August 21, 2006

We have 2 big news items with this update! The first is that in 2 days, Amanda will once again be sleeping in her very own bed surrounded by all of her babies. Our girl is going home! She will continue to attend therapy during the day for rehabilitation as her memory and cognition are still showing the affects of the injury. (She tries to be a good sport about her therapy, but if you can't tell by now, she doesn't love it. She can use all of the encouragement she can get on this subject!) The second big news is that she didn't use her wheelchair the entire weekend. She was able independently ambulate everywhere she needed to go this weekend. She is still using her walker and/or cane to maintain her balance but we hope to see her get to the point where even those are a thing of the past. She's also talking more frequently about returning to work and we have to remind her that for right now, her therapy IS her work. But we love her spirit and her desire to keep moving forward. She IS an extraordinary woman, isn't she?

And from Dacia and Chris share the following with us from their weekend with the princess, "We had a great visit when Amanda and Kurt came over Saturday night for dinner. Mandy was the best we've seen her. She cleaned her entire plate – including garlic bread - and never once spit out any food (that’s the first time we've had a meal with her where she didn’t spit out her chewed up food at least once). She thanked us for making her “feel special by always cooking nice meals” when she and Kurt come over and she even asked for the recipe for the mushroom soup we served.

She complained a little about her foot hurting, but she walked quite a bit using her walker and went up and down a few stairs. Mandy was the most mobile and independent that we' ve seen her. Tasks that just a couple of weeks ago she needed a little help with she did on her own. She changed in and out of her swim suit, made a salad and carried on some good conversation.

She still cussed, but not nearly as much as she did her last two visits, and the cussing seemed to be limited only to her foot hurting and some little sugar ants that crawled on her feet when we were outside. When Dacia and Mandy were out relaxing in the pool, Mandy said that she'd been talking to God lately and when she talked to Him that morning she thanked him for our kindness."