First Car Ride in 2010

This afternoon I was given permission to take Tania out of the hospital for an "outing". Once Tania was seated in the car, I took her wheelchair apart and stored it in the trunk. We were gone for about an hour and went to Tara's house in Highlands Ranch to say "hi". Although I offered to stop at a clothing store for her to shop, she declined because she was getting tired.

She had a good week of therapy and is making progress on eating foods with more texture. On Tuesday, she told her speech therapist, "I want to get a certificate so I can eat something besides junk food". Last night I treated her to a carry in restaurant meal in the Friendship Room in the Craig Apartment Building. She said it tasted good!

Rollie

Six Months

6 months of hospitals down and 1 to go. Tania is set to be released on March 26, so just over 7 months of hospital time.

The last six months have been a rollercoaster. There have been times, like when my mom was in surgery, when the seconds on the clock seemed like hours. Other times when family and friends have gathered, we have laughed and prayed and these times have flown by.

My family was spending time in the tv room at Craig yesterday and a new patient's father walked in and said, "Wow, this is a nice room". It made me realize, that my family has scoped out so many hospitals...I know the best chairs, where to get coffee, the tucked away bathrooms and even where to find the best mountain views in many of Denver's hospitals. I truly hope this is some of that useless information we store in our heads and never need to use again!

Here are a few recent stories of Tania's recovery journey:

• Last week I went to one of my mom's speech therapy sessions. Her therapist was working on facial expressions and Tania was holding a mirror to see her own facial expressions when her therapist read a scenario. One of the scenarios said, how do you feel when you have had an argument with a family member and you realize that you were wrong. Tania's facial expression looked puzzled. Not the expression her therapist was looking for. Finally, Tania said "I'm never wrong". All of the rest of us in the room cracked up! Great to see some of her spunk returning!


• On Valentines day she received a large stuffed bear. She enjoys holding it and squeezing it, but when my father was out of the room, she said "I am NOT sleeping with that bear".


• My mom's sister, Sonia, has been in town this week and attending therapy sessions with Tania. One day Sonia had a water bottle and she walked away for a few minutes, when she came back Tania was drinking out of the bottle. Sonia asked what she doing drinking out of the bottle and with a smile, Tania said "I stole it."


• Yesterday, Saydie was able to visit and my Mom held her for a little bit while Saydie was enjoying a bottle. Afterwords, Saydie was sitting on a table and able to look eye to eye and give Grandma kisses.


• She has now been eating for about a week. She said the first thing she wanted to eat when she was allowed was brownies. I have the mix out and we are going to make some warm yummy brownies this afternoon and share them with the rest of the family.

We are so grateful for the prayer support from our family and friends! One of Tania's friends recently asked her how she could pray for her. My mom's response was "Pray that I focus on things eternal". I ask that you pray as she requested.

Tara

Sisters Enjoying Each Other's Company

I enjoyed sharing Tania's busy day of therapy sessions with her. She started out having current events read to her and having to answer questions about the article. She found it funny and did quite well with her answers!!

In speech therapy Julie wanted her to eat some chocolate pudding - Tania said," Why do they always want me to eat?" I told her chocolate pudding was good for her and they wanted to see how she swallowed. She just nodded and complied.

After lunch we talked about her busy afternoon schedule - at 1:30 she was to ride her bike until 2:00. She rode the whole 30 minutes and at 2 she said "go get that man - so he can get me out of this!" I got Dan and he said she had almost ridden 2 miles -- which is GREAT!!!

We spent time looking through cookbooks and planning a meal she could cook sometime- She provided good input into this activity. When Laycee brought Saydie for a visit during PT Tania was quick to smile. While Tania was laying on the mat and Saydie started to climb on her stomach Tania said (in a strong voice) "you're not helping me!!

We ended the day the decorating candles in the recreation department.

Sonia

Swallow Test

Tania passed the swallow test today! I was able to accompany her to the Swedish Hospital Radiology Department and watched the x-ray machine show her eating and swallowing food and beverages. This evening she had her first meal for 2010 that consisted of shredded turkey, green beans and canned peaches with a glass of milk.

Because Tania is becoming more active in bed, a Poesy bed was moved into her room today. This type of bed has netting over it to protect the patients who try to get out of bed before they are ready to handle getting up on their own.

We are encouraged with both of these recovery milestones and look forward to continued recovery during the upcoming weeks.

Rollie

Valentine's Day

Flowers, chocolate, a big stuffed teddy bear and Bingo...what more could a girl ask for on Valentines Day!

My dad brought my mom lovely red roses and Travis and Laycee brought her sparkly multi colored daisies.

Since she can't eat chocolate yet, I had to get a bit creative on this one. I did a bit of Internet searching and found a chocolate face mask recipe. I whipped this up in her hospital room and it smelled delicious! My dad thought I had lost my mind, but it was fun and my mom said it made her skin feel great too!

To make a long story short, we had a large white stuffed bear in the closet at my parents house. Not sure exactly how it got there, but we recently remembered the 2 foot bear and my dad brought it in for my mom. She didn't remember it, so it was a great gift. Recycling at its finest! :)

Mom, Dad, Travis, Laycee, Saydie and I enjoyed "cupid bingo" this afternoon in the Rec room at the hospital. Mom won one round and said BINGO!

All in all a great Valentine's day! Tomorrow on Feb 15, she is going to be taking another barium swallow test at Swedish hospital. It is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Please pray that she passes the test and can start eating again.

Tara

Walking the Hallways

Tania walked further this afternoon than she has in any previous physical therapy session. She walked (pushing a grocery cart) in the hallway past the nurse's station before she turned around and retraced her steps back where she started. When she was finished walking she still had sufficient strength in her hands and arms to transport herself back to her room by rolling the wheelchair tires.

This morning she had a definite opinion on which tee shirt she would like to wear for the day. She rejected the first two choices that she was shown...I guess she is starting to think like a shopper again! However, this evening when she was given a choice of making Valentine cards at 6:00 p.m. or rest, she said she would rather rest in her room. She knows tomorrow will be another full day.

Rollie

Superbowl Cooking

Craig hospital hosted a Superbowl party for patients and families. At 2pm they opened the Therapeutic Recreation room for pre-party cooking. My mom and I made puppy chow (chex mix cereal with chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar) for the party today. She is getting strong enough to help stir. However, when it came to shaking the bag to evenly coat the powdered sugar, she gave a couple weak shakes and just looked at me. I asked her if the puppy chow was done. She said no. I asked her if she was done shaking and she said yes. I was impressed by her awareness that the recipe was not done and also her awareness that she was tired. Tough to make a yummy recipe and not be able to taste it! I hope that she passes a swallow test soon and can start reintroducing certain foods.

Before the Superbowl, we watched the pre-game festivities and I gave her a manicure and pedicure. She is starting to have some opinions - even when it comes to what color I paint her nails!

She is continuing to count numbers. I asked her today why she was counting and she said "it makes the time go by faster". We are trying to figure out how much stimulus she needs and how much is too much!

She also had a college friend come visit from Nebraska this weekend. When her friend came into her room, Tania had a shocked look and then a smile. It is wonderful to start seeing some expressions!

Tara

Continued Improvement in Alertness

Tania had a good week of therapy. She worked at tying her shoes, folding towels and other activities of daily life during occupational therapy. In physical therapy she walked behind a grocery cart several different times (the most fun was when she pushed her granddaughter around the gym while the car seat was in the grocery cart). Talk about using Saydie as an incentive.

Although she is still getting nourishment through the feeding tube, I am allowed to give her ice chips. During speech therapy on Wednesday she sang several songs from memory. It was the first time since September that I heard her voice. Today she spoke out loud several times to answer various questions. In response to a question regarding a photo of her holding Saydie when she a newborn, Tania responded, "I don't know what kind of therapy that is, but I want to do more of it."

Rollie

Unsuccessful Swallow Test

Because Tania delayed her swallowing during the test today, the speech therapist and the doctors have decided to postpone feeding her by mouth. This decision is for her safety so she does not aspirate beverages or food into her lungs. Additional focused speech therapy will be scheduled over the next week to attempt to assist Tania's swallowing abilities.

All the therapists reported that Tania had a good day. She interacted well with her friend, Peggy, in speech therapy and managed to push a grocery cart across the gym with assistance from her physical therapist. As I was leaving the hospital about 5:30 she asked if I was going to take her out for dinner. I responded that I would like to, but that we would need to wait a while longer.

Rollie

Swallow Test is Scheduled for Tomorrow

At noon tomorrow Tania will be taken to Swedish Hospital for a swallow test. For the past couple of days she has been chewing ice chips and successfully swallowing the cold water. When she passes the "official" swallow test she will be allowed to begin drinking and eating food again.

During the chapel service at Craig yesterday, Tania was able to recall the words from each hymn from memory. Even though she was only "singing" in a whisper, it was great to see her worship God. To encourage her (and me)I have read Romans 12:12 to her several times where we are encouraged to be "rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation and devoted to prayer".

Late yesterday afternoon when I returned to the hospital after her nap and held her hand in my hands, she whispered to me "your hands are cold". These types of responses are still only sporadic, but they are occurring more frequently than they were a couple of weeks ago.

Rollie