GOODMINTON

She's Baaaaaaack!

2011-02-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

No, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth! We're here! We're all in San Carlos! and God is good!

Okay, let me back up. The past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind for the Morris family. We have all said goodbye to lovely Bakersfield and have successfully moved Kathy, Jamie, Ryan and Lailah all back to San Carlos! (Not under the same roof, mind you, but San Carlos isn't too big). Jamie and Kathy are glad to be back in the Bay Area and getting adjusted to our new normal This is the first time that all the Morrises have lived in the same town, and I think we are settling in pretty well.

Jamie is getting used to a new schedule at her new clinic here, but there is an endless amount of planning that has gone in and is still going in to getting our girl into a good routine. We are very thankful to everyone who continues to reach out to us and see what we need, and we promise to let you know once we know!

Ryan and I moved to San Carlos in the middle of January, and Jamie and Kathy returned from Bakersfield about a week later. Everything seemed to happen right around the one year anniversary of Jamie's accident, which was quite an interesting time-frame. It's been over a year now since the accident, and I can't believe how far Jamie's come, and how much God has worked and changed all of us. A year ago we were settled into Santa Clara Valley, willing Jamie's muscles to grow strong enough for her to sit up on her own. Today, she has levels of independence that no one would ever assure us of. Most of all, Jamie is excited to be around her friends and family. I think that was the hardest thing for her in Bakersfield, that she was so far away from everyone! We see a difference in her here because she is just so happy to be back with her people!

As you might have guessed, I think it is time for this to be the final official update on Jamie's recovery for the time being. She gets better each day, but they are not the things that make for good blogging :) The improvements are much more subtle, and things that are measured better by her therapists than little ol me. We have our girl back, and that's the greatest update I could ever give.

Know that our family could not have made it through this last year without all of you. Your prayers carried us overseas and back again, to San Jose and Bakersfield over and over again. We are by no means at the end of the struggle. We continue to need to advocate for Jamie with her insurance and treatment, and we still need your prayers for that and all it carries. But please know that we appreciate and can never repay all that you all have done over the past months. So, for a final time, I'll leave you with these prayer requests:

- Doors be opened for Jamie to get more hours of therapy
- doors be opened for Jamie to get involved in some volunteer work in the community
- continued cognitive recovery
- continued recovery of movement in her left hand
- continued faith for all of us.

We love you,

Us.

Merry Thanksgiving and a Happy Christmas!

2010-12-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

This holiday season has brought so many blessings! In the last few weeks (okay, months) a lot has been happening with our Jamie girl. She has passed the cognitive skills test at CNS that all residents are to complete. It consists of 26 different levels/tasks that test and exhibit various levels of cognitive function. Some of the tasks involve categorizing things and go from simple to more complex. From what I can understand, it also involves recognizing what items perform what functions and how different objects relate to us and each other. It is a huge deal at CNS and is a big deal in marking the healing of a TBI patient. When Jamie finished all 26 levels, she had to go up to the front desk and announce it over the loud speaker for the whole clinic to hear. (totally her favorite thing...okay, maybe not.) At any rate, it is a big sign to us that Jamie continues to heal and get better as each week passes.

Jamie has moved into her own apartment at CNS and needs less supervision. She only has an aid a few hours a day while she's not in clinic, which is a push to let her be more independent. They are also working on independence at the clinic - having her do more and more on her own with less supervision. We are pretty sure that Jamie is nearing (if not already at) the end of the program that CNS has to offer. With her progress, independence and passing the cognitive skills test, she has pretty much progressed to the extent that CNS can help her.

With that being said, we are pretty confident that Jamie's next step will be to come home to San Carlos! As God has done throughout the last year, He has already provided so much for her return home. He provided a place in downtown San Carlos for her to live, with an affordable rent that is within walking distance to pretty much anything she needs. It literally got plopped in our laps without having to look for it. She is also pretty set with the big furniture items (except a dining/kitchen table, so if you've got an extra, send it over!)

Thanksgiving was a great treat - J got to come home for about a week and we crammed in lots of family and friend time. We were able to resume our Thanksgiving tradition of doing a little Morris baking the Wednesday before. This year Ron and Jamie took care of the pies (as per usual), but Ron handed over the reins of the Morris Rolls to Jamie and yours truly. We had to do 4 batches of a dozen - Jamie managed 2 and I managed 2. Mine were awesome. (okay so were Jamie's, but I so rarely get to brag about myself on here.) What a blessing to be together - doing normal family things on a family holiday that we love. What struck me that weekend is that Thanksgiving was when Jamie was scheduled to come home from the Peace Corps. I am so thankful (no pun intended) that God brought our girl home for the very holiday that we had been looking forward to for over 2 years. What a sweet God.

Christmas has come and gone at the Morris homestead, and it was a good time had by all. Jamie got her hair done at the salon for the first time in ages, and I think we were all a little shocked at how long its gotten! She has worn it curly since its been short, so its been difficult to gauge the length, but the hairdresser blew it out and its on its way to her shoulders. It was really cute - I'll have to find some pics to show you all. Christmas came with more family traditions - Christmas Eve Dim Sum at the Fenechs house and orange cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. We also got to celebrate Christmas dinner with Kathy's side of the family. There may have been some Peppermint Cosmos that livened up the evening...but that's all I'll say on that. :) There were more than a few teary prayers at our different Christmas events, but one thing seemed to be the consensus - Jamie was our best present this holiday season. God saved her life last January so that He could do great things in her healing, so that He could make Himself known to us by the miracles He has worked in her life. Her life, her healing, her progress are the most cherished gifts that any of us have received.

So with that, I usher you into 2011. May it be a year of milestones and celebrations, of victories big and small. Wishing you all a Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year filled with amazing adventures and blessings.

love, us.

New Address, New Skills, New Experiences

2010-11-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks!

The thing that stands out the most in Jamie's progress is that there are new things all the time. Because J has continued to progress and gain more skills, she has "graduated" to her own apartment. It is still in the CNS complex, but she only has about 2-3 hours of supervision by the RAs, instead of all the the time. She is in the apartment on her own and LOVES it! Its really cute, a bit more updated than the old one. Most of all, its a place Jamie can call her own. She loves the increased independence as well as the privacy.

This last weekend we went down to visit our girl, and she had a project. Her project was to plan our activity for Saturday and she did a great job! One of the things that we've all kind of fallen into a pattern of doing is telling Jamie what to do. The next step in her recovery is to work on her initiating activities, daily tasks and just everyday living. Hence the project. Jamie came up with the idea to go bowling and planned the whole thing. Got directions, figured out operation times, all that stuff. She even managed to win the second game! We had a lot of fun, having Jamie boss us around ;)

If you want to be mailing stuff to Jamie at her new apt, feel free! Her new address is:

Jamie Morris
Apt. 411, 2500 Gosford Rd.
Bakersfield, CA 93309

Feel free to send her notes, letters, christmas presents..whatever!

We need some prayers for the next logistical steps for Jamie. Ultimately, we want whats best for Jamie and what we are hearing from her doctors and therapists is that more time at CNS would still be beneficial for her recovery and so we are hoping that we get the greenlight from her insurance to stay as long as is necessary. At the same time, it does seem that J is getting pretty far along in CNS' program, which is really exciting. She keeps getting better and she just keeps plugging along.

So please be praying for Jamie's future - that she continue to get all the therapies she needs, that her insurance approve her for a longer stay and that we can be figuring out the next steps after CNS. Eventually, Jamie will "graduate" from CNS and we need a plan! We are working on it, so please pray that God guide our steps and pave the way ahead of us (as He has done this entire journey!)

Jamie's New Digs

2010-11-06T09:21:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I have run out of witty titles...in fact, I think I've used THIS title before!

2010-10-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

When you have a blog, I think the hardest thing is thinking of the title of each post. I mean, I suppose the whole "what do I write and how do I make it interesting" task is a bit more complicated, but whatever.

Anyway...Jamie is awesome. She had a conference on the 8th, and we got some good reports. She had another No Cue period, and she did pretty well. She did a better job at initiating her morning tasks by using her daily checklist and alarm to get ready. J is also working on increased independence while at the clinic. Several of her therapies now require her to do exercises and or projects before her therapists make contact - this initiation practice is helpful in creating independence.

J also showed improvement in processing in emergency situations. When asked about certain scenarios, she was able to communicate how to fix certain problems. She is getting better at actually doing those things, but still needs some work.

Her reading level and memory continue to get better. We have noticed that she is able to tell stories from the past few weeks and seems to be doing SO MUCH better at remembering details and events. Its great. Also, she is now working on passing an 8th grade reading level. (Which, to be honest is probably what most of us read at!!) She just continues to improve and improve.

I think the most encouraging thing for me is how much Jamie is improving in her awareness and her ability to communicate. Each time we go down, she just seems more and more aware of what happened, what's going on and how she's doing. She is able to communicate on a nonverbal level better and better - facial expressions, intonation & inflection and that type of thing. The staff has noticed that she does better at that type of communication when she is dealing with friends and family - not as much with them. (which kind of makes sense - aren't we all more animated and engaging with our loved ones?)

I can only imagine how frustrating it is for her - she knows that she had an accident and that she is working on getting better; but to her, she's just Jamie. She's such a trooper, and I am so proud of her. She knows that there are things at clinic that she doesn't like doing, but she trusts us and trusts her therapists and trusts God enough to know that it is for her good. Her goal is to get better and get home, and she knows that if she keeps working hard, she will meet that goal. Go Jamie, Go!!

Today is the 10 month mark. Wow. I feel like a lifetime has passed in that time, and I have been amazed at God's faithfulness. I was reminiscing with Kathy this last weekend about the first few days and weeks after the accident - getting to Germany and back and the craziness that ensued. I will never forget standing in security gate house at Landstuhl trying to explain the guys running security who we were, why we were there and why they should let us onto a secure military base. I will never forget telling the woman at the car rental that we had just flown from the States and were trying to get out to Landstuhl because our daughter and sister was in the hospital. I will never forget seeing Jamie for the first time. Or rolling onto the tarmac at Ramstein at 6 am after spending the night in the ICU, staring up at the HUGE C-CAT plane that was going to take us home. So many images are forever etched in our family's memory. Another thing I will never forget is that I could actually feel your prayers. There was a real, palpable feeling that we all had - God covering us, reassuring us that it would all be okay. I know now that what we felt was God's love through your prayers.

Okay, I'm getting all mushy and weepy eyed. Enough of that for now. :)

The following passage has been very meaningful over the course of this whole journey, always reminding me that no matter what, God is in control. I may have shared it before, but it bears repeating.

Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy bagitation of teh Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear'
he burns the chariots with fire.
"Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Love, Us.

Sometimes Jamie says funny things....

2010-10-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

Jamie: there's this guy at the clinic who doesn't eat dairy products.

Ryan: is he a vegan?

Jamie: No, vegans only eat vegetarians.

**laughter and hilarity ensued as Jamie realized that vegans eat vegetables...not vegetarians. I asked her if she ate vegetarians. Her response?

Jamie: No, i'm not a cannibal.

:)

Fun in Sequoia National Forest

2010-10-09T23:09:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip to find some hot springs in sequoia national forest - only to find it closed! We only found out later that everything down river from the dam is closed so that the corps of engineers is working on it, so it's kind of a public safety risk (ie we could have been washed away...)whoops. But we're safe. And dry. And never found the hot springs.

But we did find a ginormous pine cone.

Words With Friends

2010-09-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have Iphones/Ipads etc., you may know the addiction that is Words with Friends. Its a scrabble-type game that you can play against other people who have the app for their phone. It has provided endless entertainment for me...and now Jamie! We are currently in a bit of a quandry, as I have no vowels and there are only 3 letters left in the pot! She text-yelled at me the other day to get me to make my move...I guess I had been a bit of a slacker? Ah well...

I forgot to tell the water volleyball story! When we were down last, we got to spend a day at the clinic with J, and see what that looks like for her. During PT, she and some other patients got in the pool to play water volleyball. Most of you may know that Jamie has always been a volleyball player (and she's pretty good, too) so it was a really neat treat! She was great about calling everything with the proper hand signals, making sure to let all the guys know when they hit the ball out of bounds and when it was in. (and no, I do not know correct volleyball terminology). I think she really enjoyed it, and I know we enjoyed watching her!

Happy Soon to Be October!

More!

2010-09-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I got to go down over labor day, and it was great to have such a long time down with Jamie. She has also had some girlfriends come down and visit, which she has loved! Jamie keeps getting better and better, the things that stand out to me are in her memory and awareness. Each time we see her, she is more aware and engaged in conversation and what is going on, and she is able to remember longer stretches of time.

When we were down over labor day, we got to attend the monthly conference where we go over what goals J has met and what the next ones are. It was really cool to see the clinic and where Jamie spends her days, as well as meeting her therapists. We learned that her reading is getting better, and I think that goes hand in hand with her memory.

Physical therapy is going great. She is up to walking about 30 minutes at a time, and her therapists are increasing all of her exercises to get her stronger and stronger. She is doing GREAT on her balancing exercises, and she keeps improving and getting better on balance. I think I see running in her future! (that is one of the ultimate goals, btw.)

For right now, Jamie's come home date is in December. That is how much her insurance has approved, so that's kind of what we are looking towards. Now, as long as she keeps getting better and it's a benefit for her to be at CNS, she may be able to stay. She may stay longer, but we have to get closer to that date. Jamie knows that being at CNS is good for her recovery and getting better, but its a bit of an open secret that Bakersfield...is...not as cool as the Bay Area. :)

Over labor day, we also got to go to a meeting with some of Jamie's doctors (different from the conference) to go over her MRI results and get some more information about her actual injury. Jamie didn't come to that meeting because she was in therapy, but it was super informative. We got to look at some of her MRI pics and see what is going on in there. The major injury is still the shearing of the axons, which has cause some generalized volume loss, adn there are some bruises that will pretty much always be there.

She also has a subdural hematoma, which is essentially a sheen of blood over the surface of the brain. From what I understood, that hematoma doesn't really effect anything, but the doctors want to keep an eye on it. As for recovery, what the therapies are doing and what her brain is doing is creating new pathways and connections to compensate for the sheared ones. So, its the same airplane analogy - where once everything was a direct route to pass information, now things have to make multiple connections. One helpful thing the docs said was that even though she is having to make these new connections, she will get quicker at things the more she practices and the more she does things. Just like when you go somewhere new for the first time, it may take a while to get there. But as you travel the route over and over, it becomes innate and you get quicker and do it with less and less effort. Make sense?

So practically speaking, as Jamie relearns how to do things and does them over and over, she will get better at them and be able to do more and more on her own. She is doing really well with her independent living skills in the apartment, and is very capable of doing most things on her own.

Please keep praying for our girl, mainly that she just continue to improve. Also be praying that the staff at the apartments be working with her on her vision exercises, and that she continue to gain more and more independence.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait!

2010-08-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry for the long hiatus in blogging. I'm pretty sure that the summer of 2010 has proven to be the busiest of our lives! This weekend was one of the first that Ryan and I have been home in several months, so it was nice to catch our breath. We have been able to go down and visit Jamie about every three weeks. This rhythm has been great because there is enough time in between visits that we can see a difference and improvement in her abilities, but its not so long that we get too anxious about being separated too long. That being said, there is a lot to catch you all up on!! I am going to try and do these in installments, cause there is a lot of info! So, without any further delay...

Vision
Jamie went to a neuro-opthamologist (I think in LA) and went through some testing to pinpoint the precise issues with her vision. We have always known that her eye health is fine, but we have also known that there were vision issues that were neurological. The doctor had her put on all different types of glasses that isolated different areas of the eye to really figure out what she was seeing. So, the major issues are that she has a significant blind spot in the middle of her left eye, and the peripheral vision on her left side is impaired. She also has a "suppression" issue going on. Basically this means that she would probably have some blurred vision as well, but her brain is somehow suppressing whatever is causing the blurriness. The positive is that she isn't really struggling with blurred vision, but the negative is that it's not really being corrected - she's just coping with it. Convergence is still an issue as well. Most of us look at things and the eyes send two messages to the brain and the brain puts it into one image. Jamie’s not doing that, her brain is having one eye look because her brain isn’t meshing the two images. I think, but I'm not sure, that this goes hand in hand with the blurry vision/suppression. The vision issues are affecting her balance and gait, but there is a plan! Jamie has a vision exercise plan that she is supposed to work on both at the clinic and at her apartment. So, we are hopeful that this will, with time, improve.

No Cue Day
I think most of you will remember that J had a "no cue day" scheduled, where she wouldn't be prompted to do anything, and she would be evaluated based on what she is starting herself. This day happened a few weeks ago. She did a great job and getting herself up and ready, but didn't quite make it out to the bus to go to clinic. :) She was waiting for someone to come get her. She did get bored later and went out for a walk, so that was kind of neat. The staff will be working on getting her to start doing more things on her own. She is at a place now where she needs to be doing things for herself so things will be geared toward getting her to take more initiative in anticipation of the next no cue day. In PT and OT, she has things that she is supposed to start once she gets there, without any prompting from her therapists. So, the focus is now more and more towards her starting tasks and thinking about the next step, because those are steps toward independence! woohoo!

Memory
We have seen such a huge improvement in Jamie's short term memory. When she first came to Bakersfield, J's short term memory was pretty much only seconds and minutes, sometimes hours on the things that were repetitive and happening every day. Now, we are blown away with what she can remember. She will relate stories from the previous week, she can tell us how her week has been, what things she's done and is doing in therapies, info that is days and weeks old. One Sunday while Ryan and I were there, we took Jamie to church. She had been a few times, over the course of several weeks. The church is doing a sermon series on questions from the members of the church, and the weekly bulletin has a big question mark with all of the topics on the front. When we sat down and were looking at the bulletin, Jamie pointed to one of the topics and said "I was here for this sermon. Mom really liked it, I thought it was okay." After checking with Ron and Kathy, I confirmed that J had in fact heard the sermon and that Kathy did like it! When J told me this, it had been two weeks since hearing it!

All in all, the course is on an upward trajectory. Jamie has never plateaued and she continues to make baby steps and improvements. Please pray for the following things:

1. Jamie taking initiative and needing less and less prompting.
2. Vision - that God heal the connectors that are creating the blind spot and vision issues. This will help with so many things.
3. Attention span - that she be able to focus for longer periods of time without it tiring her out too much.
4. COMPLETE RECOVERY! I feel like it has been a while since we specifically asked for this, but it is still there. We have not given up that God will completely heal Jamie, that He will restore her and put her back together in a way that is better than new. :) We are praying for her independence and her future, and that God continue to bless her recovery.

Love, Us.

(more installments to come)

I know it's been a month.

2010-08-12T23:52:00.001-07:00

And I'm sorry. And this is just a little teaser - Ryan and I are going down to B-field this weekend, so stay tuned!!

-L

So here we are...

2010-07-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Over five months since Jamie's accident, and she has improved more and faster than anyone dared hope for. We have been praying for a full recovery since January 18, but I don't know that any of us could picture it. Especially for the first few weeks, those prayers for a full recovery were ones of desperation, where I was praying because I didn't know what else to do. Now, I am praying for a full recovery because I am beginning to believe its actually possible.

J has been in B-field (as we affectionately refer to it) for almost two months, and the improvement is remarkable. When she arrived and completed her first evaluation, her deficiencies were most prevalent in her cognitive processing and her short term memory. This included issues with self care, independent living and some reading comprehension. In the last few weeks, Jamie had her next evaluation, to see how much she has improved from that initial baseline eval. We are ecstatic with her progress.

J's physical progress has always been strong. She continues to get stronger and more coordinated. She told her physical therapist that she wants to start running, so he will be easing her into that. Once he is comfortable with her balance (and we think she is getting pretty close), he will start her jogging and building her up to actually running. Before the accident, Jamie was in the beginnings of training for a marathon. After the accident, it was furthest from our minds. Now, there seems to be a glimmer of hope that its one more goal that Jamie will obliterate! Now, we just have to get the rest of us into shape to go with her...that may prove to be a bit more difficult.

Another area where we've seen marked improvement is in her independent living skills. These skills are measured on a 0-100 scale. When Jamie first got to B-field, she was hovering in the 40s. NOW, she is in the 80s!! This means that she can do most things on her own around the house, but still needs some cueing and help initiating on some tasks. This high number doesn't mean that she is ready to break and live on her own, but it gives us good hope that this is a someday possibility.

In the next week or two, there will be a 24 hour period where she alone is responsible for getting through her day. Staff will be observing, but no one will step in to cue her on what task to do next or how to do it. I assume that once she gets to the clinic, she will still be helped by her therapists, but getting up, getting ready and going to clinic will be totally up to her. The staff has said that some patients stay in bed all day (which doesn't sound too bad) and some get up as if they need no help whatsoever. I'm sure we all know what we are hoping for with Jamie.

One of the other improvements we've seen is in her reading comprehension (which is obviously a cognitive function.) I think there are six levels or something, and Jamie was at a 1 after the initial eval. I think (but could be mistaken) that she is creeping up to the 5 range, but I have no idea how high that scale goes. All I know is that she can now read People magazine and understand which celebrity the article is about. :)

Church is always a real treat. She sings along, and really follows along to what the sermon is about. Last week, she even took notes in the bulletin, and was totally on point. It was amazing. I think this might be what parents feel like when they see their kids learning and growing. I know she's not my kid, but still, I feel like a proud mama.

Since last weekend was Fourth of July, we just HAD to go see a Giants game! San Jose Giants, that is. The minor league team in B-field (the Blaze, who are incidentally part of the Texas Rangers franchise) were in town for the holiday game. We carried our American flags proudly (and may have gotten yelled at when some were accidentally placed on the bleacher floor behind us) and we sported some festive beads. Jamie was even cool enough to wear a head band with some pinwheels attached, but she got over that. :) We ate ballpark food, cheered for the Giants and sang God Bless America at the top of our lungs.

Some of the most exciting improvements we are seeing are Jamie's increased short term memory and overall awareness. While in church last Sunday, we were looking at the front of the bulletin. The church is doing a sermon serious on questions that people from the congregation had, and all of the summer's topics are listed on the front. Now, as we were walking in, Jamie said she had never been to that church before (but she had been the week or so before with Ron and Kathy). But as we were taking our seats, she was looking at the bulletin and pointed out the previous week's topic. She told me that she had been there for that one, and that her mom liked it! Which is totally true! It was very cool that she was able to retain that for a week! She also posted on my sister's facebook page this week (we'll get there in a minute) that she was really glad to have seen her last weekend. My sister was there last weekend, and Jamie retained that at least until Thursday. She also told Ron and Kathy about the visit this weekend. We are so thrilled to see her be able to retain all of this information.

So, Facebook. As some of you now know, our girl is back in touch with the internet world!! Ron brought her laptop down to B-field a few weeks ago, and she has been loving it! I think most people who've talked to her online or gotten Facebook posts from her were a bit shocked at first, but now we're all just super excited. I think its so great that she can now read all the messages that everyone has been sending these last few months. She commented last weekend about all the emails she had gotten about people wishing her well. I think she can feel the love. :)

Hope all is well with you all - thanks for staying faithful to Jamie as she gets better and better. We love ya, and so does our girl.

love, us.

I realize that I'm a slacker...

2010-06-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

But we'll all just have to get over that. :) Hi everyone! I know you all miss my charming narratives, and I do want them to be more frequent, but life is a bit hectic right now. Okay, enough excuses...I know you just want to hear about Jamie.

Last weekend Ryan and I went down to visit our girl. We are really impressed with the changes and improvements that we see. She still does not like the RAs at the apartment, which we all need prayers on. But no matter her mood, she is willing to do her therapies at the clinic, and is constantly improving. Ron & Kathy will soon have a meeting with the staff to see how they are marking her progress. The first big meeting (after the two week initial evaluation) just covered her baselines. The results were a little discouraging because it really pinpointed exactly where some of her deficiencies were. We are hoping and praying that the next meeting will be more encouraging in that it will give us an idea of how she has progressed since being in Bakersfield.

Last weekend, the thing that stood out the most was her ability to retain more and more short term memory, as well as her general awareness. Her conversational skills have improved, and you are able to have much more of a back and forth with her. Previously, you would have to be the main instigator of conversation, and J would simply respond, without expounding or contributing further to the line of conversation. We noticed last weekend that she is able to keep up more with conversation, start new but related streams of conversation, as well as really think about what her answers are when asked questions. We loved it.

She also did a great job grocery shopping. She was able to multi-task a little and remember several items from her shopping list at once, which is a marked improvement from the first time we went shopping with her. The first weekend she was in Bakersfield, Ryan and I went to the store with her, and we had to keep reminding her that she had a shopping list and what to do with it. That first time, it was also difficult for her to see items on the shelves and recognize them as being what she was looking for; this time she was able to notice things across the aisle or several feet/yards away. Huge difference! She is also learning how to use the shopping list as a tool to help her remember not only what she is shopping for, but also what she has already picked up on that trip. About halfway through the trip, Ryan didn't need to remind her to mark something off the list once she got it, she would do it automatically. It is really great to see her learning these tools that will help her with her independence.

One other area where Jamie needs your prayers is the changeover from short term memory to long term memory. She can retain her short term memory for longer now, maybe several hours or as long as a day, but she can't then bank those new memories into her long term memory. I don't know enough to know whether or not this is improving, but we do know that she could use your prayers in that. Part of this exhibits itself in some of her confusion. She was fixated last week on the idea that she is moving apartments. We don't really know where this came from, but she will be insistent that she is moving. We have to either convince her that she's not (not easy) or divert her attention to something else. Please pray that her confusion will lessen and that her memory (long term and short term) will continue improving. Please pray that she like her apartment, that she try to get to know her roomates, and that she try and get along with her RAs.

A huge blessing we are seeing right now is that Jamie has wanted to go to church each Sunday. Whoever is down for the weekend goes with her, and she really enjoys herself. She sings along with the songs and does a great job of paying attention. She will even lean over and comment to me about things the pastor is saying. This is such an encouragement, to know that she is wanting to seek God in all of this!

All in all, Jamie's progress continues to maintain an upward trajectory. We continue to be amazed at God's handiwork in her recovery. It seems like a lifetime has transpired since the accident, but it has been only 5 months. I think she is making a speedy recovery, and is surpassing all our expectations! Keep going Jamie!! We will be praying for God to work out all the details...

Playin a little Phase Ten

2010-06-12T16:03:00.001-07:00

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Bakersfield is H.O.T.

2010-06-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

So, many of you know that I grew up in Texas, and that I am half Egyptian. So you would think that I would be able to tolerate the temperatures in Bakersfield. You would be WRONG! Ryan and I went down a few weeks agao, and while the heat wasn't unbearable, it did make me nervous for the heat yet to come this summer. But you don't care about that, you care about Jamie! Our Memorial Day weekend with Jamie was really fun. On Saturday we drove in and took Jamie out to dinner at CPK (her fave) and then just hung out. On Sunday, we got up and went to church (Jamie had to ride the bus, and we followed in our car). I think the most wonderful thing about the service (except God, of course) was to just visit with Jamie and comment on the sermon together. It felt so utterly normal. It was great. I have a bad habit of peeking at Jamie and just trying to watch her while she can't tell that I'm watching. When I would do this during the service, I would catch her singing (along with the rest of the congregation, of course) or reading her Bible! I asked her one time what she was reading, and she looked at me and said "oh, this is the word of God." Well right on.

After church we came home and Ryan grilled hamburgers for us at the pool, and then we braved the sunshine and cold water to get the first swim of the summer. We had a really fun time, and Jamie seemed to like the water. She was grumpy at a few points, but she was certainly content to pig out on pringles, a burger and some watermelon!

Some cool news - Jamie has been cleared to walk without any assisting devices at all times. No walker, cane, nothing, not even out in public. Also, she was previously required (by PT) to have someone at arm's length at all times. PT kept this restriction because of Jamie's balance issues. BUT J is now cleared from that, and the RAs just have to maintain a visual on her. This is great because it gives Jamie more independence, and we hope that this will also help with her mood towards the residential staff.

About that, we really need your prayers. Jamie really does not love the whole RA situation. Because of where she is at cognitively, she thinks she is more independent than what her therapists have signed off on. So the fact that she has 24 hour supervision is really annoying to her. She will be perfectly fine with us, but just won't have anything to do with the RA peeps. We are REALLY thankful that she is cool with her therapists at the clinic. She has a good attitude for her therapies, and we need your prayers that she keeps working at it. Sometimes she will have grumpy moods, but she always participates and does what she is asked.

I know that isn't much, but Morris life is wild and crazy right now. Please be praying for our stamina and all the hectic things going on with visiting Jamie and just regular ol' life.

love love love.

yikes...

2010-06-07T09:07:00.001-07:00

I hadn't realized how long it's been since a post!! Ryan and I went down to B-field on Memorial Day weekend, so I will update today about that trip and all the progress our girl is making! (I promise I haven't forgotten about you all!!)

The testing shall conclude....

2010-05-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

I got a very nice treat yesterday - I got to talk to our girl on the phone! When I called, her RA told her she had a phone call, but Jamie didn't want to come to the phone (this was at almost 9:00 p.m.). I told the RA to tell her it was Ryan and me, which she did, and Jamie took the phone. :) She sounded tired, and told me that she had been napping and that I had kind of woken her up. Oops. She did cheer up through the conversation, and we were able to talk about her day and how everything went. One thing that really struck me was that she said she was really happy to be home. I was confused, and worried that she was confused about where she was. To me, "home" for Jamie is San Carlos. She went on to say that it is exhausting being at the clinic all day, because all they do is test her to see what she can and can't do. It hit me that she was referring to her apartment in Bakersfield as home. That was a bit trippy. I love that she feels like her apartment is her home - that she isn't in a hospital and feels comfortable being there.

We have gotten a mailing address, and one of Jamie's chores is to check the mail each day. I know she would love some mail! If you would like to send her something, please address it to:

Jamie Morris
2500 Gosford Road, #111

Bakersfield, CA 93309

We have learned throughout the evaluation process over the last two weeks that Jamie does have some sensation issues on the left side. She can't really feel hot/cold in the left leg, and there is diminished sensation overall in the left leg. We think this contributes some to her unsteady gait. Speaking of said unsteady gait, Jamie has been cleared to walk without the walker while in her own apartment and the clinic. However, she will still need it out in public and on outings.

CNS is incredible about providing outings and activities for the residents. Jamie has already been mini-golfing, gone to an arcade, and is scheduled to go to a street fair tonight. There is an event virtually every night, and Jamie has been interested in signing up and participating. The first week and half, J's emotions were pretty up and down, and she had a few rough days. The last couple of days have been much better - she is smiling and having a better time at the clinic while doing her testing, and is just more upbeat about it all. Kathy wrote down a few of Jamie's one-liners over the past few days, and they are a good insight into how Jamie is doing.

Words from Jamie

I try not to think so much, but sometimes my head, whoa, thinks a lot.

I wish my friends were here. The friends I left behind are still going to be my friends. It was kind-of hard to leave but it feels worth it.

Things I'm thankful for: being alive, breathing, taking classes.

What I'm learning: I've learned how strong I am. I have to remind myself, "You can do this. It's hard, but it's worth it."

When I have a hard day Legolas gets the brunt of it. Poor guy. But I'm nice to him when I don't have clinic.

My hand is kind-of demented these days. But it looks better - not so blue.

I'm too stubborn to give up.

and the best one of all...

It's hard to remember that it's not my plan. I have to remember God has a plan for me. I don't need to worry because He'll figure out the future for me.

Our girl has come such a long way! So proud of you Jamie!

Once her evaluations are done (Friday) her entire team will meet and construct a future plan of therapies and treatment. We are so impressed with out thorough and detailed CNS - they seem to have it all covered. We hope to get the report and info on Jamie's plan early next week. Please be praying to guide the therapists and doctors to come up with a plan that is great for Jamie - one that she can handle and that encourages her to continue working hard at getting better.

love, Us.

A Few More Photo Ops.

2010-05-10T23:40:00.000-07:00

What a Weekend!

2010-05-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

We've decided that we need to start writing down Jamie's one liners as soon as she says them. They're just too priceless.

While sitting on the floor wrapping Kathy's mother's day present:
Lailah: Jamie, is that smell your feet or mine?
Jamie: They're probably Dad's.

When her RA asked her to do her chores:
Jamie: I am not your slave labor.

When talking about PF Chang's (the next day):
Ron: Do you remember where we had dinner last night?
Jamie: PF Chang's.
Ron: How did you like it?
Jamie: It was okay, I've had better.
(you'd think she would have been ecstatic after 4 months of liquid food and hospital cooking!!)

The BEST part of the weekend (as far as I'm concerned, of course) was walking into Jamie's apartment on Sunday, and seeing her making her breakfast. As she looked up and saw me, her face lit up and she said "Hey! I'm so glad you're here!" MADE MY DAY, MONTH, YEAR!

Okay, I digress. Jamie is doing a great job of adjusting to her new surroundings. She had a little bit of a rough morning on Saturday, was pretty tired and wasn't really into getting her shopping list ready or cooperate with the RAs. (Each resident has a residential assistant - RA). Her spirits had picked up by the time we got there, and she was more cooperative. She got ready and Jamie, Ryan and I, along with her RA went to Trader Joe's to get her groceries for the week. Every Saturday is grocery day, and each resident is responsible for their own shopping. Jamie did a good job with the shopping list, but the sheet is kind of hard to read. She did need some cues if she lost her place, but did a great job of looking for the items once we found the area of the store. We didn't learn until the next day that she actually has a menu for the entire week, which could have been helpful during the shopping. :)

After we got back from shopping, Jamie labeled all her stuff and put it away. She has her own shelves in the fridge and her own cabinets, so she can always know what is hers and what belongs to her roomate. Then it was time for lunch, so Jamie used some of her yummy new ingredients to make a sandwich. At first she didn't want to use mustard and mayonnaise "because they are fattening." But we talked about how boring her sandwich would be without some condiments, and she added them.

It really amazes how much the apartment setting aids in her short term memory development. The improvement we've seen in her memory over just 4 days is amazing. She knows where her towels, etc. are, and that all of her stuff is blue. She is getting the hang of which cabinets in the kitchen are hers, and knows that she needs to clean up after herself whenever she makes something in the kitchen. She knows which drawers in her room hold socks, undies, shirts, and pants, respectively.

She also is getting much better at just general memory stuff. On Thursday and Friday, she sat through several meetings with different nurses and therapists. She was given a LOT of information, and Ron and Kathy weren't sure how much she retained. While she and Ron and Kathy were talking later (about six hours after one of the big meetings) about decorating her room, she knew she couldn't have picture frames, because she's not allowed glass in the apartment. She remembered on Sunday that we went to dinner at PF Chang's on Saturday, and she is consistently getting her days and the date correct. I feel like this has all happened so fast! It seems like last week we were measuring her short term memory by minutes, and now we are measuring it by hours and days! So exciting!!

PF Chang's was our official Mother's Day celebration, and I don't think Kathy could have asked for a better Mother's Day. :) Our little family was together, just the five of us, for the first time in almost 2 years. It was a little surreal to have Jamie sitting in the car next to me, commenting on the traffic and what was causing the hold up. At one point, I think she even gave Kathy some driving advice. :) That's sooooo Jamie.

On Sunday, Ron, Ryan and I went over to Jamie's apartment and Jamie was fixing her breakfast. After breakfast, we took another field trip to Target and Kohl's to look for Kathy's Mother's Day present and some cards. Ron came up with the idea - placemats for the new apartment (and then I supplemented napkins once we got to the store), and then Jamie got the final say. I don't know how many options we gave her, but she was so picky!! We picked up some wrapping paper and cards and headed back to Jamie's apartment for lunch (Jamie made herself some hamburgers, even cutting the tomatoes and using the stovetop) and to wrap the present. We tag-teamed on wrapping the present, and Jamie did a great job of cutting the paper and taping everything into place.

Eventually we had to leave, and I was thankfully able to keep it together while with Jamie. I may or may not have broken down once we got to the car, but that is neither here nor there. I am so excited that Jamie is in a place that is already stimulating such great improvement, but I can't help but be a little (a lot) sad that I can't just whip down to see her when I get the chance. I know that it will be a good thing to have a bit of a quieter schedule, but I already miss her so much. I am so thankful that she had such a good weekend, and that the three of us that made the trek back to the Bay Area left knowing that she is in the best place possible.

I don't think we could have asked for a better transition weekend. Jamie's spirits were high and we are already seeing the benefits of her being in an apartment setting and not having to be in her wheelchair while at home. She is trying so hard to learn and be helpful and cooperative.

The only way I can explain any of it is God's grace. In the worst trial of our family's life, He has been so merciful. Can you believe its been four months? Me either.

The promised photo!

2010-05-08T20:50:00.001-07:00

We came. We ate. We had an awesome time. Today was huge! We got to go grocery shopping, Jamie made her own lunch, and we got to have a family outing to dinner - without supervision! We went to PF Changs and stuffed ourselves silly with yummy food. Jamie had a great time and was all laughs and smiles. One of the best parts was how conversational she was. We would all be talking about something and she would jump right in and answer and participate. It was so fun! She was also able to go without her wheelchair! We do need to walk with her and "spot" her for safety, but she is doing all the hard work herself. It was so surreal to be out and about with our girl, without staff or hospital supervision (not that you guys aren't amazing!) It was so nice to just be us. Jamie really loved it, too. Such an amazing day all the way around. Praise God!!

This is us at dinner:

Please disregard our shiny foreheads.

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Bright Lights, Big City!

2010-05-08T08:52:00.001-07:00

Okay, not really bright lights OR big city, but it is a change of scenery!! Everyone has made it safe and sound to Bakersfield! Ron and Jamie traveled down on Thursday in the van sent by CNS (Jamie’s new facility) and Kathy took her car down. Ryan and I came down after work on Friday. We are now all tucked away in the Morris Home – Bakersfield Campus! Thursday and Friday consisted of several meetings and evaluations for Jamie, Ron and Kathy. The way CNS is set up is pretty neat. Jamie has an apartment that she shares with one other patient. Each patient has a "resident assistant" - their very own RA! The RAs are pretty much like the coaches/nurse's assistants that Jamie had in San Jose. They are with Jamie to help her get stuff done and assist her in performing tasks. There is a bit of a chaperone role for the RAs as well - making sure Jamie is safe and watched over. The patients are picked up each morning at 9 or 10 (Jamie is in the 9 am group) and taken to the clinic to do the full day of therapy. Jamie is there from 9 to 3, with an hour for lunch. It seems like they get some breaks, but not the several hours that J would get in the hospital. The focus of the clinic and the entire program is self sufficiency and independence, so they work really hard all day to do these intensive therapies.

Jamie's first two weeks will be extensive and exhaustive diagnostics. Before her team forms a treatment plan, they will evaluate every tiny bit of Jamie and where she's at, and what she needs to work on. Yesterday there was a lot of time paid to figuring out how her left hand is doing; measurements of her fingers and hand were taken, and they spent quite a lot of time figure out exactly how much range of motion she has and what the deficiencies are. They also spent a fair amount of time checking her eyesight. We have been curious about her eyesight for a while, and are always asking Jamie about it. She always says that its not blurry, and will even test each eye individually to see if one is worse off than the other. She has always maintained that its not blurry, but when she is asked to write in a specific place or point to something, she is usually off about an inch. We learned yesterday that there is a reason for this and it does have to do with her eyesight - is "converging" about an inch off center. (No, I don't know what converging means.) At any rate, its already on her team's radar as an area to work on. We think this might also be tied in to some of her balance issues, but we'll see!

Yesterday Jamie was walking around the apartment on her own, and didn't have to be in the wheelchair. She was opening the door for people and helping put all her stuff away. I think she was even able to boss Ron around a bit, which is always good for him. :) We do think that she will need to be staying pretty much in the wheelchair for a little bit, even in the apartment, at least until physical therapy clears her. She is a good walker, but she has enough balance issues that she is still at risk for a fall. I do not want to be the one to deliver that news to Jamie!

Overall, Jamie has been handling the transition really well. Ron said she had a great ride down, and that she has been very pleasant and attentive at all the meetings and therapies so far. She seems so intent on showing that she is paying attention and really serious about getting better. Its like she wants everyone to know how hard she is trying, which is so neat to see. We have been warned that there is a "honeymoon" period - that the first few days, residents are really excited to be there and excited about treatment. Sometimes that will wear off and the residents will get homesick and whatnot, but we are just going to take one day at a time and hope and pray for the best. We take great comfort in the fact that Jamie is surrounded by a team and staff who know what they are doing and that this is what they do all day every day. We are really pleased that the therapies are all day, and that she even has homework to work on in the evenings. It seems like every moment here is focused on recovery, and that the last thing they want is residents just sitting around, not being stimulated. We are so thankful for that mindset!!

We continue to praise God and trust Him for all that He has done and all that He is doing. On the drive down, Ryan and I were going through some old videos and photos of Jamie when she first started "waking up" and doing stuff. We are constantly amazed at how far she has come, and how much God has already healed her. We know she has come a long, long way, and we continue to pray for a full recovery!! There is still a ton more information, but its breakfast time in Bakersfield! Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!

God Bless!

When you guys pray....

2010-05-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Evidently y'all have some serious praying power! We got word yesterday that Jamie is going to Bakersfield on Thursday!! (aka tomorrow!!)

I'll be back with more details.

Yay!!

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Limbo

2010-05-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

Hi All,

Just to keep you posted on the next step for Jamie - she is still in San Jose at the Rehab Hospital. We had been planning to transfer her to Bakersfield last week, but at the end of the week things (with the facility and Jamie's insurance, not Jamie herself) really deteriorated. At any rate, she is still in San Jose, and we are currently regrouping and trying to figure out the next step. Please be praying about this - that we trust in God to make the right decisions, and that He will be working behind the scenes to work everything out.

God is good, even when we don't know what the next step is!

Bye Bye Umbilical Cord!

2010-04-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Umbilical Cord. Third Arm. Weird Tube Thing. These are the names that Jamie have given her feeding tube over the last three months. Thankfully, we are DONE with it!! Jamie got her PEG tube out this week and it seems to have been an easy transition. I don't think she had any side effects and is still eating well. Sometimes it takes a bit of prompting, but we don't have to keep track of the percentages anymore. Evidently, watching the percentages of how much she ate of each meal was so that she could get off the tube. (I didn't know that until after the tube was out!) At any rate, we are all excited about this next progression!

Jamie has had two special visitors this week! Aunt Carla came down on Saturday, and cousin Debbie is in town for a training in San Jose, and has been able to stop by and see our girl. The last time Debbie came down was almost two months ago, and so much has changed. The last time the Portland family saw Jamie, reality was very different. Jamie hadn't yet started walking, and was just learning how to hold her head up. Most of the time she was in her chair, she would rest her head in her hand, like it took too much energy just to sit up straight. As for her speech, about 90% was jibberish, and we would all work extra hard to pick out 1 or 2 words that make sense. Transferring in and out of her chair took two people, and she could only have a few visitors at a time. I think she had just gotten her trach out, so she still had the opening in her neck, and was having "air leakage". (This is the more appropriate term for the farting noise coming out of her neck. :) hehe.) Carla and Debbie were both blown away by how far Jamie has coming. Their reactions have really gotten me jazzed up, because its a nice reminder that we are still moving forward. It is a reminder that Jamie is still healing, bit by bit. Those baby steps really are adding up to big changes!!

Now on to business. :) We really need everyone's prayer's right now for the next phase of Jamie's recovery. The plan we were banking on may be falling through, so we are needing all of your prayers for wisdom and guidance. We have been told that the residential treatment facility we were planning on transferring Jamie to is the best thing, and her team in San Jose were all in favor of it. Now its not looking so great, but we are still just waiting to see what's best. We need a lot of prayers to know exactly what to do and how to proceed.

love love love you all!

Tales from Tuesday

2010-04-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

So sometimes when I am talking to Jamie, I feel like a teacher who is constantly quizzing her. (the following is a fictional exchange that resembles a lot of our conversations.)

Me: Jamie, what's my name?
Jamie: Lailah.
Me: And who am I?
Jamie: My sister in law.
Me: Do you know what happened to you, like why you are in the hospital?
Jamie: I was in an accident, and I hit my head.
Me: Are you tired of me asking you questions?
Jamie: Yes. Please shut up.

Okay, that last one hasn't happened quite yet...well, she did say she would like it if I stopped talking, but that's because she was tired and is totally not the same. ANYWAY. I am on this tangent because Steph and I went down to visit Jamie last night and had a really lovely evening. She was already resting in bed when we got there, so we just hung out a bit. We started talking about her potential move to a transitional residential facility, what that would look like and whether she had any questions. Below is a rough recount of the conversation.

Me: So what do you think about going to a place like that?
Jamie: Well I'm still uncertain.
Me: What kind of questions do you have?
Jamie: Will there be people there that I get along with?
Me: Probably. I know there are a lot of people there around your same age.
Jamie: Are there Christians there?
Me: I'm sure there are. One of the places is in Bakersfield, so it's kind of like the Bible Belt of California.
Jame: (giggles)
Me: (giggles)
Steph: (guffaws.)(JK - she just giggled, too.)

It was really cool to watch Jamie process what she was thinking about, and figure out the questions she wanted to ask. You can tell she is really thinking about something because she will pause and get a particular look on her face. We also had a converation about how she doesn't want people looking at her like she is handicapped. I reassured her that I knew she could walk and that she was capable of a lot, and that people who know her know that she is not "handicapped." I said, "Jamie, it sounds like you want people to just know that you're still you." She said "Yeah, kind of. But I am different than I was in high school. I'm more mature." That was a pretty cute exchange.

You may all be happy to know that I also asked Jamie if it would be okay to put some pictures of her up on the blog to kind of show everyone how she is doing. She said that would be fine, but that she gets final approval of all pictures. She also informed me that I am not allowed to put any indecent pictures up. Good to know. :)

I am going to ask her a few more times, to make sure she is really okay with pictures, and get her seal of approval.

It was a really good evening.

She's Funny, That Girl

2010-04-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

So here we are. Three months after Jamie's accident and she is walking, talking, eating, healing and getting ready to head into the next phase of her recovery. Last weekend Ron and Kathy went to look at one of the transitional living options. The report back was really encouraging. The residents have a full day of therapy, and live in an apartment setting. Each resident is responsible for their own cooking, hygiene, chores, etc., so even if the formal therapy is just during the day, everyone is working on building their skills in their down time, too. The therapies also sound like they are more specific and intense than what happens at the Rehab Hospital setting. The focus at this facility is cognition and getting everything to work together. Throughout the course of treatment, there are 26 different skills that each resident works towards completing, and it is a big deal when they accomplish it! When a resident finishes the 26th task, it gets announced over the loudspeaker and is acknowledged. (Not really sure WHAT the tasks are, or how long it takes to complete, but whatevs.) All in all we have a good feeling about this facility, but there are kinks to work out as far as getting all the pieces to fall into place. Please be praying that if this is where God wants Jamie to go, that He work behind the scenes to make it happen!

Jamie has had a pretty good week! She did have a bit of a rough day on Thursday (she may or may not have hit her physical therapist. oops.) but overall, we have seen some pretty positive days. On saturday in speech therapy, she and Jonathan (her ST) did an exercise where he would show her these cards that have a picture of a clock with a certain time on it, and she would have to look at it and tell the time. The goal was to get through the entire deck (I think about 30-40 cards?) and to get each one right. The challenge in this exercise is not so much recognizing numbers or anything like that, but rather for Jamie to focus on the card and slow down long enough for her brain to process what she is seeing and send the correct answer to her mouth. She did GREAT and only had 7 cards that she had to do over. Go Jamie! We've noticed that when Jamie focuses and pays attention to what is being asked of her and is given time to really process, she does much better. When not given that opportunity, she tends to just guess at things. This exercise also helped her work on her ability to attend and stay focus for a specific period of time.

I mentioned that Jamie had a bit of a rough day on Thursday, and while she was frustrated and upset, there are positives in it, too. Jamie was able to express that she was frustrated because she's not "like she was before" and that there isn't enough being done to help her. When asked by the doctor, she said that she was feeling a bit depressed, but was able to talk through a lot of her emotions and feelings of frustration with her doctor. While we hate that Jamie is frustrated and struggling with being down about where she is, we also rejoice that she is gaining enough cognitive function to even HAVE these emotions. She has progressed far enough to know that there are things that are different now, and things that she needs to work on. While heartbreaking, its still good news and evidence of progress.

Having said that, the last few days have been really great and she has been really positive and upbeat. We are always encouraged when she is so ready and willing to do what is asked of her and her tasks in therapy. On Saturday she played "HORSE" with Ryan (and lost, because her brother is mean and wouldn't even let her get one up on him!), and yesterday she had a whole slew of visitors. We had a great time just hanging out in her room, joking with her and laughing. We kept asking her Jason's last name, and she insisted on saying the last names of movie stars. (Priestly and Statham). When we gave her a hint that it started with an "H", she got it right on the first try. Also, she remembers that Ross' last name on "Friends" is Gellar. :)

One thing I keep hearing is that it is hard for people to imagine what Jamie is like right now. I know I say on here that she is talking, walking, etc., but it is important to remember that while she is so much herself, there are some differences. For example, her speech is fairly monotone right now. Her voice is hers and she sounds like herself, but there is not as much inflection or emotion in it. She can mimic your intonation and inflection, but not put it in herself as much. The way this has been explained is that because she isn't thinking far enough in advance of what she is going to say, her brain doesn't have time to add the inflection. At first I thought it was because of the intubation, etc. but, shocker of all shockers, I was wrong! So, I assume that as her cognitive function develops, she will be able to add more emotion and inflection into her speech.

Another thing to note is that while Jamie can walk and get around, her balance is still a little wobbly. This has something to do with crystals in her ear (I could be totally wrong), and will hopefully improve over time. I think this is another one of those wait and see things as well. When she is standing and walking, its a little bit like a toddler learning how to balance themselves. That or someone who is quite inebriated. :) Sometimes I ask Jamie if she's drunk when she's wobbly, and we have a good laugh about it. (It's important to keep things light, right?) Because she is still a little wobbly, and probably because its hospital rules, she is still in her chair during non-PT time. Its just safer that way. However, as she gets stronger, she needs less and less help getting in and out of her wheelchair. Also, when doing our bedtime routine last night, she did the whole thing standing up (brushing teeth, washing face, even flossing!)

All in all, as ever, Jamie gets steadily better each day and each week. We are so thankful to God for his MANY blessings. We try and remind Jamie how far she has come (which sometimes she gets a kick out of) and reassure her that we know she is working really hard. She always tells us that she is working really hard at getting better, and has told me on a few occasions that she "feels very loved" right now. We said a little prayer last night before I left (she stared at me the whole time) and when I was done, she said "Amen. That was a good prayer." Thanks Jamie.

Please be praying that she continue to improve in her cognitive abilities, that she is able to work through her frustrations and share how she is feeling, as well as continue to improve on her balance and the physical goals that are being set for her. Also, please be praying about this next step!!

love, us.

Can't Take Us Anywhere

2010-04-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Jamie and I got kicked out of the library on Saturday for being too loud. Lemme explain.

Jamie and I have a reputation for being loud. Individually. Collectively. We make a lot of noise. Said noise generally consists of laughing and/or hilariously ridiculous conversation. I think we always new this about ourselves, but in light of Jamie's accident and the fact that we've been holed up in hospitals the last three months, this facet of our relationship had taken a back seat. Well ladies and gentlemen, never fear! The draught is over! Noise is back! And it's awesome!! What brought about the noise this week, you ask? A library, of course! Curious? Of course you are.

So Jamie had another "community outing" this week through recreational therapy. She had said earlier in the week that she wanted to go to the bookstore, then changed her mind to the library. When asked who she wanted to accompany her on her outing, she first said AC, and then Mom, and then Lailah. I will pretend that she really meant me, but had to save the best for last. The only AC we know lives in Kaz, so he couldn't go, and the rec therapist said that Kathy deferred to me because she is there everyday and wanted Jamie to have fun. I don't know if this is true, or if she was just being nice because I practically begged last week to go on the next community outing, but I digress.

When we started our little adventure, Jamie was just in a so-so mood. She wasn't uncooperative, but she was just very subdued and quiet (although she did keep referring to our outing as an "excursion", which made it sound much more exotic and exciting than a trip to the Campbell library). I would ask her questions, and she would just respond with one word answers and wasn't very excited. We got to the library and Jamie's therapist went to get the wheelchair out of the trunk (J can ride in normal cars because she can get in/out of wheelchair so easily) and Jamie did not want to wait, so she popped right out of the car and was standing next to it. Although J is definitely strong enough to stand on her own, her balance can sometimes be a little sketchy, so I got to be her safety belt while waiting for her chair. So we just stood there, me hugging her around her waste, her looking down at me, me looking up at her. We stared at each other for a second and then just started giggling. I said "Jamie, you're a whole head taller than me!" To which she responded, "I know, you're short. I'm a head taller than you." We then commenced to giggle about a lady who walked by and was staring at us, eventhough she was the one wearing a fuscia straw hat and HUGE sunglasses in the overcast afternoon.

Jamie's therapist brought her wheelchair over and she sat down, then had to get back up because the seatbelt was stuck underneath. So we do our "safety-hug" again, and Jamie looks down at me and says "We're going to get good at this!" We had a good laugh about that, too. Once we got the seat belt situation sorted out, we made our way to the library. We had two choices of entrances - a ramp up to part of the library or a ramp down to another part. We picked the ramp down (we being Kristina the therapist because she was pushing Jamie's chair...okay not really. The down option led to the regular adult sections, and the ramp up led to certain death, er I mean the teen and kids sections).

So we get inside the library, aka dungeon o' books, and start giving Jamie some choices as to what section she wants to go to. She picked non-fiction, which was convenient because it was nearby! we parked in front of the new non-fiction section and started going through the books. Kristina and I would have Jamie read the title, and then we would talk about what we thought the book was about, who we thought would like it, and see where the conversation went. We had so much fun! We even smelled the pages of one paperback. :) A lot of the books were political in nature, so we talked about politics and if people in our lives were conservative, moderate or liberal. She was telling a story about one of her friends (don't know who) and she said "She's more liberal. Her politics are more like that guy's" (said while pointing to a picture of Obama).

When asked about the politics of her family members, here's what she had to say:

Parents - Jamie Answer: "Christian and Conservative."
Lailah - Jamie Answer: "In the middle, like me."
Ryan - Jamie Answer: "Whatever my dad says."

Couldn't have said it better myself, Jam. While talking about family politics, Jamie told Kristina that she and Ryan are related, but that she and I are blood. hehe.

Do you remember that I have yet to tell you about how we got kicked out for being too loud? Okay, okay, I give. So we were in the library for about 45 minutes, just reading titles, chatting and doing LOTS of giggling. A few people had come over in our general direction, but we didn't really notice anybody trying to look at the books we were looking at. All of a sudden, a library employee comes over to give us the following speech:

"So, you ladies are out here kind of in the wide open, and doing quite a bit of talking. You're being pretty loud, so we want to make sure you're not bothering any other patrons. You're also blocking all these books and other people can't get to them. You're welcome to go over there, its a bit more secluded. Or you can go up to the teen section, you might enjoy that better."

Okay, not word for word because I a) did not record her little speech and b) am getting older every day and forgetting more and more. At any rate, we immediately started cracking up after she left. Probably not the intended reaction. Since we had been there for a while, and we wanted to end the outing on a good note, we booked it out. Pun intended. When we got back to the car, someone (Kristina) started singing "Do a little dance..." and then Jamie said "don't forget your love" and then we all started singing the real song, which tickled Jamie, considering Kristina and I were also dancing like crazy people in the parking lot. After she and I sang and danced around, Jamie serenaded us from her seat in the car, complete with Jamie-car-dancing. So everytime you hear or sing "Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight, get down tonight", think of our Jamie girl, jammin out in the car, seat dancing and all.

When we got back to her room at the hospital, jamie was pretty pooped and ready for a nap. When we were saying our goodbyes, Jamie told me to come back soon, and that she wished I lived right next to her. It took ALL my strength to leave her room after that comment! I thought I was going to melt into a little puddle!! We had such a lovely day. Jamie was in such a good mood. Some of her stories were crazy, some were very coherent, and some were just silly. I'll take it all!

In kind of business news, Jamie has been doing really well eating on her own. She has not needed supplement from the PEG tube in about 2 weeks, so we are expecting it to come out hopefully sometime this week. This will be just one more step towards Jamie's independence and recovery. No decisions have been made as far as where Jamie will go next, but we do know that it will be a transitional residence facility. We have heard great things about alot of these programs, and are pretty confident that more time with access to intensive therapies is the best thing for our girl. Please continue to pray for the decision and that God will make his preference clear!

Thank you all for your continued support, Jamie has such an amazing network of friends and family! love you guys!

Good Friday

2010-04-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Every year our church, Central Peninsula Church, has a Good Friday service where members of the congregation talk about the seven phrases that Christ spoke while on the cross. Each member takes one saying and shares about how that saying intersects with their life. I was asked to speak this year on John 19:28, "I am thirsty." Below is my script.

“I am thirsty.” As Christ is on the cross in the scorching heat of the desert, he asks for relief. Those standing nearby saw that there was a jug of wine vinegar nearby, soaked a sponge in it and raised it to Jesus with a hyssop branch.

When we hear this cry of the Savior, as he is enduring the horrible pain of crucifixion, it stands out as the most simple, almost insignificant statement. But, as is often the case with our Christ, the simplest things are often the richest. He says these words to fulfill scripture – it is prophesied that Messiah will be given vinegar to drink. He also says these words to show Christ’s utter humanity and submission. He could have quenched His own thirst, but He allows himself to be weak.

When I read the words “I am thirsty,” I can’t help but yell out in my soul “Me too!!” I know that Christ’s thirst was physical, but when does He ever only deal with the physical aspects of our lives? Isn’t He also always concerned with our spiritual life? Isn’t He almost obsessively MORE concerned with our true nature – the nature that has a relationship with God the Father through Christ the Son? So, as Jesus is moments away from dying on the cross, as He is feeling the burden of our sin, my sin, crashing down on Him, doesn’t it make sense that His thirst is for something much greater than vinegar? Doesn’t it make sense that the real thirst, the one that may be truly unquenchable at that moment in history is His thirst for the Father?

In my adult life, I’ve never had a season where I’ve thirsted for the Lord more. In the last year, I have gone from some of the greatest triumphs in my personal life – graduating from law school, passing the Bar (on the first try!), getting a job, to some of the darkest days I’ve known. January 18 of this year, my sister in law Jamie was in a devastating car accident while serving in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan. She was a passenger in the back seat of a taxi, riding back to her town after a weekend with friends. We got a call at 6 am that day and I will never be able to erase the sound of my father in law’s voice as he said those words. “There’s been an accident in Kazakhstan. Two people were killed. Jamie is in a coma.”

In the days, weeks and now months that have followed, I have thirsted for the Lord in a way that I did not know was possible. On the drive to my in-laws, my soul cried out to God, wanting answers, needing His comfort. That first night, I thirsted and longed for rest, to be able to sleep and wake up and see that the nightmare was over. On the flight to meet Jamie at a military hospital in Germany, I thirsted for the Lord’s reassurance that Jamie’s flight was safe and that we were safe as well. As we spent the night in spare beds in the ICU in Germany, I thirsted for the Lord’s wisdom – that we would be able to navigate this long journey that He was laying out ahead of us. In the ICU in Washington D.C., we all thirsted for understanding. As Jamie awoke from her coma, slowly but surely, I thirsted for God’s action – for Him to heal her, to wake her up fully. As Jamie recovers at her hospital here, I thirst for knowledge- how am I supposed to act? How do I take care of my family? My husband? My Jamie?

But through it all, one thirst, one desire has overwhelmed everything. I thirst for the Lord. Simply for Him to be near, to hear my cries, to know that I need Him. For His presexxnce, His reassurance that no matter what – He is here. And as God provided an answer to Christ’s thirst on the cross, He has provided relief for our thirsts for comfort, for wisdom, for understanding. In the sheer existence of my husband, God quenches my thirst for comfort. In God’s provision of one of the best hospital’s for Jamie’s care, He quenches our thirst for understanding. In His scriptures, He quenches our thirst for wisdom.

Most of all, He is ever quenching my thirst for Him. I know now that such a deep longing will never be fulfilled this side of Heaven, but He makes Himself known over and over, and in so many ways, continually refilling my cup and slaking my thirst for Him.

Fun Times at SCVMC

2010-04-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Kids! Hope you are all having a blessed Easter. Today has been a good day to reflect on what Christ did for us on the cross, and to reflect on what He has been doing in Jamie’s life the last few weeks. I am constantly amazed that each year, I come to an even deeper understanding of what it meant for Him to bear our sin on the cross. I think it must be that each year, I come to fuller understanding of how sinful I really am.

These last few weeks, we have seen Jamie continue to grow in her awareness. It is truly remarkable to see! The mixing of the languages is virtually gone, and she speaks when she wants to. She does have some trouble finding the right words, but does a great job when you give her choices. I have also seen an increase her ability to find the right words on her own over the last few weeks. She tells stories and can sometimes go off on a tangent, and make stuff up. It can be pretty entertaining.  For example, we were talking about where Ryan and I went on our honeymoon, and Jamie started telling us about where she went on her honeymoon! I said, “Jamie, I don’t think you’ve had a honeymoon yet.” To which she responded “Yes I have, I just didn’t tell you. I got married.” We had quite a good laugh.
Jamie is also doing SO MUCH better eating! She barely needs any prompting when it is meal time, and is eating good portions of each meal. This is such an answer to prayer, so thank you all for praying! Jamie hasn’t needed any supplement through her peg tube in over a week! Woohoo!! This is just one more step towards independence, and we love it. We will be asking this week about when the docs think it is safe to take the peg tube out. We have learned that the tube can also make her feel full and bloated, and that may have been a contributing factor to her feeling full when she couldn’t possibly have been. At any rate, our ultimate goal is for the peg tube to be out before Jamie is discharged. Each day that she eats without needing the extra nutrition, this goal becomes more and more real.

Over the last week, Jamie’s moods have been a little roller-coastery, but we can generally predict that she is grouchiest in the afternoon. She has a packed morning of therapies and activity, and so she is kind of wiped out by the afternoon. With her fatigue, comes a little more grouchiness and unpredictability (sounds like me!) Overall, she has had a very positive week, has been very cooperative and better at verbalizing her feelings (as opposed to hitting or the like.) She has the most trouble with behavioral issues during the overnight shift. After talking to the staff, we are fairly sure that this is a combination of things: none of us are there, and they wake her up to go to the bathroom. However, we haven’t heard any reports this week about behavioral issues at night, so it sounds like things are calm for the moment.

Next week, I am going to ask Jamie how she feels about posting a picture of her here on the blog. I have hesitated posting a pic because I was never sure how she would feel later if she saw it on the blog, or how she would feel now thinking that something was posted. She has made a few comments lately about feeling handicapped or disabled, so we know that she is very aware of her injury and that it limits her. She did share something really insightful on Saturday. A nurse came to evaluate her from the Dept. of Labor (because J’s insurance is now through the DOL) and Jamie told us “You want people to treat you like a person, not a pet. You don’t want people to just stare at you and only see your injury.” I thought this was SUCH a profound statement. It made me a little sad to know that she sometimes sees herself as disabled, but I also can’t help but appreciate what comments like this mean as far as her higher thinking and self awareness. At any rate, I am going to ask Jamie how she feels about sharing with you all what she looks like (which is normal, except for her short hair.)

I have also been talking to Jamie about her hair.  The back is growing out a bit, and she messes with it a lot, so I ask her if its bothering her. She has said a few times that it does. I told her today that her friend Jamie does hair, and has offered to come cut her hair if she would like. She said “sure I’d like that, but I don’t want to tip her.” Ha! I think she is getting too used to all the free food and service at the hospital…

Please continue to pray for the next step in Jamie’s treatment. We are in the process of researching step down programs and other options for Jamie’s upcoming discharge. For now, Jamie’s discharge date is actually April 13th (whoa!) but we are talking to her care team about pushing it back at least another week, if not a little longer. We are trying to balance it though, we know Jamie is kind of done with being in the hospital setting, but we also know that she would benefit from the intensive therapy for a little bit longer. We would like to see her gain a bit more cognitive function and independence before discharge, so that she can be more independent. Please pray for guidance for all of us as we navigate this next step! The next few weeks will see us meeting with and visiting different facilities and care groups to really figure out what is the best fit for Jamie.

We had a fun time today celebrating Easter. We dyed Easter eggs, and Jamie did a great job. She didn't really care for the little metal holder used to dunk the eggs, and would just grab the eggs and pop them into the dye. It was pretty low key, but still a good way to work on her attention span and ability to focus. While we were dying eggs, we chatted about the holiday and I asked Jamie if she knew why we celebrate Easter, and she told us it was all about Jesus! She went on to talk about Mary and a corpse, which was kind of funny. Also, Jamie told me today that I am her favorite. And then Ryan butted in and asked her “But is Lailah the only one who asks you if she’s your favorite?” Jamie said “Yes, that’s why she’s my favorite.” She also told me that I am the most fun. So there. hehe.

Love, Us.

A Word from the Maniak

2010-04-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Jamie got to see her good friend Stephanie this weekend. I asked Steph to write a guest blog post about her visit with J. Below are her thoughts about this long awaited visit.

Have no fear, friends. Jamie has not left the building.

I went for my first visit to the rehab facility on Saturday with Lailah. I have to say that I was mildly apprehensive. I had grown quite close to Jamie before she left for Kazakhstan and was nervous to see her post accident.

We arrived at 9.15 during breakfast, bearing a Chai Tea for Jamie from Starbucks. When we first walked into the room she greeted us half heartedly and did not make eye contact. This disarmed me a bit. I was wary; worried that Jamie might not be in the mood for visitors. But then, I thought, I am not much for conversation first thing in the morning either and sure enough after a few sips of Chai the caffeine must have kicked in because I started to see the Jamie that I know and love emerge. She teased Lailah mercilessly (Lailah you’re a saint) and stubbornly tried to avoid taking her meds. But when we mentioned how the Starbucks barista almost spelled her name JAIME, guess who voiced an opinion. And soon Jamie, Lailah, and I were reminiscing about times before Kazakhstan, before the accident. We talked about my new last name (I married Mike Wozniak in her absence) and she recalled my former last name, Maysonave, and even remembered that Mike and I were going to combine our names to be the Maniaks. She was quick to laugh and regaled us with many stories, some of which I am certain must be from her imagination, including a tale about how her brother named her middle finger ‘Wilbur’ after their cousin ‘Will’ (who doesn’t exist) and the sound you make when you’re cold, ‘burr’.

Her short term memory seems to be improving. She was able to remember something that occurred last week and when we told her about some of the silly things she has said while in the hospital she laughed and shook her head. Lailah told Jamie about how she managed to get out of bed and start to leave her room before Nurse Betty found her and Jamie said, “How embarrassing”. Lailah said, “Well it’s not as embarrassing as if you had tried to escape without wearing pants” and Jamie replied, “This is true”.

I was there for three hours. We talked about the past, the accident, her future and I was profoundly aware that while Jamie is limited by what she can do, what she can express, I have the feeling that she is working so hard to come back to her present self. We played some basketball in a small hoop attached to her window and her hand eye coordination is not bad at all. She still very much favors her right hand but is working with finger splits (or as she called them ‘finger puppets’) and massage treatments to encourage the strength in the left.

We spent a majority of our time in speech therapy with repetition exercises, going around in a circle asking Jamie to remember our names. Jamie tends to rush ahead and make a guess before even looking at the person. I witnessed that Jamie was much better at the exercise the more she concentrated. After several rounds she was able to ‘see’ our names (she’s still a much better speller than I) and try to attach the spelling of our names with our faces. It was amazing to watch.

For PT we went on a walk to the fourth floor and up and down some stairs. Jamie is doing very well walking and sitting but she seems almost like a drunken sailor at times, not fully in control of her body. Her physical therapist walks next to her with an arm around Jamie’s waist to guide her in a straight path. This is to prevent Jamie from barreling into something. I use the verb ‘barreling’ because Jamie is fast! I think it’s those long legs.

After my visit with Jamie I am convinced that her personality is intact. Especially that sarcastic side. Ask Jamie to do something she has luke warm feelings about and you’ll get a monotone “Sure” as a response. I even saw her roll her eyes at Lailah (behind her back, of course).

She giggles. She can spell your name backwards. She can catch a softball sized rubber ‘basketball’ one handed. She can remember the time your bikini top fell off and you flashed a room full of people. But sometimes she can’t remember how to say your name. I know she’s got a long road ahead of her. But I am very ready to walk along side her. She’s always been one of the strongest people I know and I have faith that she will emerge from this test a stronger and better person. I can’t wait.

On the Move

2010-03-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the long wait for today's post - it's been a crazy week! Here are just a few tidbits about Jamie's progress.

1. Jamie passed a milestone during PT on Saturday - she did her entire walk without sitting and resting in her wheelchair! The walking took the whole 1/2 hour, and her therapist estimated the distance walked to be about 500 yards! We walked to the Cafeteria, then down the hall to an entirely different part of the hospital, all the way to surgical admitting. Jamie didn't want surgery, so we turned around and came back. She did rest on a ledge about halfway way, but she was standing up the whole time! It was really neat to see. She also did a good job of talking during the walking, and was able to hold bits and pieces of conversation as we walked. When we turned around to come back, I was walking in front of her, evidently too slow, and she stepped on the back of my shoe. I said "Jamie! You just gave me a flat tire!" She started laughing and said "Yep, flat tire!" It was pretty funny :)

2. During the week, Jamie was much improved in physical therapy. In past weeks, it has been a bit of a struggle to get her up and about for PT, and if we do, she has been a bit grumpy about it. It seems that last week and this week has been much smoother. When everything is explained well and she understands what is going on and has enough energy, she is ready and willing (and sometimes excited) to participate in PT. The second round of PT (either late morning or early afternoon) is generally tougher. This doesn't really come as a surprise to us given the fact that her mornings are pretty packed with breakfast, speech, occupational, physical therapies and then lunch. Friday she had a really neat day in her morning PT session. The following is from an email Sarah sent after being at the hospital on Friday: (Sonia is Jamie's main physical therapist)

When 10:30 rolled around, Jamie happily good back out of bed for PT. When I told her she had PT, she said "yay. that's fun!!!" Honestly! And in a happy-sounding voice. I nearly fell over I was so excited! Sonia, Jamie, and I walked to the cafeteria and Jamie pushed in every chair that was out of place. Sonia was so impressed with Jamie's balance during this activity. It really was amazing to watch. She even did these nifty things where she'd push in a chair as she was walking away (like, behind her back!). And then she wiped down the tables, including with her left hand! We cruised the hospital a while longer and when offered a place to sit down, Jamie said no thanks; let's keep going! The morning ended out on the patio in the warm sun. Perfection.

3. Meals are still not perfect, but it is my impression, both from when I'm there and from what others are saying that she is slowly and surely getting better. At lunch on Saturday, Jamie ate about 70-80% of her plate, with a lot less help and intervention from us. Right now, we do need to prompt her a bit to get her to eat, so the next step and prayer request is for Jamie to feed herself and not need any assistance. This is obviously good for her health, but also for her independence. We think Jamie is becoming more and more aware of her limitations, so the more she can do on her own - the better!

4. Jamie had her first out-of-hospital activity!! Yesterday afternoon she took a little field trip to the park and Jamba Juice. J wasn't really digging the park that much, and I get the impression that it had a bit to do with it being fairly crowded. She also made a comment on the way to the park about being "bored and disabled.":( When they got to the park, J wasn't interested in getting out of the car. She said there were people there. We offered to not use the wheelchair and we could just walk around the park, but unfortunately no-go.

However, Jamba Juice was a totally different story!! Our girl was very into it, and when Sarah gave her drink suggestions, she immediately picked Mango Mantra. Her rec therapist told her she could order from the girl at the counter, and although it wasn't 100% perfect, it sounds like she got her point across. Jamie was given $8, a five dollar bill and three one dollar bills. When the total came to $3.45, she pulled out only the $5 bill and handed it over! The girl asked what her name was and J said "why do you need to know?!" Sarah explained that they take your name for your order, and Jamie was okay with that :) They drank their smoothies outside and Jamie seemed relaxed and not at all concerned with the people around us.

5. Discussions and research are underway for Jamie's next step in recovery. I think I've mentioned before that the doctors have set a discharge date for Jamie in the near future. This is both exciting and stressful. There are several options that we can look at for Jamie's next step in recovery, and we want to make sure that we make the decision that's best for Jamie. Please help us and pray for our wisdom, and that the right opportunities present themselves, and that God is clear in guiding us the way we should.

Overall its been a busy, positive few weeks. Jamie continues to get stronger and more aware. I can really see an improvement in ability to participate in the back and forth of conversation. Instead of just giving one word answers, she is able to respond and ask YOU follow up questions. Its really neat to see, and so encouraging to see the little baby steps.

I know that's not nearly enough information for you all out there, and there are tons of little stories throughout each of Jamie's day, so I will try and do a better job of blogging as soon as I can!

Love, Us.

Lamentations 3:22-24
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.

Fun Little Update

2010-03-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

A little birdie told me that Jamie is having a great day! Each morning, Jamie gets evaluated by her doctor - she is asked to answer particular questions to test her cognitive ability. Today, Jamie knew what day it was, the time, the year - lots of basic stuff that show she is developing cognitively. She did so well, she got a chuckle out of her doc! She didn't quite get that she was in the hospital, but she did well overall. I also heard that she had a great time in PT. She walked up and down two flights of stairs, and was assisted by two therapists. No word on how her lunch or dinner went, but I know she did a good job on eating her breakfast. She ate about half of it, which is a lot for breakfast!

The best news from my little birdie is about Jamie's demeanor today. I think I have mentioned that J has been having some mood swings, and periods where she will get frustrated because she can't communicate as well. As far as I can tell, she was very cheery this morning, and was able to communicate really well. She has virtually cut out the uncontrollable babbling, and was very aware this morning of her surroundings and what was going on. Yay! We are so proud of our girl.

One new thing we learned this last week is that Jamie is exceeding the goals her team has set for her! These goals are set with her discharge date from the hospital in mind. She does have an eventual discharge date that the hospital has set, which we are excited but nervous about. We think its great that she is exceeding her discharge goals, but we are nervous about taking all the right steps to transition to the next phase. Please be praying that the hospital will adequately prepare Jamie and us for her eventual discharge. Please pray that she continue to gain awareness and cognitive function so that she gets closer and closer to independence. Most of all, please continue to pray for a FULL RECOVERY. One of our deepest hopes is that Jamie will have a full and normal life, and we rely on your prayers to continue on in that hope.

we love you all and are so excited that Jamie is doing so well, but please keep praying!!

love, us.

Welcome Back, Sickie.

2010-03-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it looks like I'm going to live!! After being sick for over a week, I am feeling much better and finally got to see Jamie yesterday and today! I am still not 100%, but it looks like this cold won't quite kill me!! It was really interesting to see Jamie after a week and a half of having to stay away, and see what a difference that amount of time can make. When you see her everyday, it is harder to see the little incremental changes, but after a week - I can absolutely see the changes. The biggest change to me is that I haven't heard any of the uncontrollable chatter the last two days! That doesn't mean that I can understand everything that Jamie says, but that when she speaks, it is on purpose, and not just a stream of noises that she can't control. She is still having trouble finding the correct words to speak and stopping extraneous noises after she says a word, but there is a marked improvement in her language skills. I also noticed that she is doing better at controlling which language she is speaking in. Last week, she was getting very frustrated because she couldn't necessarily control whether she was speaking in French, Russian or English. This week, I noticed she is still vacillating between the three, but she is speaking more and more English, and seems to be doing a better job of picking which language to speak.

Jamie has been doing a GREAT job in PT with her walking! Today she walked all the way to another wing of the hospital and back to her room. She used a cane and her physical therapists helped guide her and held her other hand. She did need a few rests along the way (but hey, so did I!) but she did such a great job. She is responding really well when her therapist asks her to slow down or take smaller steps. This helps focus Jamie so that she is walking safely, and so that (hopefully) eventually she can be walking on her own without any assistance. In her second round of PT, we went down to the outdoor courtyard, and she walked around the entire courtyard. I am not good at distances, so I can't estimate, but it was long. :)

Meals today were 50/50 so far. She only ate a small muffin at breakfast, but the fun part was that she got to go to the cafeteria. Her occupational therapist noticed that Jamie didn't eat any of her breakfast, so we took a little field trip to the cafeteria and she picked out a muffin. She told us very clearly what she didn't want when we gave her options, but she seemed keen on the muffin, so we got it! and she ate the whole thing! We also had a really funny conversation about how the muffin was free because her therapist was with us, which led to a whole conversation about how being at the hospital was great because everything was free. Then she looked at Ryan and me and said "Well, free for me, but not for you." She's a smart one.

During lunch, she actually ate almost her entire plate. However, she didn't really start chowing down until we made a competition out of it. I would put some food on a fork, and Ryan would put some food on a fork. Then I would ask Jamie if she wanted my bite or Ryan's bite. Most of the time she picked mine (because I'm her favorite), but eventually she did start choosing Ryan's, after he guilted her into it. :)

During speech, her therapist actually had her working with another patient. She and R. talked about where they were, why they were in the hospital and then worked on asking each other questions about their lives. This is important because it helps guide Jamie and reteach her normal conversation skills. She did a good job, and was her usual, charming self.

Overall, we had a great day with Jamie. She did get grumpy at a few points, but was able to carry on with her therapy. It used to be that if she got grumpy before or during a therapy, it would be really hard for her to rally and carry on. Today we noticed that she would get her frustration out, but still continue on. It was really good to see.

Hope you are all well - please keep praying for our girl! I will update you soon on our next round of specific prayer requests.

love love love, from us.

Happy Late St. Paddy's Day!

2010-03-20T14:33:00.001-07:00

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Up and Down

2010-03-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

This past week or so has been a bit of a roller coaster for Jamie, and for us. We will hear that she is eating well one meal, and then the next morning she won't eat hardly anything. Or she will have a great morning in PT, and then a bad afternoon session. We have been told over and over that there are good days and bad, and that one of the hallmarks of TBI is inconsistency. We are learning that everyday!

We have also been seeing some mood swings with Jamie, she will be very happy and bubbly when she's talking to us and visiting with us, but then she can have some pretty down times, too. One of the specialists on Jamie's team is a neuropsychologist. This doctor specializes in helping TBI patients and their families deal with the emotional and psychological effects that come with a TBI. She has been such a help for us, helping us process and know how to take care of ourselves, etc. Now that Jamie is more cognitive, the doc can also help Jamie deal with some of the emotional aspects of her recovery. She spent most of the day yesterday shadowing Jamie and seeing how she was interacting with family and staff. One thing the doc picked up on (which we've noticed as well), is that Jamie does much better when things are explained to her before anything happens. For example, instead of just coming in and taking her vitals, its better if the staff explains to Jamie what they're doing and why they're doing it before they do it. The same goes for her therapy sessions. We think that if we can give Jamie more control over her environment and treatment, that she will be more excited about it and do better with it.

Inspite of this roller coaster feeling over the last week, the report from Kathy for this morning was a great one!! From what I could understand, Jamie did so well because each step was explained to her. Her daily schedule was laid out, and then it was explained to her that she would take a nap before going to PT. If the details are given to her, it seems like she knows what to expect, and does much better with it. Jamie had no trouble getting ready for and starting PT, and she is virtually transferring herself from her bed to her wheelchair - she just needs to be guided and positioned a little bit. She walked a lot in her morning PT, and then went outside to a little courtyard area. There, she worked on walking up and down steps!! I don't know how much she was able to do, but this is yet another new skill that she is working on! Go Jamie!

OT and ST from this morning also went well. OT mainly consists of her getting ready in the morning, and she is doing a great job of dressing herself, brushing her hair and teeth, and washing her face. I know that yesterday in speech, she worked on "opposites". I hear she did a great job, although I don't have any details. :)

Our prayer for this week is for consistency: please pray that we will be able to see steady, consistent increases in Jamie's appetite and her ability to communicate. She's doing great, but we just want more! Is that greedy? :)

love, Us.

MIA

2010-03-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! Hope you all had a good weekend, and that Daylight Savings hasn't screwed up your schedules too much. Here at the Morris Jr.'s house, we have been fighting a nasty chest cold, which put quite a damper in the beautiful weekend here in the Bay Area! Ryan is better, but I am still fighting the cough of gross-ness. Needless to say, because we've been sick, we have stayed away from visiting Jamie, cause we don't want to get her sick! I did call the last few days (she can't answer her room phone yet, but I called Ron and Kathy who were in the room with her) to tell her I loved her, why Ryan and I weren't down, etc. This is how one conversation went:

Lailah: Hey Jamie! How are you doing?
Jamie: Heeeeey!! I'm good. It's really weird hearing your voice.
Lailah: Well, Ryan and I are sick so we can't come down and visit today.
Jamie: That's deplorable.
Lailah: Well, yes, it is deplorable.
Jamie: I miss you.
Lailah: I miss you too, sweetie. I love you though.
Jamie: I love you too. See you later.

It was priceless!! All in all, Jamie has had some pretty good days. Her spirits were really high on Saturday, and she had a lot of fun with some friends that came to visit. We love it when she has so much fun - I think one of our concerns is that the more aware she gets, she may get bored. Another concern with TBI patients is mild depression or mood swings. We see Jamie's emotions changing and shifting, but we think she is doing pretty good at staying upbeat and positive. It helps her when we remind her how far she has come in such a short amount of time. Her short term memory right now is very weak, so she's not necessarily able to remember what happens day to day or week to week, so she may not be able to appreciate what a big deal it is for her to walk down the hall. Her mom told her last week that a few weeks ago, all she could do was wiggle her toes and now she is walking all over the place. Jamie got such a kick out of this, and giggled and then wiggled her toes :)

Please be praying that Jamie continue to gain cognitive function and awareness, and that with that she still be able to stay upbeat and positive. Keep praising God for all the blessings!

On a completely unrelated, non-Jamie matter...

2010-03-12T17:27:00.001-08:00

I went to the grocery store today and bought some wine (among other things). The cashier did not ask for my ID. This is the first time this has happened. Ever. A little part of me died inside. I thought about offering him my ID, but then realized how ridiculous that woul make me look.

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TGIF

2010-03-12T14:53:00.000-08:00

I knew God answered prayers. I even knew that before Jamie's journey began. However, as one dear friend said recently, I didn't know He answered them so quickly. We have been praying lately for Jamie's appetite to improve and for her to be able to focus long enough to eat enough. If she eats, she moves closer to getting the peg tube out, and closer to independence. She has typically been eating between 20-35% of her meals, and we were anxious for her to start eating more and more. Yesterday she ate about 80% of breakfast and lunch (not sure about dinner) and this morning she ate quite a bit of her breakfast as well. What a real and specific answer to prayer.

We have also been praying alot about the phase of recovery that Jamie is in. As she is gaining awareness, it is easier for her to get frustrated and even a little down. She is gaining awareness, and as she does so, it can become clearer what her limitations are. PT has been especially frustrating for her, and we have been praying like crazy that she will have better PT sessions. Well, today was amazing. She made an entire loop of the hospital wing. I am not good with distances, so I can't tell you how long that is, but trust me, it was really long. She has also moved on from using the handrail in the hallway and the therapists just help her with her balance. She has also used a walker and a cane on different occasions, which are just more steps towards independence! She was also able to work on some strength exercises after walking. I think this is great - she is generally pooped after walking, so its a great sign that she had enough energy after walking to do some more work!She had a longer rest today between therapies, so we think that may be a contributing factor to her good experience in PT. Rather, that's how God helped her do better :)

We can also see a significant improvement in Jamie's awareness. She responds when people walk in the room, even before they say anything. She is also responding more quickly in general. Remember my plane analogy? Well, it seems like the connections between the air plane routes are becoming fewer and more efficient! I just see a quickness in her that I can't explain, that hasn't been there since the accident. I love seeing it!

We are encouraged and uplifted by all these improvements. But most of all, its God's faithfulness and grace that are keeping us, and Jamie, afloat. Keep on praying!

xo
lailah

Is that an original Morris?

2010-03-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

Today, Jamie had another first. Her first art class! Jamie is now participating in recreational therapy, which we are calling "fun" therapy. Rec therapy will help Jamie use everything she is learning in her other therapies to interact with us, other patients and the staff. Art happens every Tuesday night, and there are other events throughout the week. She won't go every day, but she will build on her schedule every week. Another goal of RT is to work on her endurance. She normally is done for the night around 6 or 7, and RT will push her schedule back about 30 min. to an hour when she is able to go. This will help regulate her schedule in the sense that her sleep schedule will then get closer to a "normal" sleep schedule.

Tonight in art class, we worked on painting a bird house, drawing and making St. Patrick's Day cards. Jamie and I both worked on the bird house, and let me tell you - it is fabulous. Very art deco meets San Francisco chic meets home-made craft hour. :) We also played around with some colored pencils and water colors. Jamie practiced writing her name and my name, referring to herself as "Miss Jamie." This prompted a conversation with the Rec Therapist about Jamie's job in Kaz and her students. She told us that she was an English teacher, that she taught kids, and that she misses her kids. I was impressed that she was able to have such a complete conversation that late in the day. As she gets tired, its harder for her to focus on conversation, but she did a pretty good job tonight.

The other set project for art class was making little paper mache clover St. Patrick's Day cards. The staff had already cut out big clover cards out of construction paper, and it was mine and Jamie's job to crumple up little squares of tissue paper and glue them on the outside. Jamie's job was to crumple, my job was to glue. After about the 10th piece of paper, Jamie was going lightning speed, just crumpling paper and throwing it down. The therapist made a comment about what a good job Jamie was doing. This is how the interaction went.

Therapist: Jamie, you're doing such a good job at the crumpling.

Jamie: This is so much fun (said deadpan and staring directly at the therapist, with a smirk on her face.)

Lailah: Jamie, were you being a little sarcastic.

Jamie: (stares at Lailah like she's an idiot.)

Lailah: well, I guess that's a yes.

Jamie: (nods her head.)

Okay Jamers, we get it - you are way past crumpling paper. Good to know. :) We moved on to something a little cooler. We opened the card, and Jamie wrote "Hi Lailah!" with a smiley face. (I didnt even have to ask her!) Then I asked her to write Happy St. Patrick's Day (one word at a time), and she did, no problems. Her handwriting doesn't quite look like it did pre-accident. It is similar, but a little more cramped now. However, by the time she got to "Day", it looked more like her "normal" handwriting. It was really neat. Her RT was very impressed that she wrote all of it on the first try, without help other than me asking her what to write.

All in all, it was a pretty good day! Jamie didn't do great with her dinner, but this is not uncommon with TBI patients. As with everything, we just need to give her some time to get back into the routine of eating, and being able to focus long enough to get through her whole meals. Please pray for this! Also, Jamie is getting more independent, in the sense that she doesn't want therapists and stuff helping her and even touching her as much. On one hand, this is a good thing, because it is a signal that she is gaining awareness. On the other hand, Jamie isn't quite strong enough to be doing as much on her own as she wants to, and it makes the staff's job harder. This doesn't always happen, so its not a big concern. But please pray that she will be able to gain awareness and still trust the staff to help her out when she needs it.

We are so proud of Jamie's progress, and we praise God everyday. Everyday, we can tangibly see her healing in how she interacts with us, and the function that she gains. When I got to the hospital this afternoon, she was calm and quiet, and having a nice little convo with Pops. It was great to see her so lucid in the afternoon (when she's usually pretty tired). We couldn't understand everything she was saying, but she did a great job of telling a funny story about the nurses all talking on the phones to one another. Pretty cute stuff!! These little miracles are our proof that God is alive and working in her life and ours. God is so good, all the time.

Love, Us.

Yum Yum Gimme Some

2010-03-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, we got a special treat with Jamie. We were able to throw her a little mini birthday celebration. We still need to be keeping things small and quiet so that Jamie doesn't get over stimulated, but her mom and dad, me and Ryan, and two of her best friends Sarah and Tracy were abel to make it down to the hospital and have some cheesecake to celebrate. We had some issues lighting the candles in the blowing wind, but Jamie enjoyed being outside, and REALLY enjoyed seeing us in our cool party hats. We were all gathered out on the balcony of the day room at the hospital, and Kathy wheeled Jamie out to her party. As soon as she saw all of us gathered with our silly hats, she gave us a huge, bright smile. We could clearly hear her saying "friends, friends friends" as she approached us. She totally got that we were having a birthday party for her, and she was so delighted. She did a great job of visiting and laughing with us. At one point, somebody pointed out that Kathy wasn't wearing her party hat, and we asked Jamie if Kathy had to wear it. She smiled, nodded her head and said "yep, she has to wear it." How could Kathy argue with that?

We had some cheesecake, then moved on to presents! Jamie had received several during the week, but we had a few left for the party. Jamie was actually working on opening the presents and cards herself, without very much prompting. All her presents were in bags with tissue paper, so someone would kind of pull the tissue paper out a little, and then she would help and pull it out more. She also figured out opening the cards, and I don't think anyone really had to explain it to her. Some things she picks up immediately, and other things take more work. The things that seem to come back more quickly are those that are kind of automatic (brushing hair, washing/wiping face, etc.) The card from her parents had two penguins on the front, and her dad helped her open it. He asked her what was on the front, and she said "you and me". It was really cute, because there was one big emperor penguin, and then the smaller female one. It's really a mom and dad, but it could very easily look like a daddy and baby.

She also did a good job of reading "Happy Birthday" and reading the inside of some of her card. When she attempts reading, she doesn't always get it right the first time, and sometimes she will mix up her sounds. For example, she could be reading the following sentence: "Jamie is the coolest" out loud, and it can come out "Jamie is the shulest" (this did happen on Saturday during ST). Then its our job to correct her and get her to mimic the correct way of reading or saying something, so that she can learn it. We are learning how complicated the brain is. Jamie may be totally understanding something, but the challenge comes in getting all the parts of her brain to cooperate to then communicate and respond appropriately. The other piece is that her brain is trying to process a lot of information, but is still working on rebuilding the passages that allow her to do that processing.

All in all, the birthday party was a success. When she opened one of her presents, we asked her what it was. She immediately said "7 inch". She was right! Steph got her a digital photo frame (because the massive wall of photos is getting a little out of control), and on the top of the box, it reads "7 inch Digital Photo Frame". Smart girl.

We have some specific prayer requests this week. First, please be praying that Jamie regain her appetite and start eating bigger portions of her meals. Real food is new for her, and so she has only been kind of picking at her meals. We aren't worried about it, because this is evidently a normal thing. (Think about it - when you eat less, you have a smaller appetite. Jamie has been on liquid nutrition for almost 2 months!) Please pray that she take the next step and regain her appetite and start regularly eating good amounts of her food. She did a little better tonight, however, there was an INCIDENT. (I will now follow this rabbit trail and relay the story of the INCIDENT to you.)

THE INCIDENT
I was helping Jamie eat her dinner (delicious hospital food, to be sure), and had spooned up some mashed potatoes and a piece of carrot. I had been spooning up food and handing it to her, and it was kind of hit or miss - either she would eat what was on the spoon, or just set down the spoon on her tray. Not this time. I hand her the spoon, and she was "chatting" a bit, and I was talking with her, too. Then, all of a sudden...it happened. She raised up the spoon and pointed it at me, then flicked the spoon - sending mashed potatoes and carrot flying!!! What a stinker. I think that was her way of telling me to a) shut up and b) stop giving her gross hospital food.

Okay, back to the prayer requests. The second big prayer request is for the progression of Jamie's cognitive level. As I have said before, Jamie advances little steps consistently. She has never regressed, and was are so immensely thankful for that. Right now, she has entered a phase where it is easy to get confused because her brain is trying to take in so much information, but doesn't have the capability yet. Please pray that she will pass through this phase quickly. It is easier for her to get frustrated, because she has progressed enough to know that she has limitations, if that makes sense. Also, her three languages are all coming out together and intertwined. She will often shift between Russian, French and English, all within one sentence or phrase. This may also add to her frustration, because it makes it harder for us to understand her. Please pray that communication will get a bit easier, as that will help her be at ease and comfortable with what's going on around her.

We are all learning patience. Patience to wait for God to do the work, and patience for Jamie to heal at her own speed. Please pray that we all have patience for God to do His work at His speed. Please pray that Jamie will have patience and not have to get frustrated if she can't quite get something the first time. Please pray that we will accept God's timing as the best timing.

Isaiah 40:30-31
Even youths shal faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

All in all, Jamie is still getting better each day. If this is a marathon, then i think we are around mile 3 or 4? We're setting the pace, and getting an idea of how the race is going to go. We are warming up, trying to figure out our strategy. (I'm not a runner, so...this analogy may have issues.) So, as we are still in the first few miles of this marathon, please pray that Jamie (and we) can run it well. Thanks for keeping up with Jamie, we tell her everyday how many people love her and are praying for her. On more than one occasion, she has responded to these comments with "I'm trying" or "I'm working". We know you are girl! Keep going!!

Love, us.

Overheard Today in rm. 49b...

2010-03-06T15:24:00.001-08:00

Ryan: we're all praying for you to get better Jamie.

Jamie: yeah, I need a breakthrough.

Ryan: (praying) Lord, please heal Jamie.

Jamie: it's coming, it's coming.

We love you Jamie girl, we'll all be here for that breakthrough!!

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It's Been a Good, Good Week

2010-03-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

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.

I'm still here!

2010-03-05T09:01:00.001-08:00

Blog post coming soon!

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Goodbye Cast, Hello Net-Bed!

2010-03-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Well, our Jamie-girl has had some eventful few days here since the beginning of her birthday week! Yesterday she got her cast off, and received a net-bed. (More on the net-bed in a moment). The cast came off Monday, and the orthopedic surgeon signed off on Jamie's case today, saying that Jamie will not need any surgery for her hand. Woohoo! There were actually three fractures - one in her wrist and two in her hand. The one in her wrist and one of the one's in her hand were perfectly clean, and the bones were aligned. The last one in her hand was slightly displaced, but because it is in a spot on her hand where she won't really use it, there is no need for surgery. She is also allowed to put weight on it, which was a no-no while the cast was on. What a blessing and answered prayer. Now, all Jamie's body has to do is heal her brain - it won't have to worry about her hand. She has been cleared to put weight on it, so her physical therapy sessions will probably be much easier once she has full use of that hand. It is still weak because it hasn't been used in a month and a half, but it is well on its way to recovery. Even tonight, she was already trying to use it to do sneaky things like pull off bandaids and untie her wheelchair belt.

Now, onto the Net-Bed. What is a Net-Bed, you ask? Well, it is a nifty contraption that is basically a mesh tent that zips up around a frame and a hospital bed to keep patients from being able to roll out or get out of bed. It zips from the outside so (theoretically) Jamie won't be able to unzip it. Imagine a four poster canopy bed (remember those girls?). Now instead of a canopy, imagine mesh that zips around the four posts and the top to create a square around Jamie + the hospital bed. I was a little nervous that she would be scared or wouldn't like it, but when she got in, we told her it was like she was camping and she was totally cool with it!! Basically, Jamie is a bit of a flight risk, so they have to make sure she is safe :)

Today, Jamie had another step towards progress. Remember that IVF filter she got back in DC to help safeguard against blood clots? Yeah, I kind of forgot about it, too. Well, that's gone now, too! The doctors took Jamie in for the procedure this afternoon, and there were no complications, and Jamie did great! The procedure was at 2, she was back in bed by 3:30, and up "eating" dinner at 5. Although I haven't talked to her doctor, we are obviously taking this as a good sign - its one more step towards independence.

Jamie is still getting more and more alert each day. When people come in the room, Jamie notices now; whereas before, you had to really talk to her to get her attention. She is starting to respond more consistently, especially when you say her name and ask her simple questions. She is able to maintain eye contact a bit more, and to focus for longer periods of time.

During speech therapy yesterday she got some birthday treats - mashed potatoes, some pudding, and some water. She actually drank the water out of a regular cup, and spooned the potatoes into her own mouth. We have been told all along that the basic things that we all do out of habit will come back first, and we can completely see that!

One thing Jamie is getting really good at is giving hugs and kisses. Sometimes if I tell her I am leaving, she will grab for me and pull me too her and give me a great big hug. She will give kisses, but sometimes she won't be as freely giving with those. Unless you're Ron. Or the PT guy. She is also getting really strong in her legs, now when she is in her chair, she can "walk" her feet and pull herself along without any help. Sometimes she needs to be guided as far as direction, but she can propel herself on her own. She was also able to walk with a walker today in PT, which must be really hard! We are just so proud of our girl. When we tell her that everyone is praying for her to get better, she has said on more than one occasion that she is trying. We know you are sweet girl, and you are doing such a great job!

Please continue to pray for Jamie's FULL recovery. Also be praying for all of her friends and family that are taking care of her - we are all learning that this is a marathon, not a sprint, but it is hard to stay away and take care of ourselves. We just want to take care of her! :) love you all!

PS - THANK YOU so much for all the birthday wishes for Jamie!! Between the blog comments and Facebook posts, I will be reading them to her for approximately 2 weeks. Okay, not really, but, you know, it was a lot! :)

Happy Birthday Jamers

2010-03-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Jamie,

Today, March 1st, 2010 is your 26th birthday. You are in the hospital in San Jose, recovering from a bad car accident. This is such a happy day, because even though you are still in the beginning of your recovery, we are elated that you are able to recover. There were a few dark days that we really didn't know what was going to happen, so we are happy to be celebrating this day with you.

It has been 6 weeks since the accident, and you have made such great improvements. We flew to Frankfurt and met you and Landstuhl Hospital, near Rammstein AFB. The AF sent us all to DC on a C-17 military transport plane. (It was pretty cool, even if really crappy circumstances.) Eventually the doctors let you come home to the Bay Area, where you have been for about 3 and 1/2 weeks. You have started "talking", and we think you can understand what you are saying, even if we can't. We know its frustrating for you, but don't worry, we listen to every little bit, in hopes of hearing what we can understand. So far, we are able to pick things out, and you do really well if you can just focus on "talking" to one person at a time. You do the best when given choices on how to answer, instead of when you are asked open-ended questions.

Your wonderful sense of humor is really shining through, you laugh at our jokes, and you seem to even be making fun of us and giving us a hard time when you can. For example, yesterday Uncle Lee tried to be nice and give you back a towel you had dropped on the floor. He even folded it nicely and placed it in your lap. You decided it would be a good time to throw it back on the ground and start giggling. I think this happened more than once. :)

You also have figured out how to sit up and scoot around in your bed. At one point yesterday you said "I've figured it out!" while sitting up and scooting around, so we are slightly concerned that you are going to try and make a break for it at some point. That, coupled with the fact that you have said "climb" and "climb out" on more than one occassion has us all on high alert for an escape attempt.

Jamie, on this special birthday, we all want you to know one thing: WE LOVE YOU. We have all been praying for 6 weeks solid that you will have a full and complete recovery, and each day we see you improve. That gives us hope. We know you can do this, and we are so proud of you. God is with you every second, even when us mere mortals have to work, sleep and occassionally shower. (By the way, today is the first day that I managed to get my makeup done, hair blow-dried and clothes ironed before going to work. Everyone keeps commenting on how good I look, which means I was looking pretty ragged. :) Evidently I have been letting my looks slip, so I guess your birthday is good for my appearance!)

We love you Jamers, Jam-Jam, James, Jam, Jamie from Nebraska, Jayme, JMo, Jamie-girl and wish you a happy happy birthday.

Love,
Your Family and Friends from San Carlos to Kaz and back.

PS. Maybe if people REALLY love you, they will leave birthday comments here for me to read to you later today. :)

Joy

2010-02-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows Jamie knows that laughter is as necessary as air for her life. The sheer emotion of what's going on with her and our family, as well as her stage in recovery has somewhat limited our ability to share laughter with our girl. Yesterday, we got a little break in those clouds. I got to the hospital yesterday morning and Jamie was already up in her chair, waiting for speech therapy to start. When I walked in, I said "Hey sister!" She looked over at me, said "Hey!" and gave me a huge smile. She watched me as I put my purse down, and made eye contact as I walked over to her. I bent down a little so she could clearly see my face, and she reached up and put her arm around me and gave me a big hug. A real, honest to goodness hug. I was smiling so big, I felt like my face was going to crack. I pulled up a chair, asked Jamie how she was doing, and she said "good." So there we sat, waiting for speech therapy to start, smiling at each other like idiots. At one point, we just started giggling, which we are often known to do. I'm not even sure what we were giggling about, but it was a really sweet, sweet moment. I really couldn't stop smiling and giggling! This was the most aware I had seen Jamie, I could tell that she knew I was there, and (more importantly) knew who I was. It has been difficult for her to really focus on people when they are with her, but she was really working on that yesterday morning.

She had a good day in speech therapy as well - she worked on naming body parts (shoulder, nose, cheeks, wrist, legs, etc.), which involved saying them out loud when her therapist pointed to them and then pointing them out herself. She was also able to pick my name out of several choices, and even worked on spelling it out loud! (she missed the first L, but got everything else.) The therapist then asked her where she lived, which she couldn't answer. But then when the therapist asked her where she grew up, she said "ssss carlos". (In an earlier session, the therapist thought she was saying "Sacramento", but when the figured out it was San Carlos all along, once I was in there to clarify.) While working on where she was from and when her birthday was, the ST gave Jamie a pen. Jamie wrote some scribbles that looked like 3 - 3- 33, and then wrote San Carlos in cursive! The therapists have all explained that the things that will come back to Jamie first are those skills that are very basic and almost rote. This explains why she is able to figure out things like her hometown, body parts, her birthday and who people are. Again, we still don't know how far this improvement will go, but we were absolutely thrilled at the day Jamie had yesterday.

We also had some good hang out time, and Jamie seemed thoroughly entertained by her brother's rapping skills (don't ask) as well as mine and Sarah's stories and questions. She was laughing a lot, and while we were in her room, she kept grabbing Ryan's hand and pulling herself up into a seated position. She isn't strong enough to hold herself up for very long, so she would sit up, wobble a bit and plop back down. At first I was nervous that she would hurt herself, but she just kept cracking up. (I wonder if she was getting a head rush everytime she sat up quickly, and that's why she was laughing.) After PT, we got to go out on the patio with Jamie and just hang out and visit. Although we couldn't really understand what she was saying, one thing was clear: she was having a great time sitting and visiting.

When we were leaving, I leaned down to hug her, and she tried hugging me again, although it was a bit awkward with her in the bed and me standing up. I then asked for a kiss goodbye (cause Ron got one the day before, and I couldn't be outdone!) and she gave me two on the cheek! I now consider myself the favorite, because I got two, and another "I love you." I mean, she did kiss the PT tech on the hand today, but I think that is because she was grateful that PT was over and she could go back to her room. After she kissed his hand, I asked her if she thought he was cute (in front of everyone.) Her answer: "Nope." Good to know Jamers - you will just kiss random men on the hand without thinking they're cute. We may have to work on that :)

I know this has been a great report, but Jamie still has a lot of work to do. She still needs to work on the consistency of her responses, so please pray that she will be able to focus for longer and longer periods of time. Please pray for increased awareness, and that she have the ability to find her words easier. One of her speech therapists seems to think that she can understand more than what she can respond, and that can be very frustrating. Please pray that she can communicate with us more frequently. Most importantly, we ask that you send up prayers of thanksgiving. We truly think that all of Jamie's improvements are little miracles, gifts of God. Please thank Him. He has been so gracious and merciful to us, and He deserves so much praise for that.

Love, Us.

Baby I'm Amazed

2010-02-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

Jamie continues to amaze me! Yesterday, she did so well with the walking between the parallel bars that her therapists moved her downstairs to the longer set. She made several passes, and did a great job. Today, Jamie used a little contraption called the litegait to work on walking today. The way the machine works is that there is a large metal frame that is on rollers, with a harness dangling through the center. (think like a grown-up bouncy swing like we used to have when we were learning to walk as babies, although Jamie's isn't bouncy.) So once her therapists got Jamie into the harness, we all walked together down two hallways and then back to the PT gym. The harness helps take some of the weight and pressure off Jamie, so that she can focus on using her legs to propel herself forward. She still needs help from her therapists to focus on keeping her hips straight and to remember to move her legs, but she is really getting down the movements of walking. Her therapists (and us) are also impressed with how crafty she is. On our way back to the PT gym, Jamie somehow figured out that there are medal bars that run right next to either foot, so she started stepping up on top of them so that she could get a ride back, instead of walking herself. One PT remarked, "Jamie, you are just too smart for us!" Ron and I got a good laugh out of that. :)

Our girl also had a good day in speech therapy. She worked on pairing identical items - the speech therapist placed a plate, a toothbrush and a sock on the table, and then gave Jamie an identical one to pair with each item. She did that several times. She would generally do well with the first two items, but would kind of get tired by the time she got to the third one. I am assuming that by the time she got to the last one, her attention span was starting to wane. At the end, the therapist brought out word cards reflecting those three items. Jamie could read the word "sock", but had trouble with toothbrush and plate. She could pick what they said if the therapist gave her choices, but she didn't do as well just reading those two.

While we were in her room after her dinner, I asked Jamie to give me a high five (this is something she has been able to do lately, and had done earlier that day.) Instead of giving me a high five, she poked my hand with her index finger. I laughed and asked her to give me one finger, so she did. Then I asked for two fingers, and after a few minutes and more prompting, she showed me two fingers. Then, I said "Okay J, you showed me 1 finger, and 2 fingers, now show me 3." I repeated this a few times, and she finally responded, saying "one, two, three" out loud as she counted on her fingers. So cool!!

Now I will be in real trouble if I don't tell you all Ron's favorite story of the day. Jamie was in her bed when her dad walked in the room this afternoon, and as soon as he got to the foot of her bed and was coming around to the side, she got a huge smile on her face and said "Pops!" (her name for her dad). We all laughed, and Ron said, "Hey Jamie!" and, again, Jamie smiled that big huge smile of hers and said "Pops!" again. It was so much fun! So, just so we're clear, Jamie said Pops, all on her own, twice today. :)

As I was leaving tonight, I leaned over and told Jamie that I loved her very much, and she looked me straight in the eye and said "I love you, too." It was all I could do to peel myself out of that hospital room.

Psalm 31:24, Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

One Day at a Time

2010-02-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure I've used that title before, but my wit and creativity does have its limits. (shocking, I know!) Jamie had a good day today, she keeps plugging along in all her therapies. She was able to "walk" four or five times through the bars again today, so she is working on her endurance. It sounds like she was pretty smiley today, which we all love to hear.

We are still waiting to hear from orthopedics about Jamie's arm - we know she has had the hard cast on almost 3 weeks, and they took x-rays last weekend, but we don't know how long the cast still has left. Jamie got another x-ray today, but this time it was of the IVF filter she has that protects her from blood clots. That will probably be looked at tomorrow, I think it is just a maintenance thing.

We got news today that Jamie is changing rehab programs. Essentially, she will be getting more aggressive therapies because of her progress. She will still be getting three hours a day, six days a week, but her goals will be different and more improvement will be expected. As far as we understand, this is a good thing and another step forward in her recovery. I'm not sure what this will practically look like, so we'll just have to wait and see.

That's all for now, it was a pretty good, "normal" day. The nurses and PT staff have Jamie on an up/down schedule that seems to be really working out - Jamie is able to get enough time up in her chair and some rest time in her bed. I think this has been good to get Jamie up, because then she is tired when she gets back in bed and it is easier for her to rest. Please continue to pray for Jamie's strength, that she slowly build up her stamina and that just continues to build on all the skills she is gaining back. Also, I think it's time to start praying that Jamie come off her GT tube. She will have to show she can really eat solid foods and digest them well before this can happen. So pray for that!!

We are so thankful for God's faithfulness. We see Him at every turn, in every blessing and every challenge. My prayer for all of you is that you see Him in Jamie's recovery.

Love, Us.

One STEP at a time...

2010-02-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Anyone get the hint in the title as to what today's post is about?! So yesterday I was able to go down for Jamie's afternoon PT appointment. I walked into the PT room and Jamie was in her chair at the end of the parallel walking bars, like these:

Needless to say, I was intrigued, as I hadn't seen this happen in therapy yet. Her PTs wheeled her back to the start of the bars, and asked me if I could move the chair as Jamie walked through the bars. That's right. You heard me. They worked on walking yesterday and Monday! During PT on Monday, Jamie was able to stand with the help of her PTs for about 20 seconds; she kind of hugs the PT standing in front of her, who helps support her. After the standing and hugging, Jamie got to walk (same position as the hugging), and her other PT walked beside her, prompting her which leg to use. Obviously, she is not walking by herself, and she can't use the bars to hold herself up, but she is using a lot of her own strength to move one foot in front of the other and hold some of her own weight. I was so thrilled to see this, I almost started crying. Jamie was able to make four passes at the length of the bars, but by the fifth time, she was pooped. Her PT would get her into a standing position, and then Jamie would just reach for her chair and bend her knees to sit down. Who can blame her? :) I know that this is just the beginning, and I know we need to keep an even keel about how excited we get, but I continue to be amazed at how much faith her therapists have in her, that they get her to do tough stuff like this.

Jamie is also getting really good at sitting up with the guidance of her therapists/nurses, as well as swinging her feet over the side of her bed. (I'm only slightly nervous that she might make a break for it soon!) She has also pretty much mastered the stand-up-and-swivel movement that she has to do to get into her wheelchair. She can't support her body weight on her own, so she still needs a good deal of help, but she really gets what movements she is supposed to be doing. As we've said before, Jamie also works on "walking" her wheelchair by moving her feet as we wheel her. She is doing better at this every time she is in the chair, even on that left side. I am hoping that she will do the same with real walking - just get better at it every time. Go Jamie!!

Speech therapy yesterday was good as well. Jamers ate a whole container of applesauce, as well as a quarter of a graham cracker! These are good steps, because it means she is that much closer to getting off the GT tube and eating real food. Yay!

I also noticed yesterday that she is doing better at resting and having periods of quiet time in between her "talking". It is my understanding that this is a good thing; most of the "talking" seems to be somewhat involuntary, so if she is quiet for longer periods, then hopefully the speech she does get out is more and more purposeful.

Fun story for the day. Jamie's cousin Sara came for a visit yesterday evening, and we were having a great time chatting and singing with her. Sara teaches at a Jewish school, and told Jamie that she could teach her some Shabat songs. (spelling? no idea.) Jamie laughed a little, and I asked Jamie: "Jamie, are you Jewish?" J's response? "I'm not Jewish!" CLEAR AS DAY! We were rolling, even the nurse was laughing. I then asked Jamie if she was a Christian. She replied "Yep, I'm a Christian, but..." and then mumbled some kind of explanation. I am guessing that she was just explaining that she is a Christian, but loves all her Jewish friends, too. (You know who you are.) It was a very fun little exchange.

I always feel compelled to put a disclaimer at the end of posts where Jamie has made good improvements - we still don't know how much function she will recover, but we know that God is control, and we see consistent improvements. Her responses still aren't consistent, but I do believe she is working on it. Please continue to pray for Jamie's recovery and the steps that she makes. We feel like she is being able to focus and attend better to what is being asked and required of her. Please pray that she keeps doing this. No word yet on when she gets her cast off, so please be praying for that as well.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

A Very Morris Weekend

2010-02-22T21:22:00.000-08:00

Like I said on Saturday, Jamie had some really special visitors from Santa Rosa, CA and Portland, OR. (Her Morris Aunts and Uncles) Once the Portland contingency got to see and visit with Jamie, she had officially seen all her family. (Santa Rosa peeps have been able to come down each week) Jamie had a full day of therapies on Saturday plus her visitors, so she slept almost 7 hours straight on Saturday night. (Which is great, considering that I can barely get in 7!!) Sunday was a nice day of just visiting. Everyone got to spend some good time with our girl, and I know she loved it. When her Aunt Carla was in the room, Jamie said "Chris" and "Debbie" (Carla's kids), without any prompting. We had fun little moments like that all weekend, the moments of lucid words or phrases really get us jazzed up. The cousins brought two photo albums, one of which allows you to make recordings on each page. Jamie was repeating some of the words, and even trying to help turn some pages!

When Jamie started vocalizing and "speaking" in this kind of stream of consciousness fashion, most of us wondered if some of what she was saying was in Russian (mainly because we can't understand about of 90% of what she "says"). So imagine our excitement when her nurse on Saturday night seemed to be Eastern European of some flavor! I was CONVINCED that a) Jamie was speaking Russian and b) that her nurse would be able to translate it! Alas, we were swiftly informed that Jamie's nurse was NOT Russian (and may have been a little offended that we assumed she was, and that more than one of us asked...multiple times) and that Jamie was NOT speaking Russian. (Although if the nurse wasn't Russian and didn't speak Russian, how did she know Jamie WASN'T speaking Russian? But I digress...) The nurse explained that what Jamie was able to speak was English (duh! We knew that, we speak English!) and that it is a good sign that she is doing all this mumbling. It can be slightly disconcerting to be in the room with Jamie when she is mumbling. It can sound like she is really trying to talk, and there are moments of purposeful speech, but when it is not discernible, it can sometimes be hard. As far as I understand it, the constant mumbling isn't something she can control just yet. Just like she has this spontaneous movement where she rubs her eye over and over, she mumbles. We are pretty sure this will start to taper off as she is able to focus for longer periods of time, but we just can't be sure what to expect.

One important thing that I've noticed about Jamie's mumbling is that when she "speaks", she is doing a lot of repeating. So I don't think we can say for sure how much she is really processing, but at the least she is able to repeat some of what she is hearing. I don't want to give a false sense of what is going on with Jamie, but with that, I think I run the risk of being a bit of a downer We'll take what we can get!

One question I ask every day since she really started vocalizing is "Jamie, who is the best?" Without fail, she answers "Me"....until Saturday. I asked her the regular question "Jamie, who is the best?" Nothing but a little mumbling. Then I changed it up, "Jamie, is Lailah the best". Jamie's response: "She's the closest". I may have asked her a few more variations of the question until I got the best answer at the very end.
Question: "Jamie, is Lailah the best?"
Answer: "She is."
I think I jumped up and down. (Family members present DID remark that it MAY have had something to do with the fact that I asked like, ten times.)

I almost forgot one of the best stories of the weekend. Jamie's non-Russian-but-Eastern-European nurse has a very thick accent. And she talks very loudly. So, when the nurse came in and introduced herself and started tending to Jamie, Jamie was evidently unimpressed by her. How did she express this? She kept telling the nurse (and anyone in the room who would listen, for that matter) that she is an American. Over and over. Don't worry Jamie, we all know you're an American. :)

Anyway, that is all for now, not much new to report in terms of new skills or changes. (But that is okay!) Please continue to pray for Jamie's 100%, FULL recovery. Also, please pray that she will be able to focus her speech and use it to be able to communicate. We so desperately want our Jamie back to be able to really talk and interact with. Please pray for us - the longevity of Jamie's recovery seems to sink further in every day, and we will need some serious stamina and strength.

Love, Us.

Jamie-lympics.

2010-02-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

As we all know, the Winter Olympics are in full swing. Th U.S. is leading the medal count with 22 total, the most ever in a foreign winter Olympics at this stage in the Games. What does this have to do with Jamie, you ask? Well, as a general rule, she loves competition, so there's that. But I'm thinking we need to start giving this girl gold medals for all of her accomplishments! Today she had a really good day in OT and ST, and a pretty good day in PT.

In PT, they stood her up in a special standing frame that is also attached to an elliptical/nordic track type machine. It helps simulate walking, which is another "step" (hehe) in her recovery. She was pretty tired by the time she got to PT, but it was good to remind her what her legs are for, and how her hips, legs, knees and ankles all work together.

Speech Therapy was great! She is really getting good at being able to pick the correct thing when given choices. For example, the therapist held up her keys and asked Jamie "Do I have keys or a pencil?" and Jamie responded "keys." J has been getting quite a few flowers (because she can now that she's off the trach) and the therapist pulled some daffodils over and asked "Are these azinas or daffodils?" Jamie said daffodils! The therapist noted that when Jamie can calm down and have very little stimulation, then she can really focus and attend to what is being asked of her. When she can focus, she is pretty lucid and can get out some really great phrases. When the therapist was leaving today, she said "See you next week" and Jamie responded "looking forward to it". I should explain at this point that when I write these phrases that Jamie is able to say, its not always perfect pronunciation, but she does get it out.

The most thrilling moments of the day came during ST, when the therapist was working with getting Jamie to hold a pencil and work with written words. Jamie figured out how she is meant to hold a pencil; the therapist handed it to her and she grabbed it, then flipped it around on her own to hold it the proper way for writing!! Watching her do it, it was like she just automatically knew what to do with that pencil! Go Jamie! Kathy and I were watching the therapy, and her therapist was going over Jamie's name and birthday with her. At one point, the therapist wrote the word "March" on a sheet of paper and asked Jamie to read it. Without any prompting, Jamie said "March"!! We asked the therapist if she actually read it, and she said yes! She wasn't given any cues, she really READ the word March. She had a harder time reading her name, but who cares?!?! :) Anyone who knows Jamie knows that reading is such a huge part of her, she loves it! We don't know how much she will be able to read, comprehend or whatever, but she has the ability. We will take it, we have faith in Jamie that she will push to gain this skill back. It looks like she is well on her way.

Jamie also worked alot on "walking" her feet while in her wheelchair. She helps as we push her chair by kicking her feet out and digging them as she pushes herself forward. She does need help and can't move the chair forward on her own, but she gets better at it each time she is in the chair.

Jamie is getting a lot better at helping transfer herself in and out of her wheelchair, to and from the bed. It usually takes two people to transfer her, but today the "coach" was able to do it on her own. (Most, if not all, of the patients in Jamie's wing have "coaches" that are basically nurses assistants, and each patient has one in the room at all times. We LOVE our coaches, and they are so great with Jamie. (We think she is the floor favorite, but we are biased...) Her coach was really impressed today that Jamie was basically standing up to get in her chair. The problem comes in getting her to sit down!! Now, she can't stand up by herself by any means, but she is figuring out that she can put weight on her legs, and that gets her into her chair.

We are so amazed at Jamie's progress. I can't say it enough. We are blown away by how well she does, and we are so proud! She has had some very special visitors from Portland, OR and Santa Rosa, CA this weekend, and she is really enjoying their company. :) Also, her therapists have picked up on the fact that Jamie responds to humor during therapies. This is so Jamie! This morning, Ron was trying to be sneaky and get her to complement him. So he asked her "Who is better looking Jamie, Lee or Ron?" (Lee = Ron's twin brother). Jamie smiled, a huge grin lighting up her face, and said "Lee!" and started giggling, which made us giggle, and then we were ALL laughing heartily. I can't express how delightful it is to hear her laugh. It is an encouragement because it means that her personality is breaking through, at whatever degree. We don't know how far she will get, but we are hopeful that she will keep pushing and working.

Please remember to keep praying for consistency! It will be easier for Jamie if she can focus and be consistent with her responses. Please pray that she get lots of rest, and that she focus when she needs to.

We love you all and wouldn't be able to get through any of this without your love, prayers and support.

Love you all, Us.

Physical Therapy Update

2010-02-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

I realized that in my last incredibly long post, I failed to mention what Jamie has done in PT the last few days. She hasn't been back in the fancy stand-up machine, but she has been in the standing frame the last two days. It is a simple wooden and metal pipe frame that has knee pads and a desk top that will hold her in place once she is stood up. She was able to "stand up" for about 20 minutes each time, and she is doing a good job of using her own strength a lot. She shifts her weight a lot from foot to foot, kind of doing a little dance.

She also has been working on going from a laying down position to sitting up, as well as scooting around on the therapy bed. Her therapists remarked today that she is doing a lot of the work herself, and while they are helping her, she is doing a great job of building her strength! Go Jamie! She is also helping alot when she gets transferred in and out of her chair. She is starting to figure out what she needs to do to put weight on her feet and use her strength to get from the chair to the bed and vice versa. Keep building that strength girl!

Fantastic Friday

2010-02-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

What a wild few days it has been. It has been a month and a day since we got news of Jamie's accident, and so much has changed. We read the following passage at twenties last night, and it just hit me how the same God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt brought Jamie out of Kazakhstan and on her way to recovery.

Exodus 15:1-7
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD :
       "I will sing to the LORD,
       for he is highly exalted.
       The horse and its rider
       he has hurled into the sea.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation.
       He is my God, and I will praise him,
       my father's God, and I will exalt him.
The LORD is a warrior;
       the LORD is his name.
Pharaoh's chariots and his army
       he has hurled into the sea.
       The best of Pharaoh's officers
       are drowned in the Red Sea.
The deep waters have covered them;
       they sank to the depths like a stone.
"Your right hand, O LORD,
       was majestic in power.
       Your right hand, O LORD,
       shattered the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty
       you threw down those who opposed you.
       You unleashed your burning anger;
       it consumed them like stubble.

The changes we have seen in Jamie this week are proof of God's might and power! We know that the journey is just beginning, but we can so clearly see how God has delivered Jamie, and us, (and is continually doing so everyday) through the hardest thing we've seen. He is good, and He is continually saving and healing Jamie everyday.

As I said yesterday, Jamie had her trach removed yesterday. Between the time that Ron left from the morning shift and Kathy's arrival for the mid-morning/afternoon shift, they had removed it! Because she had tolerated the plug over her trach so well, there was no reason to keep that sucker in.

One of the benefits of the trach removal is that Jamie can start vocalizing. Yesterday, she was starting to vocalize and kind of mumble and get words out. Throughout the day, she started saying "yes", "no", different names and even "thank you" to her doctor. When I got to her room this morning, I could hear her jabbering away before I even walked in. Most of what she vocalizes is pretty much jibberish to us (but we think it makes sense to her), but some of what she says comes out clear as a bell. She "talked" pretty much the whole morning! I could sometimes interject and ask her questions, and she would intermittently answer the yes/no questions. At one point, I said, "Can you say Lailah?", and immediately she said "Lai. Lah.", pausing in between the syllables. I thought I was going to jump up out of my chair and start cheering.

Another big benefit is that Jamie can start eating food! Of course, she can't start eating steak right out of the gate, but she is slowly working her way up. Yesterday she finished a whole thing of applesauce, and today she mastered some canned peaches. (She even chewed them!!) She is also able to drink thick liquids. She hasn't quite mastered thin liquids (like water) because her swallow is a little bit slow. Her speech therapist said that her swallow will get better with time, and that she is showing great progress.

I also got the tail end of her afternoon speech therapy session, and as the therapist was leaving, he was saying "Bye Jamie! See you later alligator!" After he said it several times, he waited....and she said "See ya later alligator!" I thought that Ron, Kathy and I were going to burst into (happy) tears right then and there...instead we just giggled. :) Her speech therapist also noted that Jamie isn't just using simple, basic vocabulary. She is sometimes able to string words together, ie "I don't want to" or "I see" as opposed to just saying "juice" or single words only. This is a really good sign. I guess that English degree is paying off!

Jamie also got to take a field trip to radiology and get another x-ray of her wrist. It has been about two weeks since they put the hard cast on, and the initial cast time estimate was 2-4 weeks. One thing has been clear since Jamie started gaining more consciousness - she is fidgety! So we knew the x-ray was going to be...interesting. By the time we got down to x-ray, she had flipped herself over onto her stomach!! We got her turned, over, but I had to put on a lead vest and keep her calm and hold her arm still. Three pictures later, and we were outta there! The orthopedist will check the films out over the weekend and let us know how the hand fractures are healing.

The other HUGE thing is that Jamie is out of isolation!!! I didn't talk to the doctor/nurses specifically, but I did some investigating with the Infection Control office at the hospital, and they explained that a patient can be cleared as soon as her cultures come back free from the organism(s) and her infectious disease consulting doctor signs off on her case. (sign off = doc no longer needs to be involved). So, if she is out of isolation, then she has no more bugs!! :) Her being out of isolation makes all of US so happy. We have been kind of joking this whole time that Jamie can't recognize us because of our blue masks. Well, now she can see our fabulous faces! And, we can hold her hand and not be separated by blue glove that makes our hands sweat and are kind of stinky. (my hands had started to permanently smell like the anti-bacterial gel and latex gloves. gross.)

So, all and all, we have had a few pretty exciting days. I do want to caution all of you that Jamie is not "healed" or "better", even though she has had some great days. (I know, I am being a Debbie-downer) We think it is important to manage everyone's expectations; Jamie is doing GREAT and we are so proud of her, but she has A LOT of work to do. Please continue to pray that her improvements will become more consistent, and that she really be able to communicate better. Please pray that she will continue to gain more strength on her left side, and that her trach site will heal up quickly. Also, please pray that her wrist and metacarpal (metatarsal?) are healing on schedule and that she will be able to get the cast off as scheduled.

THANK YOU for all your prayers. They fortify us and keep us going!!

Love, Us.

!!!!

2010-02-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

The trach is out!

Jamie is out of isolation!!

That is all I know, for now :)

Plug It In, Plug It In

2010-02-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

So today is Day 2 of the Great Plug-In. Jamie has been able to tolerate the plug in her trach for nearly 48 hours, without any breaks. Woohoo! This may seem like a small thing, but it's really great. Because she can tolerate the plug, the end is in sight for the trach. Her nurse tonight seemed to think that Jamie could get the trach out as early as next week.

My visit tonight was pretty uneventful. Jamie was just resting when I got there, and was out cold (asleep) by about 7 o'clock. This is a bit of a change from some of the other evenings I've been there. She wasn't restless, wasn't fidgety, and was totally relaxed. We are thankful for this, because it means that Jamie is getting the much needed rest that the doctors keep telling us about. Also, her nurse said that she didn't need any pain medicine all day. I believe this is an answer to prayer. I think we all have a bit of a fear that Jamie is in pain, but can't communicate it effectively to us. Obviously nothing happened today for the nurses to think she needed any pain medicine. yay!

During therapy today, Jamie did a lot of smiling. When shown pictures of different people (and dogs), she looked at them and smiled. Also, she was able to have a little bit of applesauce. She is not ready to be taken off the GT tube, but I think she is starting to "remember" what eating is and what her mouth is for. Also, she is vocalizing a lot more, and even laughing!!

Also, Jamie was asked to wave goodbye today...and she did it! We are so encouraged each time she does something after she is asked to. Of course we are excited when she spontaneously does things, but when she does them responsively, it is a signal that her brain is starting to process information and respond accordingly.

One thing we've learned about Jamie's brain injury is that information may be dealt with differently inside her brain. Because the damage in her case is on a microscopic level and deals with the connections between neurons, other parts of her brain may have to compensate. As she starts to be able to relay information with in her brain, the information is not necessarily going to go the quickest route. One doctor used an airplane analogy. A brain that is not healing from a TBI can send information the quickest most direct route. Like flying nonstop between Dallas and SFO. Right now, the Dallas-SFO route in Jamie's brain stops in Chicago, Albequerque, Las Vegas, and perhaps LAX. As she gains more function, the routes we believe the "flights" will get more direct, and hopefully more efficient. I hope that analogy makes sense.

Jamie's nurse tonight also commented that Jamie is much less agitated today than earlier in the week. Each day, they do an Adult Behavior assessment to determine how agitated a patient is. The nurse went through Jamie's previous charts with me, and it is clear that her level of restlessness and agitation is dropping each day. The nurse explained that it is very common for TBI patients to get very restless and agitated when they first arrive at rehab. There is a certain level of confusion, and too much information coming in for their brains to be able to process. Patients seem to calm down as they progress in their recovery. We like hearing this, considering that Jamie has started to calm down.

Thanks for all your prayers, please pray for Jamie to be able to communicate verbally. Please pray that she continue responding to prompts and commands, and that each day her responsiveness gets more and more consistent.

Happy Wednesday (and probably Thursday, by the time you read this!)

Love, Us.

Our Cheeky Girl

2010-02-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

I just needed to share this, because it is so Jamie. Each day, it seems like Jamie masters a new "skill". From brushing her teeth, to combing her hair, to breathing without the aid of the trach, she makes all these progressions each day. They keep us encouraged and uplifted. Her newest skill is both a form of communication, and a source of entertainment. She mastered it yesterday with her dad. What is that new skill, you ask?

Sticking out her tongue.

That's our girl!!

Love you Jamers, you can stick your tongue out at me whenever you want!!!

Tuesday Tidbits

2010-02-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

We are so blessed. I have done a lot of reflecting over the weekend - yesterday was four weeks since we got news of Jamie's accident. In the month since that awful phone call, and I can hardly believe it. On one hand, it seems like this just happened, and that it is all new. On the other hand, this is our new reality, and I can't imagine what life was like before. What has amazed me, and what we are all so thankful for, is that Jamie continues to grow stronger, and has had virtually no complications. God has spared us from so many things as we walk through this with Jamie, and we are so blessed by that, and by the strength that He continues to give us.

Now what you are all really waiting for - the latest on Jamie! This morning Kathy got a visit from the director of Jamie's rehab clinic, and he gave us some good news. They are going to put a plug in her trach 24/7 to see how she tolerates it. This completely plugs up the hole, and allows Jamie to breath completely through her nose and mouth. It also allows her to work on her swallow. This is one of the next steps to getting that trach out! We thought that she would have to work up to it by just wearing the plug for a few hours a day, but her doctors think she is up for it. Go Jamie!!

The next piece of news today is that Jamie's nurses and physical therapists are going to work on an "Up-Down" schedule for our girl. This means that in addition to her therapy schedule, she will have a set schedule for when she is "up" in her chair and when she is "down" in her bed. Again, this is a step forward - this chair time is pretty much exercise for Jamie, so it is work for her to be up in it for a set period of time. Knowing Jamie, I am sure she is absolutely annoyed with being in her bed all day, everyday. I know she will enjoy getting up a bit more. I think its great that her docs/nurses/therapists think that she can handle it, and it is just one more baby step. I also think it will help her get more rest; because it is "exercise" for her, I think it will help her be restful in the bed, because she will be tired from the chair. I anticipate that this will help combat some of the restlessness that she has been experiencing.

We did also get word from her docs that it would be a good idea to limit her visitors to 2 people in the room at a time, and to not add any new visitors at this point. Right now, Jamie is getting visits from her family and only a handful of her close friends. Because getting rest is such a huge part of her recovery, it makes sense to limit the amount of visitors - it is still really early on in her healing. One thing we have been told (that makes it easier for us to accept limited visitors) is that Jamie can still hear the background noise, and it is still stimulating her brain when there is background or ambient noise in her room. So even if only one person is talking to her, and other people are in the room visiting with each other, she can still hear that and it wears her out. We hope that those of you who haven't gotten to visit Jamie do understand. We will start letting people know when we are able to open up for more visitors. We do know that you are all important to Jamie's recovery, we just have to (all together now!) be patient. :)

Please keep praying for Jamie's increased improvement, and most of all that she gets some much needed rest over the next few days and weeks.

Love, Us.

A Presidential Stature

2010-02-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

In honor of President's day, Jamie did something really cool. Instead of going to her regular PT gym, her physical therapists took her to the spinal cord gym for her PT session. They put her in a special chair that has supports and padding at her knees and sides, as well as a big tray/arm rest at her chest. They strap her in at the hips and chest, and then start moving a hydraulic arm to slowly straighten her up. That's right, they use the chair to straighten her into a standing position! The way the chair works, it can hold her up without any of her help. However, it does allow her to help if she can. We could tell by the position and movement of her hips, as well as the position of her knees that she was helping. We could see that she was putting some weight on both feet, and really trying to figure out how everything worked. It was SO EXCITING!! They monitored her blood pressure the whole time, and it stayed steady. One of the concerns with standing up patients who have been lying down for so long is that they will get dizzy and their blood pressure will bottom out. But, Jamie did great. Her BP stayed steady the whole time, and she didn't seem to have any problems with it. Her therapists kept her up for about 15 minutes. Because this is surely very tiring for Jamie, that was it for PT today. Throughout PT, both her therapists kept saying "She's so tall!" I think Ryan is a little worried that she grew in Kaz, I think she caught up to him! (One of the constant remarks from hospital staff -from here to Germany - has been Jamie's height. She often scoots down to the end of her bed, and she never has much wiggle room because she's so tall!)

I do need to say that this doesn't mean that Jamie can stand (or even sit) on her own. One of the things that the stand up chair helps Jamie do is remember what her legs and hips are for, to retrain her brain and body to work together. I imagine its the same thing that happens when you help a baby "walk" by moving their feet for them or "walking" them in between two adults while holding their hands. You're teaching them what they're supposed to do with their legs.

Jamie is still focusing on her hygiene lessons during OT - combing her hair, washing her face, brushing her teeth, etc. She is doing well with this stuff - she combed her own hair today and Saturday, and washes her face on and off. (I'm never there for OT, so it inevitably gets the least details. Sorry!!)

Speech therapy in the morning was pretty rough and not very productive. Jamie had OT before that and was allowed to sit in her chair for another 40 minutes or so before ST, so she was pretty tired by the time she was supposed to have ST. Her afternoon session went really well though. She was able to stay in her chair for it, and she worked on chewing ice (which she did) and swallowing (which she did). These are great steps - when she does well in ST and with her swallowing, etc., that means she is closer to getting the trach out, which we love.

This morning, Jamie got some good father daughter time in with Ron. After OT, she stayed in her chair, and got to go on a little roll out to the outside balcony on her floor. One thing that is evident is that Jamie doesn't like the trach. She is forever messing with it and grabbing at it and the trach mask. One of the attachments to her trach is called an artificial nose. It allows her to go without the mask and oxygen mist, which is attached to the wall. She wears the nose when she is out and about in her chair. During her little jaunt with Ron this morning, she went through no fewer than FIVE noses. She would just grab them and throw them on the ground. And, of course, they can't reuse that one, so she would have to get a new one. Eventually she got tired and stopped grabbing them. But not before she got rid of 5. :)

All in all, Jamie had a great weekend. We are so proud of her and all the hard work she is putting in to her own recovery and are just amazed at her progress. Please continue to pray for each little step that she takes, and that she keeps making them!

Also, please pray for her wrist and hand. We think she is experiencing some pain whenever that left hand is moved, and she definitely gets irritated anytime anyone touches the fingers on her left hand. We ask that you pray for this pain to cease as her hand heals. We also ask that you pray for us, that when Jamie is experiencing pain, that we can know that's what it is and help her however we can. Please also pray for the nurses and doctors, that they can really figure out if Jamie is just uncomfortable with that hand, or if there is pain, and that if there is pain, that they can ease it for her.

Love, Us.

We thought this verse would be appropriate in light of Jamie's activities today...

2 Chronicles 20:17

Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.

Jamie, stand firm. Do not be dismayed about what you are going through. Go out tomorrow against any fear you have, go out against the difficulties you face. The Lord will be with you as you stand firm and fight for your recovery. We love you girlie.

Some Sweet Valentine's

2010-02-13T17:38:00.001-08:00

Jamie got some very sweet valentine's day cards today. Made with love from her neighbors in San Carlos.

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Improvement Makes the Heart Grow Stronger

2010-02-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

I think I speak for all of us ("us" being everyone who loves Jamie) when I say that her improvement does my heart good. Each day, Jamie gets stronger. Each day, we get stronger right alongside her. Because I haven't updated in a few days, I have a lot to share!

The first big news is that Jamie is officially no longer in a "vegetative" state. Her neurological status is now "minimally conscious". This means that she is able to follow commands and is more aware, but that things are still fairly inconsistent. As her doc put it, the textbook definition of minimal consciousness is inconsistency. Having said that, we can tell the difference. I don't know if I can explain it, but I'll try. When Jamie first came out of her coma, we could look at her eyes and tell that she wasn't really seeing and wasn't fully "there". Now, we can look at her eyes and see that she is starting to see. It seems like more and more, she is actually looking at things, instead of her eyes just roaming about. Some of her therapists and doctors suspect that she might also have some blurry or double vision. I heard that one of her therapists tried to put an eye patch on during PT the other day...Jamie pulled it off.

Six days a week, Jamie gets 3 hours of therapies: 1 hour each of physical, occupational and speech therapy. Physical therapy is primarily focused on her strength and the health of her muscles and bones. PT also works on hand-eye coordination, trying to get her to grab onto some sport balls, hand them over, throw them. Today, one therapist sat on a yoga ball on top of the therapy bed to support Jamie as she sat on the therapy bed. The other therapist sat in front of Jamie, giving her prompts and coaching her through the exercises. Jamie worked really hard on sitting up by herself once positioned, and is gaining strength in her core. Also, she is having much better head control. A week ago, her head had to be held in place if she was sitting up. Today, she does it on her own. She was also able to grab a tennis ball and throw it (not very far, just into the hand of the therapist sitting in front of her). She also handed the ball to me a few times. Go Jamie!!

Occupational therapy works more on fine motor skills and daily practices. For example, they will put a comb in her hand and help her comb her hair. Today, it sounds like she tried to comb her hair on her own. As Jamie's neurological status improves, she will be able to learn more everyday tasks. We look forward to it. I think earlier this week, our girl was also able to wave to Kathy when asked.

Speech therapy is next, and I tend to think this is my favorite. The speech therapists work with Jamie to help her swallow, use her voice, and open up lines of communication. One of the most frustrating things right now is to see Jamie trying to become more aware, yet she can't communicate with us. As I've stated before, her therapists are trying to get her to use thumbs up and down for yes and no, and I think she is catching on. When her speech therapist came in today, she said "Hey Jamie, how are you doing? thumbs up for good, thumbs up for down or so so?" Pretty quickly, Jamie gave a very clear thumbs up. We loved it! Even with our masks on, you could tell Ryan and I were grinning from ear to ear.

During ST, she gets a valve put on her trach hole. The valve normalizes the pressure in her windpipes so that if she wants to, shge can start using her voice. The valve also helps with swallowing. We did notice that she was working on swallowing today - we can tell when she smacks her mouth. Yesterday in ST, the therapist asked her to open her mouth and stick out her tongue. She didn't, but when I asked her to, she did open her mouth wide and try and work her tongue. The therapists felt confident that she was purposeful in that and really trying to stick out her tongue. Go Jamie!! One thing that ST also does is oral care. They have to keep her mouth healthy because she isn't eating yet, and so bacteria can build up. We all have healthy mouths because we chew and brush and swallow. ST helps Jamie with those things.

Today, the speech therapist put the toothbrush in Jamie's hand (as she has done in her previous sessions) and placed Jamie's hand near her face. The ST then told Jamie to brush her teeth...and she did!! She bared her teeth, opened her mouth and stuck that toothbrush in! She proceeded to actually brush her teeth, and then switch sides. After several minutes of this, the ST asked Jamie if she could have the toothbrush back, and we think she tried to say "no". Whatever the verbalization actually was, the ST got the impression that it was in protest to taking the toothbrush away. We LOVE this!!!

I can't remember if I said this part, but Jamie had her PIC lines removed. That means that she no longer has any ports in her arm that go directly into her veins. This is progress, it means that it is one less thing that she needs. Now when she needs medicine, it gets put in through her stomach tube so that she can metabolize it. Today we watched the nurse crush up two fiber pills, add water, and use an irrigation syringe to push it into her tummy tube. It looked gross, but it was kind of cool.

Finally, we learned that Jamie is on a medicine that is supposed to help her get to a more wakeful, aware status. The medicine is also used with Parkinson's patients and will help her brain get to where it needs to be. After speaking with her doctors yesterday and watching her daily improvements, I am very encouraged by Jamie's progress. We feel good when we see her doing things, but it is very reassuring to have those feelings validated by her docs. Her doctors continue to be positive and hopeful about her recovery, even if its still too early to know how much function she will recover.

Ryan and I also got quite a special treat today. Once we were back in the room after PT, Jamie was resting in her bed, waiting for her Speech Therapist to arrive, and Ryan started reminding her of what she did during therapy and encouraging her that she did a good job. When he told her that she did a good job throwing the balls around, she smiled!! It was an honest to goodness-showing-her-teeth smile. We were laughing with her, and she kept it up for a little bit. Those moments are like food for us. Her improvements help keep us going. And, her smile today is a reminder for us - if Jamie is strong enough to go through what she has gone through and still have a smile on her face, well then so can we!!

Whew. That is a LOT of information, and I'm sure I've forgotten some things. When I remember, I'll post them, too!!

xoxo,
Us.

Sorry for the long wait!!

2010-02-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been pretty busy! Jamie's getting into the routine of her therapies and visitors, but her visitors are still trying to get into a routine! I will post a full update tomorrow morning, but I wanted to let you all know that Jamie is continuing to improve in her therapies each day, and is making good progress. A week ago, I had to hold her head up while she was in her chair. Today, she is able to hold her head up while in her chair, and even rest her head on her hand, while resting her elbow on the arm rest. Go Jamie!!

There is still more news to come! Tune in tomorrow!

:)

The New Jewelry

2010-02-10T13:33:00.001-08:00

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Morning Update - I have run out of catchy titles...

2010-02-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Good morning all. I hope this Wednesday finds you all well. Jamie got another special visitor last night - one of her best friends, Tracy, got to come and spend some good QT (quality time) with our girl. Our whole family is so encouraged by how many people love Jamie and want to come and spend time with her. We know that YOUR love is one of the most important pieces to her recovery.

The big news is that Jamie got a new cast! The poor splint was looking pretty ragged, what with having to survive Jamie's constant fidgeting and multiple transports from country to country and coast to coast. She now has a hard cast, which has already been christened by Ron, Sarah and myself. Signature real estate is going fast, and all the prime spots are getting snatched up pretty quickly. :) Some of us have neater handwriting than others, but its the thought that counts, right?

We also got an update on Jamie's infection and isolation. From what I can understand, Jamie does not have MRSA, the "hospital" infection that is highly resistant to antibiotics, but she is still carrying the bacterial infection that she contracted overseas. She is not being affected by it, so she is not on antibiotics, but the bug is still in her system. The doctor explained that because this bug is so resistant and is a foreign bacteria, they are taking great care to make sure that it does not spread, specifically to other patients. Because of that concern, Jamie may remain in isolation for quite some time. The isolation is for Jamie's protection, our protection, and the protection of the other patients. Frustrating? Yes. In everyone's best interest? Yes.

Jamie had both PT and OT yesterday. I haven't been there for any sessions, but it sounds like PT mainly consists of helping Jamie control and localize muscles so that she can gain strength. PT will also focus on making sure she retains motility and range of motion. During OT, they go through different basic skills with Jamie, and tell her what they are doing. They do this so they can "remap" her brain. For example, they will hold a comb in her hand and comb her hair with it, and explain what they are doing. They will also help her wipe her face, and then ask her to wipe her own face. Yesterday, she did bring the washcloth up to her face and rub her cheek. Go Jamie!!

Last night, we also saw a few new facial movements. Until now, she has not done a lot with her mouth other than the snarl and the chewing motiong. Last night she pulled her lips down over her teeth, and closed her mouth. This was new to us because she usually just has her mouth slightly open. It was neat to see!

She has also been scrunching up her face a bit more, and simultaneously rubbing her nose. When she does this, it all happens in a bit of slow motion. First, she will start scrunching up her nose. Then the eyes follow. Then the whole face scrunches and her mouth opens, as if she is prepping for a sneeze. Then, ever so slowly, she brings up that right hand to rub underneath her nose. Its a whole thing, but we love it.

Last night also involved some more scratching of the head (the shaved part), and rubbing her right ear. This little movement is new, too. As we were winding down our time, Jamie also rubbed her right eye, as if she was tired, also fairly new. We are seeing more movement in her left leg, and she has started pulling that leg up at the knee, too. She is not nearly as flexible on that side (she can kick the right leg up pretty far!!), but it seems like she is working on it.

We are so thankful for all your prayers and all the blessings that God is giving us. Specific things to be praying for:

- Jamie's ability to vocalize
- Jamie's ability to use thumbs up and thumbs down as "yes" and "no"

Several people have asked for a mailing address to send things to Jamie. Please do not feel like you have to send anything, we really do feel your prayers with us! However, I know some of you well, and you won't listen to that admonishment. :)

As we have not publicly announced her Rehab Hospital, please send things to our address:

Lailah and Ryan Morris
1024 Toyon Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010

Psalm 95:1-4
Oh come let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is His, for He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.

This awesome and mighty God, who formed the heavens, the earth and our Jamie girl is the guy in charge. We praise Him for what He is doing in healing Jamie, and wait expectantly for Him to do so much more!

Just Another Miskelly Monday

2010-02-09T07:37:00.001-08:00

First of all, hello to everyone out there who has been following, praying, and loving Jamie from near and far. We are guest blogging here tonight as Jamie's friends, Megan and Lauren Miskelly. We are so grateful to the Morrises for allowing us to spend Monday night with Jamie. It was just so wonderful to sit with Jamie, talk to her, and tell her all the little things about life that we knew she would love to hear. We updated Jamie on the Giants, on the people around the world who love her, on all the things she has to look forward to at home and joked with her about how she definitely must be able to recognize Megan's voice (for those of you who know Megan, you can find the humor in that).

The one thing that was very obvious to the both of us is that Jamie is fighting. She is learning how to be Jamie again, and she is in a great place. Jamie looks just like the Jamie we all know and love - except maybe with a slightly new hairdo. She was tired while we were there because she had a long first day of therapy, but we got a few glimmers of her blue eyes and she squirmed a bit when Megan touched her lip. It is also great to know, as Lailah said earlier, she is at a wonderful rehab clinic. The nurses were very friendly, and were concerned they were calling Jamie the wrong name when Megan said "Jame". Don't worry, we told them "Jamie" is the preferred pronunciation, but that there have been many variations over the years.

We hope everyone is able to share a bit of what we experienced tonight with Jamie through our story. We know that she can sense everyone around the world who loves her through her amazing wall of cards and pictures. We imagine that they are going to have to put an addition on her room soon to accommodate it all. And, Jamie is still waiting for Ryan to hang her prized Brian Wilson bobblehead from the ceiling.

We love you, Jamie!

Megan and Lauren

Jamie's Wheels

2010-02-09T06:34:00.001-08:00

This is Jamie's fancy wheelchair. She gets to sit in it about two hours a day. Her physical therapist adjusts the head rest to allow Jamie to work on her head/neck control.

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It's Gonna be a Bright, Bright, Briiight Sunshiney Day...

2010-02-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday All!

Jamie had a big weekend! After getting transferred to her Rehab Hospital, she had some wonderful visitors. Jamie's favorite Morris cousin (Chelsea), favorite Uncle and favorite Aunt-by-Marriage all got to come by and see our girl. Her favorite maternal Aunt and favorite Sneller cousins and her favorite Uncle-by-Marriage came for visits as well. The visitors of highest honor were, of course, Jamie's Grandparents. We are so thankful that so much of our family lives close by - we know that this will be a huge plus in Jamie's recovery (and our sanity!)

Ryan and I had a nice visit last night - we watched the end of the SuperBowl (Geaux Saints!) and just hung out for a little bit. I have gotten into the habit of doing crossword puzzles in the room, and talking out all the clues and answers. I have no idea if this helps, but in my mind, it does. :)

We got a few medical updates last night - there seems to be no pancreatitis. The ultrasound showed that either it was only minimal and has resolved, or was never really an issue. Her chest x-ray came back clear as a bell - her lungs are clear and her heart is normal size, and her veins are all clear (no clots have formed, which is always a concern with someone in Jamie's situation). The ultrasound did show that her spleen is slightly enlarged, but the nurse said that its not really a problem - Jamie's body is still healing from the trauma of the accident, so the spleen should be fine.

Jamie is still under isolation, so we asked when she would be able to get out. The nurse said that the lab people are growing the cultures and checking for MRSA. Once the cultures are grown and checked out, we will know if she can be out of isolation. From what I understand, this test is done with any transfer patient before they can be out of isolation. Please pray that her culture is clear and she gets out of isolation soon! We hope to hear about this as early as today.

We are also waiting to hear back from the hand specialist regarding the status of Jamie's left hand, if she needs a new cast, etc. Please pray for a speedy answer to our questions about her hand.

The best part of my day happened while we were sitting by Jamie's bedside. She was getting pretty restless, so we were just chatting with her and visiting with each other. At one point, she scrunched up her face and crinkled her eyes shut. While doing this, she reached up with her right hand and scratched her nose. That is the most "normal" thing I have seen her do, and it was great to see. Later, she also reached up and scratched under her eye. I have no idea what this means neurologically, but it looked purposeful to me, and was completely new.

I think today is Jamie's first full day of intensive therapy. She had some sessions over the weekend, but the weekdays are the more intense days. Please pray that:

- Jamie responds well to her therapies
- that she exceeds expectations
- that Kathy can participate and learn good pointers for helping Jamie

Have a good Monday!

Rehab, Day 1

2010-02-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday was quite a day for our girl! It was her first full day at the Rehab Hospital, and it was pretty eventful. We know that she got in a full hour of physical therapy! We talked to her therapist, and he said Jamie did great - much better than he expected. She was able to wipe her mouth (we think on command!), and that she had some purposeful, spontaneous movement on her left side. This is pretty exciting because almost all of her movement until now has been on the right side. The therapist also said that Jamie had increased trunk and head control. She is moving her head around a lot more, and when we were with her, it seemed like she was able to pick her head up when it falls over. She is not yet able to sit up on her own or hold her head up on her own, but it looks like she is trying.

Probably the most exciting moment of the day happened when we walked in for our visit and Jamie was sitting up in a wheelchair!! She is strapped in, so she's not doing all the work, but it was SO AMAZING to see her up like that. I also had to hold her head up a bit while we were in there, but that was perfectly fine with me. :) She gets to sit in her chair about 1-2 hours a day right now. If she gets too tired, the nurse puts her back in bed.

During our visit, we also noticed that she has been making more facial expressions. She moves her mouth around, snarls with her upper lip, wiggles her eyebrows some, and we got a glimpse of a smile yesterday. We don't know if these expressions are representative of emotions that she is actually feeling, but it is encouraging to see her work her face around like that. She also turned her head to different voices while we were in with her. It was a very encouraging visit for us, and hopefully for her.

In other news, she also got an ultrasound and another x-ray yesterday. The ultrasound was to check her pancreas and liver. When she was admitted to the Rehab Hospital, they let us know that she had developed pancreatitis because of the feeding tube. They reassured us that this can be very common in patients on a feeding tube. Her doctors took her off nutrition for about 24 hours to see if the swelling in her pancreas would go down, so we will probably get an update today or tomorrow. We think the x-ray was for her writst, but we will have to wait until monday to figure out the results.

We also got some funny news - Jamie's moon boots have been kicked to the curb! The fancy booties that we were all so excited about were chucked out by the Rehab Hospital. Evidently, they don't like them because they don't allow her to move her feet around enough. They are getting her some other ones - "waffle boots" that will allow for more movement. This is good news because, it means they are wanting her to move those feet around!

Jamie had an eventful day yesterday, and was pretty tired out by the evening, but we loved all the progress it sounds like she is making. We also love how proactive the hospital staff is about her therapy and treatments.

Please keep praying for Jamie's continued recovery, but specifically the following:
- that she be able to squeeze her hand as "yes" and "no" responses
- more movement on the left side
- more trunk control

Love, Us.

A View From the Parking Lot

2010-02-06T16:26:00.001-08:00

A puddle outside Jamie's hospital, that we all thought was cool. :) It's the little things.

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A Deep Sigh of Relief

2010-02-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Jamie is officially settled in to her new digs. She arrived yesterday at her Rehab Hospital and it is a national leader in Traumatic Brain Injury recovery and rehabilitation. This hospital is the absolute best place that Jamie can be right now. The family was able to meet with Jamie's doctor very shortly after arrival and she encouraged us so much with her assessment of Jamie, the hospital, and their hopes for our girl. Three of the most important things that they look for in patients that makes them hopeful for recovery are youth, intelligence and pre-accident health. Jamie has all three of these on her side. (Or, as Ron says, 2 out of 3 ain't bad...Jamie's going to get him for that one!!) We LOVE her doctor, who will be her physician throughout her entire stay at the hospital. This is so wonderful to know that she will have consistent care for the entire time.

Starting today, Jamie will have 3 hours of intensive therapy a day - 1 hour each of physical, occupational and speech therapy. Obviously at this point its not going to look like what we think of as therapy, but they have specialists and plans that will stimulate Jamie's brain and help her rebuild her pathways. Again, we have to be cautious in our expectations, but the model this hospital uses is a nationally recognized one that is getting great results. We still don't know how much function Jamie will be able to recover, or how long it will take her, but we are hopeful for the best.

We did learn some interesting things about how Jamie is doing right now. Over the past few days, we have seen an increase in her motility - she has been bending her right leg at the knee and moving it up and down, raising her right arm and moving her head about. Sometimes it seems as if Jamie is agitated, which has us up and down. The doctor explained that this is a good sign - the agitation signals that Jamie's brain is trying to process all the information that it is taking in and make sense of it. We have also learned that when her heart rate spikes and her blood pressure goes up, that these are normal responses for somebody with her injury. I wasn't there for the discussion, but all I know is that these are absolutely normal things for Jamie to be going through at her stage of recovery. She has been given a beta blocker for her blood pressure, which will help calm her down.

We also learned a little more about her infection. It seems as though she actually got the infection overseas - that is why it was so resistant to our antibiotics. It was presenting as if it was from the trach site, but because you have to go through the trach site to get the sample for the culture, it was difficult to separate out where exactly the infection was. She has not had a fever since she got to the Bay Area, and her white blood cell counts are back to normal levels. This is great news, but she is still under contact isolation. Contact isolation is soooo lame, because you have to glove up and put the robes on every time you go in her room. But, it keeps her healthy, so we do it gladly :)

The thing that has us most excited is the atmosphere of the hospital. It is so family and community oriented, and their goal is recovery. They see the value of the family and friends contributing and helping with Jamie's recovery. They are optimistic about Jamie and are excited to work with her to see what she can do. We cannot express how at ease we are, now that Jamie is at a hospital that is focused on getting her better. (Not that the others weren't, but we are in a different stage now, and this is what they are experts at!)

Once again, we are going to ask that we hold off on visitors for another week or so. It seems that the best thing for Jamie right now is to get her into a routine and really settled in to what will be her home for a while. Once she is settled in, we want her friends to be able to see her and help her with recovery. We know that all of you who love her will be a huge contribution to her recovery. We did learn that pictures are great for her to see, and she has a wall that we can make her own and pin up pictures, cards and letters.

We feel like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders, and Jamie's. God has been so faithful, we ask for a little, and He gives us the best hospital possible. We asked for his guidance on how to get Jamie to the best hospital, and He worked behind the scenes, through the doctors and nurses to get her accepted and admitted, without us having to do anything. We are floored by His grace, His plan, and His providence. We praise Him for these blessings, and hope expectantly for those to come.

Love, Us.

Jeremiah 29:11-12
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. "

Transfer #6

2010-02-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

So after nearly three weeks, 6 ambulance rides, 4 plane flights, 3 Air Force Bases, 1 Kazakh hospital, 2 U.S. hospitals, and a partridge in a pear tree...Jamie is home and at her long term rehab hospital. She has just arrived and is getting settled in. I am not there yet, but I am getting reports from the peeps down there that the nursing staff is great and that there is a real sense of community and camaraderie. More updates to come about where she is and when those of you in the Bay Area can come visit.

Yesterday was a really hard day for us - we were getting multiple answers and feedback from a bunch of different places (nurses, doctors, social workers...) on when Jamie would get to move, where she would move, when she could move. Needless to say, it was a roller coaster of a day. We prayed alot that God would sort it all out, in His timing, and that we would be able to accept it.

So today, Kathy and I came back from lunch and the staff let us know that Jamie was being transferred today at 2:30! What an immediate answer to hopeful prayer! We are all ready for Jamie to start her rehab, she is ready and this is the best thing for her in terms of her recovery.

We praise God for all the mighty ways that He is working behind the scenes to take care of our girl. Evidently, the doctors and nurses at Stanford orchestrated everything; we didn't have to do anything. Which is good, because I am not sure we would have known what to do!!

For now, please be praying for little steps, that Jamie continue to make improvements little by little and that we can rest in God's grace, knowing that He is working and never stops!!

Love, Us.

Today is the day...

2010-02-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

That Jamie gets transferred from The Hospital (Stanford) to her rehab hospital!!!!!!!!!!!

More details to come!!

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Baby Steps

2010-02-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

As each day passes, we are coming to realize that this really will be a long process. I know that we have been told that from the beginning, but it is starting to sink in! Having said that, Jamie did have a good day today. The evening nurse said that Jamie gave her a thumbs up and showed two fingers...on command! Go Jamie! These are great signs. None of us were there, so I can't say how clear they were or how soon after the prompting/command. However, we did ask the nurse if Jamie got "credit" or "points" for these, and she said yes. As always, we have to be cautious with our optimism, but these little actions are good signs. Keep fighting Jamie. :)

She hasn't spiked a fever all day (or on the plane ride yesterday), and we are waiting on the labwork (which should be done tomorrow) to see what her white blood cell count is. It sounds like she is beating this infection, for which we are all extremely grateful for.

Jamie got a new x-ray today on her hand, and she might get her splint taken off soon. Now, we don't know if that means that she will get a new cast or splint, but we will know more tomorrow after the orthopedists look at and interpret the x-rays.

We also learned that Jamie's trach tube was changed out today. This size allows for a tube that can be inserted to see if Jamie can start vocalizing. We have no idea how far off this will be, but it seems to be a positive sign that the doctors want to work towards this. Right now, because Jamie has been on the ventilator and is now on the trach, we don't know what, if any, vocalization she is capable of. Hopefully, this new trach tube will give us some kind of idea. I am really fuzzy on this and what the doctors expect, so don't get too excited until we see Jamie give us some progress.

There are several things we need to be praying for.

- that Jamie can move to a regular unit and out of ICU. We already know that she does not need to be in ICU, the holdup is that they do not have a bed for her at The Hospital. (She has to be in isolation, and they don't have any single beds.)
- that we get some more help from The Hospital on finding and figuring out the rehab hospital step. We aren't quite sure how long this process is, or when Jamie will be ready.
- for our continued strength. We will all have to readjust and figure out how to do life, while making sure Jamie is getting the best care and recovery.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We are so happy to have Jamie home in the Bay to start this next phase of her recovery!

Love, Us.

ps - we are thinking about making a points chart - Jamie can "earn" points every time she does something neurologically positive. (wiggle toes, thumbs up, etc.). Thoughts?

Mini-Update

2010-02-04T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hi All.

After my last post, we did get to go in and see Jamie. It was great to see her and be assured the she is safe at "home" here in the Bay Area. We spoke with her nurse and she let us know that Jamie had an uneventful flight (which is good). She did not have to be sedated for the entire flight, and is still off the ventilator. Her fancy moon boots made the trip, but the nurse was giving her a rest from them last night.

When we got to The Hospital, Jamie had just arrived and the nurses and doctors were evaluating her and getting her all checked out. We had to wait to go in, and I think that's the jumpiest Sarah and I have been! Once we were able to go back, only two of us were allowed back at the time. I think we are going to have to adjust to the stricter ICU visiting rules at The Hospital. While in ICU, Jamie can only have 2 visitors at a time, and only for 30 minute increments, which are separated by an hour and a half. We know that this is for Jamie's good and so that she can be healthy and get the rest she needs...but it's hard. In D.C., we were all in the room, and visiting hours were from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Please pray for us, that we will accept this adjustment, that we will not complain about it, and that Jamie gets moved out of ICU soon. :)

While some of us were in the room with Jamie, the nurse was drawing blood and getting some things ready for some labwork. They will check her cultures and white blood cell counts. Among other things, this is one of the ways they check her progress on that infection. Her vitals and temperature were fine, and when she left D.C., the infection looked to be like it was coming under control, so we are hopeful and confident that the same holds true here.

That's all for now. Thank you so much for all your prayers - I am convinced they kept her in the air and guided her safely home.

Love,
Us.

The Queen Has Entered the Building

2010-02-03T20:23:00.001-08:00

Jamie's here! Our girl has arrived at The Hospital and is being evaluated by the nurses and doctors as we speak. Well, as I write anyway.

We will be able to see her shortly. Ron and Kathy landed as well, and they along with Ryan are en route to meet Sarah and I at The Hospital.

Praise God that everyone arrived safe and sound!

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Up In the Air...

2010-02-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

We talked to the air transport dispatch (cool sentence, I know) and Jamie is in the air, on the last leg of her flight! Her plane stopped in Nebraska to refuel, and is now in the air and on its way. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

I spoke to Ron and Kathy on their layover in North Carolina, and they are now on the second leg of their trip.

Please keep praying for their safe travels!

Also, I just realized that all five Morrises now have stamps that show us entering foreign countries (us - Germany, Jamie - Kazakhstan), but no U.S. re-entry stamps. Whoops.

Travel Update

2010-02-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hi All.

Today is the big day! Jamie will be on her way in just a few hours. The doctor who is flying with her is a little bit delayed - he is coming from Vermont and there is some winter weather in the Northeast that is holding him up. Other than that, everything looks good. All of her records are in order and she is much better from the infection.

Ron and Kathy will be flying commercial, Jamie's plane isn't big enough for passengers. So we will be picking them up and then will all meet Jamie at the hospital. As it stands right now, it sounds like they will be getting back to the Bay Area at roughly the same time as Jamers. I guess no more military luxury for us :)

There has been a sad turn, not for Jamie, but for some of her closest friends. Because of Jamie's infection, she is having to endure a separation from her cuddly friends Lav, Leonard and Polly. Sarah brought them home yesterday, and it sounds like they have to be deep cleaned to make sure the bugs are gone. The disturbing part is that this "cleaning" may or may not involve hot boiling water. eek! We also think that the quilt might need the same treatment. So, in advance, we would like to apologize for their appearance once they are done with this upcoming hot water treatment. They may look a little worse for the wear, but hopefully will be just as cuddly for Jamie. :)

I will try and keep you all updated as to travel info throughout the day, but no promises.

Ron said that Jamie looked great this morning and that she was now moving her left leg all over the place. Good job Jamie! I don't know if they will sedate her for the flight, so please pray for an easy, comfortable ride for her, and safe, efficient travel for the Morrises.

Fight that Nasty Bug!

2010-02-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

The midmorning report from the East Coast sounded pretty positive. Jamie's white blood cell count is getting back down to normal levels, which means that the infection is on the way out. It also sounds like her color is much better and is looking healthier. She has been kicking her feet around this morning and managed to get one of her booties off. I burst out laughing when I heard that, because I can just see her doing that!

We will know sometime this morning whether Kathy or Ron or both can fly back with Jamie. Please pray that they both can. :)

Love, Us.

A Word from the Air Force

2010-02-02T06:27:00.000-08:00

As you all know, the U.S. military, and specifically the Air Force, have played an integral part in Jamie's story. Were it not for the Air Force, their bases and personnel, getting Jamie home would have been a much more dangerous, arduous process. As we were touched by their efforts, it seems they have likewise been touched by Jamie's story. Below I have posted a story that shows a little more of what the Air Force did for Jamie that was written for and posted on the Manas Air Force Base website. We have received permission by the author to post it here. The original article can be found here: http://www.manas.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123188321

Manas medical team helps save Peace Corps sister

Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss

376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan – Jan. 18, 2010, was a snowy day in Central Asia. Ms. Jamie Morris, a female Peace Corps volunteer assigned to a village in Kazakhstan, was traveling in a taxi with two other passengers when their vehicle was hit by a truck, killing the others and leaving her with severe head injuries.

Leadership at the Transit Center at Manas, US Embassy Bishkek, and Peace Corps worked throughout the day to coordinate on site medical care and evacuation. There was no way to treat Jamie there, and no way to fly her out, so she was driven five hours by ambulance during white-out conditions to the Transit Center, where the U.S. Air Force was waiting to help.

“Our (brand new) team led by Col. Jerry Flyer went to work immediately to save her,” said Col. Blaine Holt, 376th Air Expeditionary Wing commander. “Although weather kept the teams and aeromedical evacuation team from reaching us until early morning, they kept the badly wounded patient stable.”

The entire 376th Expeditionary Medical Group worked together to warm the patient, start an IV and oxygen lines, ensuring the volunteer was stabilized and ready for air travel, said Colonel Flyer, the 376th EMDG commander and general surgeon.

“She arrived about 11 p.m. and left about 5 a.m.,” he said. “Everybody was involved. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t in some way helping, whether directly or indirectly, from logistics to the bio equipment repair person – it was a total team effort.”

“She was back in the United States by Thursday morning, which is an incredible tribute to our entire air evac system,” Colonel Flyer said. “It was a privilege to be part of it.”

The Transit Center’s new C-17 detachment carried her to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing’s medical and flying teams were ready and waiting.

“While we were speaking with the doctor, the critical care team (U.S. military) was circling in a plane, trying to land to pick her up,” said Lailah Morris, Jamie’s sister-in-law, in a blog post Jan. 19. “They are waiting for the fog to clear out a bit before they can land.” Family, friends and colleagues from around the world are checking in to get updates and wish Jamie and family well.

With the U.S. military taking over all of the medical efforts, Jamie was transported to the U.S. Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and eventually to George Washington University Hospital.

“It’s a good feeling to be able to use your knowledge, experience, and training and apply that to actually help somebody who’s injured and return them to their family,” Colonel Flyer said.

“There were many Airmen along the way, including friends of the family, [colonels] from [U.S. Army Garrison] Garmisch, who were aiding the family,” Colonel Holt said. “It’s a great account of the whole team, whether Interagency, U.S. Air Forces Central, or Air Mobility Command working together. We are all optimistic here that Jamie will win this fight.”

“The U.S. Air Force pulled out all the stops for Jamie,” said her mother, Kathy, in an open letter on the blog.

“We are staggered by their service for one Peace Corps volunteer,” she said. “We have always held our U.S. military forces in high regard, but that admiration and respect has increased a thousand-fold since Monday... They are an incredible group of men and women.

“The doctors have told us that Jamie is responding to our voices and our touch. We pray and pray and pray over her and tirelessly read scripture to her. Our Jamie is a fighter, and so are we, and so are you. God Bless You All. I love you.”

Jamie inspired everyone by enduring the long trip from Central Asia to Germany and then back to the states. There is encouraging news daily about the progress of this amazing Peace Corps volunteer, hero and example to us all.

To keep up with Jamie Morris’ healing progress, visit http://lailahrafik.blogspot.com/.

A big thank to all our service men and women. We have seen up close the lengths to which you will go to save a loved one of ours. We are truly blessed to have such selfless men and women protecting us.

It's Official!!

2010-02-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Jamie's coming home on Wednesday! And by "home" we mean a local Bay Area hospital, but that is good enough for us! We got word today that everything is read for Jamie's transfer on Wednesday. So, barring any complications, our girl is headed back to the Bay. There are still some details that need to be ironed out, departure times and where the plane will land - minor details :), but the hospital stuff is taken care of. Peace Corps is in the process of working out the plane and ambulance. Something to be praying for is that either Ron or Kathy or both can fly with Jamie. This is still "up in the air" as it were, so please pray for that.

Once Jamie is here and settled, then we will let people know where she is staying and what the visitation options are. We know there are so many of you that will want to come and visit and be with Jamie, and we want you there! But, we also want to make sure that Jamie is settled in and gets adjusted before getting too many visitors. Also, we will need a little time to adjust as well, and really get the lay of the land at her hospital. We can't wait for you all to be able to see Jamie, and for her to be able to have you there.

From talking to Ron today, Jamie had a pretty good day. She was "awake" most of the day, and had quite a bit of movement. Her "movement of the day" was with her right leg. She kept moving her right knee up and bending her leg, and then straightening it out again. It sounds like she did this quite often. Also, they took off her booties to give her feet a break, and she was moving them around a bit as well. We like these baby steps. Keep 'em coming girl!

That's all for now, we will keep you posted on more travel updates!

Back to Reality...

2010-02-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

Today is a weird Monday. It is very bizarre to be back at work (not that I'm blogging at work...) after Jamie's accident and the last two weeks. It was a great blessing to be able to go to church yesterday and worship with our congregation, and only a few tears were shed.

As far as news from D.C., it sounds like there has been a flurry of phone calls and paperwork initiated to get our girl home! All the different pieces have been put into motion, and now we are waiting on some administrative details to get taken care of. Once those are squared away, then the Peace Corps can start arranging for the actual physical transport.

Jamie's fever broke last night, and Sarah, Ron and Kathy said that she looks much better today. With the infection, it sounded like you could tell that she wasn't feeling as well and wasn't quite as healthy. (color of her skin, etc.) The infection was in her throat, around the trach site. Now that they have localized it and are treating it, the fever is broken and she is on her antibiotics. We are praying that she completely gets over the infection quickly. Because of the infection, Jamie is now on contact isolation. This simply means that she can have visitors, but they have to wear the paper gowns over their clothes, and probably gloves too. This will protect her from further infection, and is another precaution to keep our girl safe and healthy.

Even though its for her good, I can imagine this is hard for the peeps still there. There is an almost overwhelming sense of just wanting to hold Jamie's hand or just hold on to her while you are there. You want her to feel your touch and know that you are there. Please pray that Ron, Kathy and Sarah deal with this okay, and that Jamie be able to hear their comforting words and know that they are there.

Over the weekend, she did get a good hair washing (with real shampoo, not the fancy hospital shower-cap thing), which I am sure was refreshing. Before we left D.C., Sarah got Jamie some adorable scarves to wear, since she has quite the asymmetrical haircut right now. She has scarves in all different colors, and Sarah is getting quite good at tying them, from what I hear. When I did one for Jamie before leaving, it looked like an African tribal head scarf. Beautiful look, but not quite the one we were going for. :)

I also want to reassure all of you that even if Jamie does not seem to improve by leaps and bounds every day, she is still healing. She continues to get healthier and stronger each day, and it seems like each day she is "awake" for longer. These are positive signs and we continue to pray that she remains strong and steady. We all remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Jamie's our little tortoise right now, and we have faith that she will win this race!

Anyway, that is all for now. Please continue to pray for Jamie's recovery. Please also pray that all of the paperwork, travel arrangments and logistics for Jamie's return will get squared away quickly and efficiently. Things seem to be getting done already, so we are really hopeful that this will be fairly painless.

This scripture really hit home yesterday - our preacher shared it with us and I found it so relevant to Jamie's story.

Romans 818, 24-28
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

Love, Us.

Almost forgot..

2010-01-31T09:51:00.001-08:00

Evidently there was a scuffle this morning amongst Jamie's faithful, furry followers. Guess who won...

A New Friend

2010-01-31T09:35:00.001-08:00

As we told you yesterday, Jamie has a new friend, Polly. Here she is!

And here are all three furry friends, playing very nicely.

In other news, D.C. is covered in snow, and Jamie has another infection. She has a fever, but the nurses are on top of it and treating it. We hope that this can be cleared up and under control so that it doesn't affect (effect?) her transfer. From what I can understand, infection is always a risk with hospital patients, and the nurses at GWU are very vigilant about Jamie's care. We trust them and understand that they are doing everything they can to keep Jamie healthy.

Other than the infection, it sounds like Jamie had an uneventful night. She has been sleeping a lot this morning. She is resting to fight that infection and get healthy. The doctor will be by shortly to update the family on how she is doing on fighting the infection.

Also, I was able to speak with a physician at a hospital here in the Bay Area, and it sounds like they are ready to accept the request for Jamie's transfer when it comes in from GWU. In order to transfer a patient hospital to hospital, you have to line up a doctor at the receiving hospital that you want to go to and have them accept her as a patient. God has blessed us with some good connections through friends and family here in the Bay Area, so getting a receiving physician was a painless process. I spoke with the physician yesterday, and she has notified her team of Jamie's condition and our upcoming formal request through GWU. We have heard that this is one of the hardest steps - getting a physician to accept her - so we are so thankful that it has fallen into place.

Also, it sounds like Peace Corps will be able to organize the actual transport part, as far as Jamie is concerned. They have medi-vac companies that they use, and they will contact them to organize the trip (and probably the ambulance ride once she gets here.)

I think that is all for now. I did get word from a reliable source (Sarah) that Ron is really excited about the visitor bracelets at the hospital today - they are pink. :)

Prayers for today:

- for Jamie's fever and infection to clear up quickly and completely

- that the infection does not affect Jamie's transfer date

Love, Us.

She's a Little Rascal

2010-01-30T20:05:00.000-08:00

Not much news to report today, but a few high points to Jamie's day. She was pretty good about wiggling her toes (on command) today, which we love. Keep at it girl! Also, Sarah said that Jamie was awake for most of the day. This is the longest she has been awake for any stretch of time. When we saw "awake", we mean she has her eyes open. She still does not have any verbal skills, and is not "awake" in the sense that she can communicate to us. It does sound like she is beginning to track with voices more (like orient to people's voices when they speak to her from different sides of the bed), but again, nothing is really consistent. We think this is a good sign. :)

We also have a new addition to Jamie's growing group of stuffed animal friends. Polly hails from the greater D.C. area and is a pink giraffe. It seems she is the peacemaker of the group, as Leonard and Lav both seem to like her. (I think its the pink). However, there was evidently a mysterious scuffle that involved Jamie's IV, Lav and Polly. Leonard made it out unscathed, but Jamie had to get a new IV put in. (I think the REAL culprit was Jamie. She has been a squirmer this whole time, so she somehow worked her IV out.) All is well now, and everyone is resting happily.

That is all for now. God keeps us encouraged by giving us these little baby steps each day. We know that He is mighty, and that He works things out in His own time.

Please be praying that Jamie does not pull out her IV again :) and that everything that needs to happen before her transfer falls into place. Specifically:

- her receiving doctors accept the transfer request from GWU
- safe travels for Ron, Kathy, Sarah and Jamie
- that at least one, if not both Ron and Kathy can travel with Jamie on the medical transfer flight
- Jamie's full recovery!!

Love, Us.

Quiet Night

2010-01-30T07:21:00.000-08:00

Jamie had another quiet night, and she "kind of" wiggled her toes. Her doctor did say last night that there will be days where she makes big improvements, and days where there is little (or no) improvement. We have started to see this pattern as well, and it is something we are try to get used to. It is snowing in D.C., so maybe Jamie is hibernating today. :) Because we don't have much to report, I thought I would show you guys the type of plane we flew with Jamie in to D.C. Under other circumstances, it would have been one of the coolest experiences ever. Also, Ryan and Ron are still mad at me for getting to sit in the cockpit. I think Kathy is a little jealous, but doesn't want to admit it. :)

When boarding, we walked up the ramp in the back.

Our comfy seats...(don't worry, they had mats that we got to sleep on!)

Thankfully, we didn't have to exit like this...

We can't explain how thankful we are to the U.S. Military for getting Jamie, and us, safely to the states. We can't even comprehend all that they do for us. Thank you for everything, Jamie's recovery (I think) will be benefited by all of your hard work.

Love, Us.

The Curious Case of the Girl and Her Nose

2010-01-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

Leaving D.C. was HARD! It feels very weird to be back here after all that has happened. I anticipate it will take a day or two to get our heads back on straight and settle down a bit. One of the main ways that the nurses and doctors evaluate Jamie's progress are bedside clinical exams. They will try and get her to respond to various stimuli - shining a flashlight in her eyes to see how she reacts, if she follows the light or flinches; various commands, asking her to do thumbs up, wiggle her toes, etc., and then they use different "pain" stimuli to see her reactions. What Jamie is most consistent about is the pain stimuli. What she has been weakest about are the verbal commands. Sometimes she responds, sometimes not. And never consistently. It was really hard to watch these clinicals and not see her respond to commands. But, she had a good day today.

I talked to Ron this evening, and he filled me in on how our girl did. Her nurse was great about coming in every hour to evaluate her, and I think this consistency also might help. From what we can tell, she wiggled her toes on command and then stopped wiggling on command three separate times. (alternating right, left, right). After that third time, she was done. I imagine it takes her a lot of energy just to do that little bit, and we are amazed at how she pushes herself each day. I don't know that the docs would be ready to really say that she is "cognitive" at this point, but we think she is on her way. During the day, she also got very curious and was feeling around her face on her nose. I guess she was playing with it a bit, trying to figure it out, maybe? During one of her evening exams she wiggled and stopped her toes again. Ron and I (in our infinite medical wisdom - not) have determined that she is most active in the mid-morning, and then gets tired as the day goes on. I have a feeling it is hard work to fix your own brain!

As far as getting Jamie transferred, things are looking good. We may be able to get her out to the West coast as early as mid-week, but we have to be patient. (can any of you sense a trend here? patience!) Please pray that all of the little things fall into place so that Jamie can get transferred. Also, we are not sure if Ron, Kathy or both can fly with her on the medical transport, so please pray that at least one of them (if not both) to fly with Jamie. If this can't happen, please pray for easy flight booking in a timely fashion.

Thank you all for your recommendations on rehab facilities. It will really help us get a start on figuring out the best treatment for Jamers. Love you all.

Love, Us.

P.S. Lav called and says that since I am her second favorite (only after Jamie, of course) that she misses me very much. Leonard had nothing to say, I think he is mad at us for leaving.

One Day at a Time

2010-01-29T08:33:00.000-08:00

That is what we are learning through Jamie's accident and injury. On our stopover in Chicago, I heard from Ron that Jamie went the whole night on the trach collar. That means she has breathing off the vent, on her own for almost 24 hours. This is amazing to me. 8 days ago she was comatose and we were on a c-17 being medi-vaced with her from Frankfurt to D.C. Today, she opens her eyes and breaths in her own. God is good, He is healing her as we speak. I struggle with the pace, but I know that it is all in God's timing. We know that He is in control, and that He is good. So we will patiently love and pray Jamie to recovery.

Also, her infection seems to be under control and they put her on the second antibiotic last night. Her white blood cells are dropping back to normal levels.

By the time you all read this, Ryan and I will be back on the ground in the Bay Area. We hated leaving Jamie's side, but we have work to do to get ready to bring Jamie home. If any of you have had personal experiences with rehabilitation hospitals here in the Bay Area, please email me. lailahrafik@gmail.com.

Because I am no longer in D.C., the timing of my posts may be a bit different - but we will still try and keep you all updated in a timely fashion.

Even if we dont know you, we love you for praying for and caring for our Jamie.

Love, us.

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Trach and a Hair Cut, Two Bits!

2010-01-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

Jamie had kind of an eventful day. She got her hair cut and is doing a test run off the ventilator!

First for the haircut, because that is clearly the priority. When Jamie was overseas, they had to shave a portion of hair off the top of her head to place the bolt that measured intercranial pressure. It is a lovely look, let me tell you. Since being in the Peace Corps, Jamie has let her hair grow out quite long. So we had this interesting mix - the shaved portion of her head, and then the rest was super long. We have tried washing and braiding it, but because she is laying down all day, she had a lot of matted areas in the back. So today was the big cut! One of the nurses and Sarah did the honors, and it looks so much better. (I suggested we buzz it all, but that idea was nixed). Also, it is much more sanitary and comfortable - we imagine it was annoying for her to be laying on all those knots and the braid. It looks so much better, and as Ryan said, she doesn't look as wild and crazy. I think her hair grows pretty quick, so we hope that shaved part will catch up soon enough.

Now on to that other bit of news. :) Jamie is off the ventilator!! The respiratory tech came in, unhooked her from the machine, and then placed an oxygen mask over her trach entrance to be sure that she has good clean air to breath from. This is called a trach collar. The respioratory guy stayed in the room and observed her for awhile to make sure she did okay, and of course, she did! He expects to leave her off the machine until about 10 pm tonight, and then will put her back on so that she can rest over night. Hopefully, so long as Jamie does well, she will be totally off the machine in the next day or so. (although I don't know if this means she will be put back on for transport.)

Barring any complications, it looks like we might be able to get Jamie back to the Bay Area by next weekend. This will likely be an ICU to ICU transfer. Once she is back home and the ICU there has been able to observe and evaluate her, then we will be able to start talking about rehabilitation hospitals. As with everything with her injury, it will just take some more time to observe her and make sure she is stable enough for transport. She did develop a slight infection, but the doctors and nurses are on top of it and have her on (two) antibiotics. They are monitoring everything close and think it should be gone in a few days.

In order to reduce risk of further infection, they have removed her arterial line in her chest and moved her drip to an arm IV. They also removed a line that was going in at her waist. They want to close as much up as possible to keep her safe and healthy.

We also talked to the doctors about her needing a more permanent cast. At this point it is not really necessary, but they will reevaluate once we get closer to transport time.

Prayer requests:

- Clear the infection

- Jamie continues to do well on the trach collar

- Her pressure sore is maintained and does not get worse

- Safe travels tomorrow for the Morris Junior Family. :)

Love, Us.

An Uneventful Night

2010-01-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

Jamie had an uneventful night, nothing to report. We choose to look at this as a blessing - that she was able to rest and did not regress. We are fairly positive that she won't really ever regress, but since this is unchartered waters for us, there is always that fear (at least for me) when we leave her at night. So we really like hearing the nurse say "nothing to report" each and every morning.

While Jamie was getting readjusted this morning and we were all in the room, she opened her eyes bigger than she ever has, and we just loved seeing it. She still doesn't really respond to commands, and if she does, its equivocal and not consistent. We are really trying to not let the highs get us too high, and not let the lows get us too low. A lot of these last two weeks has been a lesson in learning to live in that middle place. One of her doctors did say yesterday that Jamie has been improving each day, if however small. We love hearing that.

As I said yesterday, her procedure went well and there were no surprises. We are adjusting to the trach in her neck. It is so wonderful to see her whole face without all the tubes in the way, and we know she is so much more comfortable. There is some "seeping" around the site, which we have been reassured is normal (by every nurse and every doctor that walks in the room, cause we ask every time...). Once she heals up a bit, this will stop. It looks better today than yesterday, so it can only get better.

We are waiting to hear if Jamie will get a more permanent case for her left hand, and if the neurology team will do a special reflex test that will measure the length of time it takes for her to respond to different stimuli. Please pray for these things.

One thing we all have a hard time with is when Jamie coughs. Its a whole body affair, and we know she is uncomfortable when it happens. From what we can tell, it is in response to the fact that she can't clear her throat on her own and so she gets so flegm (sp?) build up from the respirator and because of where she is at neurologically. Please pray for her comfort through these coughing spells, and for us - that we can be tough for her when she goes through them. Also, please pray for her increased comfort as she heals from her procedure.

This reading really touched me today. It was a good lift for my soul.

Psalm 97:10-12

Oh you who love the Lord, hate evil!

He preserves the lives of his saints,

He delivers them from the hands of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous,

and joy for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

and give thanks to His holy name!

An Abundance of Blessings

2010-01-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to think it was a bad idea to put our address on the blog. :) Last night we went back to the hotel to regroup before going to dinner and had no less than 3 packages waiting for us at the front desk of the hotel! (we have received about 1 per day since the weekend). I don't know that the hotel staff knows what to make of us. We are so blessed and overwhelmed that so many of you have sent your love through these amazing care packages, even though you can't send yourselves. We got movies, popcorn, more candy than we can eat, bottled frappucinos, snickers bars (not candy, little miniature meals in themselves!). And the magazines, oh the magazines. From Oprah to Esquire, from People to the Fantasy Baseball Guide. We have Time, OK! Us Weekly, Glamour...you name it, we've got it. We try and read some of the articles to Jamie, but we just get so engrossed in them, we start reading them for themselves. The packages have come from California, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Kazakhstan. We have felt the love from quite literally all over the world, and are so humbled by it.

We have all decided that the Brian Wilson bobblehead wins the prize for best present. He sits at the end of Jamie's bed, praying for her safe recovery. We will post photos in a bit.

All that to say, Thank You! We are feeling your loving from all over and know that God is using your packages to bolster our hopes and spirits. Now, stop. :) We do see the need to taper off any deliveries here in D.C. Ryan and I are leaving on Friday, (which is tomorrow!) and hopefully Kathy, Ron and Jamie will be able to get home shortly thereafter. We'll let you know when Jamie is settled in once she gets back to California so that if you would like to send her things, you can.

We love you all so much!

Love, Us.

Jamie's Wall of Love

2010-01-27T14:20:00.001-08:00

Some of the cards and letters people have sent in the short time jamie has been here at GWU hospital.

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Mission Accomplished

2010-01-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

Jamie officially has no tubes going through her mouth and throat!! The tracheostomy and PEG procedure went off without a hitch; no complications, nothing unexpected. She came through great and is now resting. She did have to have some sedation and fentanyl, so she will still be asleep and out of it for a few hours. She is still on the respirator and the nutrition, but the air will go through the pipe in her throat and the food through the line in her tummy.

We thank God that He took care of our girl and brought her through this next step. This moves up the timeline for getting her back home, for which we are truly grateful. We need to wait and let surgery points "track" or heal up for several days before we can figure out a timeline. So we will wait for Jamie to heal before we know the next step. The doctor did put a bandage around her midsection so that she can't pull out her PEG. (Cause we know how she likes to pick at things!)

Also, Ryan and I will be returning to the Bay Area on Friday. We need to get back to the Bay Area for silly things like work and for important things like getting stuff ready for Jamie to come home to a Bay Area hospital. Please pray for our safe travels, and that we will get everything done that needs to before we transport Jamers home.

Good job Jamie! We are so proud of all the fighting you are doing. We love you and keep praying for little baby steps toward your recovery.

Love,

the family.

and Sarah.

and Lav and Leonard.

and everyone else.

On Her Way!

2010-01-27T10:22:00.001-08:00

Jamie is being prepped for her surgery now! Please pray for her - for God to guide the doctor's hands and that everything go smoothly and uneventful.

Praise God that she will be able to get rid of those tubes!

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A note from Lav.

2010-01-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Okay people. Lailah got it TOTALLY wrong. I don't like Leonard, I merely put up with so as not to upset Jamie. Crazy California Lion. I hope he knows that I am Jamie's BFF and I am only sharing her because I know that it would upset her to fight with someone her Grandparents sent over. But don't you worry, if he puts one paw out of line, I'll take care of it.

Love, Lav.

Introducing Leonard!

2010-01-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

So I've gotten into the habit of checking our "messages" at the front desk of our hotel. I do this for several reasons.

1. It makes me feel swanky.
2. You all have been fabulous about sending things, and so I always get the blinking light on our phone if I don't check at the front desk.
And
3. Jamie and I both love packages, so really it's for Jamers.

So last night, I check our messages and lo and behold, there was a pretty little express mail envelope waiting for us. And when I say envelope, I mean one of those 8x14 padded ones, covered in hearts.

Inside said package was the cutest, softest, most debonair little lion you have ever seen. His name is Leonard and he hails from Santa Cruz, CA. He stole the hearts of Denny and Genny Williams, Jamie's maternal grandparents, and they knew he could help Jamie on her road to recovery.

We are waiting to see how Lav deals with this competition for Jamie's attention, but she seems to be playing nice...for now. I'm sure she will want to update you herself.

Trach and PEG

2010-01-27T06:15:00.000-08:00

Ron and I were greated by a surgeon this morning who told us that Jamie might get her tracheostomy and P.E.G. done as early as this afternoon or early evening!!

This is sooner than we thought, and we are very happy about it. Jamie hates her tubes, so we are excited to do this and make her more comfortable. This ALSO moves up Jamie's transfer date home!! Wahoo!

Praise God for all these blessings. Never have I seen the real, tangible ways that God works behind the scenes to help us out. We thank Him for that and rest in Him, knowing He has it all figured out.

Keep praying!!
Lailah

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Looking Ahead

2010-01-26T18:37:00.001-08:00

I forgot to let you all know that the chief of icu has told us that he wants the trach and peg done no later than Friday. Please be praying that this procedure happen in God's timing and that God guide the hands of the doctors and nurses involved.

The chief also assured us that once Jamie is done needing these things, they are simply and easily removed. All she will have are the scars, and small ones at that.

All five of us (Ron, Kathy, Ryan, Sarah and Lailah) had dinner at a great Chinese food near our hotel. We have been eating in shifts, and typically only because we know we need to, so it was nice to gather around the table together. I think God really used that time to encourage each of us. We were able to visit and even share a dew laughs. Sometimes we feel guilty about enjoying anything, but Jamie would be so annoyed if she thought we were moping about. So if you need to break the monotony of worrying for our girl, go do something fun - she will want to hear the story!!

Night for now!

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An Update from the Doc

2010-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

We just got out of a meeting with the director of the ICU here and it was a pretty good meeting. We got the results of the MRI, and it basically told us what we already know, that Jamie has diffuse axonal injury, meaning that there isn't necessarily one area of the brain that has been hit or affected, but rather that the injury is kind of all over. He said he has seen patients fully recover, but that this is a very difficult injury to predict. As we've said over and over, every brain injury is unique and only time will tell. He was very honest with us, a diffuse axonal injury is not one they necessarily want to see on the MRI, but that the clinical results (what we see day to day at the bedside) is very encouraging and just as important as any imaging results. In other words, the imaging results (what they see when they look at the MRI) gives them information about what happened, and the clinical results (asking Jamie to move, her response to stimuli, etc.) tells them how Jamie is progressing. We like this explanation because we see Jamie responding more and more each day. (but hey, we aren't doctors here...)

She does have that pressure blister, but it is a Phase I, and he does not anticipate it getting any worse. He reassured us that they are very vigilant about these sores, and they will do everything they can to keep Jamie's under control.

It seems that the MRI also showed contusions in three places, one in the frontal lobe and two in the right temporal lobe. So we know some of her fractures are on the left side, but the brain contusions are on the right side. The doctor explained that this can be explained by a kind of ricocheting effect - she was probably hit on the left side, but then the brain gets pushed up against the other side as well. This also likely explains why her left side has been slower to respond and seems to have left function.

They check her Glasgow Coma Scale (GSM) every day and if you'll remember, she started out as a 6-7 in Frankfurt. She is now at a 9, meaning that she gets 5 points for her motor skills (reflexes) and 4 because she is opening her eyes. The way the doctor explained it, because she opens her eyes, she is no longer medically considered "comatose." She is vegetative (NOT in a persistent vegetative state) which means that she is "awake" but not cognitive. In other words, she is technically no longer in a coma, but she is still only responding through reflex (brain stem function). Once she is able to respond to commands, then she will be considered cognitive. I know we have said that she gave a peace sign this morning, but it was for me, not during her exam and she does not repeat it. :)

The things we have to be thankful for are abundant - she has no signs of pneumonia or other infection. She is not having any issues with bodily functions, and her brain stem is working great. The respirator is not needed to keep her breathing, only to make sure she has an open passageway. She has good use of her extremities and still has all that purposeful movement on her right side. And, she is "awake", even if she is not yet "aware". We are so thankful to God our Father for these blessings. Each little blessing we see is like nourishment for us. We know that God is the Lord of all the earth, and that includes Jamie's healing. He is the God who does the impossible, and for that we are ever hopeful and thankful.

Jamie has a long road ahead of her, and there will be ups and downs. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. The next things to pray for are a smooth tracheostomy (to replace the breathing tube) and peg procedures (replace feeding tube). Also, please be praying that things be smoothed out for Jamie's future transfer to the west coast. It sounds like a few more things need to fall into place for this to happen. Please specifically pray for the right people to be put in place to smooth out this transition.

And remember:

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

Job 9:10

New Shoes!

2010-01-26T08:08:00.001-08:00

Okay, so we get really excited about the little things here. The wound care nurse came in this morning to check Jamie's bottom-blister and brought a special treat - new booties! They protect her feet and heals from blistering and keeps her feet elevated so that physical therapy will be better later. They are a bit snazzier than her previous ones, and they don't have to be inflated.

Her other ones were starting to deflate yesterday, and because they were from the air force base, no one knew how to re-inflate them, short of blowing them up with our mouths. Can anyone say "unsanitary"?

I've included a pic of her new "shoes" below.

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Good Morning Sunshine!

2010-01-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

Jamie gave me a really solid peace sign this morning when I asked her to show me two fingers! She also opened her eyes quite a bit. Ron and I think she was tracking a little bit to our voices but we can't be sure. She also keeps grabbing her thumb monitor and pulling it off. She does not like that thing!

Lav informed us that Jamie did get her MRI in the night. Evidently, Lav was not allowed to come, and was not pleased. We heard an earful!

We will let you know the results as soon as we hear from radiology.

Also, please be praying for the other patients here in ICU. several have had some pretty bad days and several have had no visitors. Please pray for their healing and that their loved ones would be able to come visit.

Love,
Us.

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To MRI or Not to MRI...what was the question?

2010-01-25T17:47:00.000-08:00

So we've been waiting on this MRI for a bit now. We thought we would get it today, but it looks like we will need to wait until tonight. We have started talking about putting a pool together and bet on when the MRI will actually happen. :) Even though we are ready to find out what the MRI says, God is giving us patience. Also, Kathy made a great point - all things happen in God's timing, and there may be a reason for our need to wait for the MRI. I knew she was a wise woman! So for now, we wait on God's timing for the MRI and lean on him to deal with any anxiety about it.

Today was another good day. Like I said earlier, Jamie was opening her eyes a lot more and was pretty active, especially on her right side. She also does this funny thing where she tries to grab her sheets, Lav, the wedge they have her propped up on, her gown...if something is anywhere near her right hand, she fiddles with it. This is another sign of purposeful movement, which we like.

The main thing to be praying about, probably even more so than the MRI, is that Jamie has developed a pressure sore/blister on her bottom. This is due to the fact that she has been on her back for over a week, and was on several flights where she was never turned or moved. The flight from Frankfurt to D.C. alone was over 10 hours, and we don't think she was moved at all during that time. These types of sores or blisters are a concern for coma patients because if they are not tended to, they may become infected. It is not infected and is only a Stage 1, but we still need to be praying for healing of this. Her white blood cells are normal, and she's not running a fever, so we know she doesn't have any infections - but we still need to keep an eye on that sucker.

Another update from some of the doctors is that Jamie's brain is sealed. This is great news. Since she did have some facial/cranial fractures, there was the potential risk that brain fluid leak and cause complications and infections. Because her brain is sealed, there is no risk of that! Praise the Lord.

Things that we will be looking forward to this week also include the removal of her respirator and feeding tube. We've gotten word that this may happen as early as this week or weekend and this is great news. Once she is taken off of these things, the doctors will have to give her a tracheotomy and put another feeding tube in (but it will be through her stomach, not her mouth). Tracheotomy sounds scary, but it is an improvement from the respirator. From what I can understand, it simply makes sure that she has a clear airway, instead of assisting in the breathing. (all you medical people out there, feel free to correct me!) This will be much more comfortable for Jamie and it will also be a benchmark that she needs to meet before she can travel.

We are praying that all of these procedures go well and without incident, and that God continues to guide the hands of the doctors and nurses doing them.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Let us not be afraid about what Jamie is enduring. God's peace is a miraculous thing. He will bring us through and calm our hearts. Let us cling to Him.

The following verse has given me a lot of strength the last few days. My prayer is that God will make Jamie stronger through this trial than she was before. And most importantly that through the suffering and perseverance, that the Lord of Creation gives all of us a little more hope.

Romans 5: 2b - 5

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverence; perseverence, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts"