2. Neurology Floor

Quiet day

Because Anne was up most of last night (poor Eric…) she rested most of today. Her therapists let her rest, so it was a quiet day.

The neurosurgeon said today, “There is an excellent chance that the drain will come out tomorrow.” So we’re hopeful! If the drain truly does come out tomorrow, she could be in rehab as early as Friday – but we’ll wait and see.

I have one funny story to share. Tonight, Eric’s cousin Susan visited. Anne had just had a HUGE bowel movement (yeah!) so the conversation moved to poop. Now – the kids are not allowed to say “bathroom talk” outside the bathroom. They can talk about poopy and tee-tee all they want inside the bathroom – but not outside… So, when I realized that Susan and I were using bathroom talk – I said to Anne (with a mischievious look), “Anne, do you hear us using bathroom talk outside the bathroom? Do you want to do it too?” Then I started singing, “Poopy, poopy, poopy!!!!”

And she smiled – the biggest smile yet. Susan’s husband, Alan, came in and we were all talking about “poopy” and Anne smiled a few more times.

Anne clearly enjoyed breaking the rules tonight :-)

Please pray:

  1. The drain would be removed tomorrow so that we can move to rehab.
  2. Since Canon will be with me at the hospital all day tomorrow, please pray that God encourages him in a special way, and that he will be an encouragement to Anne as well.
  3. That Anne will respond well to rehab (when she gets there).

Gratefully, kathryn

Not a good night…

Wow, not a good night for Anne. She was very uncomfortable and agitated with lots of tremors and crys most of the night. i would get her comfortable, then 15 minutes later she would be crying out for help. i was so worried about her “going backwards”. This started last night around 11pm and lasted until around 6am. Then God put an idea in my head around 6am – Take the blood pressure cuff off of her arm – As soon as i did this – she immediately became calm!! She has now been sleeping for 3 hrs. Anne has always been so sensitive and apparently that arm cuff was REALLY bothering her.

Reading Isa 40:28-31 this AM – such rich words. An insight from the ESV about “waiting on the Lord” – means having faith in God’s promises until the time of their fulfillment – such a good definition to what God is helping us do day by day with MUCH help from all of you supporting us !

Pray

  1. that Anne’s tremors would disappear
  2. that we would be able to remove her ventricular drain tomorrow 
  3. that she would be able to move to the rehab unit this weekend

-eric

Disappointment & Glory

The past two days have been quite a journey! God has been so tender and gracious to give me a sweet gift of encouragement at the end of yesterday (Monday) – which was one of the hardest days of my life …and then He continued to show me His goodness, as today (Tuesday) was one of the best days of my life!

Where to begin?

Yesterday was hard because of the disappointment over not removing the drain and therefore not moving to rehab. Anne’s tremors increased yesterday b/c they lowered her anti-withdrawal meds… She is having a painful time coming off of all the heavy narcotics that were in her system for weeks. My eyes were focused on what was seen – her agitation and pain – instead of the unseen…

God in his tender mercy chose to encourage me from the most unlikely source… her neurosurgeon! He is one of the best in his field, but has been very frank regarding the severity of her condition. He always chooses his words carefully so as not to give us false hope. But last night, he cautiously offered a morsel of hope as he shared a story of a former patient with injuries similar to Anne’s …She went on to be at the top of her class in college. The poor doc didn’t know how to react when I sat and wept – just out of thankfulness that God knows my heart – and knew that I needed encouragement…

Which leads me to today. It was a glorious day. The Physical Therapist (PT) let me hold Anne. Not like the other day when I just sat beside her and hugged her a little – but REALLY hold her. I sat in a rocking chair and cradled my 5-year-old girl like a baby. I sang to her, prayed for her and cried over her. I felt like all of heaven stood still and watched as I held my precious Anne.

But the blessing didn’t stop there! After I held Anne for 30 minutes, and Anne sat in her chair for an HOUR, the Occupational Therapist (OT) and Speech Therapist (ST) came to work with Anne. They sat her up on the side of the bed. She was able to hold her head up a little; she chewed and swallowed ice – but here’s the fun part – she actually listened to the OT give a command: “Anne, if you want to rest, push back against my hand.” And she leaned back with her body against the OT’s hand on her back. And then the OT sat her up again, repeated the command, and Anne did it again! We laid her down, cheered for her and she smiled the biggest smile I’ve seen from her yet!

Later I saw all 3 therapists in the hall – they were all clapping and pumping their fists (it was quite a scene…) so I walked out and asked, “so, did Anne do well today?” And they looked at me and said, “Well? She was AMAZING – she responded to a command TWICE! – That’s reason to throw a party!!”

Truly, a miraculous day. I’ve cried many grateful tears today. Thank you all again for supporting us as we walk this road. We still have a long way to go, and even though we don’t know what the end looks like – we trust that God has good planned for Anne. Amen? AMEN!

One final note: We think Anne’s drain will come out Thursday – which means hopefully Anne will be in rehab by the weekend. We will pray for just that :-)

-kathryn

Another great day…

5-2-10

Anne  made several significant steps today…

  1. The PT and OT worked together to sit her in a chair.  I think Anne really enjoyed herself :-)
  2. The Speech Therapist evaluated Anne’s swallowing and she did great. The ST put a swab with lemon juice on Anne’s tongue, and Anne swallowed in response to tasting the lemon.
  3. I didn’t see this, but Eric, the PT and Anne’s nurse ALL told me that Anne moved her fingers a little when the PT asked her to. So that’s a big step for Anne!

Tomorrow, they MIGHT remove Anne’s drain – which means, she would be a candidate for rehab. Wee-Hoo!

A few personal notes…

I (Kathryn) went to church this morning for the first time since the accident. It was so refreshing to focus outward in corporate worship. We sang the words, “worthy is the lamb.” Jesus is indeed worthy of our all.

After church, our friends the McKinney’s came to visit. This was the first time the McKinney children got to see Anne. When Canon’s best buddy, Joel, walked in her room, Canon said to Joel, “Isn’t she beautiful?” He’s the BEST BIG BROTHER EVER!

Please continue to pray…

  1. That Anne would progress and we would not grow impatient with the speed of her recovery but instead – remain grateful for every little step God helps her make.
  2. That we would persevere in prayer for Anne’s healing and also persevere in our trust in God’s good plan for Anne and our family.

Still clinging to Jesus – kathryn

Therapy begins

The OT and PT came today and wore her out! They both sat her up and challenged her to hold her head up. She’s doing about 30-40% of it herself! She’s also showing more emotion on her face. She grimaces in pain when the therapists move her in a way she doesn’t like. Any emotion is a good sign at this stage.

When she sat up, the PT let me sit behind her and hug her. I’ve been longing to hold my sweet girl, so I was thankful to hold her – if only for a moment.

Please pray:

  1.  They will be able to remove her drain and move her to rehab;
  2. That her tremors are just a phase that she moves through on her way to recovery – in other words – that they’ll go away completely as she heals, and
  3. For the God of all comfort to be close to Anne and to us as we are tempted to despair.

Clinging to Jesus – kathryn

No more PICU!

Today Anne was moved to a regular room! We are so thankful Anne was able to move out of the ICU. The biggest benefit here is that Canon and Kate are now able to be in the room. We had a wonderful reunion of the three musketeers today as Canon and Kate stood bedside and talked and talked to little Anne. Canon said: “Mommy, Anne looks better than I do!!” referring to the fact that Canon still has his stiched-up forehead, while Anne’s face is mostly healed.

Anne has always loved her crazy uncle Marc so much. He came by today and at the end of his visit gave Anne a kiss on her cheek – we all saw Anne smile the tiniest little right side of her mouth smile. We all cheered! And then she did it again amidst all the cheers!

Canon told Anne all about his day, and Kate had her usual one thousand questions for Anne and mommy and daddy about Anne. It was all wonderful to be back together in the chaos of a family. At the end of our time together, Canon and Kate both prayed for little Anne standing at her bedside.

-eric