On your feet!

Big breakthrough over the last few days...after Mom was given the green light to put pressure on her left leg, her therapists have started getting her up on her feet.  Big.  Huge.  Since she's not quite ready for tap dancing (yet!) they help her up by strapping her to a large back board and then slowly lift one side of the board until she is upright.  Given the amount of time she has been off her feet, they are easing her into and monitoring closely to make sure she doesn't have big drops in blood pressure.  So far she has handled it really well.  The first go around, they didn't expect her to get much beyond a 45 degree angle, but Mom continued to bring her A-game and was able to get all the way vertical without any issue.  We were very impressed and quietly hoping she'd have her own Incredible Hulk moment, where she'd rip through the straps and come charging out under her own power.  She hasn't done it yet, but we haven't given up hope.

All around, Mom continues to make great progress.  She is finding news ways to communicate everyday and seems to understand much more than her body lets her indicate at times.  We are so proud of her and how far she has come since those darkest days in late May.  The reality is, we are likely at mile four of our marathon, so there is still a lot of running left to do...however, in my opinion, we are further along in the race than we thought we would be in the first nine weeks.  And I have hunch she's in this thing for the long haul.  

Thank you for all your prayers and support.  

Love,
The Labrum Crew

Sherrie's Big Day

Over the last few weeks Sherrie's therapy schedule gets busier and busier. The more alert she becomes, the more time she spends with the therapists. She works so hard every day. Today she started with an early morning doctors visit at NW Memorial to see her orthopedist to check on her hip fracture. He was very excited that she had healed so well and gave her the green light for therapists to begin getting her on her feet. Another wonderful blessing!

She came back to RIC and went through a full 4 hour schedule where she was alert almost the entire time. Her stamina is improving, she is using her arms more and even played a bit of catch with a beach ball. Movements for her are difficult, but she gets better with every passing day.

The really big news is that she had her trachea removed today! She had done so well over the past week they decided to remove entirely. Another blessing from heaven that will make it that much easier for her to use her voice.

I could go on and on about the many wonderful things that continue to happen. They are significant and they continue to remind me of how important faith and prayer are in this and every other journey we face in life. When I begin to feel down, I watch my dear wife work so hard to make progress and I then decide I too can press on. We are on this journey together and I am very grateful for her strength.

Sherrie has continued to make solid progress over the last few days.  She is getting stronger, is increasingly alert and is finding new and exciting ways to communicate with us.  She is getting more consistent with her head nods to signal yes and no, can pull off a pretty good wave and is very good at squeezing your hand.  She's been doing a thumbs-up to signal that she's comfortable and even tugs on her blanket when her room feels chilly.  At times she might even hold a phone in her hand for a few moments while a grandchild chatters away on the other end.  Brittney taught her the sign for "I love you" and she has gotten very good at signing that to us when it's time to leave (she's probably a lot less inclined to do it when we're yelling at her to lift her foot or raise her arm or kick the ball).  She still puts on her best performances for Dad and we wouldn't have it any other way.  


The nurses also gave Sherrie a call button with a giant yellow sticker on it that she could press if she needed anything.  Her occupational therapist diligently taught her how to use it and she followed suit right away.  After that, she pressed it non-stop for the rest of the day until the nurses decided she was doing it for entertainment.  I think she's just showing us she still has her sense of humor.    


This week will hopefully bring more good news - she meets with Dr. Batjer, her vascular neurologist, on Tuesday to determine exactly when she will go back to Northwestern to have the plate inserted at the site of her craniotomy.  She will also meet with the orthopedic surgeons to determine progress on her left hip.  If they remove the load-bearing restrictions on her left side, it opens the door for her therapists to do more exercises to help strengthen her legs as a precursor to her eventually standing.  Sherrie's respiratory function is also continuing to improve, so much so that we're on the brink of being able to take out her trache.  This should allow her to be able to expand what she's able to do with her voice - hopefully we'll hear a lot more NO's in the coming weeks.   

There continue to be ups and downs along our journey.  At times it can feel very disheartening when we don't see progress every single day but we have to consistently remind ourselves that we are measuring progress on a week to week, month to month basis.  I think about where we started, just over two months ago, and where she is today and it makes me very excited and hopeful for the journey ahead.  What a different a mere two months can make.  We know that the Lord's divine hand is at work, helping push Sherrie along, and the progress we've seen is nothing short of miraculous.


We are so grateful for your continued support and love.  It truly buoys us up on the hardest days and will certainly be a source of strength for Sherrie as well in the days ahead.


Much love,
Wendy

Another Blessing...

We have been busy planning for Sherrie to come home July 24th. Trying to determine all that will be needed to care for her as been daunting. All you know is that nurses stay pretty busy taking care of your sweetheart's needs and soon you will be responsible for figuring out how to take over. Thinking about all that needs to be done has brought me to my knees many times. Gratefully, we have been blessed to have new insights and peace as we take things one step at a time.

Part of the plan is to be fully trained on all aspects of care including feeding, personal care, med delivery, transport, occupational, physical and speech therapy. To get up to speed, we have a long checklist of activities that need to be signed off as show proficiency. Brittney and I have spent two full days going through a portion of this qualification process while praying that her progress would continue so that her discharge date would be extended.

Tuesday we arrived for our early morning training and were informed that her discharge date was changed to Aug 6th. The doctors and therapists have been impressed with her progress and want to keep her longer. We are so very grateful for Heavenly oversight.

We continue to see greater awareness everyday.  She is moving her mouth more and from time to time will give us an audible "no'. Over the last week she has shown that her preferred method to communicate is nodding her head "yes" or "no". The other day the therapist asked if she wanted to listen to country music. She nodded her head NO!  I was crushed.

We will continue to prepare ourselves for the day she comes home. In the meantime, we will  pray for her continued progress. She is an amazing lady!

Saturday's song

This week has been very good for Sherrie. Virtually every day she made significant progress that pleased and amazed her therapists. The other day she held her head up for 8 minutes, took 5 pegs out of the peg board and even put chap stick on her lips. She is becoming more aware of her surroundings and care givers every day. It is not unusual to have a therapist after their session say goodbye and see my sweetheart lift her hands and wave her fingers. Today I was siting by her side talking about what had been going on in the world when she lifted her head a few inches toward my face, closed her eyes and wanted a kiss. I can't explain the joy and gratitude I felt.

Sherrie and I have sung "You Are My Sunshine" to each other for many years. We have tried to do it in two part harmony, but it doesn't work so well and we end up just laughing at one another. Today, I decided to sing it to her, but before I started, I told her I needed her to help me. As I started to sing, I saw her lips move so I would stop and then ask, "are you singing with me?" she then moved her head ever so slightly up and down for "yes". I started again, and after reminding her to sing with me, she would move her lips again. While there was no real noise, I was honored that she would remember a song that has been important to us for many years. She really is "My sunshine".

Our journey continues and we are still standing. Some days are more difficult than others, but we remain very greatful to see our mother, grandmother, friend and wife making regular progress. She is with us, aware of us and fighting like crazy to make it back. We know the source of these rich blessings and we stand in awe of the Lord's love and mercy. I sincerely thank all who keep my dear wife in thoughts and prayers. You are an important part of our journey. The Labrum and Christensen clan pray for you and your goodness continually.

Ups and Downs...

And yesterday was most definitely an up!! I left for the RIC early yesterday morning so I could catch all of mom's therapy sessions.  I was feeling a little discouraged...moms progress hadn't changed much in the last few days and we were concerned that she wouldn't be able to stay at the RIC.  I was certainly grateful that nothing was slowing her progression but it just didn't feel like we were getting very far.  I was extremely prayerful that I would once again recognize see tender mercies of the Lord and mom would become more alert.

Just as a side note, some of you might be a little confused about our feelings towards moms arrival at home.  We are more than thrilled to have mom home with us, however, the only reason that she would be coming home at this point is because she is not alert enough to stay and continue her rigorous 3-4 hours of daily therapy.  Although doctors and therapists continue to remind us that leaving the RIC would not be a step back and that mom is still in the early stages of her injury...it would be hard to bring her home and just wait! Wait for her to be more alert, wait for her to be more responsive, wait for her to become more consistent.  Nevertheless, the therapists are pushing us to prepare for moms homecoming.  They are training us so we can do the work while we wait.  Right now mom is on a week to week admission, every week they discuss her case thoroughly and determine if she can stay longer.  As of Monday she was scheduled to leave the RIC July 17...which means we have a lot of work to do!

When I arrived at the RIC mom was being wheeled out to physical therapy.  During her 1 hour session the therapist taught me how to move mom from chair to bed on my own and then using a lift.  Poor mom, she was my test dummy...in the chair, on the bed, in the chair, on the bed, in the lift, off the bed, in the chair, and finally back in bed.  I am proud to say that I did a pretty good job and mom was left exhausted but with no more bumps or bruises...more than I can say for my 2 year old!

After physical therapy mom was resting when I had a call from my kids.  Mom perked up at the sound and the kids spent the next 10 minutes talking with mom on the phone.  It was incredible!  Moms eyes were wide open and she was excited to hear them.  Skyler asked grandma to blink fast if she could hear his voice, she did.  He asked her to point to the phone, she did.  He asked her if she wanted him to sing to her and she nodded yes.  After singing his unique version of a church song, "I Love to See the Temple," he asked her to clap for him...?  I had never seen her do anything like this but sure enough both arms started to move towards each other.  She was using every ounce of strength she had to clap for her grandson.  Her arms were shaking so I helped her bring them together and she began to clap!!  After Skyler was done I asked mom if she wanted to talk to Kenzy, she nodded yes.  Kenzy also began asking her to perform; point your finger, blink your eyes if you love me, swallow, make a noise...and she did it all! At the end of the conversation Kenzy asked her to say good bye and mom waved! Watching mom have this moment with her grandchildren was so exciting!! I was truly proud of my mother and her desire to express her love to her grandchildren even when life has given, her greatest challenge!

After the intense conversation I was sure mom would be wiped out! Her next therapy started in 10 minutes and she didn't have much time to rest, nevertheless, we went to speech.  In speech they had a group music session and mom loves music.  In the session the therapist would ask a patient if they wanted to hear a song and to respond with "yes" with a certain movement, moms was a thumbs up.  When they stopped singing mom didn't respond.  They tried again and then asked, "Sherrie, if you want me to keep singing give me a thumbs up," she didn't.  Although I did see her tapping her finger and remembered that in her last music session her signal was to tap her finger...she remembered! After that anytime they asked her to respond (by tapping her finger) she did!  I was so proud of her, you could tell she was exhausted but she followed any and all commands.

After speech therapy she went back to her room and was trying to rest when dad and Sharlene (mom's sister) came into the room.  After saying hello, I told them she was tired and probably needed some sleep.  Dad looked at mom asked her to hold his had (she did) and let her know that she could close her eyes.  She continued to look at him and he said it was okay he would stay and she could rest...after that she closed her eyes! She knows her hubby!

After speech was occupational therapy and moms progress continued.  They used a contraption that held moms arm up at a 90 degree angle, this allowed mom to move her arm without the struggle of lifting all the weight.  Mom then followed commands to reach straight out, across her body, and pull it back in.  Mom also held her head up with minimal help for 2 minutes and then all by herself for 30 seconds.  She also has been moving her upper torso and when asked to shrug her shoulders she did.  Her occupational therapist was so pleased with her progress and totally excited!

As if the day couldn't have gotten any better mom had one more trick up her sleeve.  After talking with her dad winked at her and followed with, "can you wink?" And she did! Mom curled up the right corner of her lip and closed both eyes.  Landon likes to wink the same way and I happened to have a video clip of that.  I showed her the clip and asked her to wink like Landon and she did!

I am so grateful for moms continued fight in this battle.  Her determination and energy is incredible!  She has always been my hero and this journey only strengthens my admiration and faith in her!  I know that the Lord is watching over our family and I continue to be amazed at the power of prayer.  He knows us individually and knows the desires of our hearts.  His tender mercies and illuminations give me courage to move forward.  I continue to be grateful for the prayers of so many of you all over the world that unite with us in our plea.  Thank you for your faith and your strength it fortifies my family!  We love you all very much and hope that you too are finding joy in your journey!

Love,
Brittney

I attached the video of Landon winking just to give you an idea of what we are teaching Mom :)

A Clap and a Pucker

Another solid performance from Mom on Tuesday...

She continues to be more reactive to questions and commands (as a friend reminded me, Moms in general don't have a great track record of "responding to commands" so we have tried to quickly move on to questions - it just doesn't feel right telling her what to do!).  What started out a few weeks ago as a light hand squeeze or a slightly raised finger to respond has progressed to more deliberate movements that let us know she is in there and working hard to get her body to listen. Yesterday she clapped, tried to wink, brought her finger all the way up to a phone we were holding near her, and even tried to pucker up to kiss Dad (he loved that).  I'm not sure exactly what I envisioned for Mom's progress early on in our journey, but I generally assumed it would be about Mom's brain trying to catch up with her physical capacities - perhaps this is because the we know the crux of her injury is in the Thalmus.  Over the last couple of weeks, it has begun to feel like the opposite relationship between body and brain.  She seems to be able to comprehend and process more than her body is letting her at this stage.  Her muscles have been significantly weakened over the last two months so it is difficult to consistently complete all of the requests of her therapists even if her initial reaction or muscle movement is the right one (for example, she can't always pull her head all the way back up straight, but the initial muscle movement in the back of her neck indicates that she is making the appropriate response).  At the end of the day, this is encouraging from my point of view.  She will get stronger over time and more capable of responding, but the I find great comfort knowing that she IS in there.  Given the nature of her injury this is truly a miracle.  It has to be terribly frustrating for her - more than we can ever understand - to fight for every movement, to try and fail with things that have always been second nature.  She is working so hard.  We are all so proud of her and cherish every movement, every twitch, every purposeful gaze.  We long desperately for continued progress and remain confident that it will continue to come - likely in a similar fashion to what we've seen over the last two months:  slowly, but (most importantly) surely.

On my way into work this morning, I was listening to ESPN radio and they played Jim Valvano's speech from the first ESPY awards in 1993.  I hadn't heard it for a long time and had forgotten how amazing it was.  For those that don't know, Jim Valvano was a long time college basketball coach at schools like NC State and Iona.  At the time he gave this speech he was just two months shy of losing a battle with cancer and had originally requested that someone accept the award on his behalf given how sick he was.  His foundation, the Jimmy V Foundation, has raised millions of dollars for cancer research over the last 19 years.  You don't have to be a sports fan to appreciate his message - it is not your dime-a-dozen ra-ra sports speech, but rather speaks to life, laughter, hope, and family from a guy that knew he didn't have much time left.  There are great lessons in there about enjoying every moment, reprioritizing to focus on what really matters, and to NEVER, EVER GIVE UP!!  I have pasted the link below in case you want to check it out.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

Thanks you for all you do.  We love you all more than you know.  Have a great day!!

BL

Pressing Forward...

The last few days have been filled with small but important changes in my dear wife's life. She is more alert than she has been previously. When her eyes are wide open she does well in responding to commands and is fairly active with her hands and legs. She still tires easily so when it's time to rest, she will be out. This is no surprise given the difficulty of the challenges she is facing.

She is beginning to show signs that she can communicate. This week they will work on making it more consistent so we can be sure we know what she would like us to know. They gave her a new trachea which allows the oxygen to go up through her mouth and nose. This moves air over her vocal chords where she can now hear her voice.  It's wonderful to be able hear her make sounds that will allow her to communicate and eventually talk. We pray that day comes sooner than later.

Our goal is to have her become more and more alert so she can maximixe the effects of the therapy she is receiving. While we have a discharge date, we pray that this will be moved due to her progress.

I can't end this update without thanking all who keep Sherrie in your thoughts and prayers. We have been so blessed to have so many who have inquired, called, emailed and written from places around the world. Sherrie and I will be ever grateful for your love and concern. While the days seem long, I remain very hopeful that all will be well in time.

Thorough Thursday

Today was a great day with Sherrie. I got to RIC just before her first of five therapy sessions of the day.   I wish I could accurately describe the kind of energy you can see pouring out of Sherrie during these sessions. It's an incredible process to observe and even more surreal in which to be a part.

When Sherrie was at Northwestern, our goal was to get her well enough to be transferred to RIC. I think that in the back of our minds we knew this wouldn't be the cure all, but we sure hoped that it would. Last week we were told that she had a discharge date set. This came as shocking news in the sense that we all thought when she left RIC she would be recovered. Last week we prayed and fasted and hoped that she would become more alert and preform consistently during therapy sessions so that she could stay at RIC and receive more treatment from wonderfully trained and well equipped doctors, therapists and nurses. We saw another miracle in that she has become more alert, which has allowed her stay to be extended a little longer. We continue to hope and pray that she makes enough significant progress that she qualifies for care at RIC.

That being said, Since the last time I was with Sherrie I have seen a dramatic increase in her ability. During her PT, the therapist had her sitting up (with the therapist behind her supporting her upper body and helping her balance) with her legs off the table. They asked her to kick a beach ball. It took about a minute after asking, but sure enough Sherrie lifted her left foot and kicked that beach ball- three times. She held herself in a sitting position for 15 seconds at a time- a feat that can seem insurmountable.

She is beginning to communicate with us. While in that PT session I asked Sherrie if she knew who I was. While looking at me, she very distinctly nodded her head yes. Later while stretching, I asked her if she wanted me to do one of the arm stretches again. She very distinctly shook her head no. The relief that comes from knowing you can help give her a preference-no matter how small- is amazing. The Speech Therapy session was another step in the right direction for communication. Amy brought in cards with the likes of: yes, no, cold, hot, more, stop, and some with pictures of John Mayer, Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz, Adele (some of her favorite music). Sherrie was able to look at the picture of the music she wanted played (Colbie Caillat). When asked if she wanted 'more' or to 'stop' she looked at the 'more' card no matter in which position it was held.

They 'capped her trache' today. It sounds like a line from a  rap song but it was a significant step in having her become more self sufficient medically. Basically they have been having her breathe through her tracheotomy with an air humidifier to keep her airways moist. With the cap on the trache she is breathing through nature's humidifiers; her nose and mouth. This also allows her to use her vocal cords. Almost immediately after the procedure you could hear her voice. It was unlike I've heard it before, but it had the same tone as always- sweet and melodic to my ears! They will begin working with her to use those vocal cords as another tool in communication.

When Ron came today he held Sherrie's hand and spoke to her sweetly. She is more alert and responsive with him than with anyone else by one hundred fold. When he arrived, she was exhausted from her multiple therapy sessions and the new trache and was not interested in responding to me or anyone else. But as soon as she heard his voice, she was alert, even if groggy. He asked her to lift a finger if she wanted a kiss. Her finger shot straight into the air. It was a touching moment for me to witness.

This experience has fostered a lot of reflection from all of us. We've thought long and hard about what we believe, what is important in life, how circumstances can change suddenly and what we want to look back on our life and say. I know that in seeing Ron and Sherrie interact in this particular situation, Tyler and I have a renewed and stronger desire to love and cherish each other and to build a relationship that can carry us through the most difficult times.

There are so few people who can love in the way that Sherrie does, openly, genuinely and freely. She has showed that love to us in the past through her actions and she is showing us now through her struggle to come back to us. Thank you all for your continued support, thoughts and prayers. It is our sincere optimistic hope that she makes enough progress to stay at RIC and that when the time is right we can be prepared for the next step.

-Carol

Today Joe and I were able to spend time with mom at the RIC.  It was so wonderful for me to share this visit with my estranged spouse.  We re-introduced ourselves to each other and felt some familiarity (Just to clarify Joe and I are happily married...I was only joking. Joe has been traveling back and forth from Utah while I am here with mom and I have only seen him a total of 7 days in the last 7 weeks).  He is a wonderful support to me and my family.  Different than many who experience difficult trials Joe truly looks at this as an opportunity to serve those that we love rather than a sacrifice.  His focus and positive perspective reminds me of a quote I once heard. 


“Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth” (Borghild Dahl, I Wanted to See 1944, 1) This was taken from Borghild Dahl, a woman who suffered severe vision impairment from a young age, but through determination managed to graduate from college and become the principle of 8 schools.  


I have thought a lot about this quote and her difficult journey.  How difficult it must have been for her to continue to study and stay focused on her goals.  Though the path was difficult, she endured.  Often times I feel discouraged from the changes in our families journey.  When those moments come it is difficult to see the abundance in our life and I find myself focused on what is missing.  Although I miss my mother more than words can express and though the ache remains I choose to find joy in the journey. 


I know that each of us face challenges and our own mountains to climb or burdens to bear, but no matter your situation we can find peace and heaven on earth.  The path may not be the one of choosing but it is the one we are on and one that is teaching us some of life's most important lessons. As Thomas S. Monson (President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) said in his last conference talk, "I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

A few of todays joys...Mom continues to respond to commands, she is becoming more alert and has been doing well in her therapy sessions.  When given "yes" and "no" cards to look at and then asked, "is your name Sherrie?" she looked at "yes".  This is wonderful news and we continue to hope that progress in this area will allow her to communicate some.  They have also extended moms discharge date one more week...HOORAY!


Love, 
Brittney