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30 days

30 days

30 days ago, charlie was in a medically induced come with a slim prognosis. 30 days ago, we weren’t sure the old charlie would be back in our lives – if he lived, who would he be. 30 days ago, we were expecting the worst – wheelchair, feeding tube, mental differences. 30 days ago, we weren’t sure what was happening. 30 days ago, I, my family, his friends, lots of acquaintances, and even some people we didn’t know were devastated. so 30 days ago, i started telling stories about charlie. and here we are at the end of 30 days.
what did we learn?
a lot can happen in 30 days. 
news spread, and soon my sisters and i were inundated with facebook messages and emails from people he knew or used to know or was close to or had fallen out of touch with. 
a lot of you sent mail.
a lot of you gave money ($3000!). 
but everyone waited to see what would happen, breath held, tears in eyes, heart clutched, prayers whispered, prayers shouted, zen vibes flowing. 
and he woke up, brain raring to go. it was a step. but we waited a little more. 
and he woke up a little more and recognized the people around him. my sisters and i were about to leave for the hospital when we got a phone call the morning our mom and aunt rae went to the hospital and cha squeezed mom’s hand when asked. we shouted and cried happy tears and jumped in a giant 3-sided hug in jane’s driveway. but we still waited a little more.
and he pulled out his respirator and started talking. it was a little scary; he was still drugged up and have delusionary dreams but very polite. both sides of his body worked and he could talk and he knew who was who. and so we waited some more.
12308697_10200983497506849_2275907210570899225_nthen they sent him to rehab, where he stayed for a short amount of time before they sent him home. from the neck down, charlie was pretty ok. he could follow directions and knew how to deal with everyday tasks. so he went home. now it was a process of his brain healing and seeing when the piece of skull would go back in, which would take some time. so we plan on waiting.
today he had surgery to take care of air on the brain. it went well. he’ll have the skull replaced in a couple months. his brain is making progress. one day at a time, charlie will slowly be coming back. and we’ll be here, waiting, waiting. 
a lifetime can happen in 30 days.