Canon

A few tidbits from the day…

  • Anne ate pureed food for dinner tonight! Her first real meal since the accident. Even in her agitated state – I think she enjoyed her food.
  • We are trying to teach Anne to say ‘yeah’ for yes and ‘unh-uh’ for no. She’s doing pretty well. Yesterday, I looked at Anne and said, “Hi!” and she said “Hi” right back. We’re very encouraged by her language development!
  • The whole family continues to eat dinner at the hospital together. Last night, Canon said to one of the therapists, “The hospital is like our second home. I’m here for my sister, Anne!”
  • Anne’s former sunday school teacher, Mrs. Debbie, is at the hospital with Anne tonight. Thank you Mrs. Debbie for allowing Eric to get some sleep!!!

Thank you everyone for praying. we are so grateful! -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

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

Good morning

I don’t have an update on Anne. My mom stayed with her last night. I will go to the hospital shortly to relieve her. I won’t have a computer with me, so I won’t be able to update the site…

My prayer for today is that Anne will show us something new. So far, she’s made the tiniest little steps forward. She was swallowing on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I saw the slightest bit of anger in her eyes. So I hope I see a little more of Anne today.

Anne will be a candidate to move to rehab either Friday or Monday. We’re excited to begin this next phase in the journey. From what I hear, they work their patients pretty hard. Anne’s going to need a lot of encouragement from us.

We’re also hoping that Canon and Kate will be able to visit and help Anne when she is in rehab. They miss her terribly.

Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragment. They are so meaningful to us.

-kathryn

Anne still cannot move

Yesterday was quite a day. Little Anne still does not seem to be able to move any part of her body upon our request. She is still having difficulty moving her eyes, but it looks like she is really trying hard. The OT came in and moved Anne’s arms and legs. She moved her arms like a ballerina, and she moved her hands like she was coloring a picture. . . . the rush of emotion seeing her move like this was overwhelming. . . . how I so want my little girl to be able to do these two things which she so loved to do . . . .

We are hoping that Anne will be moved to rehab on Friday. It will be a wonderful move, for Canon and Kate have not been able to see Anne for 16 days since she has been in ICU. In the rehab unit, Canon and Kate will be reunited with their sister for the first time since April 13th. That will be a wonderful and tear-filled reunion.

“Please make her good.”

Anne is stabilizing. Now that she is off the ventilator and breathing well on her own, their next goal is to increase her feeds to what she needs for her weight. If she can tolerate the increased feeds, she can then be moved to rehab – hopefully by the end of this week…

Rehab is where they will begin the slow process of retraining Anne’s brain. We pray that she learns to swallow, use her eyes, limbs and voice. There are a lot of unknowns. All the doctors will say is that with this severe of a brain injury, there will be some deficit – to what extent, they don’t know. Every child is different.

Please pray for Anne’s healing and for us and Canon and Kate to deal with the sadness of Anne not being with us at home. Also for all of us to take one day at a time as we wait for God’s plan for Anne and our family to unveil.

Last night, Canon prayed, “Lord, we’re not asking you to make Anne perfect, but please make her good.”

-kathryn

Time at home

Danny took the night shift last night so that i could spend time with Canon, Kate and Kathryn together at home. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with them.

Danny and the nurse told me that Anne did well last night and rested peacefully. She continues to utilize the food from the feeding tube.

The labs came back from the mucus in her lungs and found there to be an infection. She was placed on heavy antibiotics last night, so pray that the infection is knocked out quickly. Also pray she is able to wake up quickly so that we can get her off the ventilator.

Mark 5 and Zep 3:17 have been incredible to pray and think through over the last couple of days. . . . .

-eric

Calm before the storm

Anne remained stable all day. In some ways, it feels like the calm before the storm. They’ll begin to wean her of her sedation meds slowly over the next few days. We’ll pray she responds better the 2nd go around…

Just an aside… Canon has been sleeping in Anne’s bed in the same room as Kate. They listen to music each night. Just now, both Canon and Kate were singing along to “Blessed Be Your Name.” -very loudly, I might add :-)

There’s nothing more glorious than children singing, “Blessed be your name, on the road marked with suffering, though there’s pain in the offering, blessed by your name!”

Thank you for your faithful prayers. I pray Anne continues to rest well.

-kathryn