Dec 30, 2004

Jenny and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday. We had a wonderful time going out and seeing the new Phantom of the Opera movie (we saw the broadway version on our honeymoon). We went to one of our favorite places to eat and had a nice dinner together and went home and shared chocolate fondue with our kids. My favorite part was at speech therapy earlier during the day when Jenny was able to verbalize an recognizable, “I love you”. It was truely her first real words. It was not perfect, but it was real and udible. She struggles with making the words in her head come to her mouth, so this was something huge. She was able to do it again later that evening, but not as easy to discern. I am so proud of her!

Jenny also got her power chair! She is so proud and loves the extra little bits of independence that it affords. At first, I found her occassionally staring at an empty chair where a child once sat. She admitted that she has been unable to move independently for so long that she forgets that she can move. She was always complaining that I stick her in front of the tv too much (she is not much of a tv watcher). Howerever, I felt vindicated because the first thing she did was drive to the tv and flip through the channels. I made sure to tease her about it. ALSO, she got a new arm support which aids her own strength in her right hand by helping her do things like feed herself and some personal grooming. We tried things out by letting her be in control of her own bowl of popcorn. It was not pretty, but she worked until all that was in the bowl was in, or made an attempt to get in, her mouth. Things have truley been wonderful for Jenny and the family. Of course, we have all had a turn on the power chair (except Sophia- because it is her incentive for potty training, and she has not done too well).

dec 28, 2004

We were able to have both sets of our parents, Jenny’s grandma, and a few siblings with us for Christmas. Jenny felt it was one of her better Christmas celebrations. We played several games, all of which Jenny was able to participate in with little or no help. The kids, with only minimal help from myself, made Jenny a game for Christmas that she can play with no help. Overall, it was a wonderful time and Jenny was happy and positive about things. I was fearing that it would be just the opposite being that it was her first Christmas since the stroke. Each day has the potential of bringing tears as she does something for the first time, like wear her sun glasses that she has not worn since March, or finding that they don’t make her favorite hair gel anymore. Something that minor is as trying experinece because it is one more thing that has changed since her injury.

Jessica was so excited because she received a doll in a wheel chair for Christmas that she had been asking for. Playing “mom” has always been a favorite thing in their imaginary play, and this is now part of their everyday life. Jenny is touched that Jessica has been so accepting of her condition and still feels like Mom is a big part of her life. If I can take anything from Jessica’s play, there is nothing that Jessica feels that her mom can not do.

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.