April 9, 2020

I'll lead with something especially fun today. Someone had a "best day ever!!" moment today!! And it's about time. Shannon was able to meet Nigel, the therapy dog today, and not only her therapist but also her doctor told me that she just LIT UP when he came into the room. She was able to throw the ball for him and pet him and loved playing with him!

Today was also just a good day in general. She weened off the ventilator for a good portion of the day. I know she was off it at least from 8am-3pm, because she was still off of it when I talked to one of her therapists this afternoon. Tonight she told me that they are protecting her "from every possible virus" because she wasn't ready to get back on it but the told her she had to. I, personally, am glad they did. After 12 hours off on Sunday and the fiasco with her cough/fever/covid testing-- we don't need a repeat of that by overworking her.

Another nice thing that happened today was getting a call from her Neuropsychologist and two of her therapists- OT and PT. Things are crazy there with trying to figure out how to run a hospital during a pandemic, and relaying info to family members who would normally just be there has been a struggle to work into the rest of the chaos. Now things are starting to get figured out, and we should hear from them on a regular basis going forward.

Her Neuro doc filled us in on how they are handling her brain injury, cognitive issues and memory loss. I'm really happy about the paths they are taking and he also gave us great ideas for how to interact with her that will help strengthen her brain and get her back to normal. It's nice to have something to do that we know will help her beyond moral and emotional support.

I also learned that she's been doing a lot of upper body strengthening. Today she sat on the couch in her room, and she's been practicing balancing when she's sitting. She's doing quite well with it. They are working on strengthening her arms so she will be able to lift herself in and out of bed, into chairs, and do things for her daily maintenance. It's a long road with a lot of bumps. She has been really pleasant and optimistic during all of her interactions with the staff at the hospital, and she's growing on everyone. Her Neuro doctor told me he's going to go home and memorize some quotes from Hercules and Tangled so he can say them to her tomorrow. And he said that he loves her sense of humor and sarcasm. (I mean, who doesn't??) But hearing that she's pleasant and happy even though she's confined to her room is music to my ears.

Some other fun things I learned today were the Horticultural Therapist brought her a potted tulip plant, her Rec therapist finished decorating her room for Easter, and the art therapist helped her decorate the fake eggs we brought in. They are waiting until the weekend to hang up the paper eggs we made her for her egg hunt.

So all around a much better day today than the beginning of the week!

She's a long way from out of the woods, so please pray for Shannon to continue to improve with her respiratory therapy so she can get off the ventilator, that she will have the strength and endurance for the therapies she needs every day, that her spinal cord will heal, and that she will get the rest her body needs to recover. We are praying and fasting for her, and also the world to recover from the pandemic. Thank you for your love and support, and especially your prayers- that are truly being answered each day!

Rapunzel- WHOOHOOO!! BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!