Recovery

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.

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.

CHANGES

TODAY I ACTUALLY DID SEVERAL ROTATIONS ON MY RECLING BIKE ALONE & MARK VIDEOTAPED IT! I WAS SO SURPRISED & HAPPY I LAUGHED & CRIED! I ATTRIBUTE IT TO MY TRYING TO RAISE 1 LEG AT A TIME IN THE SHOWER & MARK PLACING MY LEGS JUST RT. SO I COULD DO IT.

I HAVE ALSO BEEN ABLE, A FEW TIMES, TO USE MY RT. HAND TO PLACE MY LT. HAND ON MY ARMREST.

I ALSO SWEAR I CAN TAKE A BIGGER BREATH IN, BUT NOT OUT, NOW-I SWEAR I CAN MAKE MY STOMACH MUSCLES EXPAND OUT VERY SLIGHTLY.

IT IS GOOD TO HAVE CHANGES BECAUSE IT IS SOOO HARD EMOTIONALLY TO STAY THE SAME!

COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE

I WAS HOME MORE YESTERDAY, SO AT LEAST I AM DOWN TO 9 EMAILS-I DID THE MOST URGENT 1ST, ALTHOUGH I DO ADMIT SOME WERE STARTED BUT NOT FINISHED OUT OF LACK OF DESIRE!

EXCITING TIDBIT-I CAN NOW UNLOCK & MOVE THE WHEELCHAIR CONTROLS ON MY RIGHT BY CLUTCHING MY SEAT PAD & USING MY FOREARM & SHOULDER STRENGH-SO IF MY DUMB LEFT HAND WOULD JUST MOVE TO MY ARMREST, I COULD BE MORE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT!

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.