2010 - A Year of Promise

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope that Santa was good to everyone and that you had a chance to spend some quality time with family and friends. I have tried to be candid on this blog, so I am just going to say it was a very difficult time for our little family. We got through it and I am looking forward to a better year in 2010. I am doubly blessed to have Judi as my wife and Jessica as my daughter. Once again, I could never have survived this holiday period without Jess' help and love. 'Nuff said.

Therapy is going very well for Judi. She is gaining a LOT of ground physically and continues to slowly recover mentally. We have stopped using the hydraulic lift to move Judi between her wheelchair and other locations. She is able to stand with assistance to transfer now. This has a bit of a snowball effect for her. The more she stands, the stronger she gets and the more her brain "recognizes" that her left side is there. She is clearly regaining control of her left side and we hope it is only a matter of time before her strength is restored there as well. We are concerned about her left arm due to the contraction that she continues to exhibit. I have spent countless hours trying to prevent it and hopefully it will continue to improve.

In OT, the biggest challenge is keeping her interested. Judi gets a little frustrated with the tasks they ask her to perform because she thinks they are silly (my opinion). I have been working with her to perform the same movements concealed as normal activities and she does great. For example, they ask her to reach out and put a peg in the board, I get her to do the same thing asking for a hug. I compare the two and think she is finally warming up to what they are trying to accomplish.

Speech continues to be up and down for us. She is VERY vocal and continues to get stronger and stronger here. The problem is the neck continues to limit her ability to grow. She is a veritable chatterbox when she is laying down, but when she sits up it is more difficult due to the neck muscle interaction. We'll keep working.

Mentally she is still improving as well. The "yes/no" questioning is definitely getting better. I am starting to wonder if it is more an issue of making a choice as opposed to answering correctly. She clearly struggles when presented with a situation where she has to make a choice. I am not sure if she is struggling with "how" to make a choice or the fear of making the "wrong" choice. Those of you that know Judi well, also know the perfectionist she can be and this could be the real issue. We'll continue to work on this and see if we can refine it further. She has turned into an interesting conversationalist when she sleeps. We believe that she is dreaming a lot and that is a VERY good sign. All of these things point to an increase in mental activity. At times she also moves around a lot so I have to keep a close eye on her to ensure she remains safe.

I am looking forward to great things from 2010 and wish great things for each of you as well. I believe that Judi will make a full recovery with our continued support and prayers. Thank you all again and hopefully Judi will tell you herself very soon.

Steve