Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  Christy is doing well... She looks fabulous!  She had a better night last night, but not completely rested.  She sat in the cardiac chair today for four hours.  She has much more control over her head now.  She is able to sit up and hold her head up on her own!  This is a picture of our visit today, she looks so good!  She  has a little smile on her face.  I was asking Chris to smile for the picture.  Kaeo got caught looking at her to see if she was smiling.  While she was sitting in the chair today, she was smiling and seemed comfortable.  There was a time that all of a sudden she seemed not comfortable and she had her brow in a frown.  We tried to figure out why she was uncomfortable but couldn't understand what it could be.  She started to get a little agitated moving around.  I decided to massage her back in case she had an itch she couldn't get to or something.  I got the lotion to rub her back and asked her to sit forward, and she did immediately.  When I started to rub her back, she smiled and looked content.  I had to go back for more lotion and asked her to sit forward again, and she totally did. She definitely understands what we are saying and is able to cooperatively move!!  She was nodding a little today, yes and no.  Sitting in the chair for four hours pooped her out, i think, because we got her back to bed and she wanted to crash out.  In the book I'm reading about a stroke survivor, she said that sleep is so so so important to healing the brain- she tried to emphasize this very much.  So when Christy needs sleep we allow her to rest.   Christy didn't stand up today with the therapist, because they were not around today.  I think they don't work as much on the weekends.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Christy was doing very purposeful movements.  In the chair she rubbed her nose again.  She would use her arms to push herself up and move herself around in the chair.  She still sways side to side while moving.  Her body is still repairing the detailed coordination of her body.  Being able to hold her head upright is huge!  She looks so much more like herself!!  Every day brings us something a little more.

When Christy got back to bed, we were trying to help her extend her left leg.  In the last week, Christy likes to  keep the left leg bent at the knee and close to her body.  she seems to favor the fetal position in bed.  It's OK for her to be in this position, especially since she's comfortable, but we want her to stretch out her leg too.  If her leg is constantly bent and to her body, it shortens the muscle.  When Christy needs the muscle to walk outstretched, it will be very difficult.  We think she may be experiencing muscle spasm as well.  Today, she was grabbing her left leg and holding on the the back (hamstring) area of her leg.  This was the first time we'd seen her do this.  It seemed somewhat uncomfortable for her to stretch out her leg, her muscles were very tight.  Finally, we decided to ask the nurse if the muscle relaxer pill that she gets was due soon. And if Christy could get some to help her get comfortable.  

The case manager let us know that Christy would probably be going to Craig during the last week in February.  This date is temporary and we need to see what exactly HMSA is saying about that as well.  The date, i think, was set by Queens in conversation with Craig. We just hope and pray that Christy has the opportunity to rehab at Craig.  The doctors are saying that Chrsity has this window of opportunity where she needs to go to Craig to continue her progress.  It's explained as if she is picking up momentum and changing and healing every day.  We don't want her progress to end prematurely... She needs a place like Craig to continue her progress so she can regain independence again! So please keep Craig in your thoughts and prayers.  We hope the process will go smoothly and we can get Chris to Craig ASAP.

I'll be back tomorrow again to update you on more of Christy's progress.  Thank you for your continued support and love and prayers!!