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Monday, November 5, 2007

An Evening with Miss Maine


Courtney and I shared a relatively quiet night and early start to the morning, promptly at 6 a.m. (any complaining on my part was met with "you signed up for this," which I suppose is true). She needed all the sleep she could get with today's busy slate.


We started off in speech therapy with Courtney eating solid foods for the first time: a piece of wheat bread and peach slices. She was able to chew the food, swallow and wash it down with a bottle of water between bites. I never realized how much effort goes into eating, aside from chewing and swallowing, the tongue swishes back and forth about eight hundred times (a rough estimate).

After breakfast, Courtney walked all over the hallway in physical therapy and later worked on stretching exercises. She has really improved her torso and neck control, she can sit up straight longer and more effectively squirm around in bed, although she still winds up in positions that would make a yoga instructor cringe.

With the weather holding up, we went for our regular stroll in the park adjacent to Spaulding. We listened to the trains chugging by and walked past a flock of ducks. I find that a duck's opinion of me is very much influenced by whether or not I have bread (we also listened to Mitch Hedberg's comedy album for those who recognize my plagiarism). Courtney had a good time, I asked three times before she agreed to come back inside.

Our case manager John let us know that we are still on track to head to Crotched Mountain, now set for Wednesday or Thursday, rather than tomorrow. Courtney would be there yesterday if it were up to her, the staff at Spaulding has treated us very well and we're truly thankful. Everyone is impressed by her progress and happy that she's taking the next leap.

On the flip side, I'm very impressed with the progress I've made in Guitar Hero 3 which has taken up the majority of my night. I wonder if we could work XBox 360 into Court's rehab regimen, I'll run it by her.

-Sean

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just checking in and sending my best!

love,
Flo

Anonymous said...

Good luck on the big move. Thanks for the detailed update, Sean. You're wonderful, as usual!

Val said...

miss Maine, i'm planning a visit to you in your new abode this saturday! (assuming that is ok w/the powers that be). i can't wait to see you again!!!!!
happy travels to the NH. wilderness!
love, val

Anonymous said...

Thanks to all at Spaulding who helped Courtney progress to this point! We are thrilled with her determination and will to go on even though it's very exhausting work and to her it seems very little results. She has made a huge improvement in her body strength and is walking with help. All things will come in time.
To the P.T.s, O.T.s, and Speech Therapists, A HUGE THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!
To the Doctors and Nursing staff, another HUGE THANK YOU FROM OUR COLLECTIVE HEARTS!
Here's to new horizons with new challenges to be met! We'll keep in touch.
Sincerely, Julie/Mom

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are on your way, Courtney! I think about you a lot each day & am amazed at your progress.....hang in there, Sweetie.

Love to Julie & everyone else....

Patricia