Trip to St. Louis

Last weekend, I went with Mum to St. Louis to go to the American Music Therapy Conference.  At the opening of the conference, we showed a 10 minute clip from "Music Got Me Here" to over 1800 music therapists and then we showed the whole movie 2 times during the conference.  Tom and other friends from A Place to Be were there as well.  A Place to Be, specifically Tom, received the Professional Practice Award for this year.  It was incredible to be there to see A Place to Be get this recognition.  Here are some pictures from the trip.

Toliver and I on the plane

BAT-DOG!

We stayed at a cool hotel that used to be a train station. 
They did an incredible light show every hour!

With Music Therapists from A Place to Be - Ray and Tom

Having fun with Tom and Toliver at a park in St. Louis

2 cool dudes and our new friend the bunny

I met so many cool people like Dr Kwan!

One extra special thing was that I got to go for a hike with my
Uncle Brad, Jackson, cousin Jennifer, and her adorable kids

October Update

Hello everyone, it's Forrest.  Sorry that it has been so long since we updated the blog.  I only spent two nights at the hospital in Cleveland after my last surgery.  My recovery has been good and I have been busy.

Me with Tom, Kim, Grace, Toliver and the Matthews

Two weeks ago, I was proud to be a part of the annual A Place to Be Fundraiser to raise money for the Forrest Stone Allen Financial Aid Fund.  This Fund helps provide assistance to families and individuals that could not otherwise afford music or art based therapy.  At the fundraiser, we showed a 10 minute clip of the movie, "Music Got Me Here" that features myself and Tom Sweitzer and shows how music helped us both in life and helped me find my voice.  A Place to Be also premiered their brand new musical called "One Second of Grace" at the fundraiser.  The show talks about challenges teenagers face in their everyday lives.  We met our goal during the weekend - raising over $100,000 for families in need!  Thank you to everyone that helped that weekend and those who gave money to the fund.  A special thank you to the Matthews for opening their amazing property, Trillium Farm, for us to use to host the event.  And also, thank you to Grace Wheeler - the inspiration behind the new show "One Second of Grace."  The fundraiser was featured in the most recent edition of the Middleburg Eccentric.  It is not available online at this time, but we will share it when it is.  There are a lot of great pictures, so be sure to check it out.

Filming with Barbara Harrison from NBC

Also this month, Tom and I were on the news!  We met with Barbara Harrison, from NBC Washington for interviews and they aired a great special about music therapy and "Music Got Me Here" last week.  Barbara was really nice and fun to talk to. Here is the link if you would like to watch it:  https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/Music-Therapy-Helps-Man-Regain-Voice-After-Snowboarding-Acci_Washington-DC-451980993.html

The final big thing that has happened so far this month is that the movie "Music Got Me Here" screened at the Middleburg Film Festival!  It had two screenings - one on Saturday and one on Sunday, both followed by a Q&A session with myself, Tom, Susan Koch (the director of the film), Toliver and my parents.  It was cool to look out into the audience to see a mix of local Middleburg people and those that came to the film festival from out of town.  I also got to see a few of my former nurses and teachers.

At the Middleburg Film Festival with Tom, my parents and the film crew -
Editor Georgia Koch, Director Susan Koch and Director of Photography Neil Barrett

With APTB family featured in the film - Cameron, Kim, Brendan, Amy and Tom

Thank you everyone for giving me your support and for supporting APTB and Music Got Me Here.

- Forrest

Post Surgery Update

Forrest's surgery yesterday went smoothly.  Dr. Kumar is very happy with the outcome.  He was able to remove most of the hardware and revise the graft.  We can't wait to see it in full once the dressing is removed!  He has not had any complications post-op, and although sleep itself was hard to come by, he had a quiet night.

Sleepy post-op smiles

 In other news, please enjoy these pics from last weekend's CCI DogFest.  Forrest was co-captain of the Middleburg Laboradorables team with his friend Caroline Elgin.  They were the fourth highest fundraising team in our area!  (Photos courtesy of Nikki Cheshire)

A Planned Surgery

Hello friends, Tami here.  Team 44 is in Cleveland this week for Forrest to have surgery tomorrow (Friday, September 15th).  This was a planned surgery to reduce the likelihood of the recurrent infections that have beleaguered Forrest.  Why Cleveland, you may ask?  Forrest's surgeon, Dr. Kumar, who has poured countless hours into rebuilding 44's skull, left Johns Hopkins and is now at a hospital here in Cleveland.  We wouldn't have anyone else operate on Forrest's skull, so here we are!   The goals for this surgery are to remove as much of the remaining hardware (screws, plates...etc) as is no longer needed and remove as much of the old graft as possible to restore healthy scalp.  Dr. Kumar may also harvest fat from Forrest (if they can find any on his skinny frame!) to transplant to further protect his bone and even out what 44 calls his "speed bumps on his noggin".

We hope to be home early in the week.  As hard as it is to go back to the hospital, looking at the recent devastation from hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires, we consider ourselves so lucky to even have a hospital to go to for this opportunity to continue to strengthen and protect Forrest's skull.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers for Forrest.  We will update tomorrow.

- Tami

Busy Summer!

Hey everyone, it's Forrest.  Sorry that it has been a while, I have had several things to do.  Here is a recap of what I have been up to this summer.

I was part of 4 A Place to Be Summer Camps!  I played an aspiring rock star in "Penny the Piano", played instruments, sang songs and danced during "Pop Rocks Recording", was a Junior Mentor for the second "Pop Rocks" and learned about acting and being expressive during "Theater Improv".

I have also been working a few hours a week at Dolphin Quest and have helped out at home on the farm.

The most important thing that I have done this summer was that I went on a family vacation with my parents and brother to go fly fishing in Montana.  It was an amazing experience to be able to do some things that I haven't been able to do since my accident.  I went wet wading and fly fishing with my "adopted grandma" Marcia Woolman; crossed streams on foot (under the watchful eye of Austin); got up early to go to where an animal had died to watch the grizzlies and wolves gather for food and we saw a lot of wildlife in general like bison, bears, pronghorns, ospreys, wolves, longhorn sheep, mountain goats, Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (and lots of kinds of trout) and thousands of insects including giant thirsty mosquitos!  We also went on a 14 mile trail ride on horseback.  It felt like I was back in the days before I hit my head.  It felt like old times.  It was very nice to be able to hang out and relax with Austin for a week.  With him away at school most of the year, we don't get a lot of time like that together.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the trip:

 

 

A Month of Adventures (with a lot of pictures!)

Hi everyone!  This is Forrest.  It has been a little over a month since we last updated and I have a lot to fill you in on!

Speaking to the crowd at Berklee after showing the movie

On May 10th, Mom and Dad rolled out to the Galapagos and Toliver, Tami and I went to Boston.  My Music Therapist Tom was graduating from Berklee College of Music with a Masters in Music Therapy that week.  We weren't able to go to his graduation, but we went for a special premiere of the documentary movie that Tom and I are in.  We showed the film to a group of his music therapy peers and classmates.  They thought it was very good and liked seeing how Music Therapy affected my situation.

Mini Golf at the Mall of America

The next day, Tami, Toliver and I flew to Minnesota.  We went to Minnesota to see Tami's family.  This was my first long trip away without either of my parents.  While in Minnesota, we went to the Mall of America, the Minnesota Zoo and a Minnesota Twins baseball game.  It was a great trip.  One highlight was Toliver at the zoo.  He was well behaved and when we saw the wolves, they put their front paws on the glass and seemed to recognize that Tollie is a canine.  They were whining and wagging their tails like they wanted to play.  Toliver was also the first dog ever in their new kangaroo walk-through exhibit!

With some of Tami's family at the zoo

At the Minnesota Twins Game!

Wolf saying "hi" to Toliver!

After we all returned from our adventures, I went with Mom and Dad to visit a friend named Lee Lee.  Lee Lee has a Traumatic Brain Injury as well and is recovering at Bryn Mawr rehab in Pennsylvania.  She is making tremendous progress since her accident in December!

With Lee Lee

This last weekend, Tom and I went to the Kennedy Center and spoke in front of a whole bunch of people about how music was a part of my recovery.  We showed a segment from the documentary and then spoke for a bit.  This was part of a big event on Friday and Saturday that was called "Sound Health: Music and the Mind" and it talked about the brain and it's connection to music.  It was a partnership between the National Institute of Health and the Kennedy Center.  I got to meet a lot of really cool and important people like - Musician Ben Folds, Musician Renee Fleming, and Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH.  Here is a YouTube link to the panel that Tom and I were a part of on Saturday.  Our part begins around minute 11!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzJB3oI4RHM&sns=fb

With amazing singer, Renee Fleming!
Renee has seen "Music Got Me Here" and she really liked it!

Windy, squished group pic before the Friday night NSO Concert

With Tom and Ben Folds!

Shayna and Gio (not pictured) came for dinner and the Symphony on Friday and Corina and Madeline came to the see my panel on Saturday at the Kennedy Center!

And...speaking of the documentary, we have a new title!  Most of you know it as "High Notes", but it is now "Music Got Me Here".  Here is our first official poster!  We will share the new website link soon!

Another Big Moment (and other updates)

Forrest,

Thursday, April 27th was yet another milestone in your journey.  The stomach tube that has been your constant companion for the length of your recovery was finally removed!  Dr. Falkenstein performed the much anticipated procedure and you have been excitedly telling friends and showing off your now tube-free abdomen.  The tube has been a bit of a security blanket for us, knowing that we could rely upon it to administer medications and supplement your nutrition or fluids when necessary, but you have worked really hard the past few months to eat well, stay hydrated and take all of your medications orally so that you could reach this momentous occasion.  

Last week you did some research to find a eco-friendly way to dispose of your expired medications from previous years.  You independently printed off details of two options and showed them to Mum.  Luckily, there was a collection day on Saturday in Loudoun county, and you handed over the meds to Lieutenant Prince at the PD in Middleburg! They bring the medications to the DEA where they are incinerated, avoiding making their way into our waterways.  

Today is an important day for A Place to Be, the organization that has done so much to help your recovery through therapy, music and friendships.  It is "Give Choose", which is a day for people to donate to local non-profits.  You have been busy over the last week to promote this and encourage people to donate.  It isn't too late to give today!  Here is the link for any blog followers that would like to contribute to this great cause!  http://www.givechoose.org/aplacetobeva

You have an exciting couple of weeks coming up and we look forward to sharing stories of your adventures here on the blog.

Proud and blessed to be part of Team 44,

Tami