News

Dec 22, 2004

Jenny had set a few goals for herself for this Christmas and by her one year anniversary of her stroke. At he begining, she was hammered with the fact that she was going to be “locked in” and never able to do anything. She later began showing improvements, so she decided to set pretty lofty goals. Now that December is here, she feels (felt?) let down that she never reached her goals- which were related to speaking and walking. I think she realizes that she has come far past the point that she is suppose to be. I am not sure if she buys into the fact that her desire is a large part of what got her this far.

Jenny continues to show great improvement with speach therapy. She was very vocal today with a variety of sounds that she has been working on. However, she also reported feeling a little weak and slightly more blurry vision. This has occurred before. We have increased her physical activity, so she may be a little warn out. One of the things we do now is electrical stimulation. I like it and she hates it- like normal. I think that is the main reason behind more movement on her left side.

Dec 16, 2004

My theory of Jenny doing better when family and friends are around was reconfirmed as Missy and Dustin have been here for the past few days. It helps that fresh faces bring fresh ideas. Missy and Jenny shopped together all day yesterday and brought back too much stuff. They bought some games that Jenny could possibly play. One was a Mancalla game with the oval shaped marble peices. Jenny beat me 4 straight games (doing all movements on her own) and even corrected an error that I made (she called it cheating, but I called it a mistake). I quit so she could beat Missy and Zach just as bad. Not bad for a woman with hazy vision. She spelled out that it felt good to be able to interact with everyone like a “real person” and not just an observer. I feel she will quickly be able to interact more in no time. Jenny demonstrated great leg lifting on her right leg and continues to strengthen her right shoulder.

dec 14, 2004

Missy and Dustin are visiting, which is always a good thing for Jenny- and the family. Since they were here for so many months just after the stroke, it has been a great baseline to judge her progress over the past 3 months. I had forgot what Jenny had been doing when they were here last, so it was fun to see how excited Missy would get to see some large improvement. Jenny felt a little proud of herself as well.

We are still waiting for some medical equiptment (such as the power wheel chair), which will make huge changes in Jenny’s life. Hopefully, it will be a nice Christmas surprise to get these things by then. Jenny has become much stronger in her right arm and it continues to improve daily.

Dec 10, 2004

We took our longest road trip since Jenny has been back home. She did quite well and seemed to enjoy the time away. She made the rare confession that she was worn out from the trip. I felt more tired than usual as well. Next time, we will see how we will do kids. Jenny was with family members, which always makes her more happy.

Jenny has reported occassional voluntary movements on her left side (which has been dorment for the past several months). She has prayed so hard to get movement on the left side of her body, so I also pray that this is what happens. It was great to see her face when she made a couple movements with her left hand. You would think that she finally got that pony that she kept asking her parents for when she was younger.

Dec 1, 2004

We began our Christmas decorating this week in keeping with family tradition. Unfortunately, it has been very emotional as Jenny begins the Christmas holiday knowing that she is not able to participate fully as she would like to. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jenny plays an active role as wife and mother (we just need to get Jenny to realize this). To a degree I think she does. There are just many reminders of what she can not do.

As for what she can do, the list grows each and every day. She has enjoyed doing electric stimulation. As for what changes it may provide- we do not know. It appears that her left leg has more movement than we once thought, which is a promising thought.