January 27, 2006 - Late Afternoon

The following is an excerpt from Christine and her day helping with the move,"Amanda was very talkative this morning before we packed up to go. She wasn’t always making sense, but seemed to be in a very good mood. She was given a new wheelchair (one that fits her size great!) & walker right before we left. As soon as her hiney hit the seat in that chair, she took off towards the door to start the “good-bye tour”! Since this chair is smaller, she can maneuver in it very well. We walked up & down the halls, peeking in all the rooms & giving out hugs to all who know her.

Amanda got to ride with Kurt to her new temporary home in Irving. We were greeted with lots of papers to read & sign. Mandy & I went off for a bit of therapy while Kurt finished up. For starters, they just wanted to see how she could get in/out of her chair & small tasks to get to know her.

We all had lunch in the cafeteria. Someone had picked up some food for all 3 of us. She has a monitor (not sure of this persons’ title) that will watch her eat just to make sure she is taking in plenty of calories to keep her energetic since she will be working very hard at CNS!

After lunch, she had a few more therapy sessions, much like at Baylor. Today was mostly for the CNS staff to get an idea of what she is like & get her oriented with the new surroundings. Overall, her days will be much like they were at Baylor, very structured & organized. Her schedule, changing daily, will be posted at CNS on the cafeteria window, not on her wheelchair. So if you visit, which is encouraged, check there to find her.

CNS has weekly movie nights & dinner out & grocery shopping. Amanda has a roommate, plus they each have a Resident Assistant that follows them into any room, taking notes regularly. So for a lot of her “home” time, she will very likely have 3 other people around her. The apartment is about 4 miles from CNS. Unless she has a date with Kurt or other plans, she will likely be there by about 4:30 on weeknights. To visit her there, you must check in at the office, where you will get your picture taken! Fair warning! Upon leaving, you must check out too. The address is:

3915 Portland
Irving, TX 75038
972-594-0549 (office)

We cannot call her room directly, but call the office to be directed. Weekends are free of “scheduled therapy”, although everything Mandy does is considered therapeutic. The blog calendar is still a great idea since her place is very small. Mandy was pretty exhausted after such a busy day!! Overall, I think it went very well."

And from Kurt, he notes that visit times are over at 9PM on weekdays, 11PM on weekends. CNS encourages visitation/socialization during her meals (lunches as well). Folks are encouraged to visit during the day as well as evenings. Just beware that certain therapies during the day are "solo" therapies and we are not allowed to accompany her on those. Everyone is encouraged to visit as much as their calendars will allow. We know that she enjoys the visits (as always, she is still quite the social butterfly). We are hoping that she will be able to get home for another visit this Sunday so that Kurt & Mandy can have some more much needed alone time. Although we all want Mandy to get as much therapy as she can handle (and insurance will pay for), we are all very much looking forward to the day when she gets to sleep in her own bed beside her husband once again.