CIRU

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

Waiting…

Today was an eventful day. Anne had three goals to meet before being moved to rehab:

  1. Good breathing
  2. Good eating (via the feeding tube)
  3. Removal of EVD

As of this morning, she met the first two goals. So the plan for today was to work toward removing her EVD. The EVD is what the neurosurgeon inserted into her head to drain spinal fluid out of her brain. In the beginning, this helped reduce the pressure in her brain.

Over the last few days, the goal has been to raise the drain higher and higher so it drains less and less – and then finally to clamp the drain. After they clamp the drain, they moniter her for 24 hours, do a CT scan, and if everything looks good – they remove the drain.

Removal of the drain equals ticket to rehab :-)

So they clamped her drain this morning, but as the day progressed, I didn’t see her making the tiny steps forward like she had been doing the previous days. Her eyes didn’t impove. Her tremors increased and she just seemed more agitated. The neurosurgeon decided to unclamp the drain and wait a few more days and try again…

So we wait… AGAIN!

But, I think they plan to move her to a room on the neurology floor either tomorrow or Saturday. She doesn’t need to be in ICU anymore, so they will hold her in neurology until her drain can be removed – and THEN she can be admitted to rehab.

God’s ways are much slower than I prefer, but given the choice, I choose the creator of the universe and His plan for Anne over anything I might come up with. He is our good Father, and we will trust Him. He has preserved her life. He has a plan to prosper her, to give her a future and a hope. So we wait and trust.

Thank you for traveling this road with us. We are humbled by the outpouring of love we have been shown. Please pray for anne’s healing and for strength for all of us to persevere as we wait and trust.

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.