Family

MISC.

SINCE PEOPLE KEEP ASKING, WE HAVE NO DATE THAT I AM AWARE OF, BUT VERY SOON WE CAN BRING A FEW THINGS TO GRADUALLY MOVE–R SWIM-SPA/MY THERAPY POOL IS FILLED & HEATED -BUT WE WANT TO SURPRISE THE KIDS BY BEING DONE W/THEIR ROOMS 1ST.

1 GOOD THING, SINCE I AM SO SLOW TYPING, RATHER THAN SEND OUT A BUNCH OF E-MAILS, I CAN JUST SAY SOME STUFF ON HERE. FOR EX.: THERE IS A YACKTMAN FAMILY REUNION IN DEC. HERE. BASICALLY, I THINK I WILL GET TO SEE MY SIBLINGS MORE!

IN A COMMENT, A WEBSITE WAS POSTED. I AM ON A YAHOO GROUP FOR YOUNG STROKE SURVIVORS & THIS WAS HIGHLY TALKED ABOUT-I READ IT NOW-1ST LET ME SAY THANKS! 2ND, LET ME SAY THIS WON’T HELP ME. THANK GOODNESS! BESIDES ME HATING TO FEEL MORE ROBOTIC & LESS HUMAN, I CAN GRIP. I JUST LACK STRENGH. BUT I HAVE PICKED TINY THINGS OFF MY PANTS (WHICH PEOPLE CAN’T SEE, SO IT USUALLY ENDS UP ON THE FLOOR). AS FOR MY LEFT ARM, UNLESS I AM LAYING DOWN, THERE IS NO MOVEMENT. FROM MY LT. ELBOW DOWN, I HAVE HAD NO MOVEMENT AT ALL, & THIS REQUIRES MOVEMENT. BUT THANKS-I LIKE KNOWING WHAT I COULD DO.

SURPRISE!

I FIGURED SINCE MARK HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR ME, THE LEAST I COULD DO WAS FLY OUT HIS BEST FRIEND FROM INDY! OTHER REASONS: THE ONLY PEOPLE HE HANGS OUT W/HERE WILL BE GONE THIS WEEKEND, WE HAVE A FAM. REUNION IN DEC. SO I WANTED TO AVOID THAT, I ALREADY HAD HIS B-DAY GIFTS, & I HOPED THE HOUSE(WHICH IS ALMOST, BUT NOT QUITE) DONE SO HE COULD HELP MOVE/LIFT & X-MAS SEEMED TO LATE! I SHOCKED HIM YESTERDAY SINCE HIS B-DAY IS SAT. HE NEEDS ‘GUY TIME’ & I ADMIT, SINCE I CAN’T TALK, SURPRISING HIM WAS EASIER! MARK HAS BEEN ABLE TO SHOW OFF STUFF (LIKE R ALMOST DONE HOUSE-WHICH I’D HOPED WOULD BE DONE, & MY COMP. TABLE).

IT HAS BEEN SAID MY RT. ARM SEEMS STRONGER & MY “JUMPINESS” THAT THE KIDS LOVE & TRY TO GET ME TO DO, HAS BEEN EXPERIENCED! I AM SURE IT IS ALSO WEIRD FOR HIM TO HEAR ME SAY “MARRR.” NEXT TIME IS HIS WIFE, MY BEST FRIEND, COMES! WEBCAM & IM R NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Jenny ROCKS!

I am so proud of Jenny, and her progress. We are slowly returning to the level of physical therapy that we once did, prior to our moving. I think the results are begining to show. I have to also admit that we are still being blessed with miracles. We have worked her whole body for some time, but it is mostly us doing the movements. I bought a reclining exercise bike so she would get more fluid range of motion on her legs. I always dreamed of the possibility of her doing the bike by herself. It is a huge feat- keeping in mind that she could not move her left side until just the past month or so. Her left leg has become stronger than the right in some movements. Yesterday was incredible. I asked her to try the bike (like I always do), but I only expected the typical extension of her right leg and her getting stuck in the down stroke. For some reason, she gave several revolutions. It surprise me. She was shocked and almost fell of the bike from her initial response. We tried it a few more times with the same great response. If I made some modifications to her bike, so she could stay in the same position, I think she could go a little longer. Anyhow, things are good for us now and it is great to see big progress. I will still take the little steps, but the big ones do not hurt either.

COMPUTER

JUST FOR THE RECORD, I DO NOT SCRAPBOOK. I WANT TO BADLY, BUT I HAVE 20+ EMAILS TO TYPE & SEND (IF U GET AN EMAIL SPORADICALLY, IT IS CAUSE I AM SLOWLY RESPONDING & VERY OVERWHELMED). I THINK MARK SAID THAT BECAUSE I HAVE A SCRAPBOOK GROUP HERE EVERY TUES., BUT WE SEE A DVD/TUTORIAL WHICH I HAVE TO FIND TIME TO DO AGAIN LATER THAT WEEK TO TRY TO RECALL IT OR I FALL BEHIND. I ALSO TYPE IN JOURNALS FOR THE KIDS & ME, I HAVE TONS OF THINGS STARTED BUT NOT FINISHED-I CAN THINK OF 19-IN WORD THAT I NEVER DO, BUT WANT TO, MY CALLING A TON, RESEARCHING STUFF FOR MARK & THE KIDS, ETC. (YES, MORE!)

NO WONDER I AM ON THE COMPUTER SO MUCH!

Oct 23, 2005

I am really pleased with Jenny’s progress. I see her working on new movements all the time, and when she is not exercising, she is either working on scrapbooks, her calling, researching stuff for my and the kids, or communicating with people by e-mail. She is a pretty busy gal. Her left leg has really become quite strong. I actually notice that the right leg has less movement, but I have done this too long to be worried. Jenny gets excited when she has a calling. I feel sorry for Tara. I know Jenny sends her a thousand e-mails each day to discuss ideas about their activity days. The girls in their class have worked so hard to learn ASL. I saw one of the girls, while visiting Zach at school, and she signed to me from a distance. I’m impressed.

I am excited to get into our new home so Jenny has more independence. She wrote about liking her new keyboard set-up that I made for her. She feels like this opens up a new world for her, but I can only guess what a totally accessible house would do. Some things are designed that can only be usefull as she progresses, but there are plenty of things set up for her use right now.

As for Jenny speaking- I totally heard her so loud and clear! She said three words before she realized what she was saying and quit- out of shock, most likely. The good news is that she demonstrates that her brain is capable of telling her voice to work. The bad news is that the process of doing so is random and uncontrollable at this time. Perhaps the key to making the voice work is getting her to feel sorry for me (such as when she did not want to make me carry her late at night). Deductive reasoning would lead me to believe that she rarely feels sorry for me since she rarely speaks words.