Sorry for the long wait between updates. I had tons of help yesterday and completely finished moving. It was exhausting working nights the whole week and trying to pack. Lots of people from church and friends helped me finish packing and moving most of our stuff into storage and the rest to my apartment. Britney has been doing so good. She looks at the TV whenever a movie is put on. We got her the planet earth DVD's and she watches them with Jonas and Vera whenever they come. She looks at people when they are talking to her and continues to make a lot of sounds. Our family friend that has been giving her massages set up a rotation with a bunch of her friends to Britney will have massages almost every day. She has loosened up a lot and has had so so much less pain. Her baclofen dose was also increased a few days ago so she has been more sleepy. She finally got her correct splints on Friday. She did really well with them. Her OT didn't want to leave her in them all weekend without any therapy because she thought it might be too much for Britney to have them on non stop for so long and didn't want her skin to break down. Everyone continues to do lots of range of motion. If the splints and Baclofen increase dont get her arms and hands straight she may get botox injections in her forearm muscles soon. She went to St. Anthony's for a MRI a few days ago. Casey went with her. She turned her head and looked at all the trees and the sky. She was very peaceful during the whole ride Casey said like she enjoyed being outside. The results from the MRI aren't back yet. She will have a EEG soon also. Thank you for all your support.
John

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I came back to Tucson Monday morning and I have been working graveyard shifts and trying to pack up my house. I found a 1 bedroom apartment to rent that will let me stay in the same congregation and that is a lot closer to the hospital. Thank you to all of you who have offered to have me stay with you. I figured I would be working and sleeping all hours of the day and it would be better this way. I really appreciate all your help. Britney continues to loosen up and stretch out. She got some wrist braces but they were the wrong size. This continues to be very very frustrating. Hopefully she will get the braces she needs soon to help her keep all of her range of motion. She is still more and more responsive. I'll post again soon. And Britney's sister or parents may post more soon.
John

Lots of progress and a visit from TMC friends

Sorry I didn't post yesterday I had a long busy day spending time with our kids and Britney. Britney made a lot of noises yesterday but no words yet. She had the valve on for about 4 hours the last few days in the afternoons. She did great with it. It makes her work a lot harder to breathe so she has to build up to having it more and more. She has been blinking to communicate with her therapists and nurses the past few days more and more. She has been moving her legs a lot and has a lot of sensation in both feet. We can tell from her face and reactions when we massage them or stretch them. This morning she smiled at a joke her Aunt Jan told her. She smiled for a whole minute after really wide. She has been looking at us a lot and looking at her hands and feet when we stretch her out. She is really comfortable today after a massage from a family friend last night. We had a great surprise this morning one of the nurses from TMC ICU came and brought a card and presents for all the kids and Britney from the whole ICU team there. She was visiting a friend for a wedding and found out where Britney is. It was the nicest surprise and made our day. Thank you to all the people in the ICU at TMC who saved her life in those first few days to give her a chance at recovering, and for following the blog so closely and for all your prayers and support.

Passed swallow eval now has valve to talk

Brintey did great again with her swallow evaluation and has had the cuff down on her trach so I asked if she could have a valve to give her the chance to start speaking and she just got it. She has seemed like she tried to talk many times over the past few weeks. Her speech therapist said it is common to make some sounds first and then maybe one word sentences. She has already made a lot of sounds since getting it in. She has some gauze n her lower lip that makes hit hard for her to move her lips because her lip is still healing. Her vocal muscles need some exercise and it will take lots of brain coordination to speak more complexly. It will be a process, but we are very excited she is progressing so much. She has been looking around a lot, and smiled again today when we were talking about the kids. She closed her eyes when her therapist asked her to. She has therapy 3X per day (speech, occupational, and physical therapy). The rep from the splinting company came today. Her braces in Tucson got sent back to the home office because they didn't have the right address to ship them to so we lost another week and a half and she has lost some more range of motion in her left arm. She will be getting custom braces on Tuesday or Wednesday. Sorry I haven't posted everyday. I just wanted to keep everyone up to date on any changes and didn't want to bore anyone with more of the same. She has been very comfortable with some periods where her spasms are increasing causing bad pain. These periods are getting less frequent and she is comfortable most of the time. Her nurses are very good at controlling her pain, and we are doing a lot of heat packs and massage. The constant stretches in therapy also keeps her pain down. I'll post again with any changes.
John

Listening more

Britney has been showing us she is hearing more and more. Last night on two separate occasions when her nurse told her that she had to poke her finger and give her a heparin shot before the nurse did it she frowned. She has been looking around a lot, and our voices help calm her down. When I told her this morning I brought the baby she opened her eyes wide. Her occupational therapy is going really well and her arms are getting more straight. We are still waiting on splints being shipped from Tucson. Hopefully they will be here soon. Also she is only on 2 liters of oxygen and her lungs sound great.

Very comfortable here

Britney is very comfortable here. I swear she knows she is around family and friends who will be there for her constantly. I have seen a dramatic difference in how calm she is here. She got some IV fluids last night and has been very restful. Her myoclonic jerks are happening less. Her neurologist is pleased with some improvement over the weekend. She will be getting a MRI soon. She had a great session with her speech therapist this morning and was able to swallow some foods. She has to be able to pass a swallow eval before she can get a valve for her trach that will allow her to speak. She has had so many visitors. We are so happy how many family and friends have already come and who have said they would come when we are settled. Thank you all of you for being so kind to us in all the ways you have helped wether it was time with Britney, our kids, talking to us, donating food, money. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of love from everyone around us. Thank you.
John

Britney's care is so incredible here. Her physical therapist got her into a chair and took her into the lobby so she could see and hear the rain. Everyone here is very kind and willing to include us in all of her care. They are very very thorough for every minor detail and have impressed us greatly. We feel very comfortable with her there. She has a big window in her room with a giant tree outside that has squirrels in it. She looks out the window a lot. The kids are adjusting well. We are getting them situated at Britney's parents house and got Jonas registered for school yesterday. Britney has ton's of visitors all the time. Her best friend from High School Becca was planning on coming to Tucson in a week to visit but happened to arrive in Denver the same day as Britney to see family and friends. She spent a few hours the last 2 days with Britney and brought a bunch of pictures and put them on Britney's wall.