Jenny continues to improve with her ASL. Before, she could spell out a sentence in a few minutes, but she can now sign it in a few seconds. I still get a bit confused when her hand is tired from a long day of therapy. Jenny knows, or has been taught by friends, a few other signs- like “bathroom”. Jenny liked to teach the primary kids how to sing songs while signing in ASL, and it seems to have really paid off. Many people have asked if they need to sign to Jenny, which they don’t (her hearing is the ONLY thing that has held up) during this whole experience. Her eye sight has improved slightly in the past couple weeks, but reading is still a little difficult.

We went to the eye doctor, who adjusted her prescription, so Jenny sees even clearer. She has been wearing contacts occassionally, but she is now in a pair that can be left in for a week. This way, she can wake up and see the world and not rely on others to put her glasses on. Jenny as wanting this appointment, but like with all her doctor visits, it was stressful and emotional even though things went smooth.

I put a wireless door bell on Jenny’s wheelchair so she can alert us when she needs help. It was another step to feeling more independent. She loved it. I did not tell the kids and Jenny sounded the bell and the kids ran to the door. Jenny had fun with it and the kids ran back and forth thinking that someone was hiding in the bushes. All the while, Jenny was in tears laughing.

Yesterday was the 6th month since Jenny’s stroke. It seems like so long ago, but it is a relativley short period of time in relation to how long Jenny will be progressing to her full potential. It is too long for Jenny, but she will admit to increased progress lately. It is exciting to see what new things will be done by Jenny each and every day. The movements seem to be getting bigger and better and they surprise Jenny more than anyone. Today, Jenny had a nice visit with lots of friends and family, as well as being able to go out to eat with our extended family. The woman has a huge appetite and I could not feed her fast enough. I love going out into public with her and I am glad she feels more comfortbale doing so. I’m so proud of Jenny and all she has achieved so far.

While demonstrating her ability to push the exercise bike pedal down with each foot, she amazed everyone by completing a few revolutions on the bike without help from anyone. I have only seen her push the pedal down and then stop. She still hates the bike exercises, but is doing great.

Jenny has also been doing some communicating with her friend using sign language. I have seen her do it, but it did not look like something that would work well- despite being told else wise by those signing with her. Well, I came to the realization, while watching her brother learn sign from her, that this really works great. I can not believe how good we communicate now by signing (well, she signs and I interpret outloud). She struggles a bit with some letters. Instead of using her pinky to make an “i”, she uses her ring finger and her “y” looks like she is hitch hiking. Once that is understood, there is no problem. The good thing is that many of her friends know sign language- at least the alphabet. To make things better, I like that her hand will be getting stronger with more use. So, I publicly apologize to Laura- who tried to convince me of this sooner.

Jenny’s therapists would agree that each time they have come the past few weeks, there has been noticable improvements. Jenny has improved in eating and drinking. She has taken her meal time fluids and solids by mouth – even though the drinking process is still a bit slow. Eating is as quick as I can give her food. Drinking use to be a process of a few drops at a time. It quickly progressed to half a medicine dropper full and in a matter of days, Jenny can take a full dropper of fluids. Technically, Jenny does not need the feeding tube to sustain life. Her meds could be easily swallowed since she swallows many of her foods in large bits anyhow.

I taped an alphabet to Jenny’s wheel chair tray and she is able to point to letters in the alphabet with the aid of a little ball bearing roller under her forearm. Computer programs are still out of reach since her vision is still hazy. Jenny has become able to raise her hand to her nose to scratch or to rub her eyes. I told her I would be impressed if she could pick her nose, but I am actually highly excited about this new movement. As usual, we had a little celebration. This time, we had a competition to see who could go the longest without scratching thier nose while I was tickleing their noses with a feather. Jessie was the winner and earned the grand prize.

My father and I came home with a couple new exercise machines/gadgets that Jenny was not too pleased with. The physical therapist was highly in favor of them, but it took Jenny a day or so to give in. It is just so nice to see her do new motions and more of them. She is getting stronger in her shoulders and the ability to lift her hand to her face is an indication of her hard work.