Busy 2 weeks!

Since Jennie has come home from Atlanta, she has undergone surgery to replace the bone flap in her skull. She spent 3 nights in the hospital and came home on a Friday. That following Sunday our family went to church together and holding back the tears was just not possible when she walked through those doors. What a great feeling! She started therapies the next Monday and had 3 days worth of that this past week. Today, she had her stitches removed and now the final healing can begin. What a busy two weeks it has been but so very nice to have that behind us. Her time in Atlanta seemed like such a long time and now Atlanta seems years in the past. Jennie is continuing to say new words everyday and is great at saying her own name now without any prompting. The road before us is still a long one but overall things are just a little easier now that she is home.

All is well

Jennie made it through surgery without any issues! They were able to reuse her portion of skull that was removed 5 months ago. Overall, the doctor felt good about how everything should heal and said cosmetically it should be unnoticeable several months from now. She has some expected swelling and has a pump draining fluids for the next day or so which is all routine. She spent the night in the ICU to have close monitoring and is currently able to move to the neuro floor as soon as a bed opens. It was such an exciting day seeing Jennie's doctors and nurses that had been there back at the beginning of all this. It did our hearts good to know that all our praying, crying, and fighting had paid off. It was a proud moment to see Jennie's strength get recognition from the very people that had doubts that she would ever have hope of a normal life again. It is so very important to have family and friends that will be your voice to fight for you. I can't even sum up how many meetings we had with doctors, nurses, social workers, case workers, and others that were just so very negative and disappointing. It was faith that got us through and I am proud of our family for standing up after being kicked down so many times. I know that God helped us make decisions for Jennie that have gotten her to the point she is now. It was refreshing to be able to walk through the very same doors of the ICU last night and hold my head high and say, "Yes, that is my sister and she is going to be more than ok!"

Here we go...

The appointment with the neurosurgeon went well today. He called Jennie "The Wonder Child" and was very excited about the progress she has made. Her surgery is scheduled for 1pm tomorrow - May 4th. Her bone has survived well in deep freeze and will be replaced making the same incision as done before. She will stay in the ICU at least one night to be monitored very closely. The doctor didn't have very many concerns about the success of the surgery. He said that using her bone rather than something synthetic reduces the risk of infection. He also informed us that he prides himself on his super low rate of infection with his surgeries, much lower than the average in the country. Since her brain has shifted from the impact, there will be more space between her skull and brain than before. This poses a possibility of fluid build-up. That is another specific that we can all be praying for. All in all, Jennie is very excited to get this behind her and work on growing out her hair for all those fun hair-do's that she's known for. :) We fully trust Dr. Melin and his team to do an awesome job tomorrow. I will try my best to keep everyone posted throughout the day!

Jennie is HOME!

Today was a day that has been long awaited. Jennie and our mom came home from The Shepherd Center! She is doing so well and I am very relieved to have them both home. This week will be super busy so we would love your prayers to help get us all through. Monday, we will meet with the neurosurgeon team to discuss the specifics of surgery. As of now, the surgery to replace the portion of skull removed will take place on Tuesday, May 4th. She will recover from this surgery and is set to begin therapies the following Monday. Please pray specifically that Jennie's bone has survived well in deep freeze and will be able to be used, that the doctors are focused and calm, and that the surgery goes exactly as planned with a quick recovery. I will keep everyone posted on specifics as I get them and also on when Jennie can have visitors following surgery. I can't wait to rejoice with those of you who saw Jennie early on and have truly experienced a miracle of God!

Surgery Scheduled

I wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know that Jennie's neurosurgeon has decided to do surgery Tuesday, May 4th. This surgery will be to replace the portion of bone removed from her skull. This was sooner than we expected but he doesn't want to wait any longer after she returns to go ahead with it. Please mark your calendars for this day and remember to pray fervently for her and for the doctors. She will then begin her therapies on May 10th. It's reassuring to know that the docs and therapists feel that she will have a quick turn-around following this surgery!

Home is in sight!

On April 30th, my husband and I will make our final trip to visit Jennie in Atlanta...then pack her up and get the heck outta dodge! The Shepherd Center has been a fabulous place that has allowed Jennie to progress so far. With that being said, we miss her and my mom like crazy and are all so tired of our lives being upside-down. Jennie is continuing to improve on her speech but is getting frustrated by her inability to put her thoughts into words. She is working on saying her name, responding to greetings, and saying her age. She is able to recognize written words. One exercise she worked on while I was there this past weekend was to identify the names of the months written on cards. The months were mixed around out of order and she could identify each month by pointing to it when she heard it spoken. I am unsure how well she is able to read full sentences at this point, but she is able to distinguish words on cards when asked. She can repeat the word after she hears it, but is unable to say the word on the cards by just reading it on her own. One neat thing that we discovered is that she can sing along and remembers lyrics to songs that she knew prior to her accident because the memory of lyrics to music is stored in the right side of your brain. She can remember nursery rhymes, the ABC song, and many songs on the radio. In preparing for Jennie's return, I went to a local rehabilitation center last week to take a tour and meet the therapist in charge. I was very impressed and am excited about Jennie continuing her journey with the group of therapists they have there. One of the speech therapists looked familiar to me and turned out that she evaluated Jennie while she was still in the hospital, about 30 days post-accident. I remember back to the moment of her coming in to see if Jennie would respond to her in any way. It was a very heart-wrenching moment for me and this therapist when Jennie wasn't able to respond to her. She was soo very excited to hear of Jennie's progress and they are all ready to work with her when she returns home. A very exciting moment that happened this past week was when Jennie was able to throw her arm brace for her left arm in the trash! Her bone has finally fused back together with about a 10 degree curve. She has a decent range of motion...not quite able to reach her left hand to her left shoulder but overall, can use both arms well. The doctor said that surgery is a possibility but not something he would recommend because it wouldn't guarantee any more range of motion than what she currently has. The first week home in May will be a very busy week for Jennie. She will have an evaluation for speech, physical, and occupational therapies starting the first Monday back. She will also go back to the neurosurgeon team to discuss restoring the portion of her skull that was removed. Her bone has been stored at the hospital in deep freeze since being removed and may be able to be used once again. In some cases, the bone may deteriorate when outside of the body and if this is the case, they will call in a plastic surgeon to create an artificial one to use. Either way, this will be a fairly easy procedure and shouldn't require a long stay in the hospital. Thinking about her undergoing this surgery has caused me to think back about how amazing a neurosurgeon she has. Dr. Melin thought so quickly, considering the circumstances, to have removed this portion of her skull to allow her brain room to swell. I cannot imagine the stress his job entails but am so grateful for his expertise which aided in saving Jennie's life. On that note, I am going to sign-out for now...thank you for following along and continuing to pray for our family!

Almost 4 months

It has almost been 4 months since Jennie's accident. Wow, how far she has come! This experience has been life-altering for Jennie as well as those who are so close to her. I am truly unable at this point to put into words just what I have gone through as her sister. Overall, I have been having a bit of writer's block so I apologize for the lack of updates. I just returned from a visit to see her and my mom. Jennie is continuing to get more fluid in her movements and ability to do daily tasks. Her speech and language are also improving, slowly but surely. I brought her some of her own clothes from home to try on since she's been wearing easy-to-get-on clothes. She looked so good in her jeans, fitted t-shirt, and pearl necklace! So much like the normal Jennie. We have learned that her complications with speech and language are characterized as apraxia and aphasia. Aphasia is the inability to produce and/or comprehend language. She seems to be comprehending very well just not able to put into so many words what she is thinking. Apraxia deals with a range of skills including speech but overall means the loss of the ability to perform learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. When she returns home, she will be seen within the first week by the neurosurgeon team to plan the surgery to replace the bone flap that was removed in the beginning to allow her brain room to swell. We all can't wait, including Jennie, to get this over with so she can ditch the pink helmet and grow out her hair! She will also be referred to a more "regular" doctor that will then make decisions regarding speech, physical, and occupational therapies as well as check on things like her eye sight and the condition of her left arm (still in the brace). Please pray specifically for Jennie's improvements in speech, language and decision making. Also, pray for our family as we travel back and forth to Atlanta, deal with the bill arrangements/insurance, and the preparations for Jennie's return home.