#77

Today was an interesting day but a great one! Staci and Elaine went to Hoag this morning for her PT and PT therapy sessions. At OT they worked the entire time on her posture. Along with her arm "waking up," the pain is also caused from her inconsistent posture. The stroke obviously caused muscle weakness, and as a result, she isn't able to roll her shoulders back and pinch her scapula together without prompts. It seems that for now, her brain is only able to receive the message one way, by placing her arm straight behind her. This is actually a good sign that her brain is able to receive the message at all. Often times, it is lost and unrecoverable. It will take some time for it to become automatic for her brain, but the great news is, it will eventually! The therapist shared with us that this is an exciting development!


Elaine spent the next hour walking and her strides and steps were the best we have seen! It was also a big graduation day. She didn't have to wear the big heavy vest with a cord attached to the ceiling. They are so confident that she won't fall and that she is so stable. It was incredible to watch her walking heel to toe. They are continuing to work on her straightening her knee as she steps, as well as taking equal size steps. She has been so focused on her left that she takes a great step with her left leg and a smaller one with her right. Oddly enough, her right leg has weakened because of the focus on her left leg and her knee is bending and rolling in. The therapist recognized that quickly today and had her doing some side step exercises with band to strengthen BOTH legs. If its not one thing, its the other! She did great though! She is without question the hardest worker in the room and you can see all the therapists trying to watch her too. They appreciate her dedication and work ethic.

After therapy, Staci and Elaine headed over to see the oncologist. We weren't sure why the appointment was necessary, but we went anyway. Even the oncologist finally agrees its most likely (they never will say anything with 100% certainty) not cancer. None of us were concerned anymore but it was comforting to hear her say it. She has was the last to agree because it is rare to have scar tissue there. We have always told Elaine, she never gets the normal things! They scheduled one last CT scan to make sure the spots are shrinking or at least not growing, but there are no indications that we should be worried. It was great to hear! She was very impressed with Elaine's progress and hard work. She could tell that she had been loyal to her therapy, and that it is definitely paying off!

Staci and Elaine celebrated the nice morning with a delicious lunch and then Elaine took a nap. UCLA called this afternoon. They are the hospital conducting the Fast Mag clinical trail that Elaine received in the ambulance that morning. We are quite sure she received the real Magnesium, and obviously we are believers it helped. She agreed to be part of the study which includes some follow ups visits throughout the past 11 weeks. They are coming down next week and we are sure they will be very excited with her progress and the possibility that the Fast Mag helped.

Julie cooked a wonderful healthy dinner tonight and they all relaxed at home. Elaine is excited for a rest day tomorrow with no therapy. Julie and Elaine have an exciting afternoon planned though. Those two will be loose on the town again. Its so hard to believe that 11 weeks ago tonight, Elaine was just leaving the Francois house after dinner and playing with the kids. She drove herself home and none of us could have possibly imagined what happened the next day. God and Elaine's angels were looking out for her because it happened at the only time she could have been saved that morning. We are so grateful for so many things.