On June 3, 2002, while riding his bicycle in a wide bike lane along an unobstructed stretch of rural road, 25 year old Ross Dillon was struck from behind by an innattentive driver. In that one, pivotal moment, Ross's life, and the lives of his family and friends, were changed forever. His care has been chronicled in an online diary, beginning at www.rossdillon.com. His is a story of amazing courage and resiliance, and the very stubborn love of a family unwilling to give up on his journey toward recovery.

The other reason is that Ross was sick for a week. It started with severe nasal congestion; this is not unusual because Ross is very sensitive to allergens and we live in an area of California that flourishes with growing things and pollen. In addition, the anti-seizure medications he takes can increase congestion. Ross had no fever, but he did have an elevated pulse rate. The on-call doctor said, “If it gets worse, take him to the ER.” Since he still has a G-tube for emergencies, we were able to give him food, water and medicine for four days. When I asked him if his throat was sore, he nodded affirmatively. I couldn’t look at his throat, but I did see blisters on his lips. On the third day, Ross’s doctor prescribed antibiotics, and Ross immediately started to feel better. On the evening of the fourth day he was back to eating orally. Because he was sick, he started to have seizures, most of them the small versive seizures that he had in the spring when he was sick. Thankfully, the seizures were over by the fifth day. We saw the epilepsy specialist the next week, and he said the seizures happened because Ross was sick. Being sick lowers the seizure threshold. He also thought that he must have had a bacterial infection since he improved after taking antibiotics.

This was the sickest Ross had been in a long time, and it happened on the weekend. I have thought a lot about this in the last couple of weeks. I now realize that we must be prepared for emergencies like this. I have discussed this with Ross’s doctor, and we now have a plan to take care of Ross in this in-between time when Ross is sick, but it is not necessary to go to the Emergency Room. Once again, I am very thankful for Ross’s doctor and the way he works with us to provide the best care for Ross.

Ross’s thirty-fourth birthday is tomorrow, September 7. Our family celebrated his birthday with his favorite Moroccan Chicken and chocolate cake yesterday. Again, it is a poignant time, but we are so happy that he is continuing to make progress. Onward and upward!

Ross went to the dentist yesterday. We were somewhat apprehensive because of his recent agitation. Thankfully, he was very calm and did not resist the preparations for sedation. We were relieved, to say the least. When the dentist announced “no new cavities” we were ecstatic. This was the best dental report in the last eight years. Ross gets most of the credit for that because he has been letting us brush his teeth twice a day. I think that good nutrition and no added sugar (except the agave in his small daily serving of coconut milk ice cream) helped.

I also want to tell you about Ross throwing a tennis ball for our dog, Jo. I’ll start the story on Tuesday night when Ross was awake until 2 AM, quietly working the fingers of his right hand, touching different fingers together. The next day, after physical therapy, Ross sat in his recliner and Rusty sat next to him. The dog wanted to play ball and Rusty put the ball in Ross’s lap. Usually Ross picks up the ball with his thumb and index finger and lets it drop on the floor. Well, this day, Ross picked up the ball with his open hand and threw the ball across the room for the dog. He did this over and over for about ten times. Each time he threw the ball, the dog ran to get and brought it back. One time, as Ross was about to throw, Ross looked at Jo and said, “Are you Ready?” Another time, as the dog ran, Ross said, “She’s beautiful.” What a gift! We are blessed.

I apologize that tomorrow has turned into three days. Ross had a seizure that started while he was napping on Thursday afternoon. It was definitely different; it was a strong partial seizure, but with a lot of characteristics of a grand mal. My first thought was that the Vimpat stopped it from spreading. We had discontinued the final 100 mg of Tegretol exactly one week before. Three times since then, we have suddenly put him in bed because of pre seizure activity. Sometimes he seems excited and that seems to either cause instability or be caused by it. Thankfully, he has had no grand mal seizure activity since Thursday.

Ross is using new words and expressions. He said the other day, “My brain is on. Beware; in the future I will kiss you.” He has also started calling me “Honey” which is very sweet. What are not so sweet are the outbursts of inappropriate words. I am so grateful that Claudia Osborne and others have written about their own outbursts as they recovered from brain injury. I think I would be far more upset if I hadn’t been forewarned.

We just put him in bed about thirty minutes ago because his legs were shaking, his mouth drooping and staring off to the right. After he was in bed, he said’ “Don’t hurt my head.” I asked if his head hurt and he nodded yes. I asked him to show me where it hurt and he touched his forehead. This ability to be specific is also new. As I was leaving his room, he said, “Turn on the TV to channel 5.” Raising Ross again reminds me of the days when we used to say our children were five or six, going on twenty-one.

Ross has had a good week. I canceled his therapy on Tuesday because he had not slept well the night before and seemed on the edge of a seizure in the morning. On Wednesday, we saw the neurologist. It was a good meeting and he gave us the go ahead to discontinue the Carbamazepine. Ross was more animated than ever with the doctor, who part of the time was talking with Rusty and me. Ross, as has been happening lately, wanted the doctor’s attention. Ross kept saying, “Look at me!” At one point he said to the doctor, “Brother, I love you and you love me. Look at me!” The doctor did talk to Ross and was very pleased with Ross’s cognitive progress. When we were ready to leave, Ross indicated he wanted the doctor to see him walk by trying to open his seat belt and moving his feet from the foot rest to the floor. He has never walked better; he was lifting his left foot high and forward as well as the right foot. We walked straight and tall, hardly putting any weight on us as he walked. Ross was delighted to be demonstrating his skill and the doctor was impressed.

On Thursday, during therapy, Ross not only walked from the therapy room to the house, but he did five circuits around the kitchen in his manual chair, using his feet and right arm to pull himself from one area to another to eat popcorn and blueberries. Again, he was excited with his mobility.

On Friday, Ross did the same routine. This almost daily workout plus walking twice a day, and pedaling for an hour daily is working. He usually gets a bed rest in the afternoon and he rocks himself in the recliner for a total of about two hours a day. This rocking is excellent for his development and reconnecting neurologically.

When we saw the chiropractic neurologist this week, I was telling him about the left side of Ross’s mouth sagging, and the confusion and agitation that accompanies it. He told me to have Ross kick a ball with his right foot and that that affects the left cortex and thus would help with the issues of sagging mouth and confusion. I don’t yet understand how it works, but I had a demonstration this evening. Ross was sitting in the recliner and has been agitated with the related symptoms for most of the day. I tried to think of an activity to distract him. I pulled out a rubber ball, sat in front of him and we played ball, rolling it back and forth for about fifteen minutes. We both enjoyed the game, and he became much calmer and his mouth was normal. This opens up possibilities as I am thinking about behavioral modification because brain injury survivors often have problems with inappropriate behavior as they recover. We are in a new stage of Ross’s rehabilitation. We are thankful and excited, and, of course, the new phase offers many challenges.

It has been another eventful month -- three steps forward, one step back. Ross’s medication change is almost accomplished, but we are stuck on the last 100 mg of Tegretol. Ross has started having small neurological pre seizure events through out the day, as well as more angry outbursts that also may be small seizures. He is much more alert; he is talking more and continuing to move forward in mastering new motor skills. Last week was hard for him and for us. He was confused and afraid, easily slipping into agitation and anger. On Saturday, he had a 4 ½ minute grand mal seizure; when he woke up he was much calmer and this wonderful mood lasted for four days.

Today, he has been a hard task master. He is sitting beside me as I write, and he has established a space perimeter around himself; if we get too close he becomes enraged. It reminds me of the territory squabbles that children have. Now that I think about it, this is probably a significant advance in Ross’s growth. Another indicator is that some of the time he seems to remember to try to control his temper. For example, on Monday morning I told Ross to remember that he does not need to be afraid, and to not hit or kick during therapy. I asked him to use his words if he was scared. Well, during his session with Letha, he yelled once, but he did not hit or kick. Afterwards, I said, “Ross, I am so proud of you. You didn’t kick or hit.” A tired Ross responded softly, “I’m proud.”

On Thursday night we were sitting in the living room area of the great room and looking toward the kitchen. We have moved the dining room table to the wall and there is more space in the center of the room. Space that is now used for Ross to tool around using his old manual wheel chair; he moves by walking with his feet while seated in the chair. We put pop corn in a number of different places and he walks around the room to pick up pop corn. He also goes to the table where the water dispenser is, picks up a glass, holds it against the valve, fills his glass, drinks the water and puts the glass down again. Anyway, back to the story. Ross said to me, “I love this house, and my family can run around in it.” I think he was expressing his delight that he can now move around in this space on his own.

At the suggestion of Ross’s other therapist, Jeannette, I pulled out Ross’s old Legos (the big ones for younger children). He has always loved Legos and that hasn’t changed. He built a train with help, but he insisted on placing each piece where he wanted it. He did accept help in pushing the blocks together so they would stay. He likes to pull the train toward him with an attached cord -- another developmental milestone.

One last fun story! I held up a hand mirror so Ross could see his face. He leaned forward, kissed the mirror and said, “Hi Ross! How are you?” These are very big steps in self awareness. Rusty and I are thrilled. Ross has come so much further than the experts thought possible, and it isn’t over. Thank you everyone for your love and prayers. You help make this possible.

June 3—the eighth anniversary of the day our lives changed. We are blessed that Ross continues to make steady improvement and that, even though he is far from being independent, his recovery over the last eight years is miraculous. We have learned to walk in faith, to take joy in the present, and have met (in person and through the internet) many wonderful people. And yet, today has been a sad one. Rusty and I still grieve for what was lost, but our precious son said to me several times today, “I am happy!” As he walked down the hall during therapy with a strong person on each side, he said for the first time, “I am walking. I am strong.”

Yesterday during therapy with Jeannette, he was transferred to the plinth (therapy table). He reached out and grabbed the transfer pole, pulled himself up to standing, walked carefully around the pole and was trying to walk to the door and leave. I realized that thirty-three years ago, if he fell, it was not far. Now, we can not risk his falling, encourage him to pick himself up and try again. The good news is that he is so much more aware and able to respond to directions; so even though he needs someone by him, he will be able to use a walker and then perhaps a cane.

I’ll close with a few Ross isms that remind us of the old days. Yesterday, he looked at me and said, “Oh no, I see my mother. How shocking!” Over the weekend, he was dictating sentences to be typed on the computer. He said, “My mother loves me, but at night she is a witch.” He looked around to see if I was watching and said, “Change it to ‘she is a man.’” His dictation about Rusty is a little more formal, “At night great father at home, wife at home. Night before sleep at home.” For tonight, the world is full of the people and activities that Ross loves. God bless Ross and may God bless every one of you.