Friday Updates

Today they came in and did the TE where they put a scope down her throat to check out the back side of the heart. All is well-nothing is wrong with the heart. Hip hip hooray!  Cardiologist discovered that she is VERY physically strong so she had a great sleep all afternoon from the sedation! These are all good signs for recovery. She was supposed to have a spinal tap today, but that has been moved to Monday because she has to be off of Plavix (blood thinner) for 3 days first.  Tomorrow she will have another MRI to be able to compare those results with the previous MRI. She has also begun an IV to hopefully get rid of infection that might be floating around in her body. (A possible cause for the stroke and the reason for the spinal tap.)  We are hoping that the IV medication will help with some recovery. The doctors are suggesting that she might not ever have a full recovery. The prognosis is still out so we are waiting for the specifics.

Her communication skills are not up to par. For Helen she is very quiet and reserved. She listens to everything and responds to little. She answers most of our yes and no questions and sometimes offers other responses. It is all just a moment by moment, day by day journey!

Thank heavens for ice cream as it is one of our joyous occasions recently! We go down to the cafeteria and bring it up. Today she said that she thought the ice cream cup looked like a "communion cup". (A phrase that she used to use meaning that the serving of ice cream was too small!) She thought that a gallon bucket would be better! This was fun as ice cream has been such a part of our lives!

Prayers are fabulous as are all of the positive words and actions! They are a source of strength for all of us!  We appreciate you all!

(PS We are operating on lack of sleep so please disregard any typos.)