Church

May 4, 2004

Today was a great day. I always try to see what Jenny can do or if she is able ot move on with therapies. I convinced the staff to let Jenny go without an oxygen tank for therapies since she is only on oxygen for moisture. Jenny had no problems and her saturation levels were normal for the several hours she was off the oxygen. So, they decided use room humidifiers instead of oxygen. Her secretions are less each day and she is so ready to get rid of the trache. Her eating was great today and her mouth opened so wide and she was able to move food from front to back well. I also realized that Jenny, being a singer, had not tried singing with her speaking valve. She tried it and sang a song for us to guess. Obviously, she is still making basic sounds, but her friend guessed correctly “I Am a Child of God”, just after a few sounds/words. She definately makes more sounds and has better use of ehr voice when she sings, and she requires less spitting on me to make it work (notice I said “less”, not “no”).

In physical therapy, Jenny was able to hold her head up on her own for 15 seconds at a time while in a seated position on the therapy table. She looked so great. Of course, she is such a perfectionist and feels she is not doing well. I asked if I was in her place and did what she did today if it would be a big deal and she indicated that it would be. So, either she expects too much of herself or too little from me.

Missy was helping out with me today and we decided to experiment with what would make Jenny most comfortable. There is a second bed in her room and Missy would position me and put pillows under me like we do for Jenny. All the while, Jenny is watching and having a huge laugh. From my brief experience, I had a short look into Jenny’s life. There are no comfortable positions and the pushing and rolling is uncomfortable. My nose itched and Jenny liked me knowing that little detail and indicated that this is one of her personal torments, on top of everything else. The first thing I did when I got up was to itch her nose.

Wired for the web

Jenny has a semi-private room with an unlikely chance of having a room mate, so she has more room for family and friends to spread out it. I brought our laptop to finish an on-line defensive driving course (before the deadline expires tonight) and Jenny began looking all excited about getting on-line. I realized that she had so many activities that involved the internet that I should have hooked her up sooner. Her vision is still difficult, so I read most things for her. I showed her this web site since she has heard so much about it and the comments. We checked out her Primary message boards. She was punished by hearing me complete the 3 hour defensive driver course (24/25 was my passing score). I’m sure Jenny answered all the questions right in her head though. I promised her a little trip to the e-bay web site if she worked hard today. Jenny is a bit scared and emotional about her change. She still states she wants to be here, but I can only imagine how scary it can be for her to have limited knowledge of her surroundings and having to trust strange new people with every aspect of her daily living.

She was excited to hear that they expected her to be dressed in other clothes besides a hospital gown. I brought in a few changes of clothes/nice pajamas. I also told her of the posibility of a shower. Her eyes really lit up on that suggestion. Unlike the other 3 hospitals, she came here with the assumption that she will improve use of her voluntary motor functions. Every place else had the goal of preserving life and stabalizing her. Therefore, she is treated by staff as though she will improve. Well, it is time to begin rehab, so I’m off to cheer and support.

I think this is our moving day

From what they tell us, we will be in Indy this afternoon- but we will wait and see. I realized that I have had the advantage of being one of the few people who have been with Jenny all these weeks (it has almost been 3 weeks). We obviously had our initial grief and the expected dealing with the general unknown. However, I have aquired a real peace about our future and our family doing well with our new challenge. I know Jenny will progress much more than doctors let on. Our faith is going to play a huge part in that. Unfortunately, most of our friends and some family have not seen Jenny since before the stroke. I realize until they see Jenny and realize she is doing better each day, that it is difficult.

We have actually had a bunch of times where Jenny is laughing (a quiet laugh with a huge smile) at stories, jokes, and the situations that come up. Yesterday, she coughed and ended up clamping down on her bottom lip with her teeth. I saw the pain in her face and helped free the lip. Once it was done, she just laughed on how silly the situation was. She cries too. It is hard for her to talk about her hobbies, primary calling, or other lifestyle changes without choking up. She is getting better as she gets use to things. When a movement occurs that is voluntary, we celebrate, and you can see it in Jenny’s eyes that she did it on her own. She is proud and excited as well. I have found myself talking to family or friends who just found out about Jenny who obviously try to say the right things about the initial stroke. I feel torn with being somber when discussing Jenny with others for the 1st time, but yet excited about the progress that just occured. I would imagine that when others are able to visit, Jenny will get emotional (mostly because visitors are crying as they see her for the first time), but the mood is usually returned to laughing and celebrating. We are so blessed with what we have been given, despite the hardships we know we will face.