Sunday - March 21st

Its been three weeks and 2 days since Kristi came home from the hospital and a little over 4 and 1/2 months since she got sick. What a journey - today Kristi and I were talking about how far she has come - 1 month ago she was not walking; today she uses her cane but never her wheel chair or walker. She continues to struggle with intense pain but that too seems to be lessening and the doctors tell us that as she continues to get stronger the pain should settle down.

As of yesterday she added on more therapy - Hep pa-therapy; yes she went for ride yesterday. A fat little pony, quit lazy, walked her around on a lunge line. A double edged sword but this ride was for her soul and to help her build strength, especially her core. She was exhausted afterwards but left with her next "lesson" scheduled. She rode bareback with a vaulting pad that has handles instead of reigns and she was stronger than the therapist anticipated (even got to do a little sitting trot) She is still very weak but is getting stronger ever day. When she gets sad and frustrated I try to remind her where she has come from and that this is a process that you just have to muscle through. We have been told that it takes 3-4 days of work for every day that you spend in bed, to get back to where you were before. Yeep - that's a year but as hard as Kristi is working I will bet she is back sooner!

She is worried about her short-term memory but I have noticed improvement there as well. We work lots of Sudoku and cross-word puzzles together. She is going to take some summer school classes at the junior college up the street. This will give her an opportunity to test herself and get back in the groove. She will then decide whether to go back to school in September or January - either way, she is determined to go back and graduate.

All and all - we are "hanging" tough!!
Lots of love!
Jayme
PS - love your comments and I will respond to them directly.

March 16th

Mark has been giving me a little grief because I have not been very diligent about keeping all of you updated. The truth is these last few weeks have been emotionally draining, very exhausting and its been harder than usual for me to focus on the positives- it has definitely been a whirlwind! Not only does Kristi need full time care but she has 8 therapy appointments a week and at least one doctor appointment.She also started an "adaptive" swim program this week which she loves! It helps her manage her pain while making her strong. It feels like just managing her schedule is a full time job!

She is in intense pain and it is very disabling (we are working on some new strategies for managing)and she often wakes up crying 2 or more times a night. The Doctors tell her that as she gets stronger it should lessen but it may be something that she deals with all of her life. She has more cognitive issues, especially short term memory and attention deficits, than I had previously realized but we remain hopeful that it will improve. When I ask the medical staff what to expect in terms of improvement in this area, they are very vague and not necessarily very positive. (So many unknowns in brain injuries)She still has a great deal of weakness in both her right hand and lower leg and foot but she has a really great brace that helps her walk. Improvement in this area is also about 50/50 but in terms of statistics, Kristi continually beats the odds so I am betting on her!!!

Most of the time her spirits stay positive but she misses her friends and is pretty lonely up here - she doesn't have many relationships in this area as she never lived here. We are working on ways to get her involved in the community and she did go with her therapisttoday to enroll in the handicapped program at our local junior college. Due to budget cuts scheduling classes is very difficult but she will get priority this way. She just wants to take something fun and is very interested in cooking classes. I think that she will take a chocolate making class - maybe she will gain a few pounds too! Speaking of that, we are working hard at getting some weight on her; trying to hit 100 but so far I seem to be the only one feeling the effects of this. OPPS! OH WELL!

I'll try to write sooner - miss seeing all of you!!!
Love Jayme

March 3rd

Things jus't keep getting better! It's almost crazy how quickly her strength improves; we can measure Kristi's improvement daily. She started walking with a cane only on Thursday (just a few steps)and as of date both the wheelchair and walker have been parked. Her spirit remains strong and determined. You can see how far she has come - The first photo is the day she left the rehabilitation hospital, the second is the day she left ICU and the third is Christmas. Love to all Jayme