There’s not much to update in the recovery realm. My dad got in this morning for a short visit and was soon reunited with my mom and Claire. They spent the morning and afternoon taking care of her while we played with Autumn and Heidi. Claire got to take another walk outside and hasn’t spent much time in her bed. We like keeping her out with us during the day.
My sister-in-law Michelle left yesterday morning after a week. She helped watch the girls and kept their minds busy. We are glad she was able to see Claire and help take care of her during this transition period. She bought Claire a sock monkey that Claire holds between her arms now (we do unfortunately have to put the business end of the monkey in Claire’s face – she won’t remember though). We miss her already.
Claire has followed the same sleep pattern two nights in a row now. We hope the trend continues. She’s getting the rest she needs and so are we. It’s giving us all the energy to work harder during the day. She still isn’t following simple commands and that is the required response to begin working on speech and other cognitive therapies. I am conflicted about the balancing act we are trying to strike with the medications: we want her comfortable, but I’m concerned the drugs may be clouding her ability to follow simple commands. I will be bringing this up with the doctors this week and asking if there is a way for us to be more aggressive during the day to get her off the sedation medications so we can gauge how well she can focus when not under the influence.
We continue to hope for Claire’s recovery and encourage her to work hard. Thank you for sticking with Claire’s story. We know it is going to be a long road, and we are thankful for your joining us on it.
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