One Year Later

Wow, it has been exactly one year from Colby's surgery.  First of all, I apologize to anyone following along for letting this blog die.  Once we all headed back to our various homes life got even crazier for my little family which including a huge move for us this past summer.  My own family blog is lacking as well.  But I digress...

What a year for Colby! Last we left the blogger world he was just getting back into school and still working towards recovery. (For those of you new to his story, you can start back at the beginning HERE.)  School was a challenge for a while and Colby was living in a state of constant exhaustion for a little while there.  Being the resilient kid he is though, he stuck with it and overcame so many barriers in such a short time span.  With lots of naps, guidance and support behind him, he was able to make a full recovery just a few months after his brain surgery.  It took a few months longer to get his body back on track with iron levels and getting full energy back. For a while, a jam packed day and big family or friend parties caused him to shut down still, but he eventually overcame that as well.  By Christmas he had progressed leaps and bounds, but we noticed a huge change when we were able to come down and see him in March.  We knew then he was completely back when his quick wit and humor was once again a constant for him.  It was refreshing to be able to tease him and be pestered by his teenage sense of humor again because it meant he had completely healed.  He was himself again.

Once he was fully back, Colby has been able to live a normal 16 year old active life.  He played on the volleyball team for his school in the spring, went to school dances and activities, ran for Student Council/ASB and won, spoke at the CHOC Glass Slipper Guild Gala benefitting the neurological department, and finished off the school year with straight A's.  Truly amazing.  He had a jam packed summer full of all kinds of camps, vacations, and fun at the beach.  He took up surfing, strengthened his testimony at church camps, honed his soccer skills through summer sports programs and wakeboarded around Bass Lake outside of Yosemite at the Baron family reunion. This kid is amazing.  He is one of those that can accomplish anything he puts his mind to. We are all so grateful for him and for those who have supported him through all of his recovery and beyond.  Thank you thank you for all that you have done!

What a blessing to be able to see the hand of the Lord in our life so steadily.  Miracles happen, and when our prayers are not answered in the form of a miracle, we know the savior is there to carry us through.  We know that families are forever, meaning that when we can no longer be together in this life, we will be reunited once again in the next and live together in a state of "never ending happiness".  We know the power of prayer, especially when combined with prayers from loved ones from all over the world and from many different religions is real.  It is from those prayers that we feel uplifted and edified through those most difficult times.  Thank you for taking this journey with our family.

While I know I could go on and on about this resilient kid that has worked and played hard to get to where he is at, I figured the best update from his past year would be through pictures.  Here are just a few of those triumphant moments he has had post surgery:


Foothill Volleyball

 School Dances

HERE is a link to a newspaper article Colby was featured in for a different dance he went to as well as a follow up interview that was on the local ABC news found HERE.

Surfing! He was so excited to be given the green light to get back in the water (though it made the rest of us a nervous wreck for a while there!)

ASB Circus Circus themed school assembly

No more mass and a HEALTHY brain 6 months out!!

 EFY Church Camp

CHOC Glass Slipper Guild Gala

The amazing Dr. Muhonen that saved his life!

Receiving a blessing from a patriarch in our church

Baron family all together at Christmas time

And we can't forget THIS fun video he made with other young men from church for the young women!

We sure love having this kid still ever present in our lives making us laugh and smile everyday!

Back in School

Colby is officially back in school this week! His first day back was Monday.  His friends were all so excited. They even threw him a little welcome back party at lunch! He sure is a well loved kid and it has been a tremendous blessing to have so many behind him!

So far Colby has surpassed our expectations and has been able to handle a full day of school!  By the end of  the school day he is definitely well worn out and ready to shut it down, which is completely expected at this point.  Having a free period (he had to understandably drop AP Bio for this semester) has been very helpful in getting through the day.  Too bad he doesn't have a cot and somewhere extra quiet to sleep during that period! Once he gets home he does crash pretty hard and sleeps for a few hours.  He is still struggling a little with wanting to go to all the extra curricular activities after school, but for now he needs to start with one thing at a time.  A full day of school is definitely his max, whether he likes that or not.  It is really important for him to not overdo it before he is fully healed.  Tomorrow will be one month since his brain surgery.  He has come a long way in that one month, and for that we are very grateful.

Being the social butterfly teenage boy that Colby is, he still has a hard time saying no to all the extra curricular activities surrounding him.  My have to constantly remind him not to overdo it.  He has, however, been able to return to singing with his church youth choir just in time for the holiday season.  It is a wonderful choir that has been able to sing at the Orange Community Christmas celebration for years.  All of Colby's siblings have been able to participate in this choir in years past.  Our mom is on the committee this year in charge of putting it all together and making sure it goes off without a hitch.  She has put in a ton of hours over the past few months and is greatly looking forward to it this upcoming weekend.  If you want to come listen to Colby sing with the youth choir or see firsthand the result of our mom's hard work, please feel free to drop by! It is a community celebration open to all! Thousands of Creche exhibits will be on display as well as many musical presentations.   Here is the link that describes more of what and where it is.

http://www.communitychristmascelebration.org/

It is a wonderful way to start out the Christmas season.

Happy Holidays!


**Pictures to come soon from his surprise 16th birthday party last week!

Dr.'s Orders

Hello to anyone still following along!  Sorry it has been a while.  Life has been crazy trying to play catch up after my very last minute (but well worth it!!) trip to CA.  It has been busy for my parents too as they are adjusting back into their regular lives along with still helping Colby recover from home.  Things are going well though and we are all just still so grateful for how everything has turned out!

This last Tuesday, my mom and Colby were able to meet with his surgeon, the wonderful Dr. Muhuonen, to talk more about the surgery and recovery.  It was 2 weeks post brain surgery that day.  It was a very informative and emotional appointment all at once.  He had lots of good things to say about how well the surgery went as well as the progress Colby has had since.  With all the possible scenarios they went into the surgery with, he came out with the best case one, which is truly a miracle and a blessing from all the many prayers and fasting on his behalf.

After the Dr. asked Colby quite a few questions and assessed where he was at, Colby started firing questions away at him.  He is still so concerned about getting back into school and sports, as any active teenage kid would be.  Dr. Muhounen finally stopped Colby short when he told him, "Frankly, you almost died.  You were a very sick boy.  You need to take it easy for a while."  It was a good thing for Colby to hear it first hand from the Dr.  It was the first time it finally clicked with him how serious of a surgery and situation he had just gone through!  He is finally at a point to understand that and how truly important it is to let his body and especially his mind heal without trying to jump back into regular life.  He is very lucky and blessed to not only be alive, but that he will continue to be just fine, as long as he really takes his time in his recovery now.

Emotionally it was a little difficult for my parents to receive all the reports back from the hospital and from the surgery.  It was hard to hear just how sick their son was as well as how truly close to dying he came.  The cavernous angioma in his brain had been growing for many years and had even had some bleeds previously from what the Dr.'s could tell once they got in there.  It is amazing that he made it so long, with the mass being so large, without any symptoms.  It wasn't until it started to hemorrhage that day he went into the ER that anyone had any idea something was wrong.  It was almost an aneurism and they almost didn't find it in time.  That is not something easy to digest as a parent about your son, especially your youngest and only one left at home! Life is very fragile and as we have learned, not in our hands, but the Lord's.  That is why putting our trust in Him is so important to us!

So the plan is still for Colby to take it easy for a little while yet.  He is able to add a little more stimulation in his day to day routine, but still needs lots of rest and to be careful to not overdo it.  He will continue to have speech therapy and a little physical therapy for a few months and will slowly start back at school after Thanksgiving. He will most likely start with half days and gradually add more to his day each week as he is able to handle it. The Dr. did say that they are hoping to take him off the anti-seizure medication at the end of this month.  Being off of that should help him have more energy through the day as well as better balance physically.  He won't be completely out of the woods for his risk of having seizures, but he should be just fine as long as he doesn't push it too hard.  All in all, the Dr. is hopeful for a full recovery in 3 months post surgery.  Though the days may seem to drag on to Colby, 3 months is a very short time for all of us who were expecting a lot worse in the beginning.  His moto for the next few months comes from the Book of Mosiah in The Book of Mormon:

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.  And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."  (Mosiah 4:27).

It is still so amazing how fast life can change in an instant.  Sometimes it ends with heartbreak and sometimes it ends with a miracle.  No matter how your trials in life go, we hope everyone can find those big and small tender mercies to be grateful for during this thanksgiving season. We as a family are truly grateful for all of you! We would not have been able to do this without so many wonderful friends and family, from near and far.  We continue to be overwhelmed by all the love and support and hope to be able to spread those acts of kindness to others in need as we head into the holiday seasons.

One theme through this whole experience has been that we have seen many tender mercies from the Lord on Colby's behalf.  You can read more about tender mercies and our belief in them HERE. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!



Some pictures from the past week:


Trip to Irvine Park

His scar is looking better and better the longer his hair grows! The stitches are dissolvable, so he won't need to ever go in to get them out.

He is always looking for new ways to keep himself entertained.  This last week my dad and Colby found one of my dad's old skateboards.  Together they made this new little board using the old trucks and wheels.  They were both pretty excited and proud of the outcome!

Once again.... sorry about the poor picture quality.  Do we ever use real camera's anymore these days??

What's next for Colby...

This past week sure has flown by fast.  Sadly, all of us siblings had to leave and return to our families and our busy lives in various parts of the world.  We are all so grateful for the time we were able to be down together to be there for our parents and for Colby.  It has strengthened us greatly and we are all looking forward to being together again for Christmas with our spouses and kids.

Many have been asking for an update and I figured I'd give it at least one more shot, even from up here in Portland and then maybe my mom, Shannon, or Colby himself can take over from here.

Colby has been home now for a few days and is still doing well.  He has a little progress each day and is right on track with the Dr.'s expectations.  Though he is doing a little better each day, he still gets tired and overwhelmed quickly, as is common with brain trauma.  One minute he's kicking his older sister's butt at checkers and the next he can't even remember who's turn it is or what move to do next.  It is good for him to engage his mind and work on comprehension and memory though (which is what he will be doing with speech therapy), as long as he shuts it down and sleeps/relaxes when it starts to get too much.  We are hopeful that he will be back to school possibly either Thanksgiving week or the week after, with only doing as much as he can handle at a time.  The school counselors and teachers are working with my parents to come up with a doable plan to get him back on track.  It is killing him as an A student in many AP classes to have to go backwards for a while, but we are confident that with patience and time he will get right back up there.  He will also be missing out on soccer season this winter. That has been a hard blow for such an active sports loving kid who's never not been involved with some type of team sport.  He is hoping to still be able to support the team from the sidelines, however and will possibly be able to do volleyball in the spring. 

Since he doesn't have all of us around anymore, it will be good for Colby to have a few visitors each day, but please don't be offended if he gets worn out after only a few minutes.  He can seem totally normal and right on it and then go downhill fast once his brain is too activated. And often he is too sweet to admit how overwhelmed he feels.  20-30 mins is usually a good amount of time to visit.  Also, my mom has asked that anyone who would like to stop by call her beforehand to make sure no one drops in during a bad time when he needs to be sleeping or is having a hard time with outside stimulation.  Here are their phone numbers: 

Baron home phone: 714-639-7733

Jennifer's cell:  714-342-5071

And now for some pictures! By the way, all the pictures have been from various phones... sorry for the poor quality! One of these days we will take a picture with a real camera and post it.

 This is the night he came home from the hospital... he sat down and played two songs from memory!

Sister Brittany using her mad hair cutting skills to tame the mullet

First non-family visitors! Thanks for coming!!

He's Home!!!

Colby was able to come home this evening!! He is very happy to be home and we are happy to not be going back and forth between the hospital. I know my parents are also happy to finally be able to sleep in their own bed!

Colby has had great progress today.  He can still get overwhelmed quickly, but is doing so much better already with his ability to think clearly.  He is on anti seizure medication and just Tylenol for pain, which is great! The hardest part of him being home is having to constantly tell him to relax and take it easy.  He just wants to get right back into the swing of things and is dying to get back to school and seminary.  We keep telling him he sort of has a free pass on everything right now. 

For those of you that are close friends of Colby's, he would love to have visitors over the next few weeks while he is still at home recovering.  Later this week would be a good time to start having people drop by, a few at a time.  It will be a good distraction for him since he is going crazy with worry on all he is missing out on!  He can only handle a few visitors at a time and for about half an hour to an hour at most before he needs to take a break and get some rest.  When he starts feeling overwhelmed and tired he starts mixing up his words and becomes more sensitive to light and sound.  That's always our que to shut things down and let him rest. 

And now to the pictures from today!





Getting ready to leave the hospital

Thanks to all the sweet friends who heart attacked our house for his welcome home!

HOME!!

Today was a great day for Colby, filled with sweet moments as visitors piled in his tiny room to see his happy smiling face. The love he has felt from everyone has been so sweet and has given him motivation each day to get better. He spent most of the day pain free walking the halls and visitng with family. Prayers have been answered.

We had a wonderful night together as a family playing games and lifting his spirits. The time we have been able to spend as a family has been so special for us. Its very rare that we all get to be together and tonight was one of those sweet moments. We are so proud of our little Bro and how tough he has been through this rocky journey of recovery. He has been so courageous and strong and we couldnt be happier with his improvement. We sure do love him.

Thank you again for all those that have lended a helping hand, brought us yummy dinners, called to make sure we had all our needs met, and prayed for our family. We cant tell you enough how much we appreciate everything you have done for our family. We love you all!

 

 

 

 



 

 

Friday Day 5

Today was suppossed to be the toughest day for Colby and the doctor's predictions were definitely right on!  Due to being released from ICU to a regular room on the neurological floor, a drastic increase in swelling and a complete change in medication, Colby struggled through the day. He was only able to drink water and couldn't even take Gatorade from all the nausea. Once the doctors came in and reevaluated things, sent him for another C.T. scan, and put him on different medicine, Colby was able to get some relief and have a much better afternoon. Unfortunately we didn't get to take very many pictures this day as the pain in Colby's head from the swelling was so great he couldn't even open his eyes! We are glad to be done with Day 5!

Trying to walk off the pain...

Saturday Day 6

What a better day! Colby was able to sleep great last night. He went on new steroid medicine, went off of morphine and on to only Tylenol. Yeah! The doctor mentioned that a 16 year old kid whose had brain surgery will feel the pressure from the swelling of the brain drastically more than an adult. He made great progress on functioning without morphine. The steroid seems to be key to his improvement. Doctors attributed to the regression in speach to the swelling that will go down in the next couple days. Some things Colby was able to do today...Finaly eat. Ate a whole burrito for breakfast!  He walked all around without help, played checkers, watched surf movies and hung out and talked to lots of visitors without being tired or in pain =)

                                                    
                                       Steph was a little bummed that her little brother post
                                                brain surgery was still able to beat her at checkers.

 

                                                Hung out with his nieces and nephews
                                             Kaylee said Colby's scar was "spooky scary!"
                                                          Deacon liked it...of course =)

 

                                                  Walking the halls with his "helpers"