April 15, 2020

Today I was woken up at 4:30am by a text from Shannon. It was by far, the most bizarre text yet. She had "made a joke", and wanted to share it with me. Now I love Shannon, and she can be really funny, but this was the strangest joke ever. I wasn't sure if I had just read it wrong, maybe I was the one not comprehending things since it was so early, so I left the message until later in the morning. It was still just as weird.  I could tell where she was trying to go with it, but it just wasn't quite there. I was glad to see her finding humor while she was alone in the room. :)  If she was a bit more cognitive, the joke would've gone something like this: "Hey Mom, when all these plants die, I'm gonna be left with a lot of pot(s)!" A throw back to her Colorado Springs days when she used to tease about the locals and their marijuana use. Silly girl.

Then by 9am I received this photo!Proof this time that she was, in fact, eating REAL FOOD!

She said the pancakes tasted like hospital pancakes :)

We had our big meeting today with Shannon, Lancer and I, and her whole medical team. Crazy! Apparently they were mostly squeezed into Shannon's room, passing around the phone to give us the updates and let us know what their plans are for her for the remainder of her stay at Magee. All of the plans can change, based on Shannon's progress, but each department has a goal for her that she will hopefully surpass, and then they will come up with a new one. 

We were finally able to talk to her main doctor there. He told us that he was really surprised, given the injuries that Shannon sustained in the accident (read yesterday's post) that she came to Magee so quickly, it was only 16 days after the accident. Most patience in her condition have a lot longer stay in the hospital before they have recovered enough that Magee can take care of them without there being other medical issues. Shannon had already surpassed expectations there, and continues to do it in rehab. We all know it's the massive amount of prayers on her behalf, so we are hopeful it all continues! 

Our hour-long conversation in short recap:

They expect that she will be able to be independent enough when she comes home to move from her bed to her wheelchair and back, and also in and out of a vehicle with little help, to be able to dress and care for herself with little help, to be able to speak- and hopefully NOT come home with a trach, although she may still have it. 

Her upper body and arm strength is doing great, they are very impressed with it. She is working on her core muscles, which are starting to respond and strengthen. Her legs are still non-responsive, but they are not going to talk about them not recovering. If they say they won't, and tell Shannon they won't, then they won't because no one will be trying. And we all know that she should keep trying and working toward a full recovery. Meanwhile, we will help out where needed, and happily, she even has a brother who can fishtail braid (as pictured above). 

Shannon talked about wanting to get back to college, and they need to work on her cognitive thinking skills. Her IQ and brain function are still where they were before the accident, but because of her brain bleeds and lack of oxygen (mentioned yesterday) they need to work on getting her out of the fog she's in. So they are going to begin having her read and write about what she's reading. They are also going to be focusing on memory and information retention. 

She is completely weened from the ventilator!!!! (ahead of schedule)

They want to keep her (forever because they love her) for another 6 weeks. At that time, they feel she will be ready for home therapy, and then eventually out-patient therapy. 

Shannon has been in a great mood today and everyone talked about how much the enjoy working with her, how positive and engaged she is in her therapies. Her Neuro doc said he was the one with the "privilege" of taking her number off the calendar today, and he loved it! Now he wants to be the first one in the room every morning so he can peel it off for her. They are all enjoying reading it. 

Shannon gave homework to her speech therapist for the weekend. She told Shannon that her voice sounds like a gremlin, but Shannon didn't like that. So they were trying to decide on a Disney Character she sounds like. Shannon said she sounds like Roz from Monsters Inc. Her therapist HAS NOT SEEN IT...which is basically a sin in the eyes of Shannon. Since Shannon has to read, her therapist has to watch the movie this weekend. I'm thinking the therapist has the easier job. 

We are all so happy with the progress Shannon is making, and its fun to see that her whole team is joking along with her, getting her sarcasm, and that they all just LOVE her. It makes a mama's heart feel good knowing she's being well cared for AND liked so well. 

Please pray for Shannon to continue to progress with her speech, breathing, and cognitive skills, that her core muscles will continue to respond and strengthen, that she will be free of infections, that her spinal cord will heal, and that she will feel loved and continue to make friends at her rehab hospital. Thank you, all of you-for you love and concern. 

Six more weeks! 

And her Disney Quote:

Mike : Good morning, Roz, my succulent little garden snail. And who will we be scaring today?

Roz : Wazowski! You didn't file your paperwork last night.

Mike : Oh, that darn paperwork! Wouldn't it be easier if it all just blew away?

Roz : Don't let it happen again.

Mike : Yes, well, I'll try to be more careful next time.

Roz : I'm watching you, Wazowski. Always watching. Always.

Mike : Ooh, she's nuts.