Amanda continues to improve, but we are reminded that it's sometimes 2 steps forward and 1 step back. She had a little bit of a hiccup last Thursday. She had a brief seizure (approximately 30 seconds) while she was in therapy. Seizures are not uncommon in folks with TBI (she's been on anti-seizure medication since shortly after her accident); we've just been fortunate that this is the first one we've seen. It's a good sign that it was short and there were no lasting effects. As a precaution, they ran another CT scan and it was consistent with her previous CT in January (which we're taking as a positive sign). So we're going to keep our fingers crossed and hope it was an isolated incident. She also has her lumbar block scheduled for tomorrow. Although she's not supposed to see results until the 2nd or 3rd treatment, we're going to hope that she defies the odds once again and feels some reduction in the pain in her foot from the very first treatment forward.
And lastly, we have an update from TAnn and her Friday (May 26th, from the holiday weekend) with Amanda:"A glorious day with Amanda ~
The rehab center was closed for a "Family Picnic". Since Amanda was not required to go and per Kurt "Her being outside from 9:00 am until 4:00 PM is just a sunburn waiting to happen," it became a special day just for the two of us. We went on our first girl shopping trip since before she was injured.
The Residental Advisors (RAs) at the center were given the day off after their clients left for the picnic at 9:00 am but Amanda's RA was gracious enough to let her sleep until 9:15 am before waking her up and getting her started on her day. I had brought her a new purple T-shirt and white pants and of course she looked adorable. She always tells me how much she appreciates things that I bring to her so it is a joy to be able to do the small things that I do for her.
As she was getting dressed, I got juice so she could take her morning meds and made coffee. After that she put on her makeup and we left for breakfast at The Waffle House which is only a few blocks from the rehab center. Connie, our waitress was so kind and treated her so special. Amanda decided on a ham and cheese omelet and hash browns, more coffee and water. She made quick work of the omelet, drank lots of coffee and water and you will understand that we were on the lookout for the ladies room throughout our shopping trip~~~ [Side note: The need to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated is a side effect of the injury.]
My GEO is a lot smaller than Kurt's SUV but her tiny wheelchair goes into the back seat easily and she got herself into and out of my car with no problem. As we left the restaurant, there was a SUV the exact color as Kurt's and she was not going to leave until he came to join us. Though I explained that it was not his, (didn't have the UT TEXAS X Lifetime Member decal) she was adamant that he would join us to go shopping. Again to quote Kurt: "I consider shopping as work" so I reminded her that he was at work and would not join us. I gave her my cell phone so she called him and had a chat with him. That settled, we were off on our excursion. I had made a list of several items and as we sat and waited for our food, we went over the list and chatted about the stores we would find at the mall. Though she still gets her words mixed up and does not always use the correct word, I can understand what she means.
Foley's was out first stop where she admired handbags, cute little tops and pants but she didn't find anything she wanted. She would say: "It's cute but I don't love it." When I asked if she wanted anything she always told me that she did not want me to spend money on her but she wanted me to spend it on myself ~ what a sweet and considerate little lady she is.
There are 3 floors in the mall and we covered them all! Whatever peaked her interest was examined, though she "didn't love" anything until we went into a boutique and she found some dangly earring with light green stones which was one of the items on our shopping list. [For Valentine's Day, Kurt bought her an angel shaped necklace with her birthstone and she chooses to wear it most of the time.] That purchase made, Amanda asked for the shopping list and dutifully crossed off the purchase. How very efficient and what is more awesome, is that she remembered that we had a shopping list and that was one of the items we were looking to purchase. It was the same throughout the day each time we found what we were looking for and had made the purchase, she requested the list and marked through the item in red.
Her next stop was for lingerie and she went from round to round in the store where they had the items and matched what she wanted so she would have matching sets. She is so easy to love and so easy for me to spoil her as everyone says that I do. We looked at shoes, and furnishings. The Fiesta dishes were really admired though I don't think that is what she has at home but as we made our way though the stores to the ladies room, (as well as the elevators) seems we got to tour every department in every store but our day was all about her and letting her direct the shopping trip.
We decided to have our nails done and found LA Nails and she had a delightful technician who worked with her and did a lovely job. She wheeled over to the colors and looked at several bottles commenting on each one about whether it was shiny, glittery, too dark, too light, etc. And as the day flew by she commented several times on how pleased she was with her nails.
Lunchtime in the Food Court was again fun with her and hopefully for her. We checked out all of the different places and she decided on Chick-O-Fillet and ordered the #1 Combo and Tea. She commented that the Bar-B-Qu sauce she put on her sandwich and her potatoes tasted good because it was sweet. She's doing more things for herself and others as she thoroughly cleaned the table and put all the trash in the sack. She then wheeled to the trash can and deposited our litter. She held on to her tea for a while but dropped it in a trash can as we rolled by one.
As we went through the stores she commented on shirts that would look good on Kurt so we decided to get him something. I'd no idea of his sizes but she said she remembered and she selected a UT Champion 2005 shirt referring to their victory at the Rosebowl. And, then she found shorts that matched the orange in the shirt. She told the clerk that UT was where Kurt graduated and he would really like the shirt.
More shopping strolling until about 3:00 PM. We were to meet Kurt at home at 4:30 when he got off work so knowing how bad the traffic is, we drove to Lewisville in order to miss the rush hour. I've never gone to their house that I didn't get lost, but she gave me exact directions and we drove there easily even though one of the roads they normally use is blocked and we had to go into the neighborhood "the back way". As Kurt drove her car to work today, I drove into the garage where her car is usually parked and with my assistance she walked into the house. It was painful but tolerable. Immediately she started her word search puzzles and was entertained until Kurt arrived home.
What a fun day for me and I do hope it was for her. When I asked her if she had any comments about her day, she replied: "It was a colorful day." And so, we have progressed so very far since Savannah and I'm so grateful for all she progress she has made. She still has a long journey so please don't stop all the positive thoughts.
Last week was a good week and Amanda continued making great progress. Her second lumbar block went well and her complaints about her foot have changed from "pain" to "discomfort" so we're keeping our fingers crossed that the trend continues. She's even able to use a walker during therapy now. (They had not been able to use it for a while because our clever girl would put her weight on the walker and hop on the 'bad' foot instead of putting it down and using it.) Her sense of humor is increasing by the day and her normal impish threat of "flashing" is regularly making its appearance. The monthly family update meeting is this Thursday and we anticipate a good report all around.
