Rehab Diaries--Friday, May 25th

Well, we're through almost 2 weeks of rehab. Woo-hoo. Today, Annie rode her trike again, walked in the gait trainer, tasted some whipped cream and Reese's Peanut Butter ice cream, and lip-synched a bit of Happy Birthday and the ABC song. Bill brought the whipped cream and Reese's in so we could experiment with flavors that might motivate her to eat. As I sprayed some whipped cream on her fingers, I reminded her that Miss Patti & Miss Vickie give her whipped cream from the church latte stand, and that seemed to strike a chord with her--and she tasted it without a fuss.

This afternoon we went outside to get some fresh air and enjoy the warm sun. I think she would have liked to take a nap in my arms--it was so nice out there. Tonight Bill is staying with her, and this weekend, we'll take Annie home for a little visit.

While we're in the hospital, we're still working on calibrating her endocrine system. It's still a bit out of whack. We're also adjusting some other medications. She is such a complex little girl...and as soon as you think you've got everything figured out, it changes!

One great thing though--she hasn't thrown up since the 19th. I think I'll put up an OSHA poster just to monitor how many days we can go without an industrial-sized barf. The doctor had an interesting hypothesis--that as Annie regains motor control of her extremities, she will likely gain motor control of her esophagus. That made a lot of sense to me, and so far, that seems to be the case.

Another significant improvement is that she has more attention--a key ingredient to learning anything new. She is attending more to commands and to what is going on around her. Her attention does decrease when she is tired, but when she's rested, she is tracking a lot better than last week.

Anyway--that's about it for this week. The Rehab doctors, nurses and therapists are great professionals to work with, and are very kind and thoughtful in their care of Annie.

Thank you for your prayers for Annie--we appreciate them and see God answering them!

Love,

Jean