Smile a little smile for me

I went home to get some work done while Kirstin sitting with Ada. I went back and found them under the tree. I said hello to her and Ada gave me a tiny smile. Big enough to brighten the whole world.
Let's see what else she can do. She can wave her right hand to say no or goodbye, do high-five, point with her index finger, move her thumb, shake her head and express her anger and frustration through her eyes. She can stand on her feet, sit by herself at the side of the bed, keep an eye on the object (or a person) longer, turn her head and her eyes to the left, and give us a "look" when she heard the word "Botox".
Everyone at RHI is so trill to see her progress. She continues to surprise us everyday with "What else she can do?"
Today the PT got her to stand up on the walking rail and reintroduce her to "walking". Even though I was the one who moved her feet, a few tiny steps she made would help trickle her brain to rewire and to reconnect itself and she will learn why she needs to stand up.
Even though she cannot do all of the above all the time, we believe that all the hard work and lots of love will pay off and help her to be able to communicate with us again.
My legs really hurt, which means I did not use my back to lift her up any more. I'll be super strong in the near future. She is also helping me by standing up straight and put weight on her legs while I transfer her from bed to chair.
7 more days and she will be home. The construction is still going on, slowly, like a normal construction. I will miss all the good people at RHI and a "Pianoman" who comes and play piano for Ada everyday.
Hugs

Under construction

We are in the process of remodeling the house to accommodate Ada's need. The family room be turned into her bedroom, the small porch will become her bathroom. We will get rid of the carpet and replace it with wooded floor. Come help us if you have time.
I hope we get it done by the time she get home which should be another week or two.
Ada is very alert which is good for her but not so good for me. She is able to grab my hand and push it away which make it hard for me to change and dress her. Getting her in and out of bed is easier unless she decides to stiffen up her body. When asked to look at mom, she is able to glance at me. At the hospital, the nurse came in to give her medicine and tell her that she also had an eye-drop for her eyes. The next day when the nurse mentioned the eye-drop, she turned her head away and close her eyes.
She also learn to tell us "NO!" but waving her right hand and, sometime, shakes her head especially when we try to offer her food. Funny how she'd never said "No" to food before.
So many little steps each day. Everyone at RHI told me they'd seen much changes in Ada since she got here. I hope she can stay a little longer.
I will try to update the blog more often.
Hugs

Back to RHI

After being here at Methodist Hospital, we had learned that, according to Medicaid's rule, Ada cannot go back to RHI without their approval. We were devastated and the first think that came to my mind was "What did we do wrong?"
We have everyone here working on getting her back to RHI. Everyone was sitting on the edge of the chair because if they say no, we have to take her home today. This morning, the answer was no. Both Terry and I went to court in the morning, so we did not get the bad news. By the time I came back, we received the good news that she can go back to RHI.
We started working on remodeling the house today. Terry ordered the big trash bin so we can put all the unwanted stuffs in there. We will strip the carpet and put the new wood floor on the entire first floor. We will put up the wall around the family room and make it a room for Ada, also will convert the back porch into a big bathroom for her. Lots of work to be done and lots of help will be needed.
I cannot wait to take Ada home. It has been almost 6 months finally the whole family will be back under one roof.
The more time at RHI, the better for her. I think we can take her back for outpatient so she can continue the rehab.
Ada is getting better and better everyday. Everyday she makes me smile for little things she does like shaking her head, putting her thumb up, pointing her finger, hand jester. There are a lot of WOW! lately from people around her.
Well, don't know how long we have to wait for the ambulance to come.
At this moment, I am happy, really happy.
Hugs

Detour

Ada was taken to Methodist Hospital on Sunday. She had high fever, high white blood count and was throwing up. We spend another 10 hours in ER. Till this morning, we cannot pinpoint on what went wrong with her. I wonder how many x-ray and c-scan a person can have during 6 months. She had it done from head to toe this time.
I hope we can get to RHI today. I am getting sick of sitting and waiting in the ER and the hospital room. Ada needs to get up or at least sitting on the chair or something. Watching Olympic games do help a lot.
Good new is when the nurse told her that she was going to put the eye drop in her eyes, Ada looked away and close her eyes. Ada is more aware of her surrounding and pretty much understand what we say.
Any way, we will have a busy week. With court day approaching; Ada's discharge date and the preparation at home, my show this Saturday, phone tag with the attorney and the insurance guy, make me go crazy.
I will write more when everything settle down and we can go back to our semi-normal life.
Thanks for the comments, emails and kind words.
Hugs

Going Home

May be the title should be "Coming Home". Both Ada and I haven't been home for almost 6 month, so it is more like going home, finally. The date is August 27th.
Now we need to prepare the house for Ada since we do not have a bedroom downstairs, we need to remodel the house quite a bit. We might put her upstairs in the master bedroom for a while.
I am learning to take care of Ada full time. I transfer her in and out of bed to a chair and give her a bath. I will also manage her feeding and medication as well. The second is easy, I have plenty of practice already. The first one is killing my back and my legs. Lots of practice will help and I will get stronger and stronger. Ada is helping by putting her weight on her feet during transfer, so I don't have to lift 100 lbs every time I pick her up.
Ada had practiced standing up with PT's help and sitting on the side of the bed by herself for a while. She has to re-learn how to use all those muscles again.
Today dad bought a pair of white sneaker for her and she really like it. It also help keep her feet on the ground when she stand up.
We still working on teaching her to open her mouth, take some food and swallow. It will come, I'm sure. We need to be more patience with her.
If you in town hand have some extra time, I would need some help. You can come sit with Ada during the day so I can go home and get start on cleaning the house, I would greatly appreciated. You also welcome to visit her at home later.
I will try to post more in the future. I know many have read this blog and thanks for thinking of her.
Hope to report more good news.
Hugs
P.S. The boys will get the training this weekend. I'm sure they are strong enough for the job but if we do it the right way, it will be a lot easier than just lifting her up. As a primary caregiver to Ada, I have to be able to do everything by myself. Dad and the brothers will learn how to help me once we settle down at home.

Having a great day

Ada is doing some new thing this weekend. First, she holds her her head up while sitting in the chair the whole day. She even leans her head back and has an eye contact with her friends who stopped by on Saturday. She seems happy to see other familiar faces beside her mom and dad. Please stop by and say hello to her if you have time. Don't need to stay long. It makes her happy. Second, today she lets me clean inside her mouth. I bought a small baby toothbrush that small enough to get inside and clean her teeth. Big deal, you might say, but she hadn't opened her mouth long enough for me to clean her teeth for 5 long months.
Daddy always teasing her by scratching her nose, now she raises her hand had grab his hand then push it away from her face. Now that she is more aware of what is going on around her and being able to focus on a task, I wonder what she will do next.
Being at RHI had given her an opportunities to see the specialists who had experiences with Brain injury patient like her. She gets her own chair that fits her, gets the medication that will help her awake, receives an intense therapy from the PT, OT and SLP. They also provide the education for the parents and family to teach us how to take care of our love ones. Meeting and talking to others make me feel like I am not alone, and how lucky for us to still have her. At the same time, I am able to get a good answer to all my questions and concerns. With that, it is a lot easier for me to go home, in the evening and sleep well at night.
I am learning to get her in and out of bed. Not an easy task and my body starts to fell the pain. The whole family will get some training before we can take Ada home. We will have to get the house ready for Ada, so if you can lend a hand, please let us know. We will remove the carpet and get a new floor, and might get a new coat of paint, if possible. Ada will stay down stair in the dinning room. I hope everything works out for us. Can't wait till that day to come.
Hugs