Feb 28, 2005

We begin doing therapies, almost exclusively at home, starting today. We realized that we could do more aggressive therapies at home and utilize our time better by doing it ourselves. We found that what they wanted us to do at outpatient was what I was already doing with Jenny at home, but without the wasted time of traveling, waiting, and reassessing all the time. We are not going to have therapist come in either. I feel comfortable with the exercises that they did with Jenny, and since I was at every outpatient therapy appointment, I was basically doing the same thing anyhow. Jenny held onto one speech therapy a week, but she is eager to just have me be help her with the physical therapy. As needed we will return to outpatient to learn new exercises.

I am most pleased with how Jenny has decided to make the most out of life, be more adventerous, and overall more assertive. It is difficult to keep up with her requests and pursuits. The kids have noticed a change in activity and have wanted to interact with Jenny more as well. Sophia had Jenny give wheelchair rides all day Sunday. I do think that a lot of this energy came from her trip to Disney where she realized that she could enjoy life and do more than she thought she could.

We are returning to Austin in March to let the kids see their new home. Jenny is a pretty confident traveler, so it should be a more enjoyable trip than the first time. We are anxious to see how the kids will like Austin. We have planned a mini sight seeing tour with visits to familiar places (McDonalds, Toys R Us etc…) and new entertainment spots. The kids have been most concerned about not having their favorite places in Texas and leaving their friends behind. We are planning to be their on a Sunday to let them go to church and meet new kids their age.

Feb 23, 2005

Since Jenny has been using the computer, we have always joked about her going crazy on e-bay, but she has rarely done more than checked e-mail, played games, or written in her journal. For some unknown reason, Jenny woke up and immediately stated that she wanted to go on the internet. She immediately began shopping and spending. I would not have known this except our credit card has a new expiration date since Jenny used it last and she needed help when it did not work. She first hit Deseret Book to get supplies for our Primary class, Zach’s upcoming baptism, and some church tapes to listen to. She hit a music web site to get new tunes to listen to. E-bay was most likely drained of it’s goods, and she even researched some cool party ideas for Sophia’s upcoming “Dora the Explorer” birthday party. Jenny read her e-mail and maybe even wrote one (which she hardly ever does). I hope this was a matter of getting it out of her system since she was been holding out for a year. However, it was good to see her desire to be more independent and assertive. What I really think is that she just wanted to get more mail.

Feb 18, 2005

A number of people have asked if Jenny saw the most recent “ER” episode last night about a woman who had a stroke and was ‘locked-in” briefly due to the stroke. Jenny did see the episode because she saw the previews for it. She use to love ER, but finds it too hard to watch, but wanted to see how they portrayed it. If you watched it without sound, it was pretty accurate. Jenny stated that the woman’s thoughts were “lame” and “written by someone who had never had a stroke”. Of course, there was a tv ending where the woman almost fully and immediately recovered even though she had a totally blocked artery for several hours (it only takes minutes to cause permanent damage). A few scenes were too real (the woman was a mother of three in her 30’s). Jenny reassured me that that at no time did she ever think that her emergency room doctors were “hot”, like the tv show lady was thinking.

Feb 15, 2005

The kids have been really sick for the first time and it is difficult on Jenny to not be able to pick them up and comfort them like she use to. Not only that, we definately do not want Jenny to get what they have, so they really can not even sit on her lap like the usually do for comfort. Jenny strated showing signs of congestion and weakness, but is looking better now.

I am still impressed with Jenny’s improvements that happen ever so slightly. I am encouraged by her trunk and stomach muscles. She is begining to be able to bend forward and back while on the tilt table or in her chair. This would greatly increase her range of abilities if she could do that.

Feb 9, 2005

We returned from a 5-day vacation to Disney World last night. We went with Jenny’s brother (Steve) and his family and had one of the best times of our lives. Steve and Ellyn had planned it so Jenny was able to do all of the activities and basically feel that there were no barriers for her to truely have a good time. They had occomplished this task perfectly. Aside from the normal Disney excitement/activities, so many wonderful things occured while on our trip.

Despite Jenny’s previous worries, she was able to ride rides, find an accessible bathroom, and enjoy living life. She stated that this was the first time she had been truley happy all day since her stroke. I knew this because for 5 whole days she did not cry once (except happy cries), whereas she typically cries at least once daily due to pain, suffering, and general depression.

After our maiden voyage to Austin to figure out air travel, it seem like we were able to smoothly conquer our hurdles of the previous trip. Also, Jenny was able to actually utilize the accessible elliments in a hotel room. Not only that, Jenny was able to drink water for the first time without gagging or coughing at any degree. She typically coughs at least a little at first, but generally does fine when drinking the bulk of her liquids. We did an improvisation of standing since her tilt table was back in Indy. I supported Jenny against a wall and let her do weight bareing exercises that way. In the process of doing standing therapy, we learned that Jenny could stand against the wall without any support or assistance for short periods of time (I did not dare let go of her for more than 10 or so seconds), but she could have gone longer. This was the first time that Jenny has been able to sleep without the assistance of medication (and I think that it will continue). Sophia even surprised us by showing excellent toileting skills there- which have continued since coming home.

We loved spending this time with Steve’s family and our kids had a ball with their cousins. Jenny loved the weather and just seemed to do better physically and emotionally. Right now, she is on the tilt table-wishing that she was back in Florida. It will be nice once we move closer to more of her family and live in a warmer climent. It was nice to just leave our worries behind and enjoy being with the kids and not worrying about insurance, therapies, dr appointments etc…