UPDATES
March 4 2003 Update
Marla’s speech has been increasing at about one to two words a day. Some of her recent new words:
She told her Occupational Therapist to “Quit!” during range of motion exercises on her shoulder.
When Pam, one of her and our favorite rehabilitation technicians, asked what items from her lunch she wanted to save for a snack, Marla replied: “Nothing!”
Marla still doesn’t seem to enjoy the pureed hot foods. Of course, we can still understand her distaste. When offered pureed meat during a recent meal, Marla pushed it away: “Forget it!” bullet She does enjoy the pureed fruits, although on Sunday she said that her strawberries were “Sour!”. A couple of packets of sugar did the trick though.
When she received a huge teddy bear from a friend, and in response to the loving thoughts expressed in many of her cards, Marla has replied: “Wow!”
Her sense of humor has returned. Last Tuesday February 25th, Marla was waiting with Mary and Mark for her afternoon Physical Therapy session. Mary handed her a sprayer bottle, (the kind you’d use for misting plants). When asked if she’d like to squirt her brother, Mark, with Mom’s spray bottle, she did an admirable job of catching him by surprise, and squirted him right in the face! This gave everyone a laugh, and even elicited a giggle from her.
Marla’s tracheostomy (trach, or breathing) tube was finally removed yesterday, Monday, March 3rd. This is good news because having it out will help to improve her comfort. Her feeding tube remains, but is an incentive to eat more food, as she has been reminded at meal time that the more she can eat of her lunch, the sooner the feeding tube can be removed. She seems to understand.
She is walking with a belt around her waist, supported by her PT and a parent. She does four laps around the gym. She is still wobbly, and has some drag with her right foot, but they believe all will improve as her focus becomes more clear. Marla is still easily tired, very sensitive and quickly overwhelmed with emotion. Because her speech center was one of the main parts of her brain injured, her ability to express herself is limited. This is very frustrating to her, and her care-takers.
Heather, another of Marla’s favorite rehabilitation technicians, has observed that Marla is frequently quite aware just before going to sleep in the evening. Heather has had several conversations with Marla in the evenings. Heather uses these conversations to help reinforce Marla’s orientation to time and place, relaying simple observations such as: “Marla, you are at Craig Hospital in Englewood. It is March. You were in a car accident in December. We are helping you get better.” Marla continues to exhibit deficits in short-term memory. When Heather told her that she had been helping care for Marla for over a month, Marla said “Wow!” And Marla has been unable to remember Heather’s name from day to day. However, Heather is very encouraged by Marla’s ability to find her way around the hospital, and move in the direction that she wants to go. On Mark’s last visit, when going around the Unit for a walk, Marla pointed him in the direction she wanted to go–leading him straight outside!
Both Pam and Heather do an awesome French-braid, which is a handy hairstyle around here where Marla is constantly up-and-down, going to therapies or resting in bed. Mom learned to French-braid her hair. Dad continues to deal with legal, financial, and insurance issues.
Again, please know how important and appreciated everyone’s support continues to be! We enjoy hearing about what is happening in everyone’s lives in the wonderful supportive messages that everyone continues to leave for Marla on her website–they also help to uplift our spirits. Some bring a tear to our eyes and get a “Wow!” out of Marla. We continue to be hopeful and faithful as Marla progresses, and as we see more of her enduring spirit shining through the challenges.