Happy Sunday

Therapy went well on Friday. Right now it seems to be mostly heat therapy on the right arm and constant adjustments to the braces to make them more comfortable. The therapist seems to be pleased with what he is seeing so far. It will be a few more weeks before she can remove the right brace for good but for now she will begin using that arm a little in therapy next week. The therapist is actually going to place an electrode on her wound to the right arm and have her play a video game by thinking about what she wants to do with her hand. This will assist in retraining her brain to work the right arm. The hand droops quite a bit and she isn't able to move her thumb due to damage to a nerve. The damage to the nerve may recover over time or require additional surgery at a later date, only time will tell.

She got her first shower yesterday, I washed her hair for her too. Her spirits lifted way up after we got that treat in. The therapist had given the okay to remove the braces for the shower as long as she didn't use her wrist/hands. It worked out fine. I put a plastic lawn chair in the shower so she could sit while I soaped her up and then she was able to stand for a good rinsing. (sponge baths have been our only option) Her legs are so strong, she just pops right to her feet without even using her hands. She keeps telling me her legs had to be strong to fight off the dog.

The medicine for pain is still keeping her a little confused so I made her a calendar of the March events so she could see the timeline and a calendar for April. I put all of her children's birthdays on the calendars and her appointments. We are going to mark each day off to try to keep her on track. When I told her the kids birthdays were on the calendar she said "oh, okay, but I had a good reason to forget this year right?" She was smiling, I told her this was a pretty good excuse for forgetting, usually it's tax season that causes those days to slip by her, glad my birthday is in September - after tax season!

So other than a few days where she has been somewhat depressed and a hard night of not much sleep last night, she's doing fairly well. She gets down worrying about whether her hand will ever be the same of if she'll ever be able to use the computer again. I keep telling her that she's only finished one week of therapy and the next 11 weeks have a lot to offer. Her pain last night was at a higher level than usual even with the meds and that kept her awake off and on because she couldn't get comfortable. She has cat-napped most of today so I think she's feeling a little better. She's a trooper!

Let me just take a minute to thank Barbara (her cousin), Aunt Nancy, Aunt Janet, Chel, Marlalie, Kitty, and Scott for calling to check in on Mom. It really lifts her spirits to hear from everyone. And she received a beautiful card from the Eastern Heights H&R Block office. Michael says she has lots of cards in Ohio too.

Michael's 3rd surgery went well from what I understand. Please pray that they got the infection under control this time.

Paul's surgery went great also.

If anyone would like to call Mom here at the house, the number is 352-485-1530, We usually go to bed around 9:30 PM. Mom loves the calls but can only comfortably hold the phone for a short while. I am also reading her emails to her anita.gibson18@gmail.com.

Love to all,
Katie