#35

February 29, 2012

Happy leap year! Elaine is ready to leap out of this experience and get back to living her life! We have to keep reminding her how far she has come in such a short period of time and how remarkable she is doing!

She had a great morning therapy session. Her therapist loves working with her because she challenges him every time they work together. It’s usually the other way around. As a matter of fact, he is usually begging people to do their exercises and to keep trying. That is absolutely not the case with Elaine! Not only is she advanced, but she also keeps him on his toes and makes him think. Today she even crushed a soda can with her LEFT leg. That is a task that is typically difficult for even his most advanced patients and she stomped right on the center of it. As Fred says, “she is advanced from her waist down. Little Darlin’ is taking longer than she would like.” Both Fred and Elaine are working harder to incorporate Little Darlin’ into her daily life.

Elaine worked on Little Darlin’ this afternoon. Her range of motion is improving quickly and her fingers are much more responsive. She is able to move almost all of them up while her hand is on a table. It has come a long way from her “dummy arm” that would just sit there all day looking foreign to her. It’s a frustrating process and experience, one that isn’t fair and definitely sucks. However, Elaine is taking the bull by the horns, like she does with everything in life, and tackling the challenge.

Elaine had some wonderful home cooked food today. Julie made delicious chicken noodle soup for lunch, which always makes Elaine feel better! Fred and Elaine came over to Ben and Staci’s for dinner. Elaine has her PET scan tomorrow and she needed to have a dinner full of protein. We aren’t exactly sure why, but those were the doctor’s orders. The scan is scheduled for 12:30 and hopefully we will have the results by tomorrow night. We are extremely optimistic and ready to close this door officially and work exclusively on stroke recovery.

It’s magical to see Fred and Elaine together and how in sync they are. They truly are joined at the hip, including at 3am for bathroom breaksJ When they left us tonight, Elaine was telling us how Fred has her night regime down. He has a new appreciation for the care she takes of her skin. She now calls Fred “Daddy.” When she was ready to leave, she said, “Daddy, its time to go. It’s time for my candy!”

Elaine has been having headaches again during the last two nights. Our friend Dennis, also a stroke victim, has told Elaine that he suffered from headaches when he didn’t get enough rest.

We wish “Daddy” and Elaine a night of rest without too many potty trips!