February 8, 2006 - Mid-Morning

Congratulations to all the Big Winners in the football pool, most especially to our big winner, Frank Z. for donating his winnings back to the Royal Treasury. Thanks to everyone that was able to participate; consider yourselves official courtesans in the Royal Court.

The Visit site has also been updated for the princess' new digs at CNS. Be sure to post or send us questions if any of the information is confusing. Visits are great stimulation for our girl and help her brain remap old connections; please feel free to visit as much as your schedule allows. Anyone that would like to assist Kurt with her weekend visits home should contact him directly.

And speaking of the princess (now that the housekeeping is out of the way), she continues to improve slowly but surely. After an initial slow down due to the move and pancreatitis, she appears to moving forward again. CNS is very structured which is taking us all some to get used to (but is very appropriate for individuals that have suffered brain injuries). She was able to go home for visits on both Saturday and Sunday. It's amazing how you can miss the simple pleasures of sitting on your own patio enjoying the beautiful weather amidst your own herbs and flowers. She is going out grocery shopping once a week (as part of her therapy) and seems to really enjoy the field trips. They're keeping her busy with lots of therapy and she's working very hard. (Her therapies include things like putting numbers in order, counting change, etc. Some things don't change though - handling the money is one of her favorite things!)

Her foot/leg is still troubling her. We've taken her for a few doctor's visits and they can't find anything wrong. They believe that it may be just her brain overreacting to the stimulus. (They think her brain may be misreading the nerve impulses. The nerve impulses are telling her that there is activity and some stretching/pain, but her brain is misreading it as significantly more pain.) They are going to give her some medication this week to supress the pain sensors this week to see if that helps a bit. She's also eating a bit better this week. She developed a strong dislike for "dry" foods last week and didn't want to eat anything that didn't have a strong liquid base (yogurts, soups, liquified foods etc). But she appears to be branching out a bit this week and is eating more solid food this week.

We hope to take her home again this weekend. And TAnn is looking forward to helping her put on her make-up again this week. There's nothing like a fresh application of lipstick to help make a woman feel ready to face the world (and no one loves their lipstick more than the princess). We can't wait to see her looking more like her old self again; lipstick kisses for everyone!