akirali

It was quiet at the start of the day. Nurses woke Kate at 8 for her meds otherwise she might have slept much longer. (She is battling a cold.) Therapy sessions were scheduled at 11 and 11:30. Physical therapy was first and was exhausting: Kate was on the mat, being tilted to both sides and then asked to upright herself. In speech therapy, she easily...
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Doctors call Kate's progress slow and steady. To me it seems like she makes great improvements every day, and today was no exception.

During speech therapy, Daniella (who has a thick accent), teased Kate that for every container of yogurt she ate, Daniella would get one free. For some reason, Kate thought that was really funny and she came just a tad short of laughing...
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A Big Hell Yeah
It finally happened!

Mom heard Kate speak today!

This evening Kate said "Yeah" loud and clear twice in response to being cold. I thought I heard "Is Dad over there?" but when I asked Dave to come closer, Kate said "Nope" as if that wasn't what she meant. Then she spoke a 10 or 12 word sentence, but I couldn't make...
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Kate's weekend continued to be busy today. NMU friends Jamey and Beth visited for several hours before heading back for tomorrow's start of classes. Again, Kate reacted strongly to their presence: smiles, some sounds, still trying to jump out of the bed or wheelchair to drive back to Marquette with them.

In addition, visitors included Debby Casper, my cousin; Laura and Bob Reynolds, Kate's uncle's...
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What a golden day!!!

When I left the hospital today, I kissed Kate goodbye and put my cheek next to her mouth and asked for a kiss. She obliged...a big, DELIBERATE, knowing, PURPOSEFUL kiss that made me cry. She only did that once before...a while ago...and I am not sure it was as deliberate then. It reminded me that when Nick left the other day,...
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Thursday will mark the third complete week that Kate has been at Sacred Heart. I marvel at her progress...so much so that occasionally I get antsy when every day isn't as eventful as the day before. I don't want to overlook ANY improvement...so I try my best to stay focused and remember that every day, every improvement, is a blessing.

Kate's regular speech therapist went...
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Where to start....

Even though it was Sunday, it was a busy day. During speech therapy, Kate ate six bites of vanilla pudding; taking each into her mouth with some coaxing, but then moving her tongue from the front to the back of her mouth and finally swallowing with ease. The therapist was thrilled. Tomorrow? Chocolate pudding.

During pt/ot, Kate kicked her left leg high...
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Today started with a great p-t session during which Kate said "OK" to the therapists when they explained what they were doing. A bit later the speech therapist tested Kate's swallowing reflexes with an ice chip...and gave up. She said, "I think we can go right to the applesauce!!!!" Kate promptly ate three teaspoons (sorry, Jamey, little spoonfuls..not big ones....) and swallowed each easily. She...
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It's been a scant 14 days since Kate arrived at Sacred Heart. Today, her trach...
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Kate is fast becoming one of the floor favorites for nurses at Sacred Heart. She works so hard and has the cutest "uh huh" response that makes them all smile. Today she blew away the p-t who had been off since Friday...raising her arms and legs to command and displaying great strength at holding her head up for a while.

Tonight will be her second...
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Kate's trach was plugged for about 6 hours today...twice as long as the last two days. When she struggled with a cough, nurses decided to unplug it to make her more comfortable. She will have to be plugged for 48 continuous hours (including nighttime) before they will consider pulling the trach permanently.

The day started with a particularly difficult p-t session during which John and...
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