Saturday, January 31, 2009

Christy was resting comfortably today.  She had an active night of kicking and moving.  Christy's rash is being addressed by a Dermatologist.  We haven't meet the Dermatologist yet, but the nurse was saying she thought her rash on the back was heat rash but was going to put in the Dermatologist consult today.  She changed the kinds of Chucks (pad under Christy's butt/back that protects the sheets from accidents) they were using in order to help ventilate her back side. The Chuck is the rectangular pad on the bed in the picture on the right. This picture is a picture of one type of Chucks-- so you get a better idea of what it is.

Christy is seeming as if she has moments where she is tracking voices.  She's been inconsistently doing this for days, maybe a week.  It is only once in a while, so you just get to see it once, then she won't do it again.  The fact that you can't confirm she's tracking something, makes you wonder if it was just coincidence.  There have been many coincidences and I just found out that Dr. Maher told Donald that Christy is tracking once in a while.  When I was with her one day, the nurse was in to do PEG care.  The nurse has to remove the dressing and clean the area and that's a lot of stimulation on her skin from the cold wet gauze and pulling from the tape being removed.  When there is a lot of stimulation-- coughing, turning, something that causes discomfort-- Christy is more alert.  Christy has always been sensitive to stimulation, noise and touch.  Anyway, the nurse was explaining to Christy what she was doing from Christy's bedside on the right.  Donald was sitting on Christy's far left near the window about 10 feet away.  He was talking to Tina.  While the nurse was talking, Christy's eyes were looking in the nurse's direction and her head was slightly turned right as well.  Once Donald's voice spoke loudly, Christy's eyes immediately shifted left once towards his voice.  I wasn't sure, so I asked Donald to talk again, but Christy didn't do it again.   I don't know how much energy it takes for Christy to concentrate that hard, and she may be too tired to repeat the action.  It seemed purposeful and it was as if she was looking for Donald's voice.  All of us who see her often have had some instances where we swear she's focused on us talking or have seen her look toward a voice.  I haven't mentioned it yet because I wasn't sure and she wasn't doing it a lot of the time as well. We only hope that each day she becomes lighter and lighter.  One day at a time, we have to remind ourselves on this long road to recovery.  

Just to mention, if you would like to attend the iheartchristy fundraising concert, please make checks out to the "iheartchristy fund" for $30 per ticket.  ages 5 & under are free.  Please spread the word on the fundraiser to friends and family that may want to support.  There will also be T-shirts sold for $15.00! They look super good! This is the best I can do with the flyer right now. I'm working on a link to a site with all the information!

 

Much love & mahalos, gabby