It's Been a Good, Good Week

Hi All! Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy week! Jamie has continued to improve and gain more and more function each day, and we are so thrilled.  She got her cast off on her birthday, so she has been working on using her left hand a lot more.  It is not as strong as her right hand, but it is getting stronger.  She still has some swelling, but she has a nifty new isotoner glove that she wears to bring the swelling down.  It looks better each day. 

Jamie also continues to progress in all her therapies.  This week in PT was pretty exciting! Jamie can now walk the length of the hallway while being supported by the hand rail on her right side and her physical therapist walking in front of her.  She is holding pretty much all of her own weight, but needs guidance for her therapists to keep her hips aligned and her left leg pointed the right direction.  I nearly fell over when I saw her walking down the hall!!  Pretty soon, she may be running down the hall and making a break for the door! :)

Speech therapy continues to be exciting.  We are pretty sure this is her favorite therapy - her therapist is AWESOME and he genuinely enjoys working with Jamie.  Jamie can really sense this, and he by far gets the best work out of her.  This week she has been working on the "word game". Her therapist will give her a word, and she will work on spelling it out loud.  The hard ones she has mastered are "volleyball" and "pillow", and she does them with perfect clarity.  She is also teaching her therapist french! He will ask how to say a word, and she will tell him (its all really simple stuff - yes, please, etc.)  We think that some of the confused language coming out is because she does know three languages.  We are convinced that some of the "jibberish" is only jibberish to us because none of us pitiful one-language-speakers can actually understand the language she is speaking. 

The other big thing that happened this week is that Jamie is now on a regular diet! She was doing so well in speech with chewing and swallowing, that she is cleared for real food! Go Jamie! I was there the first time she got a sandwich, and she couldn't stop smelling the bread, it was pretty hilarious.  Then she took a bite of the sandwich (chicken salad) and made a face and said "gross." So, her tastebuds are intact.  She still has the feeding tube, because she will have to supplement whatever calories she doesn't get with the liquid stuff.  This is such a great step, and we are so proud of her. 

The best story of the week (to me) revolves around her netbed.  We call it her tent, so that she feels safe and that it is a good thing.  Ron and I were sitting with her, talking about it, and this is how the conversation went:

Lailah:  Jamie, is this your new tent?
Jamie:  Yeah.
Lailah:  Do you like your new tent?
Jamie:  Yeah, it's okay.
Lailah:  It's pretty cool, huh?
Jamie:   It's so I don't escape. 
Lailah and Ron: Burst into laughter. 

Yes, Jamie, its so you don't escape.  She's a smart one.  Thanks everyone for continuing to keep posted on our girl.  Please be praying that she continue to gain awareness.  She is more and more aware each day, so we see those prayers working.  Please also pray that the jibberish speech will begin to drop off. It has started to, but I think it frustrates her to not be able to communicate what she wants.  Please pray that her ability to communicate becomes more and more consistent and clear.  Also, please be praying for our stamina.  We have to constantly keep reminding ourselves that this is a marathon, and not a sprint.