January 19, 2006 - Early Morning

The following is an excerpt from Terri and her day with Mandy yesterday: "Today was a GREAT day!! Almost every therapist who worked with Mandy said so. She even stayed awake and participated in group therapy. She also did part of a word search puzzle, stacked blocks to match pictures, and put shapes in the matching holes (at least, until she got bored with each endeavor).

When I got there, Dacia was there, and I have to agree with Christine – Dacia is great at getting Mandy to eat her breakfast. She only spit out two bites. I was very impressed.

She still doesn't want to walk on that left foot, but the specialist she saw this afternoon said the problem with that is just a stiff tendon, and it will have to be stretched and worked out - something Mandy won't be too happy about, but it means she doesn't need surgery!

She stayed awake all day, and she didn't even play with her monkey until late afternoon, then she said, “I love him.”

She couldn’t remember my name – first she told a therapist I was Rene. When the therapist asked “Rene or Terri?” she again said “Rene”. Then, later, someone else asked who I was, and she said “Yvette.” Still later, we were alone on a walk, waiting for the elevator, and I asked her if she knew who I was. She said “no”. I said, “I’m Terri. Do you remember Terri?” She said no. Then I said, “That’s me. I’m Terri and we are very good friends.” Mandy tilted her head and in her sweetest voice, said “Oh,” like it made perfect sense.

I also noticed that she called her bed a cubicle more than once, and I thought that was interesting. She really does know what she’s talking about, she just can’t always convey that to us. I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow, which I’m sure will be another great day! Love and hugs to all,Terri"