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