My trip down the road to recovery began on the rehab floor of Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

The therapists helped me in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech -- even when I could do very little on my own. Because of my bedsore, I could not sit up yet. I had to travel everywhere in a bed of some sort. The progress happened slowly over time -- there were no big leaps -- they were all small but important first steps.

In March I was allowed to sit up in a wheelchair for the first time (initially for 10 minutes at a time). "I get around, 'round, get around, I get around..."

My first visit home occurred on April 18, on my 18th birthday. I had lobster for my birthday dinner -- this was much, much, much better than any hospital food! I was only home for a few hours, but it was nice to visit.

The staff of the Child Life department at the hospital loaned me an electronic keyboard. I had played piano at least 10 years -- and having the keyboard there encouraged me to reach out. And even better, when I played songs from memory, it let everybody know that "Hey, I'm in here and I want to come out!"

This was my last inpatient therapy, on 5/23/97. I was finally ready to come home. I still couldn't move much on my left side and I was still using a wheelchair, but medically I was stable. I left home on New Year's Day and finally came back on Memorial Day weekend.

I was in the pediatric ICU for 3 weeks, from 1/2 to 1/23/97. And then I was an inpatient on the Mott rehab floor for 4 months, from 1/23 to 5/23/97. I finally went home on 5/23. Please see the Homecoming page for the next stages in my recovery.

Like TBI recovery, building this web site is also a long-term process. My parents and I started it, to help me remember what has happened. Perhaps others can learn from it, too. Primary pages on the site at this time are as follows: