Positive signs of improvement…

Her injury is primarily on the right side of her brain. According to her MRI, the damage to her right hemisphere is extensive. Anne has shown typical deficits associated with Right Hemisphere Damage (RHD). Here are a few:

Flat effect – no expression and monotone speech.
Verbose since the left side of the brain controls verbal skills, RHD patients tend to talk alot :-)
Limited Focus and Attention
Limited Self Awareness – RHD patients fail to recognize the sympoms of their brain injury. For example, an adult with RHD doesn’t understand why he can’t go to work or drive a car.

Anne has shown improvement in alot of these areas. She has some expression when she talks, and even though she can’t carry a tune (yet), she’s constantly singing! On the flip side, Anne talks quite a bit, which is a blessing at home. She still struggles with an extremely short attention span and she is easily distracted.

Most encouraging is that she has shown glimmers of self-awareness – which is a HUGE positive sign that she is continuing to heal. She’s made brief comments that she is mad about the car crash and sad that God doesn’t love her. When I try to ask her questions about what she’s feeling, she typically gets distracted and starts talking about something else…

I feel like Anne is only able to express a fraction of what’s going on inside her. She’s impaired by her impulsivity and attention deficit.

Please pray:

That Anne’s attention would increase so that she could participate in age appropriate tasks and activities
As Anne’s attention increases that she would be more self aware and that we would have the wisdom to walk that difficult road with Anne,
And finally, that Anne would come to a place that she can say with full awareness that God is Good – and can sing (in tune) His praises :-)

That’s my hope for Anne – that she would know God more deeply as a result of her journey.

Thank you! -kathryn

Anne’s funny phrases

Little Anne is such a joy to be around. She is engaging and talkative. She seems to draw a crowd wherever she goes. At the moment, she is sitting with us at the dinner table and entertaining us all.

Little Anne has lots of funny phrases. She always says these with a smile and typically to get a laugh out of us. Most of these are from things she has heard:

“Daddy, kiss me with your beard”
“Everybody is kung-fu fighting” from the movie Kung Fu Panda
“Daddy, teach me to whistle”
“Hey camsters” when calling her brother Canon
“You are amazing God” from her favorite song
“Hey mopsters” when calling mommy
“Mommy put me at the table” when she is hungry
“I want some strawberries”
“MeMa boo” when she wants to scare her grandmother
“boo boo chicken” we have no idea??
“I’m not sweet, I’m sour” – when we tell her how sweet she is
“I like your earrings, can i bite them off?”
“Chicka Chicka Boom Boom”
and most of the childrens catechism!

One funny aside… After answering every children’s catechism question correctly in children’s church, one little boy said, “She might have gotten bonked on the head, but she sure does know her catechism.” LOL!

Because she repeats and remembers things we say so easily, we work hard to give her good words to think about – like Bible verses, or Christian songs, or just good kind words. Those around her in therepy, or friends, or family also seem to naturally do this.

– eric

Surrender

God has me in a very good place – one of surrender. Every morning, I ask God to keep me here, and I ask for the grace to surrender Anne to Him (again) and leave her with Him for the day.

This place of surrender is one that I could have NEVER come to on my own. It is a glorious place to be. Surrender brings peace -true peace. A peace that rises above circumstances and rests on the promises of a good God. I don’t know how long God will let me stay here, but I’m trying to drink as much as I can while I can :-)

Meanwhile, Anne seems to be flourishing. Her attention is improving. Her abilities to ask appropriate questions and make conversation are improving. Her hand to mouth impulses are still strong, but have decreased slightly. She’s warm, engaging and fun to be around. Her stream of consciousness chattering is distracting in group situations, but is delightful at home.

Overall, we’re just so thankful for the person God is shaping her to be. We’re still praying for her to be able to participate in group activities with appropriate behavior, for her to be able to walk and use her left hand – but mostly for her to experience the joy of God’s presence on earth and for her life and spoken testimony to glorify Him.

Thank you for joining us in prayer, and for loving Anne and our family through this journey. – kathryn

Another busy weekend

Spending the day with daddy, going to the pool, going to church, spending time with friends, sharing a meal with family, and more. . . . . and little Anne right in the middle of it. . . . it still amazes me that Anne just takes it all in stride; she seems to know that it is all good and seems to enjoy the journey. How i should learn from little Anne!

Little Anne continues to make bits of progress: She has begun to inhibit herself from throwing food on the floor and does this less than 25% of the time now. She is also now able to place her sippy cup on the table after taking a sip, instead of throwing it on the floor. The inflection in her voice has improved slightly. She has also improved her ability to carry a tune. She is beginning to read three letter words with assistance. She seems to be a little more expressive with her eyes and face. And she is now sitting quite well in a kid’s chair with very little assistance. GO ANNE!

All of you do such a wonderful job of connecting with Anne whenever you see her. You all have shown such compassion for her and it continues to minister thoroughly to me. Little Anne has never wanted to draw attention to herself and was always so shy. . . . but most of the shyness has gone away. She seems to really love all of you being a part of her life. We see all of the interaction she has with God’s family as fantastic therapy – all of the communication with little Anne through these encounters is just great for her. Thank you for not being afraid of Anne or her condition. Thank you for just talking with Anne and sharing yourselves with her.

-eric

Slow progress

Anne just completed her 4th week of day rehab. It’s a drop-off program, so I don’t get to see her in therapy. Each day the therapists write brief journal entries about Anne’s progress, but it’s just not the same as being there…

At home, Anne seems more controlled. She communicates more clearly what she wants and needs. She sits with more stability and inhibits her impulse to grab and pinch everyone :-) She still has a long way to go, but we are hopeful that Anne will be able to participate well in group activities like school and church.

Anne is also showing more emotion, which is an excellent sign that she is healing. She’s been expressing both joy and sadness. I’ve seen her smile so big that both sides of her mouth turn up and her whole face brightens. That’s a glorious sight! But she’s also been saying “I’m sad” alot lately…

We’re praying for:

Anne to be able to inhibit her impulse to mouth everything so that she can develop the fine motor skills necessary to write
for Anne’s muscle tone to decrease in her ankles and calves so that she might be able to walk, and
for Anne to have joy from experiencing God’s love and care for her.

Thank you for walking this journey with us… -kathryn

THANK YOU!

Ok. Someone that I’ve never met just dropped by my house -with lunch – and she APOLOGIZED for being late. Amazing… Eric and I are continually blown away by the generosity of others.

I’ve given up trying to write thank you notes. I was keeping a list, but it’s become overwhelming. In addition to the myriads of cards and flowers we’ve received, people have given:

bandaids, medicines, shampoo, kids’ snacks, toilet paper, groceries, meals, lawn care, bibs, blankets, potty seats, suction bowls, car seats, car-seat protectors, car organziers, bath mat, spill proof bowls, travel trays, swim suit, spill mat, cash, checks, fundraisers, books, crafts for kids, t-shirts, home decor items, cds, books on cd, workbooks, child-care, vitamin waters, visits, phone calls and lots of prayer!

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something :-)

We’re so grateful – deeply grateful actually. It’s still hard to believe the sheer quantity of people who have pitched in to help us. It’s humbling and an honor all rolled up together. Most importantly, it’s freed us up to concentrate on Anne.

THANK YOU ALL! -kathryn, (for all of us Jacksons)

Good times…

Anne’s had a really good weekend… Actually we’ve had two good weekends in a row.

We went to the lake with friends last weekend. It was glorious. Anne did great riding in the boat. It was so good for all of us to be in a beautiful setting enjoying the outdoors.

On the boat with Daddy

This weekend was more low-key, but still good. Since Anne is in rehab T/W/Th, she has 4 straight days at home. We try to make sure she stands and walks every day using her braces. Her siblings shower her with love, and Anne seems very content and happy at home.

Yesterday, she participated in Children’s Church for the first time. She can’t inhibit her talking; she just chatters her stream of consciousness thoughts :-) She colored a little bit – some scribbles, circles and lines. And she only managed to eat the crayon once!

Hopefully, she’ll learn to inhibit her impulses. Lack of inhibition is actually one of her biggest issues right now. Grabbing, biting, chewing, talking – these all need to be inhibited in order for her to participate in group activities. She’ll get there…

Today, we plan to spend a little time at the pool, come home for a nap and catch up on laundry. It’s nice to have the whole family together again :-)

-kathryn

Stomping and Staring…

So sorry that I haven’t updated the site in a while… Simply put, I just feel sad. I miss Anne when she’s at rehab. I miss the old Anne when she’s at home. The physical demands of caring for Anne coupled with the emotional work of grieving is just exhausting.

I feel like God is prompting me to accept the fact that the old Anne is just that – old. And then to trust Him to make the new Anne better than she was before… But I’m resisting.

I feel like Kate when she gets mad. She stomps her feet and looks at me with a real mean stare. It takes all of my will-power not to laugh at her! Clearly her stomping and staring do nothing to sway my will. I still know best – whether she likes it or not ;-)

I know God knows best, but I don’t like it right now, and I just want to stomp my feet a little longer. But I won’t stomp long – it’s just too painful…

Only God has the power to heal and shape Anne. He loves her and has good plans for her – plans to prosper her, to give her a future and a hope.

God is near – even when I’m stomping and staring.

Praying unceasingly for little Anne – kathryn

Slow and steady…

Anne continues to make slow but steady progress. Frankly, it’s hard for me to pinpoint specifics because I see her everyday, but those who see her less frequently assure me that she is improving :-)

Since caring for Anne at home, there are certain areas that are physically difficult for both Anne and me. I’ve found myself praying specifically for two things…

That her muscle tone in her legs (which is extremely tight due to her brain injury) would decrease so that she might be able to control her legs and walk, and
That she would resist the impulse to put everything in her mouth and also to drop her food on the floor!

As you can imagine, meal times are a bit stressful, but Anne has made improvement here too – instead of throwing EVERYTHING on the floor, she only throws about half. Slow and steady, slow and steady :-) There WILL come a day when she eats normally again!!

Congnitively, Anne, again, is steadily improving. One of her PT’s commented to me today that everytime she sees Anne, Anne seems to be a little more aware and ‘alive.’

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are constantly amazed at the sacrifice of time, gifts and talents so many of you have blessed us with. It’s been a profoundly rich blessing for our family.

Taking one day at a time… -kathryn

4th of July weekend

Our little family had a busy 4th of July weekend, and little Anne was right in the middle of all of it. Lots of swimming pool fun, a cookout, spending time with friends, an adventure getting to church with peachtree rd closed, and plenty of warm July sunshine :-) . Anne is really good at taking it all in stride. She is almost always happy, is quite engaging, and has a sunny little personality – we are so thankful for these 3 traits.

One of our prayers has been for Anne’s “no” answers and negative responses to turn to the positive. God has answered! Anne is now very positive – and seems always willing to try any new thing. Anne has also begun telling us what she wants to do, or where she wants us to take her, or how she is feeling.

Please continue to pray for Anne’s walking, reading, and writing. These are the three goals we have for her in the day rehab program. These three things seem almost impossible at the moment, and are such huge goals, but we serve a mighty God. I often find myself praying while i am on a run around the neighborhood – that one day Anne would be able to run beside me and that i would have a hard time keeping up. i can’t really imagine it, but for some reason i feel God calls me to pray that prayer. What an exciting day that would be!