Picking Up Speed

Wow. It has been a very busy few weeks. I will start with a very simple statement: Judi is doing fantastic!

In just a few short weeks she has come back to essentially the same point she was when we had to go back to surgery in the summer and remove her bone flap. She has become a very "busy" lady. She wants to touch and explore everything (and I encourage her).

She is doing great in therapy and all of the therapists are impressed with where she is today. I would have to say that today's session was the absolute best I have ever seen. She was waving to everyone and laughing at her crazy husband. It was a bit contagious to the therapists as I watched them get drawn to her as well. I think it does every one's heart good to see someone in Judi's condition have a day like she had today. We had planned to put her in the walking harness today, but the right therapist was not available. We'll give her a try next week. She is doing great standing in the standing frame and is starting to hold her head up as she is standing and pumping the glider frame. Holding her head up while standing is a significant milestone since it takes a great deal of muscle control and concentration. I expect her to continue to get stronger and we'll keep working her left side to see if we can get it activated again. I still remain hopeful that she will recover control there as her brain continues to recover functions. She is doing a fair amount of work with the iPad as well. The speech therapists use them for some of their activities and I bought one for us for our birthday this year that I had been working with her on as well. We are using the same applications and she is starting to trace letters, work some simple puzzles and have some fun as well. this will become more and more useful as she continues to improve.

She is starting to feed her self again. It is still a pretty ugly sight since she is still working hard on the eye/hand coordination. I know it means a lot to her to be able to do this for herself. You can see the look of determination in her eyes and the sense of accomplishment when you tell her she is doing a great job.

She is trying very hard to speak now. I am fairly convinced she has said a few words, but they were so soft I couldn't be certain. It won't be long.

She has become a hugger and a kisser again. Hopefully this is not "too much information" as Jessica puts it. If I am close to her, she needs to be holding my hand touching in some manner. When I sit her in her recliner or chair, she always reaches out and gives me a hug (I can't put in words what that does for me). She loves to get kisses especially when you are giving her some positive reinforcement for something she has done well. She also loves to snuggle up at night. I think she is tricking me by acting like her legs are bothering her so I'll wrap her up at times. She has that little Judi smile on her face like she got what she wanted. There are a lot of psychological positions on what this means out there, but I think she just needs to know that I still love her regardless of her condition. She gets a chuckle when I tell her I work for hugs. I will admit I usually leave with a happy tear or two in my eyes after one of these interactions.

She is also trying to help with everything she can related to her personal care. She lifts her leg and slips it in her pants to get dressed. She pushes her foot into her shoes. She tries to help pull her shirt over her head. She desperately wants to brush her own teeth (probably because it feels weird to have someone else doing that "to" you.

It also more and more evident that she fully understands what is going on around her. She is responding more and more to conversational items and loves to be included in any discussions going on around her. I still believe the major issue is to get the input/output portion of her brain activated again. I'll keep focusing attention here and try to figure out a way to eliminate the gap.

I continually have to watch the balance of pushing her to do new tasks while not letting her get frustrated because she can't do it yet. I have continued to talk a lot to her and explain what is going on. She is continuing to get better at responding with hand signals to let me know she understands. I think this is also helping her to try new things since she understands what might be preventing her from doing it and that I understand it will take time and that I'll help her no matter what. I have been fortunate to have some of my trainer skills to draw on here.

Well, I think that brings you up to speed on where we are. Please don't stop praying for us. I am convinced that the prayers from so many around the world have made the biggest impact on Judi's recovery. I can tell you for sure that they are what keep me going on those days when I wonder how I can possibly make it one more minute. Come by and see Judi if you can. She loves hanging out with the girls especially.

Steve