Will's Symphony

I’ll start with the nuts and bolts and then end with an analogy about Will’s recovery.

We visited with Dr. Edgely Wednesday, who decided to switch up Will’s medication from Dextroamphetamine to Ritlian. I imagine he was thinking Will may have built a tolerance to the Dextroamphetamine and now would be a good time to switch up the drug to another drug that will increase mental alertness and cognitive functioning. For now we are staying on Aricept as well. Dr. Edgely approved of Will’s daily routines of job shadowing, volunteering at Globus Relief and continued therapy. As well Dr. Edgely said he would talk to Dr. Milne, the doctor in charge of the residents, about setting job shadowing opportunities up at the University of Utah Hospital. As usual, Dr. Edgely remarked on Will’s extraordinary recovery in this process.

After Dr. Edgley’s we visited with his speech therapist, Lisa. As therapies Lisa suggested we keep up Will’s studies, which we do everyday. He studies in the morning I test him at night. She also encouraged Will to continue planning out his weeks and days. Which we do every Sunday on his iPhone. We set alarms for each activity. He loves it when the alarms go off in time for our workouts in the wee hours of the morning (not really). We plan to do a Triatholon this May. Last year our plans to run a Triatholon were rained out and everything but the run was canceled, so we did the run and Will did great! She thinks Will’s clarity of speech is coming along nicely and basically told him to “keep up the good work”

Now I’ll end with an analogy. I’m a violinst. I have played since I was three years old. While I became proficient at the violin quite early in life, the challenges to rise to new heights never ceased. As a teenager I played in the Utah Youth Symphony I had to learn to play with the other instruments, count in time with the other performers, and play in tune with the rest while watching the conductor. In a similar way Will is learning to rise to new heights. Our brains don’t work as one solo instrument. They work as many instruments, weaving melodies and harmonies into the patchwork of our lives. Independently, Will has regained his capacities to remember, speak clearly, initiate activities, carry on dialogues, and so on. Now, however, in the orchestra of life, Will is learning “to use” all of his regained abilities at the same time. It isn’t easy keeping up with the rest of the players, but he is rising to the challenge. It is remarkable to watch. Everyday is a new symphony.