AWESOME JENNA NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[robspeed]

She is coming home!!!!

Not tomorrow, but soon. She has gotten to the point where her bipolar rages are under control, and that is 99% of the reason why she is off in Carbondale at the rehab hospital. I am going back there again this coming weekend (with Cooper) to visit, but the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel is finally at hand (and its just daylight folks!)

Jenna's life was irretrievably changed by the car accident five years ago, but considering how viciously and brutally she was injured, it is truly remarkable how well she is in fact doing. There are still some issues and she will never be the same again, but things are a hell of a lot better than they might be.

It began to become clear to me how well she was doing when Cooper and I went to go see her a few months ago. I had the idea of taking Cooper to Chuck-e-Cheese because he was going to miss a little friend's birthday party, but the closest C-e-C to carbondale was in Paducah, KY. So we drove down to Carbondale, picked up Jenna, and then went to Paducah.

I was a bit nervous because the noise and activity can be a big problem for even "normal" brain injury people, let alone bipolar Jenna. What was shocking at the time was that she tolerated it absolutely perfectly. It seemed almost too good to be true, but we went back a few weeks later, and the same thing happened: nothing. We sat and ate salad bar while the kid ran amok, and had absolutely zero issues!

All that was fine and good, but we had to be sure because if we take her out of there (Carbondale facility), it would be another process to get her back in if there was issues. But, when she came home here for five days around her birthday, again she had zero problems.

There are family complications due to the fact that I can no longer stay home with her during the day, and this responsibility falls on Jenna's mother who does not work outside the home. She is a barely-functional personality by herself so with the added burden of taking care of Jenna it was just unworkable before. Some of you who know me off the board know that the whole inlaw situation was in a state of open warfare during the initial years, and we are still struggling with the aftermath of that somewhat.

Anyway, the GOOD NEWS is that we are looking at bringing Jenna home sooner rather than later. My #1, #2, and #3-5,000 priorities in all this was to get Jenna back together with her son, and that loss of mother-son relationship has been my #1-5000 hardest-felt personal loss. I do my best to keep Jenna here even when she is not here by constantly talking about her and telling Cooper in small bits about what has happened to her, and how strong and amazing her comeback has been.

Someday soon, hopefully before the end of the year, Jenna will finally be home and Cooper will be able to experience her first hand again, full time. Jenna's mom has been in that role for far too long, and its time for the real thing to step in and take over as much as is possible. For his part, Cooper has coped with all this just about as amazingly as possible. It is always a fine balancing act to remind him that he has a mom and not just a "Nana", while keeping him from feeling the true terribleness of what has happened. He is such a sweet, amazing soul, Jenna and I couldn't possibly be more proud.

For my part, I have been extremely busy with two new jobs, now morphed arguably into four jobs. Ive started my own business while at the same time working for a not-for-profit modest-means law firm, taking work from a solo attorney, working for a PC repair shop on the side, and my own iPod/laptop repair business also. Hence, i havent been on the board much if at all lately.

Keep the vibes/prayers/etc/ coming, she can use all the help she can get!

-Rob

[ray_]

Far out!

;-)

Cheers,

Ray

[jgerock]

Excellent news! Glad to hear it.

[kcdonahue]

Awesome Bro!

[Kidasters]

Excellent news Rob. We are all rooting for you guys.

Ken

[Jim_75Sahara]

Great news, Rob! Good luck & God bless. Enjoy.

[Delia]

Great news, indeed!

Delia

[Harv]

So nice to hear good news from you!

Yeaaaaae

John

[Blake]

Ray! I haven't talked to you in forever! I doubt you remember me... Its Great to hear the news!

You are a as much of a blessing to her as surviving that accident.

Keep strong bro!

[carrosene]

Congrats man. Its nice to see things are going well.

Eric

[HarryPR]

That is great news, Roberto!

I admire your persistence and dedication. Please keep us posted!

[robspeed]

thanks all, and im a lot happier saying it than you all are hearing it...

going to see her again this weekend, with Cooper. once shes back it will be a lot less miles on the car. since i registered it in january ive put over 15k on it! its pretty comfy (91 e30) but about 3/4 of the way on the 4-hour trip i gotta get out of the car and stretch a bit. leaving at 7am friday, should be there at about 10:30am her time (gain an hour via time zones but lose a half on cooper stops). Gonna pick her up and head to paducah, ky to chuck-e-cheese, then medicaid-paid hotel saturday night, then "castle park" all day saturday, and then head back here sunday.

cant wait!

-Rob

[Tommy]

So good to hear she's getting better. Thumbs up!

Tommy

[742002]

This is great news Rob! Glad to see things are working out.

Tyrel

[Mike Self]

the prayer list at our church since the accident; looks like our prayers are being answered.

I'm looking forward to sharing your news with our pastors and congregation--they've come to know "Rob & Jenna Schlisler" every week on the prayer list and will be happy to hear the good news.

Hope y'all can come over to Dayton and participate in an '02 event one of these days.

Cheers and God bless

mike