A quick Catch up!- November 8, 2009

Christy is doing fabulous! She is officially done with her formal PT therapy sessions at the rehab of the Pacific here in Pear City. Donald is her main man now and has taken over ALL of her exercises at home. He has always done a great job at supplementing her therapy before, and keeping Chris motivated! Christy has an elliptical machine at home. Christy is doing so great, she even wore some heals to Camryn's (Keli'i' & Hanae's daughter) first birthday party! We loved seeing her in a dress and heels! Christy hasn't used a walker in- I don't remember how long. Christy has been eating up a storm, and seems to keep her petite little girlish figure dispite grinding her beloved deserts!Christy is doing Hyperbaric therapy about once a week, and it seems to be helping with her coordination. Donald has been doing some research to find out what will be most beneficial to Christy as she continues to recover back to her old self ASAP! They will be seeing a natural path doctor as well, for some acupuncture and natural herbal therapies to supplement her medical therapies!
They continue to see the Rehab doctor, and a neurologist. They are going to see a neurosurgeon soon to check out something on one of Christy's recent MRIs. Christy has been having numbness and tingling on the right hand and forearm areas. They found a little spur on her neck, and are checking with the neuro surgeon to see if he recommends anything to be done about it.
Alan, Luis and three other friends/ co-workers, and Luis' sister are coming for thanksgiving to be at home for the holiday!! It will be Luis' first time here to Hawaii & he'll be able to experience our home!
Don't hesitate to call Chrsity or Donald, Christy would love to have a visit from any of her family and friends!!

June 10, 2009

Hi everyone!  Spent the day with Christy, Don, Nalu and Dyl Pickles today... Christy is progressing well.  Chrisy's vision is getting better as she can identify all the letters of the alphabet very well!! Don was telling the story about Christy at Craig when she first arrived.  He said she was pulling out a toothbrush out of the bag of things that Malea had and she couldn't tell what it was..... She's come a long way baby!! Relearning so much in such a short time.  Christy had to relearn so many of the simple tasks we take for granted every day. 

Christy takes her pills on her own now.  She picks those little suckers up and takes them with her diet coke or iced tea, or water... whatever.   She's eating more on her own.  Her favorite thing right now that she can eat well is a sweet bread grilled tuna melt with avocado!! We all had them for lunch yesterday!  Don is always thinking up new activities & new ways to make Christy's meals easy to eat but yummy!!  He mixes her a shake with Ensure, Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream and the protein powder for energy!! She loves it!!    

Christy and Don were doing some OT yesterday with golf balls and cups.  He rolls the golf ball over to her and she traps it under the cup, then flicks her wrist to pass the ball back!! Christy's left arm and hand has always been stronger and more dexterous than the right.  So she's working the right arm a lot to gain more dexterity.  

The whole family (Mom, Keli'i, Hanae, Cami, Don, Christy, Kelsen, his friend, Nalu, Dylan, Noa, Alana, and Kaeo and I)  had a great day at the pool- gazebo area this past weekend. Keli'i and Hanae have a perfect area for pool party fun at their town-house.   Don was at the grill, of course, and the kids were all swimming!  Noa brought some venison from Molokai for us to try.  Christy lounged out and talked story...  That night we went to watch Kelsen play his spring scrimmage at Pearl City High School.  Kelsen is on the Varsity team this year as a sophomore and is playing wide receiver. We can already see the growth he's made from his games last year!!

We also celebrated another year of life with Mom Gail!! We all went to Side Street Inn and had a delicious meal together!! The owners and management have been very generous to the family.  They donated a few large gifts for Christy's fundraiser and were treating us extra special that night!!!

For everyone reading this, let's put our energy together for Christy- focusing on her eating and swallowing and chewing.  Please imagine in your minds watching Christy eating well.   Seeing Christy's tongue pushing that food around so she can chew and swallow food with ease.  When you eat your next meal, appreciate how much you use your tongue and pay attention to the coordination of your teeth, tongue, and swallowing!  Send all your positive energy her way in Royal Summit! Christy needs to gain some weight, as she is struggling to eat enough calories to keep up with her consumption!  Christy needs her strength to continue her progressive road of rehab!  Love you Christy!!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Hi gang! It's gabby.  Wanted to let you know that the blog will no longer be daily, but here and there!  Christy is doing wonderfully and is slowly adjusting to the heat!!  She's been having quite a few social activities going as everyone is ultra excited to have her home.  The Lopes were kind enough to host a family gathering at their home/Kamehameha dorms today!  The family was in full effect and Christy was delighted to talk stories with everyone!  Christy is walking fabulously and enjoying being with family again.  She was ono for some Haupia Pie, so Tori was happily able to pick one up on her way to the gathering!  

Christy has been an inspiration to us all on a daily basis.  We thank God for giving us Christy back constantly.  And how lucky I feel to be a part of such a wonderful family who has stayed strong in love during this entire journey.  It's always been about Christy and banding together to help where we can.  I guess our love for one another has inspired others who didn't know Christy.  People have been watching her story on KITV 4 (Christy even stars in their commercial!) and reading the blog.  If you've been reading the blog, I asked if anyone could help Brenda Inouye sell some candies.  Brenda got an email from Stepanie DeCambra offering to help her sell.  During a conversation Brenda asked Stephanie if she knew Chrsity, and she said she just started reading the blog, felt the love, and wanted to help!!  Turns out Stephanie helped sell 3 1/2 cases of candies!!  Can you believe that!! Wow!  So we wanted to say thank you to Stephanie for reaching out and giving a hand.  

Take care all of you out there and I'll be in periodically to give an update!  XoxO, gabby

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Chirsty and Donald will be home tomorrow at 252 pm. All those free at that time, please join us at the airport to welcome Christy home.

Also, the Saturday night BBQ has been cancelled. I am sure something else will be set up once Christy has had some time to relax and spend time with the kids. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

It is going to be very brief this evening. Donald and I mostly discussed the nightmare he dealt with getting the flight arrangements made. Medicaid people were jacked up, but that is another story for another blog.

Anyhow, we have great news. Christy and Donald will be arriving home at 252pm on Friday May 22nd on United airlines. If interested, I think the best place to greet them would be at the baggage claim since no one can go to the gate. Also, there will be a get together Saturday night and Lorene and Sonny's house to welcome Christy home. Don't know the details at this time, stay tuned as I will try to make sure that I add it to a later blog post.

Christy missed a lot of her rehab stuff today because they had another appointment with the eye doctor. It was another assessment that they wanted to squeeze in before she came home to see where her vision has improved. Other than that, Don did not give me much detail. I know for a fact most of today and all of tomorrow is going to be spent packing.

Christy and Donald are super excited to be coming home. A lot of people who have not seen Christy in a couple of months will be very happy and surprised to see how far she has come. A warning here, make sure you bring some tissue because it is enough to make even the toughest persons break down.

That's all for now. I will try to get more details posted tomorrow night. If you can make it, please join us on Friday at the airport. Christy will be very happy to see everyone there.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Christy had another very good day all the way around. All therapy went very well this morning and the Doc's at Craig are feeling very good about where Christy is at compared to the way she arrived. It has been one hell of a ride for Christy and she is taking the challenge on with a great attitude allowing her the successes she has accomplished up to this point.

Today started just as most days have recently with OT. Christy works on all independent behaviors during the first session of OT. She gets herself ready and she did a better job than even yesterday. Not saying she did bad yesterday, but she was even faster this morning. Next, we were off to some weight training for PT.

PT was cool this morning. Taking a look at the pictures you'll see that the entire hour was spent down in the weight room. She started on the elliptical machine and spent five minutes working on her stride length. Her left leg is lagging a little on her walking, but it is progressively getting better. Prior to today, she had never spent that long on the machine without being totally exhausted by it. She barely broke a sweat and that machine this morning. She also did some machine bench press and some low pulley rows to work on evening out her posture as she is still favoring her right shoulder, the one that she broke. All of the workouts focus on range of motion and flexibility and Christy is getting better with the both of them.

We ate lunch and took a short break following the morning session. Christy was able to sleep for a little over an hour while Donald and I ran to the store.

Following Christy's break, she had additional OT that focused on crafts. As you see in the pictures, Christy was outside trimming flowers for a pressed flower stationary that they were going to develop. It was going for her fine motor skills because she had to use both hands to cut the flowers and then trim them before being pressed. It was a bit of a challenge for her, but she did very well with it.

Her final session of the day was with Melea, the speech therapist. Christy spent an hour with her this afternoon working on some tests to measure where Christy is at in comparison to when she arrived. Christy did an outstanding job with the exercises. One of the most obvious areas of measurement was this exercise where Christy had three (3) one minute periods to name foods, first names and animals. When Christy arrived she could only name 4 foods in a minute, she was able to name 19 today. When arriving at Craig, Christy could only name seven people by first name. Today she named 25 in one minute. She also increased the number of animals she was able to name in the minute by four animals. She was pretty much perfect on the rest of the exams. I even answered some of the questions wrong as I was following along in my head.

We rested in the afternoon and then went to dinner with some really good friends to Christy and Donald. The Salazars are from Denver and Donald works with their niece. They have been very good to Christy and Donald making it a lot easier fo them to be away from family. They are awesome people that we are very thankful and blessed to have gotten to know. We ate Mexican food and Christy did very well at dinner tonight. The Salazars are definitely a family we plan to keep in touch with as well and we look forward to coming back to Denver for a BBQ at their house.

Sorry, a little shorter than last night, but I have to catch a flight early in the morning tomorrow. Christy and Donald will be arriving Friday. We are not sure what time they will be getting home yet, but we should be able to post it on the blog by tomorrow night. A BBQ is being planned for Sonny and Lorene's house Saturday night. More details to follow.

Good night!

Monday, May 18, 2009

First off, the big news of the day is that Christy and Donald will be coming home this Friday instead of next week Tuesday. They have moved the discharge day up due to the fact the there will be no rehab Friday, Saturday or Monday because it is a holiday. So, there is no use to stay until next week Tuesday since Christy will not be missing anything by coming home this Friday. Let me tell you, Christy is very excited to be coming home. She cannot wait to see her kids.

Next, just to catch you up over the weekend, we did not do much. We took Christy shopping on Saturday and she got some clothes that fit her better since she is down to a size 2 now. She is a little bummed about losing her booty, but we assured her she would get it back with time. We spent all day Sunday just cruising and hanging out. We watched some movies and all took naps. Very productive day if you ask me.

On to today's rehab. Christy started the day with OT which focused solely on her getting herself ready for the day. As you can see from the pictures, she is able to pretty much do everything on her own. She just needs a little help getting everything started and she is able to finish the job on her own. Donald also noticed that Christy began using her right hand to eat during breakfast this morning without being asked to. Up to this point, she has had a very difficult time using her right hand to eat. For some reason, she felt good today and switched back and forth between both hands when she was eating. Donald was very happy to see her using both hands.

Once Christy was done getting herself ready, we moved on to PT this morning which focused solely on stretching her out. As you can see in the picture, Christy continues to walk everywhere when she is in the hospital. I have known about her walking on her own for some time now, but to see it in person was another story. The pace and length of stride is almost a normal walk. She is still a little slow, but I could never tell just from looking at the pictures how much she has progressed with her walking. She has awesome balance also. If you notice, we just put our hand on her back and hold her by her bra to give her the confidence to move forward. She does all the work on her own with pretty much no assistance.

From there, we moved on to Speech therapy with Melea this morning right before we ate lunch. She worked on some of the normal things regarding her tongue and finding the pudding she was placing on her lip. Christy would have to find the pudding and lick it off with her tongue strengthening the muscles in her mouth and tongue. She went to see Dr. Shraa following the first speech therapy. Dr. Shraa did some memory exercises with her that he was very excited about. Dr. Shraa said that Christy did as well as anyone he could have pulled in off the street. He was very encouraged by her progress and so was Donald. I was not able to sit in on this one because Dr. Shraa did not want Christy to be too distracted by me being there.

We ate lunch and took a very short nap following lunch.

Christy went to her final class of the day, a second speech therapy session with Melea. It was trippy the way Christy can see things. Her vision is getting better, but it still needs some work. For example, she had to look at items without touching them and tell Melea what they were. She did really good with this part. The second part of the exercise is she has to pick the word of the item from three words laid out in front of her on pieces of paper. At first, all of the words were written in all caps and Christy said it was giving her a hard time. So, Melea re-wrote everything in small case and Christy had no issue seeing any of the letters. It is so trippy to see how her brain is progressing. Anyway, she performed very well again in the afternoon session of speech therapy.

She took another short nap following her final class. She finished the day with a treat. Donald got her her weekly massage therapy this afternoon and then we took her to Chili's for dinner. Chili's is where she wanted to go and we ended the day with some Cold Stone.

She is progressing very well and I further realize how well after seeing it in person for the first time. Damn it was impressive and I have no doubt that she is going to continue to progress because of the attitude she is maintaining. She is tough and takes everything head on. That attitude and Donald pushing her will allow a very thorough recovery. I would put money on it.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Today was an average day for Christy in her rehab. Sorry, but there are not going to be any photos for today because Donald felt like slacking. Just kidding, just no photos. Slight delay in this post as both Gabby and I were traveling Friday and we were out all day Saturday when I arrived here in Denver. Christy wanted to go shopping.

She had a normal day with PT and OT today. She did work with a different speech therapist today who tried something new with Christy. Not sure why, but Melea was not with her today. Anyway, the new speech therapy program is a computer program that shows a mouth pronouncing and sounding out words/phrases. Christy has to see the words/phrases stated and then she repeats them back to the therapist. It is an attempt to train her muscle memory for all of the muscles in her mouth. She also sings the songs that she hears on the programs helping her speech to get stronger.

PT was normal stretching and walking against ballerina bars. Nothing out of the ordinary for the work this morning. The second session of OT was interesting as they spent time with the UNO cards today. Basically, she organized and arranged all of the colors with like colors. Donald also worked with her in arranging the cards in numerical order. It worked on her vision in being able to recognize the colors and numbers. Also, putting the numbers in order and organizing them by color was a workout for her memory. She did very well with the UNO cards this afternoon according to Donald.

You will be receiving the posts live and in color from Denver this week. I will be here until Wednesday reporting for Gabby. She was sent to a nursing conference in New Orleans, so she was unable to come back to Denver. Anyhow, Christy only has a little more than a week left here and then she will be back with the family and friends back home. We can't wait until she comes home.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Christy got to sleep in today to 9:00 am because there was no early Occupational Therapy session.  Her first session was Physical therapy with Jody.  Jody decided to take Christy down to the basement to do some work in the wellness center.  Remember that's the gym where Don runs and exercises.    Jody led Christy through some new types of exercises that will help with her balance and leg range of motion.  You can see Christy on the elliptical machine (picture on the right).  She rode it on speed one for 3 minutes.  Christy did a wonderful job!  This exercise is so beneficial to Chrsity because it targets her weak spots.  She is able to get more range of motion and stretch and extend her hips.  Her arms can bend and stretch while going through the movement with her legs.  It's a total body work out.   Jody also put her on the vertical bench machine to work her back muscles.  She worked her latisimus dorsi or "wings"  on another machine too.  Like a lateral pull down machine.  For OT Casey stretched and massaged the right shoulder blade out.   Don usually stays out of the room for speech therapy, so he won't be a distraction.  Today, Malea and Chrsity came out and showed him a picture where Chris had to connect the dots.  Melea said that this was the best that Chrsity has ever done on this exercise and her vision and coordination while using the pen is awesome!

After lunch Chrsity had a combo class with Casey and Melea.  This was a fun class because it was an opportunity to make Chocolate pudding!!  The therapist read the recipe to Chrsity and when they were done, she had to remember as much of the ingredients and instructions were.  The recipe said to mix two cups of milk with the pre-packaged powder mix.  The therapist asked Christy what she needed, and Christy replied:  

1. a bowl to mix the ingredients  

2. a mixing spoon  

3. a measuring cup  

Once she had all of her tools, they asked her to then pour out the milk and to mix it herself.  She did such a wonderful job at this complicated task!  

Wednesday, May 13, 2009of

Another day of therapy and hard work!  Christy's day started with a full hour of OT again.   The full hour allows her to do more than get her clothes on.  She is getting more detailed in her morning routine. Getting ready, dressed, teeth brushed, lotion on her face, hair brushed, etc.  

This first picture on the left shows Christy with Casey from OT.  They are in her room at the sink.

PT with Jody today was more of the same stretching and being in the gym on the padded mats.  Some strengthening exercises with the balance ball up 

against the wall were done.  Christy is working legs in this picture (right)!  Jody has Chris in some Yoga pose in this picture on the left! Go Chris!

The most exciting thing that happened today was that Chrsity's 

laceration over her eye is healing!!  She got her stitches out today, yay!!  We didn't post the pictures of Christy's face with the bloody open cut, but you can see from this picture the large cut to the left of Christy's eye!  Ouch!  Lucky thing Christy is still as beautiful as ever!

Have a wonderful evening!

  

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Christy had a great day full of therapy & spending time with family! We have some pictures from Christy's afternoon PT session today.  Her Physical Therapy session cut short this morning, so she ended up meeting with Jody again this afternoon.  Chris is here on the mats doing a bunch of stretching and core exercises!  Mom Gail got to spend another day with Christy and had a wonderful time.

Jody Leong called Donald today asking how Christy was progressing... she was unable to get a crew from ABC Denver to come to the hospital, so she did a follow up phone interview today.  The interview will be airing on KITV 4 (Chanel 6) Thursday night at 10:00PM.  So tune in on Thursday night!  

In case you haven't read in a previous blog, 

there are Christy Huddy silicone wristbands for sale.

The bands are pink with Maroon writing.  

They cost $2.00 each & all proceeds go to the BOH iheartchristy fund

Contact Info:

CHRISTY JACOBSEN
JLSCJ5@aol.com

Monday, May 11, 2009

Hi!  Christy had another great day!

 Occupational therapy was extended to an hour today.  They wanted to have a little more time to work on other things after dressing.  With the extra time, Christy was able to brush her teeth, comb her hair and apply facial lotion.  

After OT, Chrsty and Donald walked to Physical therapy.  You can see

 Donald and Christy walking to the gym for PT in this picture.  Jody from PT is sanding with them.  At PT Christy did a lot of stretching,

 exercises for posture, and range of motion exercises. Jody from PT said that with all the "tone" Christy's body isn't strait, so she showed 

Don multiple exercises to work on posture with Chris.  After PT, they went to Standing Frame with Dan.  Christy walked to every one of her classes today!!   Don and PT Jody discussed that Sanding frame isn't necessary for Christy if she is having too busy of a day and is tired. It is an ongoing custom made schedule.  Whatever is working best and giving Christy the most benefit is what should be done.  That will change from day to day as well. 

 Today Christy & team decided to rest before speech with Melea.  Melea's exercise today was for Christy to name all of her children and immediate family members.  Melea was focusing on Chrsity's annunciation of all of the names correctly but this was obviously a memory game as well.  Melea also mentioned that she will be envious of Christy's next Speech Therapist.  She said that as Christy continues to get better and better, they will start to remove Christy's medications.  Things will come easier and easier!

Christy ended her Monday  enjoying her weekly massage!! XOXO

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's day to all the mommies out there, especially Christy!!  Mom Gail made it safely to Colorado and is enjoying her QT with Christy very much.  There has been a lot of resting and recuperating going on the last couple days.  

Christy resumed her normal rehab routine on Friday and slept most of the day yesterday.  After a nice long rest all day Saturday, Christy was recharged for some SHOPPING!!!!!  Saturday afternoon they spent their time at the Mall trying on clothes and shopping!  Christy bought two new pairs of Jeans- one from Abercrombie & Fitch!!  She's missed a lot of shopping days, but is now back in the saddle!  Christy tried on stuff at Macy's and got some yummy smelling lotions and bath products from Bath and Body works!!  We ladies especially know how some RETAIL THERAPY can heal, right??  

Chirsty was getting washed up while we were talking to Mom Gail on the phone to get the new info.  She'll be calling us back for more mother's day details, so stay tuned!

Thursday May 7, 2009

Howzit everyone. This post is going to be very brief. Christy went through a normal day of rehab where she spent time in OT, PT and did some pool work as you can see by the picture. Everything was going well until Christy had a little accident.

You guys all saw the new bed that Christy and Don were given in a previous post. Well, Christy was sitting on the edge of that new bed later in the day. I spoke with both Donald and Christy about the incident, so I am pretty sure it is an accurate portrayal of the even.

Anyway, Christy was sitting on the edge of the bed. Donald was talking on his cell phone with the insurance company about coverage and other reimbursement type things that they are eligible for. Christy said that she was feeling a little nauseous which has been common since her vision is still not that clear. According to Christy, she usually leans a little forward when she is feeling nauseous and lessens the effect. Neither Donald or Christy was sure how it happened, but Christy lost her balance sitting on the edge of the bed. She apparently leaned to far forward and kept going. Christy fell off the bed basically doing a headfirst dive directly in to the wall.

Christy was immediately scared and Donald heard Christy and came running over. Donald called for the nurses and they rushed in to assist. Christy suffered a pretty good size gash over her left eye that required 12 stitches (don't quote me on this one, even Donald estimated). They ran a CT scan right away to make sure that Christy did not suffer any damage that was not visible and everything came up fine.

When speaking with Christy during the afternoon, she said that she felt OK, was not nauseous and was resting fine. According to Donald and Christy, she was not suffering from any concussion type symptoms. The docs are going to keep an eye on it to make sure that she has not suffered a concussion and we will keep you posted about it.

Christy was scared, but was a real trooper about it. She is going to be just fine and Donald is already making plans on how he is going to minimize scarring for Christy. Christy is going to experience some bumps and bruises throughout rehab, hopefully none of them is going to be this severe. Keep pushing Christy and I can't wait to see you next week. We love you so much!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Today was another great day in the books! 

Occupational Therapy was the usual session in the morning- getting dressed.  

Christy's second session was Physical Therapy.  Christy walked all the way to the gym/cafeteria on the second floor.  When they got there, Jody from PT told them that

 today's session would be in the wellness center.  The wellness center is the gym downstairs in the basement.  Don has a 

"membership" as well as some of the staff members.  He does his running on the treadmill here.  Once they got downstairs, Jody had Christy get on the Elliptical machine for about 3-5 

minutes at level 1!!  She did great.  Don sounded pleased with this choice of exercises because it was perfect for Christy's right Hip

 which needs more stretch and mobilization. Christy has a hard time extending the right leg backward from the hip.  The Elliptical seemed to give Chris full extension of both her legs and her hips.  After the Elliptical, Jody and Christy got on the yoga mat and did a lot of different types of stretching.  She also had her laying in a

 bunch of different positions. 

Here is a great picture of Chris sitting fabulously in an Indian style sitting position!  Christy really enjoyed her session in the wellness center, she kept saying  how much she was enjoying being down there on those machines.  It's like a mini-24hour fitness!  

After an exciting Physical therapy session, Christy had speech and more OT, but they focused on the same things that Chris has been working on that we've been talking about. 

Another real exciting thing that happened today is that Craig found a Queen size bed to replace Christy's other hospital bed so Don and Chrsity can cuddle while they enjoy a good night's sleep together.  Getting back to normal life is good!! 

Kaeo and I will be taking Mom Gail to the airport tonight!  She's going up to visit Chrsity and Don till next week!! 

If you're interested in getting an iheartchristy pink wristband like the one Christy's wearing...

 please contact Christy Jacobson  by email at:  JLSCJ5@aol.com  they are $2.00 each and very cute!!!

BTW, One of Christy’s friends from Hawaiian, Brenda Inouye, who started a fundraiser for her by selling World’s Finest Candies is stuck with about 5 more cases of the almonds and was just wondering if anyone who would be able to help sell or buy?  They sold 21 cases for Christy but now having a little hard time getting rid of the rest. They are $2.50 a box and there is 50 boxes in a case.

 If someone can help with that please contact:

 Brenda Inouye

email:  Brenda.Inouye@hawaiianair.com

 

CINCO de MAYO

Happy CiNCO de Mayo to everyone! Cinco de Mayo (May 5th in Spanish)is the day the Mexicans won the war against the FRENCH who were undefeated for a super long  time.  It is commonly mistaken for Mexican independence day which is actually in September.  I had to look it up today because I was curious.  It's actually not that big of a deal in Mexico, but us Americans will have any excuse to go out to meet our friends for Mexican food and beers/ margaritas!  I hope everyone had a good one!

This first picture of Christy is of her waiting for Physical therapy to start today!  She looks so good with her new glasses and hair by Donald.  He's really getting good at styling her hair!  Good Job Don!

 

 Jody from PT was working with Christy again today!  I love her shoes! So fun! Sorry, side note! She is trying to do an exercise that isolates her hip. 

 Jody said that Christy's right side is a little weaker, so she tends to 

drag that side a little.  So in these pictures, Jody is trying to do exercises that isolate and work the right hip only to strengthen it.

Christy is strong, though.  Just guess what she did today!!  SHE WALKED TO EVERY SINGLE CLASS TODAY WITH THE WALKER!! Holy Moly!!!  We were so impressed when we heard that from Don.  And everyone at Craig is noticing too! Christy and Don have been there every day for the last two plus months, so they've gotten to know the people at Craig. They see how well Christy is doing and they complement her!! Chris walks down the hall and the nurses, other patients, docs, therapist... everyone is full of nice things to say!!  They love seeing Christy walking all over the place out of her wheelchair!  Christy 's endurance is really working its way up!  Christy wasn't as tired today as she was yesterday, and she was working it!!  Isn't that so incredible!!  She especially noticed the renewed energy in her legs!! 

During her second session of Occupational Therapy the OT started to put foam pads

 around her brush, toothbrush and lipstick.  They had done this with her fork during a previous session to help her grip the base better. Christy noticed immediately that she had a much better handle on things with the foam pads, so it was very helpful.  As you can see, Christy is brushing her own hair really well!! Go Christy!! You look awesome!! xoxo until tomorrow!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Christy's day started out well.... just like other mornings, Occupational therapy came to work with Chris on dressing herself.  She is getting more independent all the time. 

After OT she had PT for one hour. Donald encouraged Christy to use the walker to walk to PT instead of using her wheelchair today!!  They walked from Christy's room all the way down the hall to the gym/cafeteria!!  They bumped into their Physical Therapist, Jody,  as they were walking down the hall.  She was on her way to Christy's room to get them, so she joined them 

on their walk to the gym.  Jody and several other therapist, nurses and even patients commented on how well Christy was doing!!  They were so surprised to see her strolling down the hallway.  Don thought of stopping at the table near the nurses station on the way to the gym to give Chrsity a rest.  He thought she may even need to ride the rest of the way and thought 

about going back to her room to get her wheelchair.  Jody suggested to keep Christy going and even try to pick up the pace.  Once in the gym, Jody suggested that they try and put her on the 

treadmill to see if Christy could 

speed up her walking.   Christy did about 5 minutes on the treadmill at seed 1. She did great!

After walking on the treadmill, PT did allot of stretching exercises on the mat.  Since her seizure, Christy has been really tired.  She slept the entire day yesterday, only getting up to eat. 

PT must have really tired her out because she was exhausted during her next session which was speech therapy.  Christy could not even make it all the way through her speech therapy session. They also skipped the second session of OT.  After a long nap

 Chris was able to make it to her last speech session and her therapeutic recreation session.  

Therapeutic recreation is fun for Christy.  She's been doing a

n ongoing ceramic project that is a spitting image of NEMO!  Christy really enjoys arts and crafts time!

Christy really enjoyed her Monday massage at the end of the day.  After a hard day's therapy, it probably feels so good to get pampered.  

We are still working on Christy's progress with eating.  Her chewing continues to be a challenge for her.  Gaining perfect control of her tongue has been an ongoing battle as well as keeping enough calories on board so she doesn't loose any weight.  Donald still helps her to eat so it's a little more efficient.  It still takes about an hour to an hour and a half to eat one meal.  That adds up to around four and a half hours eating a day.  Craig therapy also wants her to get enough rest in between sessions so she can get the most out of them.  It's a full day everyday at Craig for both Christy and Donald.  Don remains a pillar of strength for Christy, as he is her support day and night.  Let's all send prayers and positive thoughts towards Don and Christy as they travel through these last few weeks at Craig.  

Mom Gail will be visiting again for the long weekend.  She leaves on Thursday and will spend mother's day with Christy and Don, Alan, and Luis.  She plans to return on Tuesday.  It is always so comforting to be around family when you're far from Home.

 We love you Chrsity & Don!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Hi everyone!  Today was a wonderful day in Colorado for Chris, Don, Alan, and Luis. Dosen't Christ look so BEAUTIFUL!

Alan and Luis picked up Christy and Don and took them back to the house for a lovely breakfast!  Luis pulled out his Chef skills and made the traditional Haole breakfast biscuits and gravy!!!  It was the first time Don actually ate biscuits and gravy, but he really enjoyed it and commented how delicious Luis made it.

 After breakfast, they all just hung out till about three 

O'clock and Luis suggested that they should take Chris out to get

 waxed.  They went to a salon called Antuan's.  Chrsity ended up getting waxed, plus enjoying a hair cut and 

color!!  There are a bunch of pictures here of Christy enjoying her services!!!  It must feel like heaven to get your hair done after not being able to go to the salon for so long!!   The lady in the red shirt with Chrsity and Don is the stylist who did Christy's hair!!

By the way, if you look closely on the hand that is holding Christy's soda, you'll see her "iheartchristy" pink bracelet.  

They are still available:   

Christy Huddy silicone wristbands for sale.
Pink, with embossed maroon writing.
$2.00 each ( all proceeds go to BOH iheartchristy fund ).
Contact Info:  CHRISTY JACOBSEN     EMAIL:  JLSCJ5@aol.com

After hair and waxing, they enjoyed a dinner at Haciendas!  Christy at an empanada-- Kaeo's favorite! 

When they got back to the hospital, Christy took her 9pm medications and went to bed.  About a half hour later, Christy threw up her medication again!  We're not sure why this keeps happening, but it's getting old.  Christy got her anti-nausea medication and was able to go to sleep.  The nurse called the doctor to see if he should give Christy all of her meds again.  When you take meds, and throw them up a half hour later, we're not sure how much of the medications were already absorbed.  The question is do you have half or all again.  It's not strait forward. Christy's KEPPRA - the seizure medication was in those meds. They don't want another seizure... so they gave her the medications again through the PEG.

Friday may 1, 2009

Just a heads up, but yesterday's post was adjusted with a little more accuracy.  There was some slight miscommunication, bu the "meat" of the story did not change.  Christy had a seizure, but has recovered and actually did very well today.  Christy started with speech therapy this morning which was combined with breakfast because Melea wanted to see Christy eating.  Both Melea and Donald agreed that Christy was dong an excellent job with eating this morning and controlling the muscles surrounding her mouth.  Christy showed considerable improvement from just a few days earlier.  kind of weird considering that she had the seizure in between, but awesome improvement nonetheless.

Christy then went in to 

PT where they spent very little time stretching this morning.  Just enough to

 get her loose for all of the walking they were going to put her through.  They spe

nt time trying to

 get a cane/walker that would be suitable for Christy at this point.  They started with a four-pronged can that Christy had trouble keeping flat.  If you cannot keep the four prongs flat to the ground, yo

u are going to have trouble using it.  They next tried the traditional cane, but Christy still had some trouble with it.  She finally felt best with the walker that you see in the picture.  So, they decided on that one and even put her name on it.

Following PT, she went in to another session  of OT where they worked on her vision and recognition of colors/shapes.  As you can see in the picture, they had her working on matching the certain shapes with the colors  o

n the board.  It is not a puzzle, but it conditions Christy and helps her recognition of the different colors.  She knows the colors and the shapes, but they are working on her vision in this one.  She also worked on the number card in which she had to call out each number that she could see.  Donald said she did very well on this despite the fact that she did not have her new glasses yet.

Donald picked up her new glasses today while Christy took a nap before heading into a second session of PT.  The new glasses helped Christy as she stated that on a scale of 1 to 10 in improving her vision, Christy gave it a five.  The exercises tied in to the new glasses should help her increase that 5 to a 10 with some work.

During her final session of the day, she spent some time in the standing frame and doing some bench press.  As you can see in the picture, her range of motion has gotten a lot 

better since the steroid shot 

she received recently.  According to Donald, she has increased her range of motion a ton.

In addition to all of the rehab, Christy also showed incredible gains in independent movements that her and Donald had been working on.  Christy was able to shower and brush her hair 90% on her own today.  Donald gave her very little help and Christy did great.  She is also brushing her own her again which was a challenge for her up until recently.  Christy also walked without assistance pretty much all over the apartment today.  Christy and Donald are just trying to work on the muscle memory side.  Christy has decided that she realy wants to be doing everything on her own and has been working very hard to do so.

Mind over matter and Christy definitely has a strong mind.  Keep it up Christy and I am sure I speak for everyone when I say that we cannot wait to have you back home in a little over three weeks.