Tuesday, April 29, 2008

And she's off....

Sarah continues to improve... YES!!! While just two weeks ago, things seemed pretty low, now things are definitely going in the other direction. First the Occupational Therapist came to help Sarah start practicing deep (okay they weren't deep yet but they will be) knee bends (it seems some "old" forms of torture never go away!). Then they moved on to balance with Sarah holding on to the OT's shoulders. It looked as though they were teaching Sarah to dance again starting with the good old-fashioned box step. It was Sarah's "first date" so admittedly she was a bit shaky (sorry, the angle wasn't good for a photo opt).

A bit later the nurse came to take Sarah for her daily walk. For this outing, Sarah, too, has to suit up in one of those lovely yellow gowns (buy stock everyone - John & I alone have used half a case already). Sarah, however, got to accessorize her gown with that lovely blue belt (actually the nurse holds onto the belt just in case Sarah begins to feel unstable). Last week it took 3 nurses, one on each side and one behind with a chair to walk Sarah down the hall. Today she did a lap in each direction with only the nurse holding onto her belt for security purposes.

And, please, if you will, take special note of Sarah's GREAT smile. Sarah was born with a double dose of liking folks and they her. I am very happy to report this must have been the first thing she recovered as everyone around her obviously likes her. Her wit, too, is back in full force. Sarah has challenged us to a game of Scrabble - somehow I think we don't stand any more of a chance of winning than we ever did...
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Great news in Boulder!


To those of you who don't know the whole story, this photo may not look too extraordinary. However, when you know that our wonderful niece Sarah, stage center, was as close to death as you can get in February and was just released to a regular hospital room after 9 weeks in ICU, you realize what an incredible thing it is that she's smiling and standing and recuperating nicely. It's also incredible that John has now doubled the amount of the time he has ever willingly spent visiting someone in a hospital and the week has just begun. By the way, the other guy modeling the latest in yellow gowns is Sarah's husband, Kenny, from North Dakota don't ya know. I was behind the camera, robed, gloved but with the added feature of a face mask to protect everyone from my horrible cold. Have you ever tried blowing your nose with a face mask on? It isn't easy!!!