Hi Everyone,
Corey had a good day with PT and OT. Her new casts will be changed again on Monday. So far, she’s tolerating the casts and the muscles appear to be more flexible each time the team manipulates her feet and ankles between castings. More good news, the team doesn’t feel that it’s necessary to cast her arms at this time. So far, she’s remaining flexible in her upper extremities and her hands can still be flexed for now. The doctor wants to wait until Monday to start trending her for the trach removal. He’d like to wait the weekend to give her some more breathing treatments and make sure the bronchitis is completely gone.
Corey was alert when I arrived tonight. She looked straight at me and held her focus!
I take advantage of her awareness and we had a long chat. We talked about where she was, why she’s in the hospital, her therapy (specifically her exercises) and the new people in her life (the Bryn Mawr team). We talked about her progress. I shared the teams report with her. Their confidence that she was getting stronger everyday so she can get back to school, her friends and I added, “She WILL be going to Johnson & Wales”. Corey was definitely listening. She was calm, focused and I know she heard me. She showed me with long blinks and a few tears. Watching her tears are difficult but they are also encouraging. We want to see Corey show us her emotions; it’s another sign that she’s emerging.
It was a quiet girls night for us. We listened to music and then watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas together. That cartoon was always Corey’s favorite. She loved Max the dog. It reminded her of our Roxie. The Grinch movie was always the sign that the holiday season had officially begun. Corey is the “keeper of traditions” in our family. She was in charge of remembering all the little things we did from the holiday movies to the traditional dishes we served.
I can remember calling Corey ‘Cindy Lou who’ because of her blonde hair and enormous blue eyes. It’s hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving.
Just like the end of the Grinch, we have a lot to be thankful for. I can’t help but think of the ICU team. Without them, Corey would not be at Bryn Mawr. The team here is equally as important. The nurses here know their patients so well; they diagnose a problem before it gets to be a problem. It was the nurses that recognized the tracheal bronchitis before the cultures came back positive. Corey is showing us little signs each day that she is with us; she’s healing and getting stronger. I wear a ring that she had on the night of the accident. It says ‘Nothing is Impossible’ with a twist in the center of the ring. It symbolizes that although life might take a twist from time to time, nothing is impossible and you can come full circle. That little ring is not only encouraging, it’s empowering! No wonder she wore it everyday!
We are most thankful for all of you! Without our friends and family, this twist in our lives would be impossible to handle. Thank you for your love, prayers and support!
Love, the Beattie’s xoxo