's Doctor" with us. It didn't take long for me to realize that I had bitten off way more than I could chew this semester in school. I had to drop the majority of my classes and am now taking workshops such as "mindfulness based stress reduction." In order for me to be able to get free counseling through BSU, and also avoid having to pay back school grants and loans, I have to be enrolled in at least 6 credits. Although it was hard for me to swallow my pride, and put my future plans on hold, I know that it was the right decision to make for my family and for Gabe. So many people have made sacrifices on his behalf, I felt it was my turn to be able to take the time and energy I usually put into school and give it to back to my family who needs my help and attention more than ever before.

Gabe is truly doing wonderfully with his therapies, and really feels like he is physically able to get around pretty well without getting too tired. He was even able to go in the mountains for a day with one of his friends to drive around "scouting" for deer and elk. If any of you know Gabe, you know that he is a hunting fanatic. It's been very difficult for him to accept the fact that he's not able to go this year. Because of the fracture he has in his C7 (spine), his nerves in his hands and his forearms have been compromised. He doesn't have the strength that he used to, not to mention he lost sight in his right eye...aka his "hunting eye". : ) Because of this, he's not able to shoot with his bow, let alone even hold it upright. He will also have to learn how to shoot left handed because of the blindness in his right eye.

Gabe has been working very hard in physical, occupational, and speech therapy to address these issues. He had an MRI last week and we will be have an EMG today to find out what's going on with his nerves. He has an appointment with a neuro surgeon tomorrow to go over his results and find out how to move forward from here.

We traveled to Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago and Gabe was able to get the wires taken out of his jaw. I have jokingly told him he's graduated from blended baby food up to tiny pieces of toddler food. Because his jaw was wired shut for so long it's hard for him to open his mouth very far. Luckily, because most of his front teeth were knocked out, he's able to at least fit a utensil into his mouth. He had his first appointment with his dentist yesterday and is looking forward to getting his "party teeth" shortly. The doctors have to wait at least 4 months for the bone to heal, so he will only be able to use flippers until they are able to do implants in the coming months.

Gabe was given the news the other day from someone from the Idaho Industrial Commission that he probably won't be able to return to his old job because of his loss of vision and because of the condition of his hands and strength. This is something all of us had suspected for some time, but for him, it was a new revelation that has left him quite discouraged. It's a huge loss for him in his identity, and his pride, and he is trying to cope and find a way to accept it and move on.

Gabe and I are learning more and more every day about grief, and mourning, and loss. It's a strange concept for us given that our old belief about it usually revolved around death. Although we are fortunate that nobody lost their lives through this tragedy, we are going through a mourning process right now for all of the other losses that we are faced with. Although the tough life or death trials seem to be behind us, we are now faced with the death of our old lives and the the rebirth of our new life. While we are excited and a little apprehensive and fearful, about what our future has in store for us, it has certainly been a process, to be able to bury our old lives.

While we often couple Post Traumatic Stress with instances such as soldiers returning from war, we are learning that it also goes hand in hand with other kinds of trauma...especially the trauma that Gabe has been going through, and to be quite candid, the trauma that myself and some of my other family members have been forced to witness through this tragedy. I don't know if you can ever prepare yourself for the trauma and the drastic changes that follow, but we are doing our best to learn from it by taking the time to show our respect to our old lives by mourning our losses and looking forward to our futures.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and taking the time to care. We are touched by those of you who continue to pray for Gabe and our family, and for all of you who continually sacrifice your time to help us. We love you all and pray every day that God will bless you in your lives as much as we have been blessed to have you in ours.

Love Always~

The Chapeks