It's been a while...
- Kabrina Ishmael
- Dec 20, 2025
- 5 min read
Hey Yall! Summer came and went, we had some cooler days and here we are in the holiday season! Let's get into it and you can see and read up on what things Jared and has been up to lately!
Let's fill you in on ALL THE THINGS! I know, it has been months since we updated you all on here, so there have been lots of changes and updates!
My sister had mentioned last blog entry that Jared was discharging from Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS), well that time came at the end of August; so the next step for him was with a place called REHAB WITHOUT WALLS, where the different therapists come to the house to work with him.
He continues to do physical, occupational and speech therapy, it just looks a little different than we are used to. Each of his sessions can be anywhere from one hour to two and half hours, with his therapists. Being in the home has its advantages, he is learning to do tasks around the house where the therapy is incorporated in those movements. We have the opportunity to be super involved with his therapy sessions getting to observe and learn from them as well. One of my favorite things about this transition has been the flexibility of scheduling and the outings his therapy team tries to incorporate.
Our goals with RWW is to get Jared as independent as possible, CONSISTENTLY.
We are focused on safety with him being able to transfer independently to and from various locations. We are working on walking more with an upright walker rather than being in his wheelchair. He is working on strength and endurance and rebuilding so many of his muscles that were not used for so long.
Speech Therapy- We started speech therapy with Kendall and she was hitting it hard working on that swallow and vocalization. Nothing makes us happier than when we get to hear Jared's voice, so we ask for continued prayers in that department! She worked with him on reading, writing, communication of any and all kinds, through voicing, hand gestures, and writing things down on a white board.
As you all know, eating for Jared has been a journey of its own, lots of forwards and backwards steps. He had a swallow study done recently which showed and confirmed the struggle he is continuing to have with swallowing and risk of aspiration. Kendall did some E-stim exercises to help with his swallowing, and tongue exercises.
Everyone meet Kendall, a fellow Red Raider, so her and Jared are always talking Texas Tech Football and are ready with their "Guns up."
We have started with a new speech therapist (new to us, but definitely not new to speech therapy in the brain injury world).
Christin is tough and we love that about her. She keeps pushing Jared and knows he is capable of hard things. She is working on his breathing and really trying to get him to use his true voice when speaking. Jared has been very responsive to Christin, and even though some days are more productive than others, overall we are happy to see him making progress.
Occupational & Physical Therapy
Many of you know, OT is not usually one of Jared's favorites, however, since starting with RWW, he has turned over a new leaf. Jared is doing a lot of dual sessions that involve both his PT and OT. This allows them to do hard things with Jared, where as if it were just one therapist it may limit things in their sessions. They work on lots of walking, doing exercise on an elliptical, and of course fun things like throwing frisbees in his disc golf cage in the backyard and putting! If you know Jared, you know he loves golf- both disc and ball! We have recently started doing floor work, because even though we do our very best to avoid falls, sometimes is happens, and we want to be as prepared as possible to help pick him up if we need to, until he can get up on his own.
Jared is strong and capable of so many things, it is just getting him to do it, haha! These are the moments that remind all of us, that Jared, IS JARED through and through; he's always been stubborn and comes around to things on his own time.
We are excited to welcome Trena and Bethany to the team and to see what they have in store for Jared.
Jared can do hard things! It really is amazing how many things Jared has had to relearn in three and a half years. And to many people that amount of time seems long, but think if you had to re-learn how to swallow to eat, relearn how to read and write, re-learn how to use your arms and legs, including not just big things like walking but simple tasks that you don't realize take a huge amount of gross and/or fine motor skills. Taking the cap off of the toothpaste, buttoning your pants, holding a spoon...HUGE, small things that we, as able-bodied people, take for granted.
Other things...
Fall Festival at ABLE Faith, Jared played some games and did a couple laps in his walker. We are always grateful to our Able Faith community. Recently they donated a lightweight transfer wheel chair to us to better transport Jared easily in the car rather than having to break down his large wheelchair.
They also open their facility during the week to use their gym, so Jared got in a little therapy session.
Check them out if you haven't already!
ABLE FAITH https://www.ablefaith.org/
Other than therapy, it has been relaxing weekends here on Price circle, with lots of Texas Tech football watching and a few appointments scattered in there. Jared has been in the dentist chair quite a bit getting some long needed things taken care of.
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For anyone who might be new here, or wanting to know how they can help, here are a couple options:
-- I'm going to drop the link to Jared's Amazon gift registry here:
The most needed items (due to everyday consumption) are briefs, wipes and the various vitamins and supplements. Contributions and/or gift cards are also very helpful for random items that pop up as well.
-- And his GoFundMe is still alive and always useful.
Thank you so much for any contributions and/or purchases. We appreciate it more than you know! We look forward to the day when Jared is FaceTiming all of you to share his gratitude as well!
Stay tuned with us as we keep truckin' along! We love when we get to share pictures, videos, stories, praise reports, and even the hard stuff. Thank you for your support, prayers and encouragement! We are grateful to our community out there who care about Jared! You can always check in here or see our day to day wins and wows on my social media pages!
Instagram: @kbrenie
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kabrina.ishmael
We have also been thinking about setting up an instagram for Jared so you can quickly check in on him, where we can post quick pictures and videos and updates more often! We will keep you posted!
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