#16

 #16

February 10, 2012

Its incredible to think that is all happened two weeks ago today! Fred said today, "We don’t compare today with yesterday, or today with tomorrow. We take it each day at a time and know that wherever we are, it is better than where we were two weeks ago today!

We are excited to report more progress! We have been told that forward incremental daily progress is the most important thing. Elaine is most definitely progressing. It’s very difficult for her to notice her improvements. She is understandably frustrated, but for those of us who saw her immediately following her stroke, it’s amazing.

Elaine had another busy day with 4 hours of therapy. She was extremely sore from yesterday, especially in her stomach muscles. She is very lucky that she was in such great shape before - which will help her recovery tremendously. You should see the therapist reactions when she tells them she was in the gym when it happened! The therapist taught us some exercises to work with her over the weekend. She is typically the order giver and is not accustomed to taking orders, but she is determined to get better and is willing to do everything asked of her.

We are working hard on getting her to eat. She has lost a lot of weight, and today Fred wouldn’t let her get in bed for a nap after her morning sessions until she finished her cookies. We bought in dinner tonight; one of her favorite requests has been an omelet. In typical Smith/Francois fashion, we took over the dining area. As we marched past the nurse’s station, they all just stare in amazement at her entourage. Franny came to visit Elaine tonight as well.  Christi has become quite skilled at pushing Nammie in the wheelchair and is very careful with her. Christi and Taylor even put on a musical act during dinner for her entertainment. You can understand why places are ready to get rid of us. We certainly leave our markJ

We are very encouraged with her progress and have complete faith that with her hard work and all of our support, she will make a complete recovery. Ladies, consider yourself warned on the golf course!

Ben is staying with her tonight and in charge of getting her to sleep. She has yet to get full night of sleep.

We do have some exciting news to report regarding Ashley, her HCG levels dropped to 2 this week!! If you haven’t read about her yet, click on the Choose Joy link and be prepared to me amazed and inspired!