UPDATE 12/19

Well it has been just over a week at Mapleton and Michele is doing great. This transition to the 7th and hopefully the last hospital has been one of the hardest. You would think we have this down by now but each new phase she goes through gets tougher and tougher with this one being no different. The family had to come to terms with the fact that it is best that we are not at the hospital during the day as Michele has work to do and we would only be in the way. This is tough as we all have spent so much time with her and know her routine and what she wants and needs, however this is exactly why we needed to stay away. What we were used to is what Michele has to now learn on her own. No more speaking for her, no more getting the tissue box, no more helping get dressed, no more helping to eat. All of these things we all take for granted and Michele has to learn them again as if she was a new born baby. I can proudly say she can now walk over 60 feet with a walker, dress her self, bathe her self, eat, take her meds by mouth, brush her hair and teeth and much more. She does not always want to do the things she is being made to and that is why I made it mandatory that she has no visitors during the day until after 3pm. It is very hard to watch as she trys to say no to therapy and no is not an option. This is her job and she only has a limited amount of time. Because of this she is really progressing very quickly because she wants to come home. Today she started to use the stairs which means she will walk to her bedroom when she finally returns home. Our goal is for her to return home on January 27th which will be the 1 year anniversary of her accident. I have a calendar on her wall and we mark off each day getting closer to our goal. I had Michele's shunt moved again this week as she has lost the ability to say her childrens names and I think the adjustment just may do the trick and we will see over the next few weeks. Michele will be fitted for prism glasses for the time being and we will have her 6th nerve operated on in the future to fix her double vision. My sister Brenda came to visit and helped me with the transition to the new hospital.

John