We are thankful!

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

Thanksgiving Season Fall Greeting

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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

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

June 10, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, May 25, 2009

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

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

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

Thursday, May 21, 2009

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

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

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good night!