Improving

Sorry for not posting something sooner. Just as I was writing an update the other day, Nicole had some tingling in her numb left side and we all got so excited I never finished.

Since my last post, she is awake, off all her tubes and ventilator, eating real food, joking with us and preparing to go to neuro rehab. We are so grateful for all of the support we have received and for the amazing progress she has made.

As I watched her walking with her walker by herself to the bathroom this morning, it was hard to believe that Saturday we were just praying for her to wake up enough to talk to us.
We all know that there is a lot of work ahead to overcome the damage done to her brain and still plenty of uncertainty about the treatment ahead.

For today though, the sun is shining, my daughter is talking with me and life is good.

Just to keep things interesting...

Some of you know my daughter Nicole. She is in need of your prayers if you are the praying sort or at least your most positive thoughts. Last Sunday just I was leaving Iowa, I had a call that Nicole had a massive bleed in her brain. It was caused by an AVM (arteriovenous malformation) which is basically a tangle of blood vessels she was born with.

She is holding her own and we are hopeful she will make a full recovery. They attempted surgery yesterday to try to remove the damn thing, but it is deep in her brain and the surgeons were afraid they would do too much damage to her so stopped. There is an alternative treatment using radiation so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Today she is in a medically induced coma to help her heal but they are going to start waking her tomorrow. She was signing to her fiance before surgery (she has a ventilator and can't talk) and recognized all of us.

The family is all here and we are taking turns sitting with her so she knows how much she is loved.

I'll keep you posted as we know more.

Hanging on

So many people have asked me how I'm doing since I got back home. While I say "Hanging on", I'm really in that numbness that often comes after the initial loss. I know the pain and crying will come back but for now I'm putting one foot in front of the other and functioning.

We held the service last Wednesday, trying to keep it as close to what my dad wanted as possible. My kids by blood and marriage are incredibly awesome - just sayin. They were by my side packing, cleaning, preparing for the funeral, creating an awesome video, funeral programs and a memory board. My son sang Tears in Heaven at the service while my grandson chattered in the lounge watching Nemo. It was a bittersweet mix of loss, life and laughter. My daughter re-arranged her work schedule and flew out to be with me. Guitar Guy just couldn't get away but talked to me frequently by phone. Your virtual hugs and support were also so much appreciated!

This week is a crazy mixture of meetings workshops, a quick trip to Flagstaff and preparing to head back to the cold country again. Still many loose ends to be wrapped up with the estate so this may not be the last trip. My dad's house needs a lot of work inside to be ready to sell and I'm not sure how that is going to happen at this point. I'll think about that another day.

I may be slightly insane but I applied for a per diem social work job to bring in a little extra cash. Most of areas of our local economy are still struggling so we do what we have to. We'll see if anything comes of it.

No knitting news this time - I've been remiss in the fiber realm. On the plus side, I already have my thank you notes about for memorial donations. Now it is off to bed and start all over tomorrow.