I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Posted in Annie on Jul 3rd, 2024
Annie learned to walk with a reverse walker back when she was three, and now she’s back at it with a bigger one, walking all around the building with one during her PT sessions! Today her PT Marley picked her up with the reverse walker, so she didn’t even ride into the therapy gym on […]
Posted in Annie on Jul 2nd, 2024
I realized that while I showed the two incredibly uncomfortable options for parents sleeping here (way too short and hard loveseat, longer but very narrow and hard bench), I haven’t yet shown the solution. Here are my sleeping quarters. Every night at 8, when Annie gets her vitals taken, I push the loveseat over to […]
Today was a mercifully good day here. I’ve been homesick and lonely, and despite a couple good phone dates and some quick but wonderful drop-ins from Hannah, it’s been extra hard to wait to see Derek and the big kids again tomorrow! But today God was good. I had a coffee date with my friend […]
Annie got the go-ahead to stand up outside of therapy today! Now, she should be wearing her braces for longer periods of time, but this was a quick stand after her shower tonight. It’s the first time I have seen her stand unassisted by a grown-up in three weeks. We’re still looking at a discharge […]
Posted in Annie on Jun 26th, 2024
One of the big benefits of being right here at Shirley Ryan is that the therapists and orthotist (who does her braces) work seamlessly together. Yesterday, Annie had a few red spots on her feet after walking for a few minutes in therapy, so the therapist took pictures and let Helenlyn know asap. Helenlyn came […]
Posted in Annie on Jun 24th, 2024
We’ve found that the promise of watching two Daniel Tiger episodes on my laptop after completing a meal generally works as a strong incentive. Annie has been eating much more since Mommy gave in to bribery. I’ll worry about the detox from 6 episodes of Daniel a day when we’re back home, with decent food…
The sad news: This was the Sunday that Derek and the kids couldn’t come in to see us, so we’re both feeling a little more homesick today than usual. The good news: Annie slept through the night last night without any potty breaks! Thank you, Jesus. Yesterday, I was pretty much a basket case of […]
Posted in Annie on Jun 22nd, 2024
Annie woke up to use the potty SEVEN times between 11 pm and 6 am. I don’t know what is going on. Her nurse, Emily, was infinitely more patient than the other Emily in the room during each of those almost-hourly checks. Then while eating her breakfast, she announced that she had to go again. […]
Posted in Annie on Jun 21st, 2024
Was I super proud of myself for cutting up the two egg whites from Annie’s rejected hard-boiled eggs from lunch and hiding them in her dinner spaghetti while she was in her late therapy session? Yes, yes I was. Was I a little bummed when I realized that I had only added 34 calories and […]
Posted in Annie on Jun 20th, 2024
Today, Annie worked on standing upright in PT with the help of some special braces at the gym that keep her knees straight. Then Helenlyn, the staff orthotist, delivered her new AFOs! Annie is very happy with the rainbow tie dye.