Christy Huddy's Healing Journey!

We are thankful!

2010-10-13T23:04:00.001-07:00

This our son (Gabby & Kaeo), Grayson Gouveia.

Thanksgiving Season Fall Greeting

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View the entire collection of cards.

It's been a long time since my last blog and much has happened, but we are still thankful for what we have. Kaeo and I have welcomed our son Grayson into the family on March 25, 2010. He will be 7 months by Halloween & time flies! Keli'i and Hanae had their second Sweetheart, Cara on July 16th & she's three months this month!

Christy is doing well. Chris, Don & the kids are back at their home in Makakilo. Don took it upon himself to create the Huddy Home Gym (I hear membership is cheap, you should check it out :) with weights, elliptical & a TV- it's awesome! Christy is taking care of herself during the day when Don is at work & has been doing some new PT that is strengthening her right hand. When she's not at PT, she is out in the Huddy Home Gym.

Christy recently took a vacation trip to the Big Island with her girlfriends for some fun! She loved being back with the girls!

Keep in touch and give them a call to hang out! They'd love to see you! Have a wonderful Spookarific Halloween! xo, gabby

A quick Catch up!- November 8, 2009

2009-11-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-06-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-26T01:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-22T14:28:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-15T01:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-14T01:59:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-12T23:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

2009-05-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

27 days and counting until Christy can come home. Sorry, no pictures again tonight because Christy pretty much spent the entire day resting as there was an incident last night. Christy suffered a seizure last night, but she is doing just fine today and is feeling pretty good considering.

Early this morning, Christy needed to go to the restroom and woke Donald up to assist her. So, he assisted as she walked over to the restroom. As she was done using the restroom, Donald was helping her get her clothes back on and asked if she was alright. Christy responded with "I'm OK." Donald then began to instruct her on what to do to get back in to bed. Christy again responded "I'm OK." Donald told Christy that he was not asking her if she was ok, he was telling her what she needed to do. Christy again responded "I'm OK."

Donald realized that Christy was acting a little loopy, but he thought maybe she was just drowsy because it was so early in the morning. So, Donald and Christy walked back over to the bed and climbed back in to go back to sleep. Donald noticed that Christy was not going back to sleep. Donald asked Christy again if everything was OK and she responded with another "I'm OK." Donald asked why she was not going back to sleep and she continued to respond with "I'm OK." At this point, Donald became very worried as her disorientation was not normal for where she is in her rehab. So, Donald called the Nurse in to take a look at her.

The nurse that came in took her vitals and started asking Christy questions. She too noticed that Christy was very disoriented. The nurse decided that she needed to call Dr. Ripley to ask him what may be going on. Another nurse that was in the room was massaging Christy's head and noticed some seizure tendencies. Christy's arm went straight up in the air and then stiffened at her side. Almost immediately those movements, the nurse noticed that Christy was not breathing, her lip was turning blue and called a "code." The nurse quickly pulled this cord and it sends some sort of message to every emergency person necessary. Within seconds, the room was filled with Nurses tending to Christy attempting to diagnose what was occurring. During this time, Donald also noticed her lip turning blue and her eyes rolled in the back of her head. The Craig staff thought she may have been having the seizure, so they took her for a CT scan immediately and found no evidence of new damage/injury to her brain. At this point, Christy was still a little out of it, but was a lot more with it than prior. She was exhausted which is common after a seizure.

Come to find out, the Craig staff decided to take Christy off of her Seizure meds a couple of days ago because they did not think it was necessary due to the fact the she never showed any signs of a seizure during her stay with them. They tested her brain activity following discontinuing the seizure meds and she showed no signs of irregular brain activity. They scheduled another test a few days later which happened to be tomorrow, but Christy had the seizure this morning letting them know that they have to get her back on the meds as soon as possible.

Christy did not have any sort of rehab today because she was so tired from the seizure. Donald actually decided to hold her out just for today and she will be back to work first thing tomorrow morning.

What a scary night for Christy and Donald. Poor Donald said that it was one of the most scared situations he had ever been in. With the grace of God, Christy is back on track after the incident and should be fine with the medication and monitoring of its effectiveness.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

2009-04-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

Christy and Donald had kind of a mellow day today. By the way, the cord that hooks Don's camera to the computer is MIA, so no pictures tonight. He spent a long time looking for it... I'm sure it will pop up somewhere tomorrow.

Today's big event was Christy's steroid shot in her shoulder. Dr. Ripley injected the steroid medication into the shoulder around 10am. Christy was immediately able to raise her arm up over her head when she could only raise it up parallel to her shoulder. That was the first big thing we saw. While Dr. Ripley was injecting her shoulder, he was able to fully see the deformity of Christy's right shoulder blade. When Dr. Balazzi was filling in, Don and the Doc reviewed the old x-rays of her shoulder blade taken from the front of her body. Dr. Balazzi thought that as far as he could see from the x-ray they had, everything looked OK. Dr. Ripley thought that it was worth while to get an x-ray specifically to look at the fractured right scapula (shoulder blade) to double check that everything is OK. Don can't help but wonder if the pins & needles could possibly be caused from the fractured shoulder blade pressing on the wrong place-- a nerve, maybe. It healed the way it did because there isn't any cast to put on the shoulder blade. Christy never wore a sling, she was in bed and still asleep for most of the healing.

Christy did a ton of stretching with Physical therapy today. OT worked on dressing. Amy is here in Casey's place still.

Christy is still experiencing nausea, most likely from the increase in medication for motor control. They are giving her anti-nausea medication, but it doesn't always work. Christy was throwing up tonight while I was skyping with Donald. I felt so bad for her. Don and Chris are going to bring up the continual nausea medication with Dr. Ripley. The bummer part is that the medication seemed to be working for Christy to help with motor control and with her tongue movements.

Tuesday, April 24, 2009

2009-04-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

Today was an awesome day full of wonderful therapy!! Physical therapy was intense with all of its exercises and stretches. Chrsity did a bunch of new exercises with the ball to

strengthen her core and legs! This picture on the left shows Cathi and Carly with Christy at PT. Jody is there in the right hand lower corner, too! Christy is working on stretching here, and the girls are helping out!

The picture on the right is Chrsity doing a bridge exercise holding a ball between her legs!! Wow!! Christy is using her core, her hamstrings and gluteus (butt) muscles to lift her body and keep her legs together!! Impressive, Christy! Christy is getting stronger and stronger every day! Sit up core exercises were part of the regime today as well. You see Christy with the ball in her hands doing a sit up!!! Wow!! Strengthening the core muscles will help with her balance while walking and sitting up, etc!

More work was done in PT with walking with the shopping cart (you've seen pictures of that before). Christy did something new and worked on walking up and down stairs with PT today! Christy has an easy time going up the stairs, but had a more difficult time going down. I know its easier for me to go up than down. Especially when I'm carrying something and my vision is obstructed. With Christy's weakened vision, it is a little more scary stepping down the stairs, not sure if the footing will be perfect. She did wonderfully with this new exercise!

Donald put the feet rests back on Christy's wheelchair to encourage Chrsity to move herself in her chair with her hands. This will help strengthen her upper body and arms, especially her right side.

Speech went smoothly. More work on tongue strengthening.

Chrsity's regular OT therapist was out today. She's away. Christy had a new therapist Jannine. During one of the OT sessions, they went down to therapeutic recreation. This is the same place that Christy painted at before. There were about 4 therapist there at the session and a couple other patients. The task at hand was to make "fruit pizzas". They had sugar cookies that they spread cream cheese on. There were other patients who could cut up the toppings: kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Christy had to put the different fruits on the cookie for them to eat! She had to work on vision, hand-eye coordination, color recognition, motor movements, etc. during this exercise. Christy and Don had fund doing this project!

Chrsity had started a project with ceramics earlier during her stay. She had chosen which ceramic she wanted to do, so she had it while the kids were here. Christy picked a ceramic NEMO! Today she got to paint it.

Christy had standing frame with Dan today, as well!! Christy did very well with standing up strait!

Christy and Don talked to Dr. Ripley today about getting some steroid shots in her shoulder. The steroid shots will help ease her pain and help gain more range of motion. If Christy doesn't get the shots the work she needs to do to rehab the shoulder will be very difficult and uncomfortable. Originally, Christy didn't want to have to get poked with the needle, so she wasn't interested in the steroid shots. Today Christy agreed to try them out. She'll get relief and be able to do more in therapy. She gets her first shot tomorrow at 10:00am.

Christy is still working on eating enough calories to maintain her baseline weight and to get the PEG tube out forever! Christy has been receiving an ensure shake in the morning to supplement her breakfast. The Ensure has vitamins and minerals, calories, etc. for Chrsity's optimal healing. Christy gets an AM Ensure because she's not really a breakfast eater. They decided that they are going to try and give as little as possible through the PEG to wean her off PEG use now. Christy will be taking all of her pills by mouth now. This will get us closer to getting out the PEG. The set back is the nausea from the medication to control her motor movements. Christy barfed up her dinner tonight. She just gets sick as a side effect of the medication. junk.

Until tomorrow!

Monday, April 27, 2009

2009-04-28T01:18:00.000-07:00

Christy started her day with OT getting dressed. Christy has been working on getting dressed in the morning since she's been at Craig. It's an activity of daily living. And the OT want to make sure Chris is an independent as possible when she leaves. Christy's getting closer to dressing herself independently every day!

Christy had Physical therapy today that concentrated on Stretching, Walking with the shopping cart, and doing the "long lap" that's around 200 feet in distance!! Christy is building her endurance up!

Christy had speech today and did lollipop exercises with her tongue to strengthen it. We're aiming for clear speech and effective chewing. Chrsity was able to lick her lips today which shows good muscle strength and control of taht tongue!! Every day is something new!

During Christy's pool therapy she worked with hand weights. Punching them in the water, against the water's resistance! Christy was using her right (weaker) arm really well, too!!

During Christy's second session of OT, they did

kitchen work. Christy was in a kitchen they use at Craig that simulates a regular home's kitchen. They focus on using her vision to locate things she needs to take care of herself. If she is going to eat some fruit, they make her open the cabinet and get out the can of fruit (read the label) and pretend to prepare it for herself. They guide her to choose the things she'll need to eat it... can opener, fork, bowl, etc. It's practice for when they go home and Christy is taking care of herself.

Christy also enjoyed her Monday massage by a professional masseuse! What a fabulous treat for her and her body! She gets to relax and enjoy the pampering and massaging on her muscles that worked hard in therapy all day. She also gets to relax and listen to music and let off any stress she's got!

You deserve it Christy!! Love you!xoxo

Sunday, April 26, 2009

2009-04-27T01:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Sorry we missed you yesterday. It was a day of rest. Christy and Don just cruised all day long. Hanging out and relaxing!

Today, we have two new members of the family visiting Christy. Cathi (Christy's sister) and her daughter Carly are visiting from Washington State! Cathi also came to Hawaii see Christy while she was in the ICU at Queens in January. Boy what a difference Christy's made in her recovery since then! Cathi and Carly are visiting until Tuesday.

I had the pleasure of Skyping with the gang today while they were enjoying Donald's yummy Beef Stew. Christy was being a comedian and was pretending to barf when he asked her how good it tasted!! That was funny! Craig's family apartment is such a great place just to kick back and be normal. They give you a kitchen and a couch, a dinning table, two TVs, it's GREAT! It makes it easy to hang out, talking story, enjoying family... on a Sunday afternoon. If everyone was stuck in the hospital this whole time.... it would be too clinical. Craig looks after the person as a whole and that's great.

During our Skype session, the computer was set on a table across the room. In my view (from the computer camera) was the dining table where everyone was enjoying beef stew. I said hello to everyone and chatted with Cathi and Don. I had the pleasure of watching Christy stand up and walk over to the computer with no assistance!!!! It was amazing. It made my heart happy to see Christy walking!!! Christy's gait is still somewhat unsteady, so Donald makes sure he is right there next to her in case she needs some help rebalancing or some stabilization but Christy was doing it all on her own!! So wonderful!! That made my day! I can't wait till Christy comes home again!

Tomorrow is back to therapy. We are on the last month of rehab. Christy will probably be coming home the last week of may. xoxox

Friday, April 24, 2009

2009-04-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

In today's Physical therapy session Christy did some walking! She's walking here with the shopping cart and using it as support. Someone else was using the regular walker that you've seen in previous posts. Christy is getting stronger and stronger every day.

Christy also stood at the ballerina bars today-- not strapped in. She can stand with her legs so strait now. And she can stand and straiten in just three seconds!! Look how perfectly strait she's got her legs! That's so much faster and

straighter than before! It's wonderful. Those extra sessions at the standing frame with Dan are paying off! Go Chris!

All of Christy's therapist are happy and impressed by her hard work and progress. Maela saw Christy three times today! This is a picture of Christy at Speech therapy looking at her mouth when she pronounciates. Malea was doing an exercise with her that allows her to say the whole

alphabet and say each letter's sound. Fore example. Christy has to say... "A", "ahh", "B", "buh", "C", "kuh", "D", "duh"... and so on. They are also working on slapping the leg with each syllable of the word to pronounciate it better. This exercise is working well. Malea commented that Christy is doing so much better with her tongue this week. I can't help but think that it is because she is

on the higher dose of Carbadopa-Levodopa (that Parkinson's drug we talked about previously). Don is noticing that when Christy talks on the phone, she doesn't have to hand the phone over to him so he can talk and explain. Christy's speech is much clearer and talking on the phone is less of a challenge! Chris is still working on her chewing! Malea printed out some tongue exercises for Don to work on with Chris on their free time or on the weekends while not in classes.

Dr. Shraa worked with Christy today. Christy's memory is still getting better! He did some memory games like saying a whole bunch of words... 20, I think. Christy has to name back as many as possible. She was getting about 5 words, all right, repeated back to Dr. Shraa. Then

they would sit back and talk story a little. After talking for a while, he asked Christy if she remembered any of the words they talked about earlier. Christy remembered about 4 words again! yay! Pretty impressive!

Occupational therapy did something new today! They started

Christy on this machine that has three pillars in the shape of a triangle. I have a couple pictures here to help with figuring out what this "game" looks like. Christy has to hit the lighted area with whatever "weapon" she has. They just worked one of the three pillars today. Christy had a little bit of a hard time to begin with, but by the end she was hitting like a champ! She got to LEVEL 5 which is great! Christy has to search for the light on a three-dimensional object and coordinate her tool to hit the right spot to move the light. It's like a huge light board with different planes. It's probably stress relieving, too! It makes me think about that game they use to have at Fun Factory where you whack the alligators that come out of their caves.... anyway...

Family services has been so incredibly helpful and "on it" at Craig. Melissa makes sure she addresses problems with the insurance right away so Don doesn't have to worry about it. Don will go in front of Craig's Board of Directors to discuss Christy's care and his satisfaction with the Hospital. They do this with family's at Craig about once every year and a half.

Keep the prayers going... they work every day at Craig. Christy is making a wonderful recovery and we're so happy. XOXOX

Thursday, April 23, 2009

2009-04-24T01:56:00.000-07:00

Christy is taking her pills well by mouth!!! This was one of the challenges to overcome to get closer to getting the PEG out. Christy was having some bad experiences with bad tastes in her mouth with the pills as well.

They are concerned that Christy may be loosing a little too much weight, though. Chrsity is being weighed weekly but is loosing weight. She was up around her normal weight pre-accident, but is now having trouble keeping it on. Christy eats pretty good for the most part, but has days where she doesn't eat as well. Christy is also burning up a lot of calories during therapies. She is walking and doing aquatic therapies all day long.

They are also checking some blood work to make sure her electrolytes and other labs are optimal.

Christy is doing an exercise with speech that is helping her pronunciation. She slaps her knee with each syllable of the word to slow her down and enunciate more. It's working, so

that's great. Her speech is getting better and we're hoping that when she comes home she'll have all of her medications just right for optimal speech and coordination of muscle movements. Dr. Ripley is working on it.

There was a mini-meeting for an update today with Doctor Ripley & gang. They gave an idea of where Christy is now and how things are progressing. Dr. Ripley talked about her medications again. He's always thinking of the best way to tweak her meds to get her in an ideal position to fight the coordination control problems she's having.

Christy had an eye Doctor visit today. Christy was trying on some frames for her glasses. Christy is going to be wearing glasses now. Donald had to work with the eye glass worker girls to pick a cute pair out for Chris. Christy can't see perfectly, so it is kinda hard for her to choose frames independently. Christy's vision seems to be improving daily. The doctor asks Chris to follow his finger as one of the vision tests. Originally, she would follow his finger but loose track of it in the middle, then catch up again. Today, Christy was tracking his finger perfectly!!!

Christy is impressing us with progress constantly! Christy couldn't hardly stretch out her leg when she left Queens to go to Craig. She was contracted. Now, if Christy had her knee(s) bent up towards her body and asked her to straiten her leg(s)... she could put it down right away and strait out!! That's so awesome. All Christy's hard work is really paying off.

Christy, Donald, Alan, Luis, Luis' roommate & Joe and Gloria all went to dinner tonight

at Olive Garden. Don's favorite. It's so fun to go places we don't have here in Hawaii while on the mainland! It's so awesome that Christy can go

out to dinner off campus with the gang!!

Christy is progressing every day and so much of her strength comes from the love and prayers sent to her on a daily basis. So, Thank you for loving and following every day!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

2009-04-23T01:53:00.000-07:00

Howzit! Ka'eo here tonight coming at ya straight from the 808! Just kidding, but this is Ka'eo covering for the Gabster as she has already gone to sleep preparing for another 12 hour shift tomorrow. Anyhow, Christy had another full day. Not much new stuff, but a full day nonetheless.

PT was business as usual. Christy spent some time on the ballerina bars walking today. As you can see by the picture, she looks like she is doing pretty good. Damn, her legs look skinny. Not used to that one because Christy always had very muscular legs. I am sure after a few more months she will be back to normal. They also spent some time stretching her again this morning.

As for OT, they spent some time with the independent movements again today. Christy is getting better every day at being able to dress her self. She is still having some trouble with her right arm, but Donald says she is gaining more control over it. He said she keeps it right under her chin because it is more comfortable for her, but as soon as he asks her to put it down she can do so on command. Dr. Ripley suggested that they give her a shot of steroids in the right arm to assist with the muscle control. At first Christy was hesitant because she does not like to receive shots. But, after talking it over with Donald, they are going to talk it over with Dr. Ripley and give it a shot tomorrow. Dr. Ripley also suggested acupuncture which may be kind of a stretch for Christy because of the needles.

Christy also spent time with Melea, the speech therapist this afternoon. According to Donald, her tongue is looking a lot stronger. Christy was in the apartment this afternoon with Alan and Louis and Donald noticed that Christy was licking her lips with control. She has not been doing that up to this point. Melea agreed with Donald that she also noticed her tongue is getting stronger.

Tomorrow is another big day. There is a conference call that is scheduled for 3pm tomorrow afternoon Colorado time. If anyone is interested in listening in on the call, contact

Donald on his cell phone tomorrow. Christy also sees Dr. Keltz tomorrow for her new pair of g

lasses. On a side note, Donald was showing Christy pictures this afternoon and she was seeing them clearly. She was seeing it clearly enough, that she can finally recognize who the people are in the picture. Up to this point, she would only be able to tell you how many people were in the picture to the right. More good news every day.

Finally, Christy has been officially scheduled to be at Craig all the way until May 26. So, a little more than a month to go and she will be back home with the family. Damn, the time has gone by very fast since she has been up there. Can't wait to see her again.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

2009-04-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Donald got to enjoy POOL THERAPY with Christy today!! They both got to go into the pool- more like a huge jacuzzi- and do therapy. They did walking in the pool. Walking with both a walker and without a walker. The pool therapy is called hydrotherapy or aquatic therapy. It's supposed to help with symptoms of musculoskeletal conditions like Christy's. They use the therapeutic properties of water like buoyancy, and resistance. With her body under the water, the buoyancy helps support Chrsity's weight. This decreases the amount of weight Chis puts on her joints and hopefully helps with regaining more joint motion and strength and mobility with more comfort. The warmth of the water during exercises helps relax the muscles and opens up the blood vessels increasing blood flow to injured areas. Since Christy has muscle spasms and tone, aquatic therapy may be especially helpful! Plus its fun to get into the pool with your hubbie!!

Occupational therapy continues to be doing arm exercises to treat Christy's shoulder. This is a exercise machine that Chrsity has been using. I don't know how it works exactly, but they are focusing on regaining range of motion and strength especially in the right shoulder. Remember this was the shoulder blade that was fractured.

Yesterday Kaeo mentioned that they were going to increase a drug of Christy's to help gaining more control over her speech and motor movements. The drug is called Sinemet or Carbidopa-Levodopa its a combination drug that is usually used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Remember in Parkinson's they have uncontrolled motor movement as well. This is supposed to help the tongue move better as well, so we're trying it out. Christy has existing problems with nausea because of her eyes. Remember when she switched wheelchairs she became more nauseated, etc. She is affected easily. A junk side effect of Sinemet is nausea... So we have to wait and see how it affects Christy. When I was talking to Don tonight, Christy was nauseated. junk.

We have to get a shout out to Keli'i... since his picture didn't get in either of the two days that he was there. This is a picture of them in the gym/cafeteria on the mat. Christy and Keli'i have a special relationship and they were equally happy to see each other and hang. Keli'i got to witness Christy's therapy at Craig and participate a little. He even spent the night with her in her room.

We love you Christy!!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

2009-04-21T02:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry peeps, there are going to be no pictures this post. Donald had to take Keli'i to the airport and unfortunately missed a lot of the PT/OT this morning. Nonetheless, Christy had a very full day of rehab and even some fun, relaxing time towards the end of the day.

PT focused on two things today, stretching in general and work focusing on her shoulder. They spent a good portion of the time stretching Christy out in multiple positions. From what they are saying, Christy is getting pretty flexible. The second portion of PT was focused on her right shoulder. They have been working on increasing her range of motion and flexibility to improve overall blood flow to the area. They want her to start using her right arm more, so they have been focusing on it for the last couple of rehab sessions.

Once PT was done, Christy spent some time with the speech therapist Melea. Same as usual as they worked mostly on strengthening her tongue. It continues to favor the right side, but is hindering her speech less and less according to Keli'i.

Throughout the day, Christy was in OT. They worked on independent living types of things. For example, they let Christy dress her self for the most part. They are still aiding her, but she does most of the work getting ready. They also spent a good portion of OT working on her vision again. Mostly similar to the pictures that we posted last week Friday. OT was a little shorter today because Christy and Donald got a chance to have a good long conversation with Dr. Ripley, the "big Doc" working with Christy. He asked Donald and Chris what they thought about pushing the envelope a little with her drug treatments. Dr. Ripley wants to increase the amount of one drug that is supposed to strongly aid in Christy being able to control her movements a little more. The down side to the treatment would be that Christy may feel increased nausea. I think Christy was hesitant at first because of how sick she used to feel when her vision wasn't as good. But Christy being the good sport she is decided to agree and give it a shot. Let's all hope and pray that she does not feel the nausea.

Christy also got a chance to attend an art class that they have once a week. The Doc's call it Therapeutic recreation where they allow the patients to work on arts and crafts as art of their rehab. Pretty cool and Donald said that Christy is really enjoying that part of the rehab. Good to mix it up and get her working on something else besides the daily routine.

Finally, to end the rigorous day of work, Donald got Christy a half hour full body massage as a treat for working so hard. I can guarantee you that Christy was enjoying every second of that massage.

On a side note, Jodi Leong of KITV4 called Donald today asking if it would be alright with Christy and Donald if they arranged for a camera crew to come and film her rehab as an additional follow up story. Donald just has to check with the hospital tomorrow to see if they are OK with it. So, stay tuned and we will let you guys know when Christy may be on the news again.

Good night, gotta get up early. Keep it up Chris, we love you and are very proud of all of the work you are putting in. I think I speak for everyone when I say that you are truly an inspiration.

Sunday April 19, 2008

2009-04-19T21:46:00.001-07:00

Nothing to report on the rehab side, but Denver continued to snow again this morning. It did let up enough that no flights got cancelled. The kids left Denver this morning and arrived safely back in Honolulu this afternoon. I am sure that Christy was bummed to see them go, but was happy at the same time because Keli'i arrived for a couple of days.

Keli'i and his family are on vacation in the Bay area, so he took a few days out of the trip to go and spend with Christy. Hanae's parents decided to take them with them on a family trip to stay at a family friends beach house in the Bay area. I am pretty sure Keli'i is there for a few days and then our sister Kathy arrives to spend some time with Christy.

Christy and Donald dropped the kids off at the airport this morning and had to wait for Keli'i to arrive. Christy and Donald got to go and eat lunch at Olive Garden this afternoon while they waited for Keli'i to arrive. A nice lunch date for the two of them and a chance for some normalcy.

According to Don, Christy is more motivated than ever after spending the last couple of weeks with the kids. She accomplished the goal of being able walk with some support by the time the kids arrived and now looks forward to the home stretch of her Denver rehab. She is re-energized and pumped up for her last month and can't wait to get back home to the family. Keep pushing Christy and we all love you very much.

Saturday, April 18, 2008

2009-04-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Not much to report for the day since there was no rehab done today. Unfortunately, there are no pictures either to share since they got completely snowed in today. They spent the final day together in Denver just hanging out in the apartment. The snow kept them from doing much, but they got to spend a lot of quality time together.

Sunday's post will be similar to this as Christy does not have rehab scheduled again until Monday.

Friday April 17, 2009

2009-04-18T02:41:00.000-07:00

Howzit everyone, you got Ka'eo and Gabby combo tonight. You may be getting Kaeo for the next couple of days since Gabby is working back to back shifts. There probably won't be much going on during the weekend since she has no rehab, but we will keep you posted nonetheless. It dumped snow on the Huddy 'ohana today. Denver got over 24 inches in snow within the last 16-24 hours. The kids spent some time playing in the snow in the parking lot of the hospital. Denver is supposed to receive another 24 inches of snow over the next day or so as well. So, the kids are going to get their fill of snow for some time.

As for the rehab today, Christy spent some time with the light board. The light board is testing her timed response to a light. It also tests her motor skills because she has to press the lighted button. If you remember when I, Gabby was back in Colorado Christy had to do this. Christy hasn't played the light board game since. When I watched Christy do it, she needed guidance on where to place her hand almost every single time. The board is set with a timer, so you have to press the light within so many seconds for it to switch to the next light. Christy's therapist had

to reset the game multiple times the first time. Today Chirsty was able to hit the lights up to 18 times before she waited too long!!! That's amazing progress from only getting one or two!!!!!! I'm so excited for her progression with vision and with sight! Last time Christy could only reach with her left hand, now Christy was punching lights with her right hand too!!! Some of the lights are tall, so it was easier to punch with the left on those, but other than that Christy is ACEing these pretty complicated tasks!! Go Christy!

Apparently Christy is doing very well with this exercise telling everyone involved that her vision is getting stronger by the day. Christy also spent some time in the ballerina bars this afternoon working on being able to carry her own weight when walking. Donald said she is doing very good with both the walking and her vision.

Finally, there were xrays taken on Christy's shoulder blades. These pitures were taken previously and Dr. Balazio brought them back up for Don to look at. Dr. Balazio said that her shoulder is looking good and Christy is doing more and more rehab for that particular shoulder she injured.

Pretty much all good news. Christy is starting to set goals for herself as well. She is beginning to challenge herself without pushing from the Doc's and Donald. Awesome job Christy!

Thursday April 16, 2009

2009-04-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

Two shakas and a howzit from the Huddy Ohana in Denver. Ka'eo again filling in for Gabby as she is still not feeling good. I am sure she will feel better tomorrow and you guys can get back to having intelligent banter on this site. Anyhow, got the update from Donald this afternoon even though Danelle spent most of the day with her because Donald was running around Denver looking for some football shoes for Kelsen. Kelsen has already started spring practice.

Christy did even more walking this morning during PT. Looking at the pictures you can tell she is gaining strength. PT got evev more interesting today as Christy started the pool workout that she wound up loving. The pool workout is going to strengthen her entire body allowing her to gain her balance back slowly. They use pool rehab with all sorts of injuries including athletic. In fact, it is used in athletic rehab quite a bit.

Her OT was interesting as they worked on her tongue a whole lot today. As you can see in the picture, they have been using the lollipop to train her tongue to get stronger. Currently her tongue continues to give her problems and fall to the right making it difficult for her to speak clearly. Apparently, they use the lollipop to entice your tongue to move towards the lollipop strenghtening the muscles in the tongue the entire time.

Finally, they went back to the good old core workouts. Looking at the picture you'll see her doing some crunches. Christy is really enjoying having the kids there. They are going to have some more fun this weekend since there is supposed to be a couple feet of snow. They are also getting a lot of quality time to strengthen the family bond which is critical always regardless of the situation.

Keep up the good work Christy!

Wednesday April 15, 2009

2009-04-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hola mi amigos! This is Ka'eo subbing in for the Gabster because she has had to work for the last couple of days. Sorry we are posting this late, but we neither of us was feeling very good last night.

Christy went through her normal routine this morning of OT and PT. During her PT she spent most of he time working on her walking. According to Donald, Christy was doing avery good job of walking with the walker. She slowly but surely continues to gain more and more balance and strength to support herself.

She also spent time working to knock the cups down. Not sure how it works, but I know the good news was that she is recognizing colors meaning her vision is getting better. She is also gaining more control over her right arm which she has had trouble with up to this point. She finished PT with some good old abs work. Take a look at the pictures and you'll get a good idea of what her days have been like.

Apparently they have been working more and more on her core strength. We all know that is the first place they need to work on before they can work on strengthening the rest of her body. Building the support first is critical.

Sorry for the brief reports, but Donald and Christy have been spending a lot of time with the kids, so they are very brief when we speak to them. The good news is that she is continuing to improve and is pushing herslef more and more since the kids have been there. Keep working hard Christy and we love you!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

2009-04-15T01:45:00.000-07:00

Christy is doing awesome!! She is walking a lot more with Physical therapy. She is using the walker for balance and some support for now, but is walking a lot! Christy is putting great energy into her walking and that is why she is so successful!! I love that Kelsen and Don are wearing their iheartchirsty tee-shirts and Dylan was wearing hers at the mountain yesterday. Jody is helping Chirsty position her body the right way so she has the most steady gait.

Chrsity and Jody are here maneuvering the shopping cart. the cart is also providing some support for Christy. Craig has a lot of things that you see in everyday life. Their goal is to get you back to being independent. I just found out that the kitchen in the gym/cafeteria is for people who are getting ready to go home.

They are making their own lunch for themselves. This insures you have some practice making food for yourself for real life!

We've got Kainalu a.k.a. camera man at work here. You can just see the deep concentration on his face! He's documenting Mom's hard work at therapy!

Christy is strengthening her legs out more and more every day. Chrsity is even in the position where she's stretching towards a forward bend!!!! Wowzers!! We love seeing continual improvement!

Today at OT they involved the kids too! It was the end of the day & the game was Tic-Tac-Toe. Christy played against the kids and she won the first game! Christy was working hard at the game, and practicing her hand, eye, brain coordination at the same time. Christy lost the last game, and the group lovingly teased she lost... Christy, on first thought, felt they were teasing her and she got upset and frustrated. Once Christy got her frustration out, and things calmed down, Chrsity felt really upset and bad for losing control of her emotions and acting out. In a mix of it being the end of the day and the last therapy session, being disappointed that she lost, putting in a lot of effort, having a brain injury, and feeling as if she was being teased, it came to a peak and exploded. She felt so bad because it was released around the family. Needless to say, the family all survived as a team and talked it all out.

We're sending you all our love and energy Christy!! We love you no matter what!

Monday, April 13, 2009

2009-04-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

After a fun fun weekend with the kids, it was back to work today at therapies!

Christy saw speech and passed one of the test with flying colors. Malea laid out numbers 1-8 and Christy had to pick them out in order. She did it perfectly!! Kelsen spent the time in Speech with Christy today. Kelsen also spent the night with Christy in her room last night!!

Christy go up and walked around with the walker today!! She's doing amazing!! Her progression is so fast it's obvious how well she's doing on a daily basis! Christy also claimed all three flights of stairs at Alan's apartment (there isn't an elevator)!!!! She just held on to the rail and Don supported her under her arm for balance!! Go Christy!!

Christy is working on her shoulder blade. Remember when Occupational therapy was doing a total shoulder work up. They wanted to work the shoulder especially the one with a previous fracture to move normally again. They are using this tall machine with weights to exercise the shoulder blade. Christy has to reach out to use it.

Christy went a whole week- 7 days without a tube feeding. Christy got back up to a normal weight for her around 124 pounds. When Chrsity got on the scale Saturday (they weigh her weekly on Saturdays)she was only 116 pounds. Christy has slowly tapered off her eating, so she is receiving supplemental tube feedings for now to keep the calories in her up. Nutrition is vital to a healthy body and immune system. It is the source of strength and energy.

Since Christy was sleeping during her birthday, she really wanted to celebrate it again- awake!! So the family got a cake and sang happy birthday to Christy-- officially marking her 35th!! Chris was happy!!

Tonight Christy had her massage appointment. It's a professional masseuse that comes from outside the hospital to massage Christy. Christy couldn't skip her appointment. Leani's (One of the Hawaiian

Tel Com bosses in Kauai)Auntie and Uncle came to take out Don and the

Kids to Casa Bonita (remember from picture on the right). It's this huge show

and play rooms plus restaurant. They

have brave cliff divers plunging from a spectacular 30-foot waterfall into our 14 feet deep lagoon below.

There are two game rooms full of fun games. They have live mariachis playing music and cowboys running around!! It's a huge place with so much to do. Don and the kids had a

blast!! Thank you so much to Joe and his wife for thinking of Don and the kids. They have truly been so kind and generous to the family!!

Easer part 3

2009-04-13T00:04:00.000-07:00

More pictures to catch us up to speed on yesterday's Mountain event!! I missed Donald's call tonight and it's too late to wake them in Colorado with the time difference, so I'll catch you guys up on Easter dinner together tomorrow.....

So it looks like this big black conveyor

belt pulls you up the mountain to the top so you can enjoy the ride down on the snow!!! So cute, everyone

lined up ready to ride in their winter gear!! I want to try that too!!

Looks like fun!!

Mom Gail and Christy are lounging and

relaxing all bundled up at the lodge! It must be so nice for Christy to get out after

being stuck at the hospital for so long. The apartment is a great break from therapy, but this is recreational therapy at its best... and so different from Hawaii!

So I have a picture of the iheartchristy bracelets that are for sale. They are super cute pink ones.... They are $2.00 each and they can be

purchased from Christy Jacobson. She can be contacted at:

email: JLSCJ5@aol.com

Easter- part 2

2009-04-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

THE FAMILY PHOTO

So here's Donald and Dylan and gang. Don's catching all the

family memories on tape! Everyone has their tube in toll. Alan and Luis are the very cute couple standing off to the side!

EASTER Sunday, April 12, 2009

2009-04-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter Sunday to everyone!! I received a ton more pictures of the trip to Copper mountain yesterday!!! Fun in the snow for everyone!!

Looks like there

was healthy game of snowball fighting going on by the looks of these pictures! Fun!!

And not without lots of love, hugs and kisses. Chrsity was all

bundled up too... looks cold. It's 44

degrees Fahrenheit today in Denver! Burr

. Kelsen is helping Dylan gear up like a good big bro!.

I have to start a new post because the pictures are getting cut off!

Saturday April 11, 2009

2009-04-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day and the whole gang took a road trip and went up to the mountains to see the SNOW!!! How fun and exciting for the kids and the whole family to play and have fun together again!! This is Donald (on the far right with the video camera action) and Dylan and Nalu getting ready to do some tubing down the mountain!!! You speed down the hill in large inflated inner tubes (the red thing that Dylan is holding) and get an adrenalin buzz that is guaranteed to put a huge smile on anyone's face!!

Look how beautiful these mountains are!! I think these are the accommodations that you can stay at during your experience....

Creating some snowmen & huge snow balls was on the list of things to do while they were in the white stuff!! Kelsen and Dylan pose with their snow ball creations. How fun to just relax and play in the snow. Everyone is all bundled up in their winter gear!

This was just a day trip for the family, and they headed back to Craig afterwards! Everyone is

loving just hanging out and having some R&R. We're glad. It looks like so much fun. Christy looks so happy to be reunited with the kids again. Kid therapy! We love you Christy!

Friday, April 10, 2009

2009-04-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

The kids are up in Colorado and helping Christy keep her strength up. Christy is WALKING!! With the same walk way that Chrsity took her steps on the other day, she's walking with hardly any assistance!! I have a little video that Alan sent me, but uploading those videos to the blog creates some kind of problem..... bummers.

Christy's goal was to be walking by the time the kids got up to Colorado, and she totally did it!! The kids are elated to see her. Christy has tons of company during her therapy sessions!! As you can see there is never a dull moment!

Lots of love and fun. It's been a while since Christy and Donald have seen the kids. I know the kids are so impressed with all the hard work that Mommy has been doing & it makes them happy to see her walking and talking and eating!

Everyone is enjoying the apartment & just hanging out!

This is a sweet family photo of the gang!

Oh, by the way, you may see Gail or Christy wearing these pink bracelets. They are I heart Christy pink silicone wristbands and they are for sale. They are pink with embossed maroon writing. They are $2.00 each and all proceeds go to BOH iheartchristy fund.

Please contact:

Christy Jacobson

JLSCJ5@aol.com

Thursday, April 9, 2009

2009-04-10T00:56:00.001-07:00

Howzit everyone! This is Ka'eo checking in to see how the bloggers are doing. Actually, Gabby is sleeping as she just slaved away a twelve hour shift at the hospital and she is scheduled for another one tomorrow. So, you are going to have mostly photos tonight as we were not able to speak to anyone up in Denver this evening.

Based on what I saw from the photos, it looks like Christy's rehab went pretty well this morning. They worked on her hand eye coordination this morning. As you can see from the pics, they had Christy shooting baskets to work on her coordination. According to Don, she had a little tougher time with her right arm.

They also spent some more time stretching Christy out today and the therapist were very pleased about the fact that her legs were able to be straightened flat. You can see in the picture that Christy is a lot more comfortable with being stretched out as she is showing less pain on her face

Finally, these last photos are just showing Don and Chris cuddling and resting between sessions. Overall, judging from the photos, it looks like another day of progress for Christy. She wanted to be walking by the time the kids arrived and accomplished part of that with the steps she took yesterday. I am pretty sure the kids left Honolulu this evening and arrive in Denver tomorrow morning. I know Christy and Donald could not wait to see them and will get plenty of time with them over the next couple of weeks.

Keep up the good work Christy and Donald! We love you.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

2009-04-09T00:51:00.001-07:00

It's hump day Wednesday! Christy had another fabulous day at Craig. Mom Gail was able to call me and give me the 411 today.

The great big news today is that Christy took 4 steps on the parallel bars (left)!!! She's walking!! Christy wanted to go even more, but the therapist wanted to stay conservative for the first day of walking in therapy. Christy is standing with her legs straighter and straighter all the time!!

During speech Malea made a funny, and she didn't know why.... Christy was working on enunciating words. When Christy takes her time she can enunciate the words very clearly. She was proving this in speech today. Malea was giving her two word phrases at a time. About the fifth phrase in she said "BLACK DOG"... Christy started cracking up. Gail started to laugh too. Poor Malea had no idea what was happening. Christy went on to explain to Malea that Filipinos in Hawaii were said to eat black dog on occasion. As Christy and Mom laughed hard, Melea wasn't sure what to make of it. She wondered if Christy was serious or telling a joke... could it be? People eat black dog? It was funny. It was a good laugh brake from all the hard work Christy's doing.

Christy ate really well today! They had a yummy London Broil with a baked potato and gravy all over tonight for dinner. Mmm I'm getting hungry again! If the food is yummy Christy is able to eat well... makes sense. So Christy is on her way to getting that one last tube out!

During OT today they laid out about 5 or 6 things on the table like a bean bag & a Kleenex box out. The therapist would say the object and Christy had to reach out and touch it. This game is like the color game she would play while in the standing frame, except this time is with objects. They are constantly working on Christy's vision and coordination. Christy would try to do things really fast, and anticipate what the therapist would say. She hadn't mentioned bean bag yet, so Christy would hit the bean bag when the therapist started to speak. Christy would also get ahead by using her memory instead of her vision to hit the right object. She could remember where that object was placed on the table and hit it when the therapist named it. Pretty impressive memory skills, Christy.. but the therapist called it "cheating"! This exercise is focused on Christy using her eye sight. The therapist moved the objects around and made it harder.... Christy is doing so well. Improvements every day.

Mom Gail noticed that Christy is well known at Craig. Staff members and patients are saying "hi Christy" as they go throughout their day. These people who watch Chrsity's progress are thoroughly impressed by her rapid progression. They tell Mom how amazed they are by her determination and strength.

One last thing... there are iheartchristy bracelets that have been made in Christy's favorite color- pink. They are super cute & cost $2.00. If you are interested in purchasing one or some please contact Chrsity Jacobson at jlsCJ5@aol.com I'll get a picture of them tomorrow, so stay tuned! xo

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

2009-04-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Christy had a full day of therapy starting with Occupational therapy. They are still focusing on getting ready in the morning in an aim to get Christy totally independent when she dresses and gets ready for the day. They also do stretching. They focus on the upper body while Physical therapy focuses on the lower body.

This is Christy and mom Gail in the gym while Christy is in the standing frame. Christy is stretching every day and gaining mobility all the

time! Look how strait Christy is standing up!! She's making great progress! She'll be walking anytime now!

Mom Gail also got to sit in on two of Christy's speech sessions with Malea today. Don and the therapist are spacing Christy's therapies with breaks in the middle so that Christy can make the most out of her sessions. When Christy was having sessions back to back and two per therapy a day, it was getting overwhelming and tiring. The busy schedule was starting to wear on Christy and affect her energy to participate in sessions. So Christy is taking breaks and resting in between sessions to build up energy for each therapy.

Alan and Luis came over for dinner tonight and Christy & Don & Mom all enjoyed each other's company. Food sounded yummy! Christy is coming along fabulously and we are so happy that she's enjoying family and therapies both!!

We love you Christy!

April 6, 2009- part II

2009-04-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

Got some pictures from Don & more info on Christy as we skyped today! It's fun being able to see who you're talking to and for them to be able to see you! I even got to have a conversation with Karen, Christy's nurse while we were on skype.

So in the basement of the East wing at Craig, they have a car-- this black civic--, airline seats, a standard tub and a regular bed. They have therapies here to get back to everyday activities safely. Donald gets an opportunity to move Christy in and out of a car, and they go over things like how to deal with the curb during

transfers. I love this picture of Christy rockin' out in the car!

They started Christy on some new medication on Sunday, and she was able to tolerate being in the chair longer and had less nausea! Dr. Ripley is doing an amazing job at fine tuning the medications to give Christy the best regime possible. It's a lot of trial and error because although they know what the medications do, they don't know which of the side effects will come up or how each individual person will react exactly. They started another medication today called Strattera. They feel that it may help make her coordination better. Help her eating and movement of the tongue. They give it for adult ADHD (attention deficit disorder). Maybe it helps to focus the thinking & planning of movements that Christy is having a hard time with because of her brain injury. The coordination improvement was already noticed tonight during Dr. Ripley's assessment! Yay!

Christy's on her way to getting her PEG out! The last step to getting her PEG out is to take all of her pills well & eat enough calories on her own. She's gone 5 days without having any tube feeding! They've been counting her calories to make sure she's getting enough nutrition. Christy had a junk lunch so she didn't eat so well. Lucky thing Dinner was better- they had turkey legs!! Don said they were delicious. My dad loves those things, too! They sell them at Disneyland & theme parks... digression, sorry.....

Dr. Ripley also had an outside massage therapist come in and see Christy, so she had her first massage! Sounds like Chris will be getting massages here and there now.

I'll be back tomorrow!

Monday, April 6, 2009

2009-04-06T18:27:00.001-07:00

Hi! so the video upload kept on failing, and I don't know why.... I'm bummed because it's such a great video! I'll see if there is customer support or something.

Anyway, it was back to therapy again today! We've got some really exciting news! Donald was cleared to do car & curb transfers by Physical Therapy!!!!! Yeehaaa! That means that Don can take Christy out in the car when the kids come!! That's going to be fantastic fun for everyone!! How cool! There is even an

area down in the basement on the east side at Craig where they can practice getting Christy in

and out of the chair! It's the same place, where they have the practice airline seating!! Years ago, United Airlines graciously donated airline seats, aisle chairs (shown), and a bulk head, so patients can have an exact configuration of the plane for their airline travel training program!

In the second half of PT they stretched out

Christy's body. They also put Christy up on the Ballerina bars. Instead of having the straps on her legs they had her stand up on her own holding on the the bars and getting used to being up there using her own balance!! She's supporting herself in preparation to start walking down the aisle!!! Almost there!

Dr. Shraa was on the schedule today and he said that Christy is doing much better. They did an exercise where she recites back numbers after he says them. She was up to three numbers at a time that she could recite back in previous sessions. Today she did FOUR numbers!! Progress every day!! Christy's memory is getting sharper by the day.

That was the morning report for today!!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

2009-04-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Another Sunday-- rest and relaxation at the Huddy camp in Colorado. Alan sent me the coolest picture today! Christy was writing the shopping list for the grocery store today... and here it is!! The first item on the list is OIL!!! Yay! Christy, you've come a long way, baby! Christy is ambidextrous. She is writing with her left hand! Every day Christy unveils a new blessing.

I'm attempting to upload a video for the very first time today to the blog! It's of Christy eating on her own! It's so amazing to see how far she's made it during the last month at Craig. It's so awe inspiring. Christy's coordination is right on. She gets it on the spoon and right into her mouth! She's listening to the conversation at the same time, and participating in it!! Christy's eyesight is getting better and better all the time! I love watching it over and over!

You're doing awesome Christy and we love you so much and are with you each day in spirit! Have a wonderful week of therapy!

Gail is leaving tonight to get to Colorado tomorrow, we pray she has a safe, comfortable, easy flight!

Ciao

Saturday, April 4, 2009

2009-04-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday to everyone!! Chrsity and Don had a nice relaxing day hanging out together at the apartment! It was super cool to be skyping with them this afternoon. We got to watch Christy get off the couch and into the chair to come to the computer. Don helped her up, but it's so amazing to see how strong she's become on her feet. She is moving and standing, and pivoting so well! Christy's sense of humor is still sharp as ever!

Don sent us video of Christy at her therapy session. Christy is standing at the ballerina bar looking things. She is supported with straps at the knees and one around her butt to stabilize her. Christy is plugged into her ipod & she starts dancing!! It was just unbelievable to see it in a video!! So cool! She's got rhythm and beat. She's got her arms and legs moving. Dancing away like a rock star! The therapist were all so impressed with Christy, even Dr. Ripley was there to celebrate! I think Christy will be walking in no time!!

Dr. Ripley is talking about switching around Christy's medications to help with her tongue control. Christy's tongue favors one side, and she has to focus her mouth movements to speak really clearly. Christy's speech was much clearer before, and Dr. Ripley thinks switching some of her medications will help her to get back there.

Sunday is another day of rest and relaxation! yay! Mom Gail will be leaving Honolulu to visit Don and Christy tomorrow night! She'll get there on Monday. The kids- Kelson, Nalu & Dylan will go up with Danelle (Don's sister) on Thursday night! Christy is going to have a heap of loving family surrounding her and giving her strength to push hard to recovery! Let's all keep them in our prayers for a safe trip and comfortable trip!

Friday, April 3, 2009

2009-04-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful day at therapy!

Christy went to her second eye appointment with Dr. Keltz. This is a second (different) eye doctor. Don and Christy had to leave Craig to go see him. It was about 20 minutes away (driving). This first picture is a picture at the auto refkeratometer. This eye machine measures the curvature of the cornea. It's looking at the extent of astigmatism. You've probably heard of a Astigmatism before. It's an optical defect in which vision is blurred due to the inability of the optics of the eye to focus a point object into a sharp focused image on the retina. This was done because this is what Christy has been having a hard time dealing with. We need to find out more information on the entire injury. If you look at the smaller picture of Christy, you'll see that her eye is being displayed. The machine even prints out a paper report with a quick description of Christy's eye.

This picture is of those funky eye tools that measure which lens you can see best with. This is how they determine what kind of glasses and prescription lenses will be the most effective! They have to test out what lens may work for her. We need to improve Chrsity's vision still. Day by day. Each day will hold more and more mini-successes moving towards seeing clearly again.

Christy is keeping her good spirits up.... in this picture with Don, Christy is

sanding strait at the ballerina bars. Love it!! Christy gets bored just standing in the ballerina bars, so they decided to plug Chris into her ipod. Christy started to dance and the therapist and her doctor came out and watched and encouraged her! It was fun for everyone!! Christy sure has a lot to dance about!! All of Christy's hard work and determination is paying off in flexibility and progress in therapy.

I like this picture of Don and Christy because it's sweetly genuine! We can only wish you smiles and happiness and we're so happy that you are finding joy in your therapy! Having fun while you work will only make the journey easier and happier!

Until tomorrow!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

2009-04-02T21:12:00.001-07:00

Christy looked around today and thought that her vision was crazy good!!! After a good night's sleep her brain was making the right connections! ya! As the day goes on, Christy gets progressively tired and her vision starts to worsen. What a blessing, though, to have these sneak peaks of more big progress to come! It's right there!

Here is Chris in her early session with

physical therapy today. The therapist love laying Christy flat because it stretches out all of her leg muscles, especially her hip. Christy is getting closer and closer to laying flat and getting all stretched out. It's awesome!

Christy is in the standing frame in this picture, posing like a rock star! She made it all the way up, body strait with her hips fully extended and her hips over her knees! FIRST TIME up all the way like this-- that's major! Progress every day!! Awesome job Christy!

Alan is playing connect four with Christy today during Occupational therapy! Alan and Luis made it over to see Christy during Alan's lunch hour! Connect four helps Christy perfect her motor coordination and focusing on things with her eyes! Plus it's fun!

Christy had an appointment with the spasticity clinic today! In today's visit, they were deciding what they could do for Christy to help with the muscle spasms. They had a tough time weighing the pros and cons of the treatment. Christy is at a point where she's made so much progress with stretching and strengthening, that they question if their treatment will be totally beneficial. Christy spent a while waiting for her spasticity appointment, and in the mean time, she worked her way through her spasms with just her inner strength. The treatment that the spasticity clinic can offer involves injecting a drug into the nerve area that weakens the nerve. This helps because the muscle and nerves can stretch out with less pain. The cons of this procedure include having the nerve/muscle weak for about three months! That's long. Furthermore, the needle they use to inject the muscle is big. It's also hard to get the needle in the nerve in the groin and they may have to try multiple times- which is obviously uncomfortable. After looking at all the facts, they decided with Donald and Christy that it may not be the best thing to do the injection. Christy has made so much progress in the little less than a month that she's been at Craig. She has two more months at Craig which hold tons of potential for great progress, and we should give her a chance to do it all naturally. Imagine where Chrsity could be. Christy has the strength and the endurance to do it all!!

I also wanted to mention the wonderful progress Christy's made with Malea from speech. Remember we talked about the bag of things that Malea has. Everyday things like a comb, a flower, a toothbrush, come out of the bag and Christy has to identify them. The last time Christy identified the flower and had a harder time identifying the other objects by herself. This time, she pulled out the items one by one and Christy nailed them all!!! Yes! Christy is doing so so so well! Christy is speaking clearer again. She's much easier to understand and she's eating more and more! The one and only catheter left in her is the PEG. The staff is doing a calorie count on her to assess how well she's eating. This means, they look at what she has eaten, and they add up the calories for the day to see if she's eating enough calories to keep her body healing.

We're so excited about all of the progress that's been going on at Craig (the wonderfulest hospital)! Christy's commitment to work hard is shining through in all of her success stories! Love it!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

2009-04-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, it's Gabby again blogging! Thank you for allowing my husband to fill in for me as I've been working three long 12 hour shifts in a row. It really allows me a break to just eat dinner and rest well for the next day. I think he does a fabulous job managing & receiving the messages & I' m grateful that we can work together as a team on anything! I'm off for the next few days now, so I'll be back for then. Unfortunately, after that, I'll be stopping the blog permanently. I"m sorry, it's just been too hard for me and I feel helpless every time I write about Christy and can't be there to help. april fools suckers. ha! I couldn't right april fools real big like i wanted to because that would have given away my joke early! No worries, there will be a blog for I don't know how long.... maybe one day Christy will want to take over herself eventuallly! I can play an april fools joke like that because it is also my birthday! Cathi (Christy's sister in Washington is also born on this wonderful day!- no joke!) Ok. back to business....

The physical therapist left me a message this morning... She mentioned that they did their

session with Occupational therapy today. The focus of their combo-session was to do a shoulder evaluation on Christy. They needed to evaluate how she's moving, Range of motion, strength & nerve tension. I had to look up nerve tension because I would only be guessing what that is. Tension in the nerve, I feel, is related to these other injuries Christy acquired from not moving in bed well for so long. The nerves may act like muscles in the sense that they shorten like when not used a lot. The other idea I had was that Christy suffered a brain injury. The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system & that is why Christy has nerve issues. Either way, there is

tension in the nerves (Nerves come from the spinal cord and are how you "feel". They sense hot, cold, pressure, pain, etc. I have a picture on the right of the nervous system in the body. The blue lines are nerves that move throughout your body. For the body to move again properly, the nervous system must have significant mobility. This is especially true in the extremities. The nerves in the arms and leg must bend around joints and allow for lengthening as the joints bend at sharp angles. If you can't move because the nerves can't lengthen, more tension on the nervous tissue can cause real damage. When the nerve is impaired it can cause excruciating pain (that's the symptom of nerve tension) and can limit movement.

They looked at Christy's spine to check for any irregular curvature of the spine (Scoliosis) and they did find a very minor bend in Christy's mid back due to tone. Tone is commonly talked about by the therapists, it is the contraction of the muscles. It helps maintain posture and it declines during REM (rapid eye movement- when you dream) sleep. It's different than "toning" up your muscles in gym exercise. Because of these contractions of muscles that Christy has causing the curve in her mid back, they have to focus their strengthening & stretching to try fix it.

She talked about Joint mobility. Specifically how the shoulder blade is moving. The right arm, where her fracture was, is barely moving at all right now. The Left shoulder blade (scapula) is weak but has good range of motion. Range of motion is shown on the left here in a picture of

this guy on the left. It is how high and low and well around the joint and arm can move. While I was looking for this picture, I found one with the tool that measures the angles of the legs that we talked about before. Range of motion is evaluated with this instrument called a ganiometer. The ganiometer measures angles of joint motion. They are going to work on mobilizing the scapula to move as it should.

Christy is also drinking out of a cup by herself again!! yay! And Christy is able to stand up all by herself just using the back of the chair to aid her!!! She is doing an incredible job! Christy is so super strong that she is able to stand in this position unaided by anyone for two minutes! We're so happy to get wonderful news of Christy's progression! She is stronger by the minute. The therapist at Craig are wonderful and will help Christy get back to independence! Thank you everyone for hanging in there, and checking up on Christy and loving and praying.

Keep reading the posts daily for Chrsity's messages, too! And today is the last day for orders on iheartchristy tee-shirts. Call Gail or email her pronto at gouveia444@hotmail.com.

thanks! gabby

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

2009-04-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, let me start out by saying that I am just the messenger in this set up. So, I report the information that I am given by supposedly credible sources. All of our information was gathered from ALAN last night. He apparently was incorrect in his assessment of how long Christy was left alone in the gym yesterday. It was 20 minutes, not two hours. With Christy's level of anxiety regarding the situation, I am sure it felt like two hours for her. Regardless of how long it was, the staff at the Craig are doing an incredible job and you'll see proof when you scan down and review some of the pictures posted. That's enough of a recap, on to today's info.

The highlight of the day would be that Christy is down to having just one tube in he body. The Foley catheter (she she catheter) was removed and Christy is using the bathroom on her own now. They also removed the PICC (big IV ) from her arm that allowed for easy access to the veins (Go easy all you nurses reading this blog, that's what you get for letting a pocho write the blog). So, Christy is down to just having the PEG in her stomach. Christy is eating regular food, but the Doc's want to track her caloric intake for the week to see if they would be comfortable allowing her to remove the PEG. Besides, it doesn't make sense to rush removing the PEG as complications could arise. A good example of a complication would be if Christy accidentally bit her tongue again. It was so painful for her that she had to go back to the PEG feedings for a couple of days until the swelling and pain subsided.

OT and PT were busy again today. They are really pushing her every day for four plus hours. The Doc's may be a little concerned with the way Christy's schedule is written though. They are contemplating changing it up and breaking out the sessions so Christy has longer rest between her sessions maximizing their effectiveness. It does not make sense to push her to the point of exhaustion rendering the rehab less effective.

Highlights from OT/PT were that Christy is really making strides with her tongue improving her speech. Mom and I video chat with her this afternoon and she sounded great considering she had a really long day. Christy also spent a half hour on the bike and a half hour in the standing frame. Finally, they had Christy in a prone position as they do every day to work on her overall flexibility. The basic goal of this one is that she will be able to lie flat on her stomach reaching full flexibility. Christy is almost there with this one as she still has a slight bend in her knees and hips, but according to Donald she is getting real close to being able to lay flat.

The bottom line with Christy's body is that she is making strides daily. Donald said she is displaying a ton more independent movement. She transfers herself to her wheel chair, she is walking with less assistance and she is standing up on her own (showing off for the kids on video chat). Her vision is slowing her down a bit, but she continues to progress with her vision. They tested her vision this afternoon and she was able to determine all of the shapes/pictures she as challenged with.

Monday March 30, 2009

2009-03-31T02:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry to all of the followers of the blog as we were not able to post anything last night. We were not able to get in touch with Donald and there was not much going on yesterday as Christy is not scheduled for any sort of rehab on the weekends. Anyhow, this post is not going to be very positive as Christy had a pretty tough 24 hours.

Christy was startled late last night, around 2am, by a noise in her room. Not having the best vision right now, Christy called out asking who was there. There was no answer, so she called out again hoping that someone would respond and put her at ease. Still, no answer. Christy's anxiety began to increase because she could tell the sound was coming from the room, but no one was answering to her calls. So, the nurses immediately called Donald over from the apartment and he of course came running. When Donald arrived, he was able to calm Christy down and assure her that there was no one in the room that was not supposed to be there. Of course, Christy not wanting to seem like she was hearing things, pointed out right in front of Donald when she again heard the noise. It turns out it was Christy's roommate Wendy who is also recovering from a neurological injury. Donald assured Christy that is was Wendy and that she had nothing to fear, but the damage had already been done and Christy had a hard time dealing with the anxiety. After a few hours of Don comforting her, she was finally able to relax and get some rest. Little did Donald know, Christy's anxiety was going to carry over to the next morning in the PT/OT center.

Somehow, there was a mix up in the scheduling of Christy's rehab this morning. From what I gather in talking to Alan, Christy was taken to the PT/OT center for her daily work. But, for some reason, there were no therapists there to assist her. Christy was left in the PT center for upwards of two hours with no one helping her. As you can imagine, Christy's anxiety only grew throughout the time that she was left alone. She is not seeing that great, she is having a tough time walking and she is completely dependent on the support of Don and the therapists. Unfortunately, Don had gone to catch up on some rest during her daily therapy session because he was so exhausted from the night before.

Long story short, once they realized that Christy had been unattended for an extended period of time, it was too late. Christy was pissed and she let everyone know about it. So, not much rehab occurred today due to the temporary mis-scheduling of Christy's rehab. Christy was too upset to work this afternoon, but did feel pretty bummed that she had gotten so upset. Honestly, I don't blame her for losing it as I would be just as scared if I were in a similar condition. She plans to apologize to her therapists in the morning and will make everyone love her again. We all know she possesses that incredible skill that no matter how much she pisses you off, you can't stay mad at her.

Christy, if you are reading this, you did much better than I did when I was in the hospital with a brain bleed. You have been there three weeks and have only blown up once. I was in the hospital three days and verbally abused just about everyone I came in contact with. You should be very proud that you have held it together so well and have remained positive throughout this struggle to regain control. You are, without a doubt, a stronger person than I and I only hope to develop the same level of fortitude you display on a daily basis. We are very proud of you and love you with everything we got.

PS- Christy posted comments to the last posting from Saturday night. Read the comments going forward because Christy plans to pop in every so often since Donald has the laptop up there now. Gabby will be back on duty tomorrow night, I promise.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

2009-03-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Having some technical difficulties getting the pictures from Don today. But we'll have them up tomorrow!

Don and I talked about Christy's progress on Friday, too. The newest thing she's doing is with

the ballerina bars. Since she's doing so well on the Mat standing and moving (left), she's

advanced to the bars. They have her strapped at the legs in two places to hold he steady & supported. She has to do the rest of the balancing

and stabilizing to stand in front of the bars! Fabulous! She was having a combo OT & PT class, and OT worked on her vision at the same time. They had a color "toy-like" thing. They tell you to put the cup on "green", then when you get it, they tells you "now

put the cup on blue".... and so on. Christy is awesome with all the colors, especially blue, red, orange, & purple... yellow and green gives her a hard time sometimes, but that's OK. Christy is standing and concentrating on her color exercise at the same time.

Christy was on "skype"with the kids tonight! Skype is like telephone on the computer with webcam video. You can see each other on the computer screen. Christy was pulling herself up to a standing position to show the kids how well she's doing!!!

It's the weekend, so Chirsty & Don hang out and enjoy each other's company- no therapy. They spend time at the apartment and get some R&R in to get ready to tackle another week of therapies!

March 27, 2009

2009-03-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

Got some more pictures for you of the snowy snowy Denver city! This is a picture of Chris & Don on the skybridge. Look at that snow outside! What a trip! Everything is white! Christy has her glasses on in this picture!

This picture on the right is some poor guy trying

to get into his frozen car. Look at the tires,

they're partially buried in the powder! That's gotta be cold! These pictures are taken from Christy's window in her room. At one point, they said that they couldn't see very far because the snow was creating a fog-like

screen!

This is a picture that kept getting erased & blocked on yesterday's post (right). It's Christy's first trip to the apartment in the blizzard snow!! She's got her new wheels too. Having the apartment is a blessing. It brings some normalcy to the routine. Being in the "hospital" setting on a daily basis gets boring. The apartment is so close that it's an easy trip over, but you get to take in the fresh air for a short ride. Christy and Don both enjoy their time together just hanging out in the apartment. Cooking, eating & just enjoying each other's

company, relaxing. This is a sweet picture of Christy just chillin' out on the couch. She's got all of her pillows surrounding her... Chris is the pillow queen! It's kinda like going HOME after a hard days work. Craig really thinks of their patients as a whole person. It makes the therapy that much more tolerable.

Tomorrow is the weekend and that means time to kick back until Monday! We love you Christy!

Continue sending all the love and prayers to Denver... it heals Christy daily.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

2009-03-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

Today was another WONDERFUL day at Craig! The exciting event of the morning was the Colorado BLIZZARD that they experienced today. The snow just kept coming down. Don was explaining how HUGE the snowflakes were!! At it was the first time for Don seeing falling snow. Not sure about Christy, but she was freezing cold, too! This picture is Christy's first time going to the apartment in the Denver snow. she's getting pelted with huge snowflakes blizzard wind! Burr! There are more pictures of the snow storm adventure today! Christy's new wheelchair is shown in these pictures and has smaller wheels so her feet can reach the ground and she can push herself forward or backwards! Don was telling me how cute she is when she "thinks she's funny" and pushes herself away from him and he turns

around wondering where she is... they both start laughing! Christy even drove her wheelchair back to the room from the gym today!!! ALRIGHT! Go Christy! Her vision seems to slowly be improving every day as well! Really happy about that!

This night picture in the snow is of Luis and Don's trip taking Christy back to the hospital from the apartment. Alan made dinner and they got done late, so they had to go around to the west wing the long way. The doors shut down after a certain

time, so you have to a further entrance to get in! Don was saying how funny it was to see how deep the snow got. They got stuck and couldn't push Christy any more... Luis and Don had to carry Christy across the street.... they were rolling

laughing the entire way and were having a blast "playing" & getting stuck in the snow! Don sent this picture of Christy with her grip tightly around the Diet Coke she wouldn't leave in the apartment. Don called her the Diet Coke Queen because she refused to leave that cup of soda in the apartment... she just had to bring it with them.

Today was rounds day. The team does rounds together ("Rounds" are a mini-meeting where all the disciplines (PT, OT, speech, etc.) come and talk about Christy). When Dr. Ripley was asking Christy to do some "la la la la" and "ma ma ma ma" sounds, she did them so well! She even impressed Malea, the speech therapist! Remember Christy's tongue was uncomfortable and she had a little lapse in progress with the discomfort. Christy is such a hard worker that she was able to overcome that discomfort and practice some tongue strengthening exercises Don found on the web. She was even able to Puff up her Cheeks when she couldn't ever do that before! This was the first thing in the morning when Christy has all of her energy stored up from sleeping at night! Later in the day Chirsty gets tired from all of the mental concentration and physical activity.

PT & OT did a combo session once today & then Chris saw PT & OT separately in a second session. Sorry that part of the picture is being cut off.. but Eva and Kate (PT) have Christy sitting in an Indian style sitting pose! YAY!! That's so so wonderful... Christy is just getting so so stretched out and back towards normal! Very Cool Chris! All the therapist really enjoy working with Christy's positive and hard working personality. It's great. Christy is making great progress! Christy had standing frame again with Dan today. They are trying to fit Christy into standing frame more times a week. It's really paying off, because Christy is so much more flexible. PT brings that measuring tool to measure Christy's leg angles. Today they were so impressed while measuring because it showed that she' at -7 degrees. This means that Christy is only seven degrees away from having her legs strait!! Yes! That was a measurement from her "good leg" the right leg. The good news is that the Left Leg is only -10 degrees away. This means ten degrees away is a completely strait leg. They are also trying to lay Christy flat on her stomach to fully stretch her better. Slowly but surely!

Occupational therapy tested some skills today. They had Christy pick up the cup and drink from it. They started Christy on trying to feed herself. She had some yogurt and was able to stir it up herself. She had a harder time trying to feed herself, but we'll be working on that more! The other exercise was grabbing the ball and putting it into another container. Then grabbing the ball from the container and taking it out. Christy was accurate in her aim for the ball and used a delicate touch which meant she really had control over what she was seeing and doing! Yay!

One of the coolest things Don saw today was the Barium Swallow test. This is the exam in radiology that takes a moving x-ray video of her swallowing various foods. There is a dye called Barium that the food is soaked in so it shows up on x-ray. Various textures and consistencies of foods & bread were tested, one at time. They fed Christy the food and watched it being chewed and swallowed! It sounded real cool to watch!

Don learned that a couple of Christy's wisdom teeth are still in! HA!

The blog is starting to erase my pictures one at a time, and is refusing to upload them as well, so I think i have to share more pictures in another bog entry! much love, gabby

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

2009-03-26T01:28:00.000-07:00

You guys are in for a real treat tonight as I am going to take a stab at explaining some of the medical stuff that Gabby does such a good job of explaining. Bear with me, I will do the best I can with the explanation, but I have Donald-itis. It's a male condition to where we can sum up an epic event or story in very few words. Just kidding, well, sort of.

Anyhow, Christy had a pretty full day as it got started with a standard cardiology test. It was to scan the function of her heart, more specifically the movement of the valves and the heart itself. According to Don, it was routine test that unofficially looked good according to the cardiologist performing the exam. It was unofficial because the cardiologist has to thoroughly review the scans once they are done ensuring nothing is going on that is not caught at the first glance. The cardiology exam did cause Christy to miss her OT this morning, but Chris and Don did not seem to worried about it.

After the exam, they worked with Melea on her speech therapy. They said that her tongue seems to be healing from the bite and her swallowing is getting a lot better. She should be back to eating as she was before the bite within the next day or two. It will also allow her progress in the clarity of her speech. Next, Christy spent some time in the rocking chair working on her vision. Neither Gabby or I are very sure on how this helps with her vision, but that is what we were told. Unfortunately, Christy is only able to tolerate around 15 minutes before he begins to get nauseous. They are working towards getting her to be able to be on the rocking chair for a half hour. Not sure what the significance of the half hour is either.

Finally, rounding out the morning of events, Christy did spend some time in physical therapy. In viewing the pictures, you'll see that she spent time on the bike, standing frame and the Swiss ball. She pedaled for 15 minutes and did very well according to Donald on the bi

ke. Not sure how long she was in the standing frame, but I do recall Donald mentioning that she was in the complete upright position. I cannot remember what he called it, but she is pretty much straight up, with frame support of course. Her time spent on the Swiss ball was progressive as well. She was supporting herself for the most part. The Swiss ball works at strengthening the core muscles of your body.

Once they strengthen her core, they can begin to work on the extremities of her posture. It is a common practice in weight training as everything starts with the core (abs, obliques, lower back, etc.) muscles. By the way, you can really tell who Dylan takes after when looking at the swiss ball pic.

As you can see, it was a pretty full morning. I am sure they took a break to eat and rest before moving on to the af

ternoon tests. Christy went to see a rehab optometrist this afternoon that focuses on helping to correct problems with people's vision. Through the tests, Amy (Occupational Therapist) said that three things stood out. First, they found some issues with her visual field which is basically our entire view. Like Dr. Ripley stated in the conference call on Monday, they think that Christy has some holes in her vision. Imagine Swiss cheese here and think about how spotty your vision would be if you were looking through Swiss cheese. The technical talk is that she has cortical visual impairment that is caused by the damage that she received in/on her occipital lobe. The occipital lobe is a region in the back of your brain, right above the neck that controls and maintains vision. The Doc's are not sure if it is going to get better, but they are going to attack it with exercises just like they have everything else. The second thing noticed during the visit to the vision clinic was that her vision becomes vertically misaligned when she is required to look up. She experiences double vision and becomes nauseous. They are treating it with a new pair of glasses that have a light prism on them that are supposed to help. The only feeling I can think of is how you feel when you have drank too much and you try to look up. People fail the field sobriety test on this one all the time and I am not speaking from first hand experience. Third, Christy continues to have problems moving her eyes when they are planned movements. The second and third findings are not new and they are going to continue to work on them.

Quite a day, but as you can see in the pics, Christy was working hard and seemed in very good spirits. Donald also received the laptop that he ordered. If any of you know about Skype, you can video conference with them. Just got to www.skype.com and download the free program. The video conference is also free as it is transmitted over the Internet. You would have to call them first to tell them to set up.

Keep the prayers and energy coming. It is working!

PS- Gabby added some pictures to last night's post. Check em out! Also, if you want t-shirts, send your orders to gouveia44@hotmail.com. They are taking orders until April 1st (Gabby's & our sister Cathi's birthday).

PEACE OUT!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

2009-03-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! Christy is still working on getting full function of their tongue. It's so difficult for her to chew and speak well with the discomfort. Christy had an entire yogurt today, so she's starting to get back to eating and can leave that tube feeding behind again!

Occupational therapy utilized the rocking chair again today. Christy sits on the rocking chair during her 30 minute reserved time slot in the morning. Christy can tolerate about twenty minutes and uses her feet to control her rock and to stabilize herself. Christy also has some custom glasses. The glasses are not prescription, they are just lenses. These glasses have scotch tape on specific angles on the nasal end to try and block part of the visual field in hopes of a clearer visual picture. Other patients state that they can tell "where things are for the first time". Christy had these glasses a few days previous, but they added another piece of scotch tape over the right eye across the top today.

With the tape on, the eyes could be forced to focus and not deviate. The tape over the top of the right eye is related to the fact that Chrsity closes her right eye when she looks up. The therapist feel that Christy gets double vision when she looks up and that is why she closes the eye. It also makes her feel sick to look up. So far the glasses haven't been extremely affective, but we'll keep trying. (i couldn't find a picture of glasses with the tape going the other direction, but wanted to show some with occlusion-- these probably help another disorder of the eye)

Christy went to the repositioning clinic today to help make a better seat for her wheelchair.

The room is full of all kinds of wheelchair accessories & parts ... more than we can imagine! When Christy switched to her upright chair from the Tilt chair, Christy battled nausea. We don't really know why. Today Christy got a new back on her chair to hopefully decrease the nausea. Christy's nausea is preventing her from getting the full work out at therapy & is very uncomfortable. That's why this is an issue. They want her to progress to the upright chair instead of staying on the tilt wheelchair. They are continually concerned about Christy having the right position and posture. They want Christy to be sitting correctly so her spine doesn't curve.

Other than that, just a lot of lovin' going on! Until tomorrow.

p.s. Kaeo may be helping me blog on days when I work to help me out- so stay tuned!

Monday, March 23, 2009- FAMILY MEETING DAY

2009-03-24T01:51:00.000-07:00

Today was filled with a lot of information. The family gathered by phone in a conference call. Alan, Luis, Don & Chsristy were meeting with Dr. Ripley, the rehab doctor, Dr. Shraa- Psychology, PT, OT, Speech, Nursing, & Family Service to discuss Christy's rehab plan.

Dr. Ripley began by showing the MRI done at Craig. He explained that a MRI is a 3D picture that they can cut into slices. He said a lot of things that we had heard before but it was good to hear them again, explained a little differently. Dr. Ripley told us that Christy suffered from hypoxic (lack of oxygen) Ischemic (lack of blood) Encephalopathy (disease of the brain). He explained that with this injury you can have subtle or no injury noted on the MRI.... Christy has

some differences. There are areas of her Cerebellum (part of the brain nearer to the neck) that have grey areas where a clot prevented the tissue from getting oxygen. We're concerned about the lack of blood flow here. Higher in the "Occipital lobe" where the vision center is also had damage from lack of oxygen. Christy is having problems with her vision. Dr. Ripley explained what he thought was missing. The eyes are receiving the information but the screen is missing to project the picture on. The picture can not be realized by the brain. Also, they feel that

Chrsity is having trouble controlling her eye movements to focus on one thing. She's having a hard time seeing the whole environment around her. Dr. Ripley things that if Christy could hold her eyes focusing on one object she would see holes in the picture, like Swiss Cheese. Christy will be seen by two eye doctors that specialize in two specific parts of vision and the brain. On Wednesday, Christy has an appointment with the rehab optometrist Dr. Pauletzer (not sure I have these names right) Dr. Peltz will also see her soon. He is a Neuro-Opthomologist (brain eye doctor).

Dr. Ripley continued past the Occipital lobe to the Hippocampus which looked a little different color but very subtle. He did say there was any specific injury.

Further up from there he pointed out some lesions in the Basal Ganglia and Thalamus. These parts affect feeling and sensation. This is why they are doing all of those sensation tests on Chris with the safety pins. Christy's sensation seems to be pretty intact for the most part.

Dr. Ripley also noted that Christy's blood vessels delivering blood to the brain didn't look damaged. This is good. He didn't feel that the blood clots that damaged the brain came from damaged vessels.

Dr. Ripley then stopped talking about medical anatomy and said to us that Christy's Memory is MUCH better than other patients who have come through with this same injury in previous years!! Having a good memory is going to help her rehab better because she can remember the rehab techniques and learn the theory. Dr. Ripley also made it very clear not to compare Christy to the other brain injury patients on the floor- there isn't a fair comparison. He explained that the progress is slower with Ischemic Brain Injury (what Chris has) verses traumatic brain injury (most other patients on Christy's floor have traumatic injury). He also explained, although slower, the progress can continue for a longer amount of time. He said there is a misconception that recovery will be finished after 6 months to a year-- with anoxic injury it can stretch out much longer.

Dr. Ripley explained that right now there are drugs that we will wait one year to give. They help with the ataxia (the lack of coordination of muscle movements) This Ataxia is probably from cerebellum damage. They are not useful yet because they are known to inhibit Dendritic sprouting. This is when the nerve cells put out fibers to other nerve cells to reconnect. The benefits do not outweigh the risks, so it's can wait. They have other drugs they can try to get her in the best shape possible, but one step at a time right now.

Each member representing their specialty spoke at their turn:

Nursing (Karen) spoke about Christy's positivity and pleasant sense of humor. The entire team feels that this is helping Christy's recovery. She talked about getting Christy on a good day and night schedule as a priority. She wants her to have lots of rest so she doesn't use up the energy that could go into therapy for too much socializing.

PT spoke about Christy's wheelchairs. They need to problem solve with the upright chair to

get is all just right. They will continue stretching and the standing frame which she does 3-5 times a week. Stretching on the side works best for Christy & Once she's on the mat, she moves well! Christy is going to the spasticity clinic next week. This was the first appointment available for her. She will get an evaluation and they will address loosening her up! Christy is doing well with transferring & Don too! She no longer uses a sliding board, but does a pivot. Christy is doing really well with the standing and squatting exercises. The PTs are planning to trial Christy on a wheelchair bike to go to the gym! Fun! Christy is just faking her "pain face" as a joke! Alan just took the picture right before she laughed at her own joke!

Malea from speech commented on what a hard worker Christy is, even when things are uncomfortable and not fun. Christy bit her tongue recently and it's been really soar. Christy had to go back to a puree diet while this is healing. Malea talked about how Christy has a hard time planing the movements of the muscles used for annunciation and resonance. This is part of her challenge with her brain injury. She did say that Christy is able to put her tongue in the right place with verbal cues and sometimes with using a mirror, so that's great! The Apraxia (not being able to carry out muscle movements) is affecting her breathing at times as well, she notices. Her memory is SO much better than they had expected and Christy passed one of the milestones on Monday dealing with memory. Christy has learned all of her therapists and their names! AWESOME! On Thursday they plan to do a video swallow. They go to the radiology suite and use a dye called Barrium, and take a moving video of her swallowing! This will help them learn more about what's going on inside!!

Occupational therapy stated that their goal was to help Christy be as independent as possible. They help rehab the vision as well as the upper body. They have been dressing Christy daily in the AM. They also talked about Praxis which is described as slow motor planning. Christy does better with automatic things to get the hang of how to do things again verses verbal directions. So while getting dressed, asking her to put her arm in the hole might trigger her to use the wrong arm or put the arm in the wrong hole, etc. Things like drinking her diet coke is automatic... pick it up, drink it, and put it back down! As far as the eyes go, they found that she is moving her eyes much better since admission, but looking up makes her sick! Eye movements are linked to the ear, so hat could make her dizzy. They sat Christy in a rocking chair to take advantage of the movement to rehab the eye. They also talked about maybe using "rolling stimulation" to help her! Very cool! I never would have know this stuff! It also seems like her vision is inconsistent. What helps sometimes is for Christy to touch something so she can focus on what she wants to see. They need to assess what Christy sees more, and continue working on the eye movements and getting a clearer picture of what's around her.

The other big issue for them is that Christy is getting Tired. Her energy reserves are low. Christy becomes emotional- mad and frustrated- with therapist, Don or herself. They are going to work on signals that tell them Christy has had too much. They don't want to tire her out too much!

Dr. Shraa wanted Christy to slow down a little and try to relax. Try not to hurry to each appointment too fast. Being 5 minutes late is OK. He was very complimentary of Christy's personality and the support and love of the family. He said Christy's personality is helping her do better. Christy has a good "personal style" that's getting her ahead!

Melissa of family services said that the rehab is right on schedule. For now Christy's "last day at Craig" date is May 13th. They also explained that Hawaii does not have NEURO-REHAB, which is what Chris is getting and needs. They will have to continue rehab at a regular basic rehab area. They may keep Christy till May 26th when insurance covers till, just so Christy can benefit from the full neuro rehab advantage. They talked about video taping the therapy sessions to give the therapist that follow a better idea of what Craig was working on and the Theory of the rehab.

We love you Christy and are all behind you every step of the way!!!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

2009-03-23T02:35:00.000-07:00

Today was very much similar to yesterday in which they spent the day at the apartment hanging out. Some napping, but no eating today as Christy bit her tongue pretty bad. It is causing he some pain and discomfort, so they decided to tube feed her for the day and let the tongue heel up.

Tomorrow is back to work for Christy. She will be on her normal routine for OT and PT keeping her on a pretty tight regimen. I forgot to mention last night, but Donald shared with me the fact that Christy is one setting away from standing completely erect in the chair that aids her. Donald said that she has almost no pain when doing so and foresees her accomplishing a completely upright posture soon, if not this week.

That's all for now. I am sure you guys will be happy to know that Gabby will resume her blog maintenance tomorrow night. I may stop in from time to time to give the wifey a rest, but probably only on weekends where there is less technical explanation needed.

Keep sending the prayers and energy! Good Night.

PS- Shirts are still available. Please send requests for sizes and quantity to gouveia444@hotmail.com. I am pretty sure they are $10 now and available in black and white.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

2009-03-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am sure you guys will be able to tell the difference right away, so I am just going to tell you now that Ka'eo is writing the blog tonight and tomorrow. Gabby had to work crazy hours at the hospital over the weekend, so I followed up with Don and told Gabby she can have the next couple of nights off. I do not possess the same skills as Gabby does in explaining the medical details, so bear with the fact that tonight and tomorrow will be brief and to the point.

Today was a cruise day for Christy and Donald. She did not have any PT or OT scheduled and only needed to check in periodically for some drug treatments. She was allowed to spend the day in the family apartment that Donald has been staying in. Donald cooked up quite the feast for his wife, Alan and his boyfriend Luis. We all know that Donald is a good cook, so rest assured that Christy had some grinds and ate until her hearts content. She suffered from "kanak attack" immediately following because both Don and Christy took a nice long nap during the middle of the day.

Sunday plans to be similar to today. They are going to spend the day at the apartment again where some of Donald's co-workers family plans to stop by with Olive Garden for lunch. Alan and Luis plan to join them again tomorrow. So, I am sure there will be a lot of eating, sleeping and cuddling for Christy and Donald. Christy is very happy about getting to crash in a normal bed and sleep in the fetal position like she normally does. That has always been her favorite way to sleep and it has to have been killing her having to sleep on her back all of the time.

I promised brief and to the point. Sorry there were no pictures, but we should have some more to post tomorrow night. Until tomorrow night, sleep tight and continue to pray for Christy's recovery. She is making progress every day and has only been at it for a couple of weeks now. The doctor's and nurses at Craig continue to be amazed by her progress. Donald keeps telling the Doc's that the prayers/energy coming from Christy's family and friends is what has pushed her this far and will continue to push her all the way to complete recovery.

PS- T-shirts are still available for purchase from mom. Just send size and quantity requests to her email at gouveia444@hotmail.com.

March 20, 2009

2009-03-21T01:08:00.001-07:00

Got some pictures that I didn't have before for blogs, wanted to share!

Remember we were talking about exercising Chisty's tongue! Here she is with Malea showing the lollipops! (right).

In these pictures Christy in the standing frame. We have seen more recent photos, but this is at the beginning in the standing frame with PT!

Christy has come a long way and is on the road to walking ! We're so excited for the daily

progress she makes each day. Physical therapy does all kinds of stretching and Range of motion every day. This is another picture of the stretching.

The blog site didn't turn the picture right side up for the first time. It must be because I'm only getting some of the picture on all of

these. Something with the download from email or something. I see the whole picture on my desktop, but it doesn't all upload! sorry!

The weekend is here and Christy will be resting and relaxing all weekend. Luckily she has the free pass to go to hang at the

apartment with Don & Alan guys!

This is a picture from the day that Christy got her Chest tube out. The chest tube that Christy had this time didn't need to be big- It's about 1/8 in diameter from the original chest tube. When Christy first collapsed her lung after the accident, she needed the big chest tube. They just clean the area, cut the sutures and pull out the tube! Christy was probably tender in that area for the day, but she was able to do therapies like a champ still!!

Don't forget, your I heartChristy tee-shirts are for sale for $10.00 if you order before April 1, 2009. You can send checks to Gail Gouveia and contact her by email which is gouveia444@hotmail.com. The twins are wearing one's in BLACK. The back says I heart Christy. I think the shirts for sale are white.... just my guess. The immediate family wore black ones at the fundraiser event!

Loving you Christy! Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

2009-03-20T01:40:00.000-07:00

Christy had another great day at Craig! Occupational therapy visited first to help Christy get dressed. Christy is doing more and more every day. Today she was able to lift her arms and pull her clothes over her head!

Physical therapy did more Range of Motion and stretching. They helped Don learn an alternative technique to transfer Christy from Chair to Bed. Pt did more stand up exercises in the second session today. They utilized the work out table to move left and right- putting pressure on Christy's feet to slide back and forth.

Christy's tightness in her legs is still a problem. The Doctors are feeling it's either spasticity or tone. Those are rehab/PT terms listed in the book that Craig gave the family to read. They can use some drugs to help her, but it sounds as if they want the brain to have the best chance possible to heal and send out it's healing signals first. They don't want to slow the progress or stop the brain's own healing process.

Dr. Shraa had an appointment today with Christy. He did show more picture cards with things like "dice" on them! Not sure all the things that are on the cards or why he shows them.... but that's ok. He's just finding out more about Christy.

Don's been stepping out of sessions so Christy can concentrate more and focus on the therapist and the task at hand. Christy's therapy sessions ended early today, about 1pm because the original family meeting was scheduled for today. The meeting has been rescheduled for Monday March 23rd. Don has gotten the official pass to take Christy around with him. They spent some QT at the apartment today just relaxing. They no longer have the privacy of the room to sit around, talk and joke around. They have a roommate, Wendy. So, to be courteous and quiet, it works better to just go to the apartment.

Christy's having dreams that seem so real. Sometimes too real. She wakes up believing it happened and it affects her emotionally. She can even feel Heat in her dreams!

Selena's uncle Joe came by to visit today! That was so sweet of him. Alan and Luis were hanging out tonight making everyone laugh. Forgot to thank Niki Kenny, a high school classmate of Don's, for the ONO curry and mixed BBQ plates from Colorado's L&L Drive-In.

until tomorrow! gabby

Wednesday, March 18, 2009- Two weeks at Craig!

2009-03-19T01:13:00.000-07:00

Maybe you've already got an update from Jody Leong tonight on the 10:00pm news!! There was so much public interest in Christy's story that Jody Leong contacted Donald so she could do another story on Christy!! Wow!!

This morning started out with therapeutic recreation or what Craig likes to call "T-Rec"! It is the downstairs recreation room I mentioned before where Christy can do all the fun things! This morning's discussion was to get a better idea of what Chrsity enjoys! What they found out is that Christy likes Camping, arts & crafts, generally! Fun!

At the am session with speech today, Melea asked all the same questions. What day is it? How long have you been at Craig? What do you remember after your accident?, etc...

After the second speech therapy session, Melea left me a message herself. It was pretty complicated speech pathology talk, but I listened to it a few times, and found some pictures to get a clearer picture of what Melea was talking about. What they found was that Christy has Velopharyngeal Incompetence that is consistent with her Apraxia. I told you it was a lot to swallow! ha! Ok, seriously what this means is that they pinpointed something abnormal with portions of her voice. Her ability to make nasal sounds like "M" and "N" are affected by her (Apraxia) loss of the ability to carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. It is something that she has acquired from her neurological disorder, and just needs to relearn. So, Nasal sounds ("m" & "n") are made when the pathway to the nose is left open-- air comes from the vocal cords and passes through the nose. nasal sounds- goes through nose- makes sense, right? The same pathway stays open when you are breathing through your nose as well. The soft palate can shut the pathway to the nose or to the mouth so air can not get through. This mechanism or job of the palate is called Velopharyngeal function. For the rest of the sounds during speech, we don't want a nasal sound, so the soft palate closes the air pathway to the nose, and all of the air comes out of the mouth from the vocal cords. This makes the sounds clear. With Christy, they noticed that sometimes the pathway to the nose stays open and air gets through to the nose (when it isn't supposed to) and that's Velopharyngeal incompetency. Also the reverse is true. Sometimes she wants the air to go through the nose more but it goes through the mouth more. It's inconsistent. That matches the nature of this

loss of ability to carry out purposeful movements even though nothing is wrong with her parts or her ability to make the movements with her palate. It's illustrated in the picture here on the right. The arrows are the air passing though both the nose and the mouth. This is just something Christy has to work on over time. She needs to re-train and re-learn & re-coordinate! She's got the experts to teach her! Thanks Malea for your very detailed insight on Christy's speech. I hope I broke it down right for you guys. This is how I understand it. The air flow isn't being controlled well when she speaks even though she may want it to and all the parts can function.

OK, Physical therapy! So Christy spent a whole hour with the therapist doing all kinds of movements on the mats in all sorts of positions! Christy's biggest, most impressive accomplishment today was standing up about 3/4 tall!!! Christy just has the little bend in her knees to go! So close! Chrsity started in a sitting position on the mat tables. She grabbed on to the shoulders of the physical therapist and stood up 3/4 of the way from a sitting position! And she did this about 5-6 times!!! Donald caught it all on video, too!

Christy sat at the side of the bed/mat table with each hand at her side. She was instructed to pick up her butt and scoot her okole to the right. Then she was instructed to pick up her okole and move it to the left! Her arms at her side pushed up against the mat table and lifted & supported her body weight!

PT also did a lot of Range of Motion. It's so important to stretch the arms and legs and muscles & joints out. Today they put Christy into all kinds of positions. They even had her laying on her stomach. This range of motion, stretch is like someone doing Yoga positions on you! Soon, I'll be blogging about Chrsity doing Yoga poses on her own!!

We're so so happy and excited to see such progress after two weeks!! Christy is definitely on her way!! The Craig therapist are wonderful and SMART! Thank God for each wonderful day!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

2009-03-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

Today's blog is comming directly via Donald...

"8:30 OT- Well I didn't read the schedule right this morning. I got chris up early so we could eat and be ready for class which I found out that OT was supposed to get her dressed and ready. So when OT came in all they had to do is help her put on her jacket and brush her teeth"

"0900 PT- All we did for PT was range of motion. Chris was not really into it today.

0930 OT- They had some questions last time about Chris's left arm so the re-did the test for sensitivity. They did the Q-tip and then the safety pin and she did well.

1000 Speech- Melea did more exercises with her tongue. She did the exercise with the wooden stick and pronouncing letters. Remember when I told you that her tongue was weak going to the left, well Melea got a Q-tipp and placed vanilla pudding on the outside of her left lip and she asked chris to try and lick it. This was great because she would force her tongue to go to the left, it was hard but she eventually did it. Melea wanted to see Chris eat so she can upgrade her food, but like I said earlier chris was not feeling it today so I doubt we will get the upgrade.

1400 PT- PT upgraded Chris's wheelchair they gave her one that she will have to stay more upright. It took the whole session to change out the wheelchair, you Know how technical they get with that. But Chris is adapting well to the new chair.

1430 Standing Frame- We did not have this on our schedule but since chris was not having it today, I asked them if I could put her in it. Once she was in it, I pumped her up to about 3/4 with no pain. We stayed their for a while and then she insisted that we go up more and more until we were about 6 inches away from standing straight up.

Well that was our day. Christy's attitude is still positive and her will is still strong. SHE WILL WALK OFF THAT PLANE. The power of prayer and my FAITH in the lord is way too strong! "

Thank you Don! We're all behind you Chris, stay strong and we love you so much!

Monday, March 16, 2009- 13th day at Craig

2009-03-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Monday is back to therapy!! This morning Dr. Shraa came into do some more visual testing. He had a lot of different cards & puzzle-type things to look at. There was one that Christy had trouble with. It was something like this picture to the left full of colored dots (from what I gather) except it said "24" instead of "page 5". When reading this one site it mentioned that this was testing for color blindness. Dr. Shraa is continually trying to put together some sort of picture of what Christy really sees! Remember, Christy is having ongoing evaluations of her status for the future meeting! The meeting is where the ongoing evaluations will be broken down to explain what we'll be working on during Christy's stay at Craig. Dr. Shraa is very appreciative of Christy's good spirits, and cooperative, sweet, attitude. It's refreshing for him to work with our Christy.

Speech therapist melea had two sessions with Christy today. She is still working with writing words down on paper and showing them to Christy to read. Christy is able to break down the words with two or three letters to just letters. For example, the paper says "dog", Christy can go D.... O..... G.... Oh! "Dog". Reading the letters separately, one at a time, on the paper are too hard to recognize still. Melea also asks questions for Christy's memory on a daily basis. Questions like "What day is it? Where are you? How long have you been here? How old are you? Do you remember your accident? Christy remembered the entire story of the accident today. Don wasn't sure if she knew the sequence of events because he's been telling her, or because she actually remembered it. Either way it great that she remembered on her own. Christy did get emotional while telling the story, though. She was saying that she was calling for someone to help her & cried a little. I think it is good to talk about the accident and get out any sadness & come to terms with what happened, but it's not easy to hear that Christy is sad while talking about it.

Christy's speech is getting better every day- clearer & clearer. She moves her jaw more up and down in a controlled fashion. It looks more coordinated than some of her previous side to side jaw action. Melea took a tongue depressor and had Christy push against it to test tongue strength. Christy had good strength when she pushed right. She felt weaker with she tried to push left with her tongue. Melea left Christy & Don with some tongue depressors to work Christy's tongue when she wasn't around. Donald said that they would just do some major french kissing for exercise instead! hee hee! Donald was brainstorming about what other things, in case they got tired of french kissing, Chrsity could do. He asked if lollipops would be good. Malea said "YES" and she pulled some out from her pocket! Good thinking Don!

Chris & Don headed for the gym next. they had a session in the standing frame with Dan. Today, they didn't have to stand Christy as slowly. They used to pump her once, then have to rest because of the pain in her legs. Now they could pump faster and she wasn't uncomfortable! yay!! The session was cut short because the x-ray technician came by to take a chest x-ray of Christy. She had been doing her morning routine with the Chest Tube still in. This was the x-ray that would determine if the chest tube could come out.

PT & OT continued to work with Christy on more stretching and moving around. They felt that she was making progress in her movements and stretching out more! yay!

Lunch came next and Christy was able to eat 100% of her meal- that's awesome! It is wonderful to see Christy eating and having a bigger appetite! She drank all her milk shake & enjoyed the yummy ribs that they had cooked up!

Christy was cut short on OT in the afternoon session because Dr. Ripley and the Nurse Practitioner came in to take the Chest Tube out! Don saw the whole thing! He saw where it was going in, and he saw them pull it out of her! Christy is still Soar on her left side (where the chest tube was), so she wasn't able to move & use that hand as much (that's her strong hand). After the tube was out, Christy continued OT! Not being as comfortable using the left hand encouraged her to start using the right arm more! OT's exercise was supposed to be the light board that we did before. This is the one with the buttons that change location every time you push them. It was too uncomfortable with the incisional pain, so they did an alternate method. The OT picked up a green & pink paddle. She asked Christy to touch the paddle each time she moved it around. Casey (OT) would move the paddle again after Christy hit it. Christy used the right hand to go for the paddle much more during this exercise! That arm needs to work out!

Don has access to use the "staff" gym downstairs. He "joins" the gym by paying a membership fee. This will allow him to exercise- do some running and lifting to keep his stress levels & Blood Pressure under control. This hospital really thinks of everything! They are marvelous!

The Doctor who was communicating with Queens to bring her over introduced himself to Don today. A different doctor than Dr. Ripley. He has ties to Hawaii-- if I remember correctly, he used to live there. Thank goodness for him!

Another day in the books! Good Work today Christy! Hope you have a restful sleep for another productive day tomorrow!!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

2009-03-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of rest and relaxation for Christy and Donald. No rehab on the weekends, and Christy still has her chest tube in place. They did another follow up x-ray this morning of her chest. The result was that everything is as it should be! Yay! The plan is to take the chest tube out tomorrow & continue onto rehab. I never got clearly why Christy developed the pneumothorax (air around lung collapsing it). I am also not sure if being a mile high had anything to do with it, either. Some people who are tall and thin get spontaneous pneumothorax for no reason or maybe a strong cough. They just pop a lung! Isn't that crazy? The treatment is the same- chest tube. So a little blessing is that it happened on Friday, and Christy didn't miss out on much therapy. She got to rest all weekend and just cruise!!

Christy and Don just spent some quality time together enjoying each other's company! Christy

, your in our thoughts and prayers daily. May you have a wonderful day tomorrow, free from Chest tube discomfort. May it be an easy transition getting back into therapies! love you!

As a side note, there are "iheartchisty" tee-shirts available for $10.00 now! There were quite a few people who were asking about them at the fundraiser! They turned out so awesome! Please contact Gail Gouveia if you are interested in purchasing one at gouveia444@hotmail.com! Aloha!

Saturday March 14, 2009

2009-03-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

I got some pictures and some dialogue from Alan about the last few days with Christy, I'll let him explain in his own words what went on:

"The first one is from the Boston Market feast that Christy, Luis and I shared Thursday night. Christy had rotisserie chicken, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy AND the best damned sweet potatoes ever! She finished her meal by whacking a whole small container of Haagen Daas coffee ice cream. Donald had a much deserved break and went to dinner with his friend's parents who live in

Englewood (Craig is in Englewood, Denver). They also took him for a brief tour of downtown. When he told us about it, Christy said that she wanted to see downtown too! We assured her that she could and that it would be sooner if she works hard. I can't remember what she called us in response, but it was probably, "A**holes!"

The second picture is of PT/OT/RN Donald Huddy practicing some visual recognition exercises with Christy. He held up a bunch of objects to see if she could recognize them and if she couldn't he had her hold them to try to recognize them by touch. She had hard time recognizing them (it was right before her surgery to place the chest

tube, so I think she was a little anxious and distracted). She couldn't recognize the pair of shades she was holding by touch, but when Donald asked her to describe a pair of shades, she could do it exactly. It was a neat example of how her brain needs to be retrained, but that the foundation is there.

The third picture is from last night. (Friday night). Christy had just woken up when Luis and I arrived. We brought Donald dinner and Christy was a little out of it, but still talking a lot. Podagee! Christy complained frequently about the pain near the chest tube and all over her legs. Donald massaged her legs while I rubbed lotion into her feet and gave her a foot massage. She kind of looks like she's in pain, but she said that it felt good :) She had some nausea, so the nurse, Marge wanted to give her medicine to settle her stomach before giving the Motrin. Because Christy had to wait the fifteen minutes after getting the first medicine, we told her to focus on the massage treatment that Don and I were giving her. It seemed to work and before long, Marge was back with the Motrin. After that, Christy started to fall asleep and it was time for Luis and I to call it a night."

Today is Saturday and there isn't any scheduled therapy for today. Don still manages to get some in to get Christy on track. Today Christy's hip range of motion was around 45 degrees. Stretching and getting the muscles loose is our #1 priority right now. Plus with the chest tube, Christy should just rest for a few days. Christy's #1 issue is still the discomfort from the Chest tube. Christy can't even eat well. Chest tubes are always uncomfortable. In addition the area that the chest tube has to go through is the rib cage area. I've had patients in more pain with incisions on or near the ribs than open heart patients who have had their sternum sawed open. The first and only other chest tube that was placed in Christy (at Queens) was under her arm pit. The current chest tube sounds like it's still in the left lung but it's higher and more toward

the chest area. It was hooked to suction yesterday and they placed it on water seal today. No more suction. There is water in the pleuralvac (container collecting the drainage from around the lung- picture on right side). The water seal is to protect Christy from getting any atmospheric air into her chest. The water actually seals the pressure in and doesn't allow water to get into the system. The nurse practitioner (between a doctor and a nurse) checked the x-ray today and all looks well. Christy's oxygen saturation is about 97% (out of a 100%) with two liters of oxygen per hour going through her nasal cannula. The staff at Craig reminded us that Denver is the city a mile from sea level. There is naturally less oxygen in the air at this height. We hope that the next x-ray shows the lung completely up and healing. This way they can take out the chest tube tomorrow. We'll see!

Christy's speech is clearer.... it's been more and more clear everyday.

Christy is using the right hand more and more as well. Christy's right wrist (weak one) was bending up into a claw-like position to get it going today. She is having more fine motor movement and coordination with the right arm & hand!

Christy still doesn't have a roommate yet, Yay! Don slept with Chris last night and tonight just so Christy is comfortable and sleeping. The Chest tube can be so uncomfortable. Christy is getting Lor-Tab, Motrin, and massage to treat her discomfort. Let's pray that the lung can heal and re-expand. We can pray for Christy to be comfortable and relaxed. Tomorrow is their last day of the weekend. Christy and Donald are just kicking back and talking stories!

Talk with you tomorrow!

Friday, March 13, 2009

2009-03-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

First thing in Christy's day of Rehab today was Occupational therapy. They were working on dressing herself again. Christy still needs help, but is trying hard and progressing a little more each time she gets dressed. Today, Christy lifted her left leg and put it on the right leg! Her left leg is the weak leg, too! Christy was moving her left leg on top of the right to get her shoe on! Occupational therapy also tried to have Christy brush her teeth on her own. She already has the spit down from at least a week ago. Today she was working on actually brushing her teeth independently.

Christy had that triple series x-ray today that we talked about in a previous blog. They shoot dye into Christy and do a series of shots to see what's going on. This took a little longer than expected, probably because they wanted to get a perfect picture.

Speech with Melea was next. Melea did a little word game with Christy. Melea would name objects mixed with numbers..... Dog, Seven, House, Four, etc. Christy's task was to put all of the "things" first and follow them by the numbers. Christy did really well, so they kept on adding amounts of things and numbers. They got up to about 6-8 words total, and Christy was a superstar at putting the things first and the letters following the things! Melea even commented "Way to go Christy! Show all those Doctors wrong." Apparently, Christy's performance put her ahead of where the Doctors thought she was at. Christy has been constantly impressing the Doctors and having only success upon success!

Christy and Don were waiting for their PT appointment at 11:00am Denver time. They were in the computer room and Don was reading Christy the comments on the blog. The Tech came by and explained that Dr. Ripley didn't like what he saw on the triple series x-ray. They wanted them to get back to the room for an additional portable chest x-ray. Once the x-ray was done and read, they found something they didn't like. Christy has a pneumothorax again. When Christy was first admitted to Queen's Hospital, they saw that the accident had caused the left lung to collapse. She had a Chest tube in for several days at Queens until they felt the lung was

re-explaned. The picture of this scary guy shows a lung with a pneumothorax and the lung re-expanded after the chest tube was placed. Christy went to Swedish hospital so a surgeon or interventional radiologist could put in a chest tube under CT scan. They have it hooked to suction to drain any extra air or fluid. there is a suction connected to the actual Chest Tube that connects to a pleuravac (collection system), that connects to the suction from the wall. The lungs work on a negative pressure system. We expand the muscles lungs and the air is kinda "sucked in" by negative pressure. The pleura surrounds the lungs. If the integrity of the pleura is compromised (if get one puka in the sac holding the lung), the lung can not expand. The Chest tube will allow the air to leave as well as some other fluids. The lung will heal itself, and we simply remove the chest tube in a few days. Craig nurses were having some issue with the suction, and they took a second x-ray to recheck the placement of the chest tube. The second x-ray showed the lung almost perfectly re-expanded already. It's Friday and the weekend is a time to rest, so Christy will have the chest tube all weekend, and probably get it out on Monday. They think that this just happened recently, because they didn't see the pneumothorax on the CT scan previous. They had put a pulse oximeter on her finger to check her oxygen status and it was not a problem. Christy did well during the procedure and rested the rest of the evening. She didn't have any respiratory distress or symptoms that were scary. The Doctors weren't terribly worried about it and could have just watched it with daily x-rays of the chest and lungs. Because Christy has a history of pneumothorax, the doctor decided to place the chest tube for safety sake. Christy enjoyed a hand, foot, body massage from Don, Alena, and Luis after the procedure. Christy braved out another task of healing! We wish her sweet dreams of days relaxing on the beach, playing with her kiddies again! That's what I'm visualizing because it's cold! burr!

Until tomorrow, xoxo, gabby

Thursday, March 12, 2009- 9th day at Craig

2009-03-13T00:24:00.000-07:00

Another day of progress and Healing for Christy at Craig!

8am brought a dental appointment! Christy had a dentist scheduled to come and see her teeth! He said every thing was good! Smile for that!

Occupational therapy was scheduled for 8:30. They worked on getting Christy to dress herself. It was hard at first because Chrsity was tired, but progress was made. The big emphasis was to bridge her body so she could pull up her pants over her booty! Although Chrsity's left arm is stronger, and she can't help but want to use it more, Christy was initiating with the right arm. Christy is working the right arm more and more (her weak arm) and getting it back a little more each day! yay!

Dr. Shraa, psychology, came to visit next. He did some memory games with Chris. He would name off a bunch of things... hat, shirt, peaches, hammer, drill... etc and Christy had to repeat back as many as she could remember. Out of 11-12 words, Christy would remember about 4-5 words. They repeated this game about four times. Then he started to show a bunch of everyday items to Chris. First was a stapler. Christy could recognize the color, but not what it was. The next thing was a paperweight, which was too difficult for Christy to get. Finally he

pulled out a book and she knew it was a "book!" yay!

Melea from speech had a bag full of things. Melea would pull things out of the bag and Chris would touch them and try to look at them and name them. Christy had the objects about a foot away from her face. When Melea pulled out a flower, Christy got the color first. She felt the flower and then knew it was a "flower!" When the toothbrush came out of the bag, Christy felt it and with some help got that it was a toothbrush, too! That continued with more items in the bag of tricks.

Next, Melea had a paper and wrote letters on the paper & showed it to Chris. Christy could see the paper, but not the letters. Then Melea decided that she would put the letters together and write words on the paper. Chris could recognize the words now that all the letters were together! Melea explained that as an adult you don't really read words, you recognize them. When we are in kindergarten, we look at each of the letters. It's so interesting how the brain works. Melea wrote her name and wrote Christy's name on the paper and asked Chris which one was which. Melea went over the letters that spelled the name. Christy got each name correctly! And Melea doesn't spell her name like we know it (Malia), so Christy really got it!

After writing on the paper, Melea got color cards. She tested Christy on each color, and she got them all right!

Christy was practicing how to bend her tongue around to say the hard letters. Melea coached Chris on where to put her tongue to enunciate more. Christy is moving her tongue way better now than ever!! It's so amazing how she picks up more and more each day! Love it!

Physical therapy tested more sensation today with the pin for "sharp" and the rounded area for "not sharp". They were questioning the sensation in a few areas still, but it turned out that everything was ok! Sensation is intact!

PT made Christy try to sit up on her own (picture to the right). This means that she had to pus her own legs off the mat and push up with her left arm (stronger arm) to get into a sitting position. Once Chris was up she had to stretch side to side, and hold herself up with each arm on both sides. That means she had to work that right arm to hold herself up during the right lean. She's getting stronger and stronger each day!!!!

Christy did really well dunking the little purple basket ball into the

hoop! The therapist asked her to grab the ball from her, and Chris snatched it right up! Then they told Christy to dunk it in the hoop, and she went right for it and slam dunked it! That's the picture on the left! After the basketball game, they had some color cones that Christy stacked up. Physical therapy checked Donald off on transfers today. He has to get cleared from OT next. Last, Dr. Ripley has to clear him, and then Don and Christy can cruise at the apartment together, and get out of the hospital. This way Chris can enjoy Don's home cooking and feel more normal again! yay! This could be as soon as the weekend!

The last thing they did in the PT session was stretching out Chris by putting her in a standing frame which is similar to the standing frame that Queens used but way more advanced. This standing frame has a chair, Chrsity was belted into the chair, and PT techs used a hydraulic pump to lift Christy into a standing position. When they started pumping, the back rest would push Chrsity up and the chair would relax down until eventually Chris would be in a perfect standing position. Although they had this machine, they didn't want to force her all the way up the first time, but she came very close.

We all see what hard work you're doing, Chris! We're all behind you, rooting you on as your biggest fans! We can't wait to hear what you'll be up to tomorrow! We miss you so much, and every day you are working so hard and pushing yourself so you can come back home ASAP! Thank you Don for supporting and loving Christy. You are in our daily thoughts and prayers! Love you!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009- 8th day at Craig

2009-03-12T01:26:00.001-07:00

Christy's day started out with speech therapy. When Melea isn't around, Laura comes to see Chirsty. Speech therapy brought a bunch of pictures (of a house, a toothbrush, a comb, every day things). She showed them to Christy but Chris couldn't recognize what they were. Either Christy couldn't see them or her brain isn't recognizing the objects. I often see the neurosurgeon (brain-surgeon) at Straub test patients on everyday items to see if they know the names of them. It was frustrating for Christy, being that she's so intelligent, but it's not about smarts. She's still smart, just wounded. She can re-learn the names of things, it will just take time. Later in the day Laura from speech did a hearing/thinking test. The first thing that Christy had to do was push the button every time she heard the number 2. It was a recording speaking and there were just random numbers spoken. The next task got a little harder and Christy had to press the button if the number in the sequence was one number less than the previous. For example, the recording would say random numbers like 7, 5, 4, 2, 6. Christy would have to buzz on the number 4 because it was one less than five. No other numbers do this in this small sequence. Then there was a harder one after that. Christy did very well, getting most of the questions correct! yay! The next phase had to do with numbers as well, but repeating them in a specific order. The therapist would say 12 and they wanted Chris to tell them back 21, and so forth. She got all of the two number sets. Once they went to three number sets, it was harder for her to grasp, but we're working on it!

They were also introduced to the recreation area today by Lori, from therapeutic recreation . This is all the fun stuff to do. Remember me mentioning that there is a schedule of cool events to do for the month. The recreation room has movie night, ceramics, and all kinds of arts and crafts. It's downstairs in the EAST wing of Craig, right across the apartments. Donald just has to be cleared by PT and the M.D. to be able to take her off the unit & eventually outside. Right now Don just has to be cleared one more time by PT on transferring Christy and he can take her places.

Dr. Schraa came by to visit Christy today as well. He's the psychologist. He brought pictures with hi as well. He wanted to know what Chris could see and what she couldn't see. In the last session, he talked to Don about the family, and just getting to know Chris, Don, and the family.

With Occupational therapy today, they worked with flashlights. Christy had one and the therapist had one. Casey from OT would put her light in one direction and then asked Christy to point her flashlight in the same direction as hers. Christy had a difficult time with this exercise, but it was just the first attempt. The next part of the flashlight exercise was with the same Velcro wall of alphabets and numbers from yesterday. Casey would point her flashlight on a number or letter, and Christy would read it. Christy was sitting about 5-6 feet away from the wall. Christy did recognize the number right above the area that the flashlight was pointing at & read it at this distance. That is better than she did the last time. Christy is making constant improvements every single day! It's exciting.

There will be two eye specialist seeing Christy so we can decipher exactly what is going on with her eyes. They mentioned one Doctor K. today to Don. There are many training exercises that will go on to pinpoint exact vision problems.

Also, to address Christy's muscle spasms & tightness, there will be a Doctor coming to examine her on April 2nd. That's the earliest date I think they could get for her.

By the way, the family meeting got bumped to March 23rd now.

Finally, at the end of her day, There were 4 therapist working on

Chris. PT & OT joined forces today. Alan says that from the look of it, Christy was having just as much fun as work, which is nice to see. There are pictures to go with this session! They did more stretching today which will loosen up the muscles to

move more. They even used this

big yellow cylinder object to roll Christy on it. (Sorry the pics aren't finished uploading, gotta check on what happened) One time, Christy's stomach was soar, so she pushed off the object and stood up on her knees by herself!! Chris is getting stronger by the minute! The second half of the therapy was spent practicing moving in & out of the bed. Christy was having some discomfort with her she she catheter, and they were taking care of that for her tonight as well.

Alan filled me in on the yummy, delicious enchiladas that Luis made for their dinner. The meal included refried beans, guacamole and sour cream. I'm so jealous. Christy said that she "loved it" and ate nearly all of it! Christy is eating so well now. I gotta get the pics from Alan of dinner tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Alan also talked about Christy showing her ever-improving ability to grasp and hold her soda cup. The first day she did this, it was rather slow and deliberate. Today, she grabs it quickly and lifts it easily to her mouth to take a sip before putting it back on the table. It's amazing to watch, Alan says.

Luis not only cooked a delicious meal, but gave Christy a manicure, complete with a new coat of shimmering gold-pink nail polish. Christy kept telling Don that if he, "f@&*s up her nails, she's gonna punch him out!" According to Alan, "It was too funny :)"

Tonight is the first night that Don will be sleeping at the apartment! Today was another wonderful, therapy filled day down in the books! much love!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009- 7th day at Craig

2009-03-11T01:18:00.001-07:00

It snowed in Colorado today!! First time Don is seeing snow FALL! It was a chilly 25 degrees as well! Burr! This is a picture taken from the window in Christy's room. It over looks this street, and across the street is Craig EAST side! Thought I would've seen some snow while I was up there, but the sun shone bright!

It was a busy day for Christy today! Speech was the first to come and visit Christy today. Melea had Christy pronouncing some letters. She had Christy say "la la la la la la" to exercise her tongue.

Occupational Therapy had Christy in a room with a wall of letters & numbers on it. They were Velcro and about 6 inches high. They had Christy about 10 feet from the letters and were asking her what each one was. Christy had difficulty reading the letters until she was about 3 feet away (maybe less). Then she could start to recognize the letters. The next exercise they did was with a light. They dimmed the lights in the room and asked her to reach out and touch the light. Christy could reach out and touch the light well when it was on her right side. The left side she struggled with a little more. This is sorta like the exercise we did before but on a different scale. They had Christy follow the pencil with her eyes and it's the best that Don has seen her do ever. Doctors had asked Christy to follow their finger before and it was very difficult for her. I remember seeing it once at Queens. This means that Christy is making improvements constantly! Go Chris!!

Donald and Christy were hanging out on the bridge... and there is a bunch of caution tape up for this weeks "survivor week" competition. There is a week long event where the teams try to earn points to win.

The team captains are the Doctors, so Christy is on the Ripley Rockies! As in the Colorado Rockies baseball team. Craig does activities throughout the hospital and in the activities room. Christy

still needs to clear for a pass to go off the floor. They did tie dye shirts on Monday, there was a field trip to go eat "smash burgers" (for those who can), there is going to be a "pimp my ride" competition (pimping out one wheelchair on the team for an obstacle course), decorating a float, and more.... Anyway, there is caution tape up right now along the bridge way (just for fun) to mark the area for decorating. Don asked Christy if she could see it. Christy said that she saw something yellow. He asked her what it said, and she couldn't tell. Don covered

Christy's left eye just to see if it would help her to see it better, and she said "it says caution". Christy's site is getting better every single day! And she can read. Yeeha! The woman in my book who suffered brain damage from a stroke could type out a letter, but not read what it said. Weird, huh? The brain holds different functions all over the place! Each function that remains untouched is a step in the right direction!! yay!

Speaking of Dr. Ripley, on his visit today he was talking about dealing with Christy's spasms in her legs and all of the tightness Christy is having trouble with. He was saying that it would be helpful to do a 3 phase x-ray of Christy's lower body. They would use x-ray dye during the test to see more clearly. With this test, it sounds like they would be able to identify any new bone growth. The reason I think they want to see if there is new bone growth, is that this means there was a fracture once and it is healing now. Dr. Ripley wants to make sure that he can identify any lingering fractures so we can treat it wisely. He told us at the beginning that we'd be shocked to know how many people don't have fractures identified until rehab. He discussed this with Physical therapy and they agreed that doing this test would be beneficial. There is no set date for the test yet.

Occupational therapy had another session with Christy this afternoon. They were concentrating on sensation this time. The first test was with a Q-tip swab. They went from the face down to the arms and asked Christy if they were pressing light or hard. They would alternate how hard they would press. Christy had good sensation everywhere except the right arm. That is her weaker arm, too. After the swab they took a safety pin and asked if it was sharp or not. They poked with the needle edge for sharp, and used the rounded dull side for NOT sharp. In the right arm Christy could distinguish each sensation in certain parts but not others. It wasn't like she lost sensation from the elbow down, her sensation was sporadic. They haven't explained well what everything means. They are still collecting data to discuss the entire picture together as a team.

They have told Don that on March 19th, they will discuss in detail all of the test and assessments that have been going on. They also told Don that they plan to have Christy in Rehab at Craig until May 13th. Things can still change, but we want whatever is best for Christy. We will wait and see the information unfolding as time goes on.

Physical therapy saw Christy again, and took her into the gym where the big exercise

balls live. They were trying to stretch her hips to get them to move more. They had Christy on her back & rolled the exercise

ball under her legs in a small range of motion to try and loosen her up. They also tried her stretched over the ball with her knees on the floor to see if she could balance to stay on the ball. Finally, they had her sitting up with her hand planted

down to support her & had her stretch side to side. This is a picture (left) of Christy and Jody, physical therapist, stretching out the torso and hips. The therapist get down on the mat with the patients and stretch with them and move around safely but effectively. It's impressive!

Christy enjoyed another shower and washed her hair again tonight. It must feel so good to be taking real showers with real water and real "rinse out" shampoo. The only thing they have to cover is her PICC line (IV) in the right arm so it doesn't get wet. They just take a medical Ziploc bag, open the bottom, slip it over her PICC like a sleeve and tape it around the top and bottom against her skin. Sometimes Christy wears the hospital gown to bed like a night gown because it's comfortable and non-restricting. Luis, Alena's boyfriend, is doing her hair in this picture (right). Christy wanted a ceramic flat Iron for her birthday this year and Luis is going to get one for her so we can do her hair!

Off to work again tomorrow! Till the next blog!

Monday, March 9, 2009- 6th day at Craig

2009-03-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

I made it home safely, and am blogging from my own computer at home! I'm sad to leave Christy but know that she is in good hands with Don & Alan at Craig. I am comforted by the knowledge that the staff at Craig seems to be dedicated to giving quality care & rehab therapy. Craig will take good care of our Christy. I loved the demeanor and compassion of Christy's tech this morning. She was gentle and caring, making sure Christy was comfortable and her privacy was preserved.

Before I left for the airport this morning Christy was visited by Occupational therapy. Today's task was dressing herself and getting into her wheelchair. Christy was able to help pull up her pants and lift her bottom to bring them up on her hips. Christy's left arm was key in getting dressed because it has more range of motion and is more coordinated than the right arm & hand. Once Christy was transferred to her chair she told the therapists "You guys have cool ways of doing things". She's so right. They really have the technique down. It makes it so much easier to transfer when you know how to position yourself, where to move Chris, and using tools like the slide board. OT gives direction but allows Christy to do as much as she can on her own. The

therapist handed Christy her shoes, and Christy was able to get her foot over the opposite knee with some help and a little discomfort. Christy was able to help put on her shoes- we were impressed! The therapist are always observing and evaluating. At the end of the transfer & getting dressed, the therapist had a helpful hint. They told us that Christy does best with "automatic" actions. This meant that instead of giving detailed instructions, it was better to just give her the shoe, for example, and let the auto-pilot help continue the action. The therapist are always gathering information and evaluating things. They said that Don would get more and more involved, but we are still the early stages. They will teach Don how to be involved more but use techniques to help Christy become increasingly independent.

Christy also had her MRI today. She had to skip breakfast this morning because of her test. They were planning to sedate Chris a little so she could hold very still and rest during the MRI. If she had a full breakfast, she would be laying down in the machine flat with a full stomach and be at risk for aspiration (food coming up and going down to the lungs). All of the results will be presented at the family meeting.

Christy had a hearing test today, and passed with flying colors. There hasn't been any issues with Christy's hearing-- it's perfect! Don was even

saying he was listening to voice mail across the room and Christy could tell who it was that left a message!

The speech therapist asked her all kinds of questions to test comprehension & memory (probably other stuff, too). Questions were asked like where does she live, what's her middle name, etc. Then they asked her some silly questions like.. "which is bigger, a dog or a horse." Christy did very well answering them almost perfectly!

At lunch Christy decided that she was going to drink from the cup without any help. She said that her depth perception was better. She grabbed the drink right away with no problem! She found it more difficult to get the straw to her mouth. A little more every day with every little thing! There is constant progress because of her will to do it.

When Physical therapy came to see Christy they wanted her to practice rolling side to side independently. Some rolls were easier than others, but I'm sure Christy will get it down in no time.

Christy's eyes are still adjusting to the dryness of Denver. She has eye drops, but tonight they should be trying lacri-lube in addition. They think that Christy may be sleeping with her eyes

slightly open at night. Apparently, it's common. The lacri-lube is thicker and will protect her eyes from drying out.

Not sure if Don is moving into sleep at the apartment tonight or tomorrow, but the staff are continually encouraging him to get a good nights rest in the apartment. Now that I'm not sleeping there, they had him agree that by Tuesday he would go get a good nights rest in a bed. They wanted to give us enough time to trust in them that they would take good care of Christy over night. It's helpful that Christy seems to be getting into a more normal sleep pattern. The Motrin seems to be keeping her spasms

comfortable, too. This is a picture of the outside of the family apartment housing (right). It is adjacent to the EAST wing of Craig Hospital. The cleaning person just cleaned yesterday (they come once a week), so its ready for Don anytime. There has been no problem with Don sleeping on the pull out Chair (left) this week because luckily Christy has no roommate. We've had the entire room to ourselves. Christy knows that there is a potential for a roommate to move in. She was saying "I don't want to sleep with a stranger." We'll pray for a good roommate if she gets one!

I hope Christy and Don both get a restful sleep with sweet dreams! It will rev them up for another day of rehab!

Sunday, March 8 2009- 5th day at Craig

2009-03-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of the weekend, so it's the day before the going gets tough! Tomorrow starts the first week of more action. Christy's got her partner Don to keep her motivated and progressing! Before the therapy starts up, Christy is going for an MRI tomorrow morning at Swedish Hospital. I'm not sure if it is a functional MRI or a regular one. Christy had a regular MRI at Queens, but like everything else, they are repeating test on their own machines (the equipment here sounds more advanced than the ones in Hawaii). Dr. Ripley is getting all the test results ready to explain what exactly is happening in Christy's brain and what affects we are seeing in Christy now. Then the game plan will be laid out for Don so a end goal can be visualized and we can get an idea of how long the therapy may take. Hopefully they will be ready for family conference on Tuesday, but there isn't a time scheduled for a meeting yet.

This morning started off with breakfast. Don said that Christy's speech was top shape this morning. He woke up and Christy was calling him "Don! Don! Are we going to go eat?" Christy is enunciating well and eating more. Her increased appetite allows her to get one step closer to getting the PEG removed. Christy's tech or nurse takes a look at her tray when she is finished eating. Christy has to eat at least 50% of her food to try and avoid a bolus of tube feeding. Christy was verbalizing today that she didn't want the tube feeding. Our nurse also named Christy told her that she had to eat more so she wouldn't need it. Christy agreed. A bolus of tube feeding, by the way, just means a big amount at a time. the other way to feed is giving a small continuous amount over 24 hours- the continuous wouldn't allow for activities and the bolus feeds simulate eating meals. Today at lunch she had spaghetti, a strawberry milkshake and some yogurt. Christy is able to move her tongue around more to chew up the food and swallow it down. As always, she's got her diet coke and that helps wash the food down in between bites. It's hard work for Christy to be moving her mouth and coordinating her muscles & tongue to chew and swallow. It gets exhausting trying to concentrate hard & chewing so much. She's better every meal! The picture here is of the tables in the gym/cafeteria where we sit and eat. On the weekends, the public cafeteria in the basement is closed, so family can eat at the same cafeteria as Chris. You just purchase the food you want! Christy ate really well at dinner, too. She really wanted a CHEESEBURGER all day long, but she's not quite cleared for that yet. We'll see if Christy's improved motor mouth skills allows her to advance to eating bread soon! Then it's cheeseburger time!

Christy was tired today. She had a nap after breakfast, a nap after lunch and was in bed by 9:30pm. We were all dozing off after lunch today out on the glass bridge where we like to soak up the sun. Sleep allows the brain to heal. when she's not in bed, her time is spent in her comfy wheelchair. Christy's sleep wake cycles are still getting adjusted, but it seems that she's resting better and better at night.

The picture on the right is a picture of PT Huddy transferring Christy back to bed after her bath tonight. Donald did a good job with Christy's hair- he got the leave in conditioner in and brushed it down very nicely. It was like Christy did it herself!

Don and I watched the educational video on seizures today. There are tons of educational videos about all kinds of things on the TV in Christy's room. You just look at the menu of videos one one channel, dial a number on the phone in the room & follow recorded prompts to punch in the number of the video you want. The recording tells you which channel to turn to and there is 20 second count down till it plays! We have to know about seizures and what we need to do in case we witness one. We had to take a test afterward, so we watched it again just to make sure we got the answers right. Checking family off on these types of educational things allows us permission to head towards taking Christy downstairs to the gift shop or cruising in the hospital. We can progress to taking Christy on a day pass to get out of the hospital! There are activities scheduled throughout the month on a calender that Christy will eventually be able to participate in. The hospital provides transportation, too! There is an activity room downstairs where I saw a pool table, painting supplies, a greenhouse & more. They just had a day where someone was doing facials and manicures! Craig seems like a wonderful place to be!

Christy is humoring us every day with her witty sense of humor and bright personality. We crack up at how jovial she is when talking on the phone or just in conversation with us. Kaeo called to talk to her tonight and was telling her that he went to see a movie by himself, and Christy said "Poor Thing, you have to go to the movies by yourself, ya?" We were all cracking up because the way she says things are so humorous!! She has all the information correct when he asked her questions about how things are moving along here. This means her short term memory is rockin'! We are constantly impressed with Christy's progress, playful participation in conversation and motivation to get better. She looks great, she sounds great & she's ready to get to work this week!

We also wanted to mention that Christy is reading the blog with Donald almost daily now. Christy said to me today that they are into January 17th (around there). Christy loves hearing the comments that are said to her each day that goes along. So I encourage you guys to put in comments on here, so Christy can hear you speak to her individually!

I'm crushed because tomorrow morning I will be heading to the airport to go back to Hawaii. I don't want to leave Christy and Donald... I feel like Christy is my sister more than ever now & I want to be here to encourage her and love her when she needs it. I'll miss hearing her laugh and make jokes every day. I want to be there to see every day of progression :( I'll be calling her daily and getting pictures from Don for the blog. I guess I'll survive... and I do miss my honey at home. Keep the prayers up, they're working! Until tomorrow, xo gabby

Saturday, March 7, 2009- 4th day at Craig

2009-03-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today was another AWESOME day! I say awesome because it was incredible and because it is Christy's adjective of choice. We position Christy in bed & ask, how does that feel? she replies "awesome!" We give her some chocolate milkshake and we ask her how it tastes. She says "awesome!" And the awesome list goes on. It is awesome!

When I got up to the room today it was almost time for lunch. Christy was in bed resting after eating breakfast in the cafeteria. We are finally getting the hang of things and today instead of eating in Christy's room, we ate in the cafeteria. We ran into Dr.Schraa who is Christy's assigned Psychologist here. I saw him on the schedule yesterday, but Don and I missed him because we were at the apartment eating breakfast. He is very nice & was very happy with his talk with Christy yesterday. He also came around a second time while we were eating just to chit chat. For lunch Christy had chicken enchilada but didn't really like it. She at some sloppy joe from Don's lunch & a fortified strawberry milkshake. She had yogurt with fruit on the bottom, too. Christy got a little fustrated & sad not being able to do things she wanted. Don was encouraging Christy & suggested that she try to use the right hand more, and she felt sad that she would try but couldn't do it well. When Chrsity and I were on the skybridge today, she told me that when she's good at something its fun and she likes doing it. When she's not good at it it's junk & she dosen't want to do it. I was talking about snowboarding and skiing when we came to see alan last time. I was explaining that my fist hour back on the snowboard I was falling and fumbling. I was so fustrated, I didn't want to do it anymore & I was mad. I think that's how she felt today. Don gave her lots of love, hugs, and kisses, and the tears dissapeared. Christy is back in touch with her emotion. Since we've been up here at Craig, we've seen more emotion from her of all kinds!

The weekend are days off to rest and hang out. So we did a lot of talking and joking around. Chrsty is cracking us up constantly. Donald is an awesome caregiver. He drains her foley, dumps it and tells the tech the amounts! Christy can feel when her foley bag is getting heavy and warm because the bag is strappped to her leg & her sensation is unscathed. During the day the leg bag is connected & it hides under her pant leg and is strapped to the lower leg. This is so Christy can do her therapies and move around without worries. This is the same kind of bag that was used on the airplane. At night they switch the bag to the big collection so it's more comfortable and holds more. So imagine Chrsity tilted back in her chair (we have to alternate from back to upright every twenty minutes to avoid pressure ulcers- there is a timer on the back of her chair that is set to alarm). During conversation, Don asks her to try & lift her left leg (weaker leg) in the air. Chrisy was already fully extending the right leg and lifting it off the chair keeping the leg horisontal to the ground! Christy tries to lift the left leg and mentions how full and warm the foley feels. Donald is bent down draining the foley on her leg and asks her to stay still because if she moves, the she she is all over in Dons face. Chrsity jokingly taunted him "better whatch out"... and "I'm gonna move my leg" I'm laughing and Don is laughing but also pleading with her to not do it. Then Don is finished and telling Christy "U so funny!" And Christy comes back with "That sounded fake." We all laugh some more becuase Don is saying "No that wasn't, I was for real."

Don has also masterd transfering Chrsity from wheelchair to bed with the slide board (pictured right). The physical therapist gives tips and lessons on how to use the right techniques to move Christy into the right place & encourage good posture once in the chair. The slide board goes across the bed to the weheelchair & Christy's butt slides across it to which ever she is getting into! cool, huh?

For the first time today, Christy was holding the phone up to her ear and talking to people independently. Her speech is so much clearer and she is talking a lot. This picture of Chrsity & Don, she is in the middle of saying something and her eyes are closed (sorry Christy- you're still beautiful, always) , but it is just so cool to see her doing more and more every day. She is controlling her arm and holding it up so strongly! She is really herself when she talks. It's very exciting because her long term memory seems totally intact. Her short term memory is even good. She hardly asks things over and over again. She does ask how long is she going to be at Craig the most frequently. She wants to go home to her kids already.

Craig has such cool little systems and we learn about a new one every day. Today's cool gadget is this little GPS - intercom thingy. Makai, our evening tech showed us his. The intercom is set up so you can choose to call how you want. You can do a general call to the nurses station or you can call a specific person. So we tried it out today. You select "staff" on the intercom screen and it loads a list of staff members and gives their location. If you click their name, it will call to the intercom in the room that they are in so you can talk to them. Then they talk back & presto you have help! It's cool because it picks up any kind of talking in the room. you don't have to raise your voice for the other person to hear. It is very sensitive so if a patient dosen't have a strong voice its still ok. The intercom is in the middle of the room attached to the wall between the two patients.

Another cool little thing is the book/binder that Christy got yesterday. it holds many different categories of notes. The section it is turned to is the one with the names and pictures of the Doctors and Therapists (PT, OT, Speech, etc. ) It is where I got that picture of Dr. Schraa at the top. This is a picture of Dr. Ripley, Christy's main doctor. It's perfect beacause all of the names & pictures are at your fingertips. What a great idea. This way the family and patient can remember who is who and practice the names with the faces. The binder also has a calender section, and tells today's date and day. Another section in the front tells what Christy's schedule is like for the day. This little binder lives in the back pocket of risty's chair for convience.

We got a surprise visit from the Aunt and Uncle of Leani (a work friend of Donald). They were very sweet and brought Christy some gorgeous pink roses & a card! They live about a mile from Craig and dropped by because Leani had explained the situation and they came to deliver a "TLP"! That stands for Tender Loving Prayer (it was on their card :). The first thing they menitoned was how pretty Christy was! They were kind enough to leave their phone number just in case there may be something Christy & Don may need. How sweet. We thank you so much!

Tonight at Dinner Chrsity ate better (more) and was able to move the food around a little better with her tounge. When Don was comming in with the bites of food, Christy started to open her mouth right before it touched her mouth or got to her lips. Even the straw for her drink, she didn't have to be cued that it was a straw and to close her mouth every time. Donald could tell that she could SEE the food coming. He asked her, "you can see the food coming, can't you?" And she told us "TODAY IS THE BEST THAT I'VE SEEN SINCE I GOT HERE!" Holy smokes, we were so so happy!! Christy is seeing more and more. Her brain is making connections again to interpret what she is seeing more clearly. We don't know exactly what she sees or when. She makes sure to tell us "I'm not blind (stupid)" when we ask her what she sees and what she dosen't see.

Chrsity is still having trouble with leg cramping and the pain that is associated with that. She is still having "motor restlessness" at night. It wakes her from her sleeping. We discovered once again that motrin works better than lortab for her pain. So that has become her "drug of choice". Christy was having a lot of pain and tighness-spasms after dinner when she got back to the bed. Don is the master massuse & we have a little hard plastic massage tool with round balls at each end (4) that we use to massage her legs. Masage comforts her for the time being but the motrin relieves the pain so Christy can relax & strech out the legs more. So we called in the nurse to give her motrin & Christy was in a lot of pain. Our nurse has a lot of expereince & started in administration before being a floor nurse. Anyway, she came to give the meds to Christy and I can't remember the details of the conversation at the begining but Christy picked up on her "rough around the edges" deminor. As she was leaving Christy said "She's nails... I don't ever want her as my nurse again!" Don and I laughed. The nurse is smart and a good nurse (she said she worked here longer than any other nurse on this floor). Her personality is less gentle than others. A couple minutes after the nurse came in to deliver the Motrin, she came back in for something else & Christy asked "How long will it take to kick in?" Don repeated the question to the nurse in case she didn't understand Christy. the nurse replied "well, it's different for everyone, but at least it's crushed up and in her stomach." (I can't type this without bending over and laughin in my chair) Christy said "NAILS... BITCH" right before she left the room & "BITCH" was CLEAR as day. Don and I started to roll & Christy did too.... I almost fell over I was lauging so hard. Christy asked after if she heard or said anything back, but the nurse didn't seem to hear what Christy said, although it was very possible. She cracks us up constantly.

Christy dosen't want me to tell the funny ass phone conversation she had with Kelsen today. She dosen't want him to feel embarrassed. Christy was prodding him about his new girlfriend & telling him to make sure he's SMART or she's going to "kick his ass"! It was hilarious!! Alan and Luis were with us and we were all dying of laughter! When I walked out of the room to get eating utencils and drinks, you could hear the laughter all the way to the nurses station down the hall. We will be known as the loud, laughing, loving family!

I feel so blessed to be with Christy here & to talk story and care for her. She thanked me deeply for the blog today, and it brought me to tears. I am so happy that I can do something for her & everyone who loves her. Please keep praying for her. The prayers are working every day. Pray for her comfort from the spasms & for her continual progress with her vision. Pray for good rest and a good appetite. Pray for continued good spirits & happiness. Pray for the physicians & therapist, that they may think up the best ways for a sucessful rehabilition of Christy to bring her back to 100%! (We moved prayer to 11:00 am here, so we can keep on track with the morning prayers at 08:00am hawaii time.)

xoxo, gabby

p.s. don't know why the spell check isn't working but it isn't :( please excuse my spelling errors.

March 6, 2009- Part II

2009-03-06T22:57:00.000-08:00

The biggest thing that happened in therapy this afternoon was with occupational therapy. They were doing exercises for Christy's eyes. This is a picture of Christy in front of the light board. What happens is a red light comes on the board and you have to push it. All the lights are buttons too. The light then jumps to another space on the board and you have to push that red light. If you take too long, the board starts to buzz at you! We had the lights off and the door shut for Christy to see the light at its brightest. This exercise was the first of its kind that we saw and allowed us to see how Christy is doing visually. It took a couple of times for Christy to catch on to focusing on the light, but she's a fast learner! The therapist would guide her to the left, right, top or bottom. Then she would look to see if Christy could see the light, and then guide her hand there. The therapist would say "See, it's lighting up your fingers red". After a few tries, her eyes were looking at the light, and she was using her strong left hand to touch the lights. Christy would always go a little to the right of the light, but occasionally she could get it. When Luis was breaking it down to me later, he explained to us that the brain re-learns by experience & repetition. Putting her hand on the light over and over allows the brain to reconnect to that task. So, not only was the OT assessing Christy's vision, but re-teaching her brain to be able to locate the light and push it. Some lights she couldn't see at all. Christy worked really hard at this exercise & did an excellent job! After Chris was over the light board, the therapist did some range of motion in the gym (see picture on left). Occupational therapy concentrates on the arms, and physical therapy concentrates on the legs.

It's amazing because Donald picks up on all these exercises intuitively. After that light board experience, we went to hang out on the bridge and get some warm sunshine. Don held his hand out for Christy and asked her to slap it. He moved his hand around and asked her to look for it and slap it. He's constantly thinking of ways to help Christy to rehab! The repetition can only help her.

Christy had chicken and gravy with mashed potatoes & gravy, peaches, and banana cream pie for dinner. She said the chicken tasted good. She had a couple french fries too. Of course, she washed it all down with two diet cokes!!

The other eventful thing was that Chrsity had her first shower in a shower chair!! She's upgraded from that plastic bed with a drain! Christy liked the chair much better. We got her some sweet smelling shampoo and leave in conditioner. Christy helped wash her own hair (with her left hand). We shaved her armpits and legs too! After the shower, the tech brought out two warm blankets from the huge warmer next door. It felt nice and cozy for Chrsity after the shower! That was really cool. Christy looked like a nun with her habit on all wrapped up in the blankets :) When we got back I braided her hair, so she doesn't get dreads while she sleeps.

Christy is still having pain from leg spasms, and "motor restlessness" tonight. Christy said that she felt a little anxious when she was moving around a lot. She calmed down, and the nurse dug in her bag of tricks and tried a new combo sleep medication regime tonight. The nurses are so wonderful here. They come and talk with you, discuss what we feel is the best thing for Christy & they really care! It's such a relief to be here where they are so calm and comfortable with what Christy is experiencing at night.

Craig is like Queens in that there are no therapies on the weekend. So Saturday and Sunday she gets a little break. We all get to hang out & cruise! As I understand it, Dr. Ripley will be done with tests and evaluations by Monday (MRI scheduled Monday) and will have a family meeting on Tuesday. Shucks! I'll be gone by then. I'm so fascinated with everything that goes on here, i wish I could stay with Chris and Don and Alan. But I have to get back to work:( Until tomorrow!

Friday March 6, 2009- Day 3 @ Craig

2009-03-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'm here for a Mid-day Post! I know, unusual, but Christy is in EEG right now with Donald. They went to Swedish Hospital next door to do the test. They went by gurney and Craig must be connected to Swedish Hospital through a bridge or basement hallway. I'll ask Don when he comes back. I took a little picture of myself at the computer in the family activity room so you could see where I was exactly typing away to you guys!

I didn't get to explain the set up quite yet. The simple part is that Craig Hospital is split into two buildings, EAST and WEST. Christy is in the west wing on a floor for brain injury patients (2nd). The East side sounds like it's for patients almost ready to go home from Craig & Christy will most likely make one or more moves throughout the hospital during her stay. The spinal cord injury patients are split from the brain injury patients. I may be recalling wrong, but I think more spinal cord patients reside on the East side. The east and west buildings are connected by the glass bridge where we were soaking up the sun yesterday.

Chrisy's room has a cool swivel TV that has an arm that bends in many different places. It can raise an lower to whatever height is best for her. Everything here seems to be well thought out. The board behind tells Christy the day and the nurses & techs on to help her for the day! The call bell is a huge round red ball that is extremely sensitive. It hangs on a cord tied to the bedside light in her room. It triggers someone from the nurses station to call into the room on the intercom. You can speak softly and the intercom can still pick up what you are saying. All of these things make it so much easier for Christy. the picture on the right is her dresser and shelves. She's got her pictures up of the Kids and Don! We got her some real shampoo and Alan is bringing some yummy lotions and shower gel from Bath and Body works!

Christy has a printed schedule for the week with blocked times of therapies and the name of the therapist coming to see her. Oh! I have to mention that yesterday I talked about "Malia" the speech therapist, but actually her name is only pronounced Malia, but spelled "Melea". She just moved here from L.A. 8 months ago, just like Alan! Malea was in the 8:30- 9:00 spot this morning and back again in the 10:00-10:30 spot. Christy was tired, and Don said it was hard for Melea to get much out of her. Christy is having a sleepy day and is tired. When I got her room today, she had just been put back to bed about 10 minutes before I got there. Christy was sleeping pretty deeply. Chris' sleep-wake cycles are still off, despite the minor pharmacological changes that have been made. Dr. Ripley said that he is really good at changing drugs around-- adding and taking away drugs to give Chrsity the most comfort but optimal alertness for therapies. Christy is still experiencing the leg cramping and restlessness when she is trying to sleep. Christy is still on the Baclofan (muscle relaxer). The nurses were explaining that the Baclofan isn't very good for alertness, but Chrsity needs it for her tight spasming leg cramps. And I just found out that there is a spasticity clinic here too!! Craig has EVERYTHING!! There are answers and resources here we couldn't have imagined!!!

Physical therapy came by with a deluxe protractor & ruler-ish device. I asked PT later what its official name was and it's "Gonometer". It measures the angles of the extremities. I think they wanted to stretch Chrsity out and measure the range of motion she has in her legs. Christy was in a pretty deep sleep because when Jody came it to wake her, she didn't even move. They decided that they would com back to see her at their 2:00pm spot this afternoon. Letting Christy sleep would make her more productive this afternoon. In addition, they didn't think they would get to work with her as well if she was this sleepy. So at 1:00pm a transporter came to take her to EEG.

So there is more physical therapy and occupational therapy lasting till 3:00pm today. OT will asses range of motion of the arms. All of the therapies are in assessment phase right now. The real active working therapies will begin next week after the initial test and assessments have been made! Therapies end by 4:00pm daily.

For anyone who is interested in sending a card to Christy I wanted to give the address of the Hospital. There has been inquiry already and I'm sure there are others out there!

Kelelina Christy Huddy

Room 216 A

c/o Craig Hospital

3425 South Clarkson Street

Englewood, Colorado 80110

xoxo, gabby

Thursday, March 5, 2009

2009-03-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Can't believe I forgot to tell you something ultra cool that happened on the day we left for Craig. Christy is doing so much and constantly impressing us, I can't keep up... Christy had to go to the bathroom and Don was going to carry her in. Christy said, "No. I want to walk myself" So Don supported under one arm and Hanae under the other, and Chris walked, slowly to the bathroom. She followed direction from Donald and went step by step. On the way back I got to help her with Don. This time she preferred to side step most of the way. Side stepping was the most comfortable for her at that time & it worked!! She is one tough girlie. Her determination is unreal! Kainalu took video on his camera of the entire walk to the bathroom!! He's great with his camera. He has been talking pictures of mom and everyone & offering them to me to use on the blog!!

Today was another fabulous day here at Craig! Colorado has been unusually warm here. The sun is shining and it's great! Maybe we brought some aloha sunshine with us, too. Craig hospital set us up in a huge family living space. it's a a one bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, dining table, couch, 2 TVs, large bathroom & laundry service (for sheets and linen). They even give you dishwashing soap, pots & pans, detergent for the dish washer! We received a little gift bag too with granola, shampoo, a toothbrush, gum, bottled waters, candy, etc. they even fold the towels into shapes like the fancy hotel! Wow! They really know how to make you feel welcomed! Alan and Luis took us shopping so we could fill the refrigerator with some food! We missed breakfast and lunch here today. I guess they only serve at certain times. On the first day they told us that we could eat at the patient mini-cafeteria in the gym, and the soda fountain is always open. We're a little shy, though because we're not sure if we heard right. Also, there is a refrigerator with water 24/7 and coffee for us. That part was clear that we could help ourselves. Everyone has been so cool!

So, I missed Christy's first drink of real- strait from the can- drink of Diet coke this morning! The speech therapist was explaining that a recent study showed that carbonated drinks function like nectar thickened liquids. Remember Christy was on thickened liquids (honey consistency) at Queen's Hospital. Honey thickened liquids are thicker than nectar thickened liquids. Necatar thickened liquids are thicker than regular consistency liquids. Thicker liquids are easier to swallow, don't move as fast in your mouth, and make you at less risk for aspiration (going down the wrong tube into your lungs!) Anyway, the speech therapist Malia was testing Christy with all kinds of foods- good ones! She went out and bought those little powdered doughnuts and let her eat one of those too! Unfortunately, they won't let her eat those or bread products now because it was too hard to chew and it got stuck on the roof of her mouth. Malia mentioned that Christy had a high pallet and that it made it even harder for Christy to move the food around. Christy is still regaining full control over her tongue and is practicing moving the food around and chewing! Food still gets stuck on the roof of her mouth & we just have to check and make sure it goes down eventually. Christy is making improvements every second, though. At lunch when she ate stuffed shells with marinara sauce, she had a hard time licking the food off her lips. At dinner, she was licking the food off her lips!! This girl is doing more and more every hour! Christy really enjoyed the stuffed past a shells! She wanted to eat it all. We have to give her Small bites and alternate bites with a drink of diet coke for safety! Christy drinks with a straw too which is harder than from a regular cup! Because Christy is able to swallow diet coke with no problems, they said that she should be just fine with regular liquids! yay!! So good-bye thicken up! "Thicken up" was the powder they used to thicken anything she ate.

During lunch Donald fed her sitting on her bed. One bite at a time, then a sip of diet coke. A Craig staff member sits in the first half of the meal to make sure we're feeding her correctly and safely. Christy is so cute & is regaining more and more of her personality. She is joking with us more and more! When Don was giving Christy a sip of diet coke she got too much and almost choked. Donald said, "Come on Chris, you're gonna get me in trouble" "We're being graded" referring to the staff observing. Christy tells Don "what do you mean, How is it my fault when you screw up?" "Figure that one out?" She is constantly making us laugh. Don and Christy are getting more and more playful too. Before, Don would be the only one cracking jokes. Don was sitting on the bed, feeding Christy, rubbing her thigh and waiting for her to chew her food & swallow it. Don tells Chrsity lovingly that he has some fresh peaches for her on her tray once she finishes her pasta, so hurry up and chew! Christy says with a grin "I got some fresh peach for you right there!" Ha! We're all cracking up at her. I told her careful because I'm going to put it on the blog and she cutely says "Go, I don't care!" She's so great! The speech therapist was out of the room for that one!

The physical therapist came after lunch. they wanted to get Christy in her wheelchair. they ordered one with a tilt on the seat, so the front of the seat cushion is propped up higher than the back of the seat. There are foot rests, a head rest, torso braces, and the whole chair tilts back in a reclined sitting position! There is a timer on the back of the chair and it alarms every 20 minutes. That is our cue to recline Christy or sit her back up. They are big on adjusting her weight while sitting in the chair so she doesn't get pressure sores. Today was the first time that Christy got to sit in it. It needed some adjustments, though. So we went into the gym and the therapist were fumbling around the tool shelf trying to find the tools to shorten the leg rest. They ask Donald if he has any idea which tool to use to loosen the nut, and Mr. Don Fix it says "I think that's a 1/2 inch", goes in the tool cabinet, pulls out the tool and adjusts it! Donald is a wheel chair mechanic now too! The jobs he's conquered while he's been taking care of Christy! The cool part is that when Donald was finished, Christy commented "Hows my chair? Cool ya?" When we asked if she was comfortable, she said, "very comfortable". Makes us happy when she is comfortable!

Chrsity cruises around in her own clothes while she's here. Today when we were getting her dressed with the therapist, she wanted to pick out her own clothes and colors. When I brought out her tee-shirts, she asked us if she was wearing jeans (because that would determine which top she chose!) Before we left her room to cruise, Christy wanted to see herself in the mirror. So I pushed her up against the sink so she could see herself in the mirror. She said "who did my hair?" I said "me, real fast", and she said... "whoah.. I'll do it again!" We loved it! Christy got the brush and tried to brush her hair, but the coordination in her arm and hands are making it hard to do what she wants with it. The brush was just waving above her head. Donald told her "you're not brushing your hair you know", and she laughed, and said "I know (stupid), It's real hard though!" We all were laughing. Christy is very aware of what is going on, but just has a hard time getting her body to do what she wants it to do for her. Christy was commenting that her hair was "CRAZY!" so we got her some leave in conditioner for her today. Christy asked for her lipstick and bushed her hair with her fingers instead. She's good at that! Just look at how beautiful she looked in this picture with Alan. The therapist were commenting that she was such a beautiful woman. Christy never misses a thank you. She says she doesn't feel beautiful but she doesn't understand how beautiful she really is. It is so amazing to be with her these last two days- love her! I admire her playful, strong, witty, loving, determined, sweet personality! That personality is shining though more and more every day!

Next, we decided to take Christy out to the glass walkway and sit in the sun and look out at Pike's peak! Dr. Ripley walked past us drinking diet coke and stopped to explain that it was the goal for pioneers to reach in the 1800's. "Pikes or Bust!" Maybe someone else knows that history. I hope I repeated it right! The sun was pretty bright so Christy borrowed my shades while we sat and looked out the floor to ceiling windows! We have to get her some for the bright shiny days!

(The picture to the left is the glass walkway looking up from the street & that's Chris & Don on it)

After sitting a while on the walkway, Christy asked me, Don and Alan "What are we doing?" Don told her we were just cruising and talking story. Chrsty said she wanted to go to the store! She was asking Donald later to go shopping with us when we left to get food and groceries. Don explained that they were going to stay there and that they couldn't go yet. Christy is so funny.

We were sitting around in the room Christy was eating dinner. She was avoiding the "disgusting beef stew" on her plate. Christy couldn't even swallow it. She spit it out. On the next bite she told Don that he better not put another bite of that beef stew on her plate or she's going to be mad!! We were having a normal conversation laughing our butts off at each other, enjoying one another. Christy commented that this was a "24 hour comedy show"! She's right! We're having so much fun just being with Christy and laughing. The day flew by so fast.

Christy got some sleeping medication tonight again, and slept for a couple hours, then woke up again asking for water. After I repositioned her and adjusted the air conditioning because she was hot, she was telling me "I feel so out of it". She said "I was sgthraushing". After about three or four times of me asking her to say it again, she spelled it out to me... T-H-R-A-S-H-I-N-G. Sorry, Christy. When she is tired it's harder for her to enunciate as well. She said she was tired and I stayed with her and stroked her air with my hand on her chest and she was able to fall back asleep. She's able to tell us now that she's experiencing the restlessness and that she feels out of it tonight! Every day is filled with new blessings! LOVE YOU SO MUCH CHRISTY!

Signing out from Craig hospital, Denver Colorado!

(Christy's room is right above the Craig hospital entry on the second floor)