Day #78

I took the kids to see Jennifer this past weekend. It was very uplifting to see the changes in Jennifer since I last saw her 3 weeks ago. 3 weeks ago she was essentially non-responsive. This time I saw her smile, giggle, laugh, talk, & communicate in other ways. It made my heart so happy!

Besides saying "hi" & "bye" she now says several other words. The dr was in her room one day last week & asked Jennifer who was sitting in the chair beside her bed. Jennifer said "mom".

Our brother asked her to say "bubba" which is what she called him growing up. She said it! She called me "sissy" growing up, but I thought that might be too difficult for her so I asked her if she could say "Lynn" & she did! She struggles a little & it takes some time to get the words out, but she can do it! The dr said her vocal cords are still separated from the ventilator being put in, but said they should grow back together. When they do, it will become much easier for her to talk.

Jennifer understands everything that is said to her & will respond accordingly with a smile, a giggle, a big laugh, frown, tears, etc. She answers "yes" or "no" questions by lifting her right hand if the answer is "yes". Or if you're holding her hand, she'll squeeze your hand if the answer is "yes". This makes it much easier to know what she needs or wants or if there's something wrong. You can ask her questions such as "Are you cold?", "Are you hot?", "Are you in pain?", "Does your stomach hurt?", "Does your hip hurt?", etc...just keep asking questions until she says "yes". Previously not knowing what she wanted or needed was very upsetting for us. We could tell she was upset or needed something, but we had no idea what. Now she can tell us!

The kids had been wanting to see their "Aunt Fer", but I wasn't sure about taking them before because I was afraid it might be too upsetting. Jennifer was very happy to see them though. They drew & colored her lots of pictures to go with the ones they & their cousins had already made for her. She now has lots of beautiful artwork decorating her room. There's no doubt to anyone who walks in her room that she has lots of people who love her! She still has problems with her eyes & seeing. She stares off to the right a lot so the kids put a lot of artwork on the wall to the right of her bed. The drs said her poor eyesight & eye movement are due the muscles behind her eyes being weak & also as a result of the brain damage, but should continue to heal with her brain. She gets very upset when someone mentions her eyesight or eye movement. Something else that upsets her is when someone mentions "physical therapy". She gets upset & starts crying if someone says she has to go to physical therapy. It hurts her because of her hip & I'm sure it's not fun either. That would be like someone making me get out of bed & go to the gym & workout! I would cry too!!! During the week she has speech therapy & physical/occupational therapy twice a day.

My brother & his wife were in St. Louis this weekend also. We were all in Jennifer's room & my brother was talking on the phone with our dad. Dad was getting a new yellow lab puppy (his yellow lab had passed away the day before). Dad was trying to think of a name for this new dog. We were all discussing names for this dog. Obviously Jennifer was listening because she said "Maaar - leeeey" as in the movie/book, Marley & Me, about a yellow lab. Jennifer read this book a couple of years ago & it's one of her favorite books. I asked her "Do you want Dad to name the puppy Marley?" And Jennifer lifted her hand for "yes". John told Dad Jennifer said to name the dog Marley so that's what dad named it! For those of you who don't know what Marley & Me is about, it's a true story about a man & his yellow lab named Marley who he calls the worst dog in the world. This dog never grew out of the puppy stage, always causing problems & getting into things. I told Jennifer "Hopefully, this Marley won't be like the one in the book!" Jennifer laughed.

I saw Jennifer smile, giggle, & laugh big belly laughs several times this weekend. It made me so happy inside. Another thing that made her laugh was talking about when she was born. Dad took my brother & I to the hospital to see the new baby. We were looking at the babies in the nursery & Dad pointed out which one was ours. Our brother who was 8 at the time pointed to another baby, a red-headed boy, & said he wanted that one instead! He thought you could just pick out which baby you wanted! He didn't want ANOTHER sister! Jennifer laughed hard at this story.

Jennifer said David's name for the first time this weekend. He walked out of the room & she started calling "Daaa-vid".

It was great to hear her saying words unprompted such as "Marley" & "David". She also tried to say "I love you" to the kids. They were telling her they love her & she said "I love" several times, but couldn't ever get the "you" out, but I told her we knew what she was trying to say & the kids know she loves them.

It's heartbreaking to see her cry. Our brother had to leave on Sat to come back home. He's a firefighter & a paramedic & had to work Sun. When he & his wife told her they were leaving, she got very upset & started crying, not just tears, but a heartbreaking cry with sound & tears. Everyone in the room was crying. Because I knew she would get upset when the kids & I had to leave on Sunday, I dreaded having to tell her so I put it off as long as I could. I was crying just thinking about it. And as expected she got very upset. I tried explaining to her that the kids had to go to school today. I know she understands, but she still gets upset. Once again, Jennifer was crying so the rest of us, including the kids were crying. When Jennifer smiles, everyone else smiles; when Jennifer laughs, everyone else laughs; when Jennifer cries, everyone else cries!

She loves having visitors & mom has to return to work on Friday so she will no longer have someone with her all the time. She'll return to visit Jennifer on her days off. Mom has been sleeping in a chair in Jennifer's room because anytime she mentions going to a hotel, Jennifer gets upset & starts crying. My daughter was crying Sat night because she's worried about what Jennifer's going to do when Mom has to leave. Since Jennifer loves to have visitors, anyone who wants to go visit her is welcome to!

They continue to work on feeding Jennifer. She's gotten chocolate pudding & applesauce. They gave her pureed tuna noodle casserole & thickened soup for dinner the other night. She gets choked on something as thin as water, so it has to be thickened for her. Hopefully soon she will be able to eat all 3 meals by mouth & no longer need a feeding tube.

My son was saying his prayers last night & as always he asked God to keep healing Aunt Fer, but he also asked God to take care of all the people in the hospital. He's 9 (he'll be 10 tomorrow!) & told me while we were at the hospital that it made him sad to see so many people sick. So he's been praying for everyone at the hospital, not just Aunt Fer.

We saw Josiah & Kacyn yesterday. They are even cuter than their pictures! Josiah'd been ornery before we got there dumping out a basket of laundry that Grammy had just folded! Grammy took lots of pictures of my kids with Jo & Kacyn. David gave me some beautiful pictures of the boys. One of Josiah & Kacyn together & one of each of the boys by themselves. These are the Christmas pictures that were taken for Jennifer. I have the pictures on my fireplace mantle.

Jennifer's left hand & fingers are curled up & she is unable to move her left arm, hand, leg. They've put a splint on her hand to try to straighten her hand out. That hand & arm hurt when someone tries to move them for her.

Please pray for Jennifer's brain, eyes, left hand, left arm, left leg, eating, vocal cords, complete healing. The prayers are working! It was so amazing & uplifting to see the progress that has occurred over the last few weeks. Also please pray for strength, comfort, & encouragement for her. She's fighting a little bit of depression & is being given medication to help with it. Also please continue to pray for Kacyn's brain/head as well as strength, comfort, & encouragement for David & the rest of the family. I'm not sure how we would have coped without all your prayers, support, & love. It has helped more than you will ever know & we will never be able to thank you enough.

Love,
Lynn