Isaac, version 2.0

The boy who stands in front of me is "not" the Isaac I remember.

This is not meant to be a bad thing. There are just enough differences to overcome the similarities in my eyes. With the "reboot" of the upstairs operating system also came a reboot of the heart of the boy that was before. I have wrestled with these observations over the last week, and have realized that I was putting expectations from Isaac(1.0) onto Isaac(2.0). The stress caused by that was eating at me, little by little.

Isaac (formerly known as 2.0) is a very loving, smart boy who has difficulty remembering more than a couple tasks at a time, yet just like a twelve year old will remind you when you forgot something important to him. He will ask several times in half an hour, which could be thought of as pestering or the fact that he does not remember the answer you gave the first two times. (Again, a twelve year old)

He can play at the right time, when given a metronome, while practicing his trumpet. He can sing in time to a song he knows on the radio. Anything new, however, is as fascinating as it is cause to slow down and absorb. It can get a bit unsettling when he follows someone around, just because he wants to see what is going on. So, too, can he frustrate when playing on his phone. He will hold it close to his face and look over the top of his glasses at the phone.....for HOURS if we let him. (Sigh, again with the twelve year old)

If we thought he had a big heart before, we cannot fathom the size of it now. Hugs are a mainstay in our household. He does not particularly take an interest in playing with smaller children, instead preferring the phone, TV, or computer. I am still working on that one.

Thanksgiving was filled with fun and family. Jesse and Isaac found a slice of heaven at a cousin's house where there was one big screen TV being used for games, and another sitting next to it playing movies. What more could you ask for?

Isaac also became a "cat magnet" when two of their four cats decided he was a pillow with petting functionality. Dinner was excellent, and didn't part company until late that evening.

The weekend was not without many surprises. Brea received her acceptance to the University she was hoping for, and it made her cry.

Isaac has been thinking of the other people in the clinic, and the reasons they are there. He decided to ask "how his brain got hurt" because he didn't have an answer. Last Wednesday we discussed it as a group with his counselor.

He only got to the point where he knew there was an accident from doing something he shouldn't have before he indicated he had absorbed too much. Yesterday (Monday) he indicated to the counselor he wanted to know more information.

From the counselor to us: Isaac asked me more directly of what exactly he did to hurt his brain. I told him the same things as last Wednesday, such as he was trying something new and it didn't work out as he had planned. I also told him that he was trying a game that stopped the oxygen to his brain. I didn't tell him the exact mechanism of what he did, but reiterated that you were both there and took him to the hospital immediately. He was able to say that he was really surprised he would try something like that and wants to avoid games that take risks in the future.