My family took me to Detroit so I could visit my hospital to see my caregivers and my school to see my students. Here are the things those experiences made me feel.
On Sunday, at Botsford, it was a surreal experience. I was talking to all of these people whom I didn’t know but who knew me.
All of the people I met were simply amazing.
I gained something from that experience that I hadn’t been expecting. Surrounded by medical professionals who had seen me immediately after my accident, they took the time to walk me through how serious my injuries had been. They showed me scans of my brain and explained what normally is expected from those injuries. At one point, I had a dozen bleeds in my brain. The doctors said that nine times out of ten when they see injuries like that, the chances of recovery are super low.
My family and I took my main resident out to eat at a restaurant. My dad asked him if he had ever thought that less than seven months since my accident, he would be eating dinner with and talking to me. He said absolutely not. That conversation and those like it made me even more thankful than I had been about being healthy.
2. School
Another teacher at my school had many of my students do a project where they wrote letters to me while I was in the hospital. I read them a month or two ago and was saddened because I didn’t remember many of them. But then I re-read them the night before I went in to visit my students, and I remembered almost all of them. My students’ favorite game to play with me was “Do you remember my name?” I remembered a lot more than I thought I would, and those that I didn’t remember, I knew at least the first letter of their first name.
Many of my students told me how I was one of the first math teachers they had ever had who made them want to learn math. Statements like this were great for my confidence, which has been frustratingly low since the accident.
Also, I was so happy to see my coworkers doing the things they are doing. My students are in great great hands.
Spencer J Smith 
Hi Spencer! What a fantastic afternoon it was to have you and your family together with your caregivers here at Botsford Hospital. I am a bit squeamish when it comes to looking at scary CT scans, but it was so instructive to really see what had happened to you from those images. Many thanks to you and your family for coming. It was truly a meaningful experience for all of us here at Botsford. I took a golf ball from the giveaway basket to keep on my desk at work to remind me of you.
Hi Spencer !
I was very thankful to be part of your return to the place where you started your journey to wellness.
We rarely get to hear about the wonderful progress our patients make and it is rewarding to know.
Thank you to you and your family on behave of Trauma Services .
I too, have a golf ball on my desk to remind me of you.
Hello Spencer..It was great to see you and your family! Taking care of you and getting to know your parents made me want to see you have a full recovery even more. Keep up the hard work!!! Your mission here is not complete…Keep making a difference.