Marla has been busy over the past week, which has included blizzards, outings, and more! Be sure to visit the updated pictures from the blizzard, as well as some pictures from her outing to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Marla is soon to be released from the hospital, at less than one week now left for her inpatient stay at Craig. She will be discharged on April 4th, 2003. Mary and Leo are excited for her to be ready to leave, but somewhat anxious at the same time. Excited because Marla has made excellent progress at Craig, and is ready to be discharged. Anxious because they will miss the caring of the Craig staff which offers evening and night-time relief for Mary and Leo, when they can rest and come back ready for the next day. Upon discharge, they will be providing 24/7 care for her.

Marla’s sinus infection seems to be a bit more stubborn than expected, as she is still quite congested, but she is now on antibiotics to help fight off the bug. Hopefully this will clear up the illness, because we think that her discomfort in chewing and eating might partially stem from sickness-related congestion.

Marla has started on a diet that includes some soft foods that require chewing, such as pancakes, orange slices, peaches, etc.. She needs to practice chewing to start exercising these neuro-muscular pathways again. And we are hoping that the more solid food will also be more appealing to her. Although her appetite is improving slowly, as she has become more aware, she has become less and less willing to eat the pureed foods that she is offered. As a result, she has lost some weight over the past couple of weeks, since she is no longer receiving any food through her stomach tube, only medicines.

Marla is currently fighting off a head cold. Her symptoms seem to be fairly minor, mainly some congestion and a cough, but it is hard to know exactly how she feels because of her limited ability to communicate. It is apparent that her cold has made her tire more easily. However, she rested well over the weekend and seemed to be feeling better as she began this week’s therapies on Monday.

Marla’s benefit dinner was an un-paralleled success, due to the tireless efforts of her friends from high school and supporters from the community, both in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond, who put in countless hours organizing and coordinating the details. Also due to the numerous artists, professionals, and businesses that donated the fruits of their efforts to the silent auction for the cause of helping her journey of recovery. We are touched by the generous contributions of so many, even in a difficult economic environment.

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.

Marla continues to make progress, but it continues to be erratic. We’ve been told from the beginning to expect a step backward for every two forward. She is still fighting a couple of antibiotic-resistant internal infections, but she may be gaining ground on those. In the last few days, she’s been outside several times; and it won’t surprise anyone who knows her to hear that she loved it. Today she asked to go out, and with her feet provided most of the power to move her wheel chair.

Marla’s level of awareness continues to increase steadily. At the same time, she is also now prone to “flooding” – an overload caused by excessive environmental stimuli or emotional reaction to her frustrations when she cannot communicate. She cries often. This is very difficult for her, and for us to see her sadness, but be unable to console her.

On the exciting side, she has been fitted with a smaller wheel chair that allows her to use her legs to walk herself to her therapies. She enjoys the freedom of being able to move herself and choose where she wants to go (as long as it is in the general direction of her therapy classes). She also has been fitted with the next smaller size of tracheostomy tube, so we are anxious for her to pass her last swallowing test with thin liquids so that it can be removed. Marla also enjoyed a visit from her and Rob’s golden retriever, Woody, this past weekend. He passed all of his health inspections with the vet and with Craig’s therapeutic recreation department which supervises animal visits, so Woody is “certified” to visit Marla any time. Woody makes an excellent therapy dog. He gave Marla kisses (licked her hand) and was excited to see her, but gentle. He also proved popular with other Craig residents, and visited with several other patients, who appreciated his love.

It was a busy weekend for Marla, with many visitors coming to see her and lend her support and encouragement. Two of Marla’s long-time friends from college, her room-mates Megan and Lyndsay, both flew in to visit. Megan from Idaho, and Lyndsay from Boston.

On Saturday, many of the teachers from Glacier Peak came to visit and brought with them two huge cards signed by them and all of the students. Their sincere expressions of love and empathy provide us and Marla with a sense of support and caring. Plus, the teachers brought the results of their Penny Drive fund-raising effort for Marla, in which they and the Glacier Peak students raised funds to support her medical expenses. We continue to be amazed at the depth and strength of the on-going support for Marla.

Marla is becoming more aware each day, and is physically very active. Her speech therapist has been monitoring her tongue and lip movements, as well as her swallow reflex. She supervised Marla’s first taste of soft foods (pudding, mashed potatoes). Marla was delighted to eat something. Her first words were, “Ow, eye, no.” She has corneal abrasions on her left eye which are very painful. Due to the nerve damage, her eyes do not blink or close completely, causing dryness and irritation. This has interfered with her therapies. On Tuesday, her eye was stitched shut to help it heal. We look forward to increasing speech and attention span, and remain full of hope.

Marla continues to slowly improve, thanks to the prayers and support from all of you. As you may know, we had a meeting on 1/21 with the Craig Hospital team working with her. They are predicting discharge in early April, and that she will walk out! She may need a cane and will require someone with her 24 hours a day, but they believe she will be able to return to her home, including climbing the stairs. The doctors are in disagreement, one believing she had a stroke and another believing that she experienced deep-brain damage similar to “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” We are praying it was the latter, believing that damaged neurons hopefully can heal, whereas strokes kill neurons. The therapies are the same, either way.