Everything Will Be Alright

 I was hospitalized as a precaution till today. Just got home. Mild flu like symptoms. Quarantining myself in the basement.  Rie's symptoms never got real bad but I bet the return of the spasms were due to COVID.  She has been approved to stay in rehab another week.  At the rate I am recovering, by next week I should be able to take care of her in our house.❤️🙏

 Rie and I have mild COVID symptoms. She tested positive. I'm waiting on my results but I'm sure it will be positive.  They have asked me to leave the hospital for a minimum of 5 to 10 days.  I'll be quarantining myself in the basement away from the Mia and my brother, Foad.  Prayers are appreciated❤️🙏

 Rie had a full day of therapy. Did really well with cognitive tests. We practiced propelling the wheelchair up and down a sloped ramp. A big relief as it looks like we should be able to use her new wheelchair to go down our steep driveway to the fun parts of the house! The second half of the day brought frequent painful spasms.  A new medication seems to be helping.  Cause unknown.  Basically, any noxious stimulus can cause spasms during the healing phase after a brain injury.  The cause can be as benign as a passing stressful thought or as ominous as things I refuse to think about.  Work up is in progress to rule out the serious causes but so far all is good.  Her response to the new medication is reassuring and would make serious causes unlikely. The tentative discharge date is January 31st but her rehab doctor has requested another week.  We are waiting for insurance authorization for the extension.🙏

 Successful medical van ride in wheelchair to plastic surgeon's office. We were an hour early and they were two hours late! Through the frustration of the wait, we learned that our bladder control was much better than we had thought!  Even when things don't feel good, He is teaching us something good that we would not have learned in any other way.  Praise God.  ❤️🙏. All but two stitches were removed.  The rest will come out next week. Final urine test showed she is on the correct antibiotics.  All UTI symptoms resolved. Continuing to see wonderful daily improvements in strength, mobility, ease of transfers, appetite, speech, memory, and cognition.  Apparently, the emotion centers of Rie's brain are now undergoing repair and recovery. Don't panic if during your conversations, you notice minute long emotional eruptions.  They call it "Emotional Incontinence".  It is part of the healing and often not associated with sadness. The eruptions pass...

 Over the weekend, Rie became sluggish and confused. Heart rate went up and then a fever and a severe headache for 24 hours.  Given a history of five brain surgeries in five months, we prayed for something less drastic in this sixth month.  Thankfully head CT scan was stable and blood work was normal. The urine test showed a mild infection to be the cause.  Feeling much better now.  Praise God. ❤️🙏

For the first time, Rie was able to propel and steer the wheelchair with ease. Home wheelchair ordered. Botox injections in the tightest muscles of the shoulder and calf were administered to decrease tone, increase range and prevent contractures.   We may see even faster improvements in mobility within two weeks.  Ever since Rie was cleared for Pizza two days ago, that's all we've been eating.  Doesn't look like we are going to get tired of pizza.  I understand some people like a variety but that's their problem! Have a blessed Sunday.💗🙏

 The first thing Rie asked when she reunited with her phone last night was, "Show me how to text Mia to tell her good night".❤️❤️❤️ After we did that, a dear family member happened to call her at the perfect time.  The two of them had an amazing conversation. Rie's voice volume and speed were adequate and her responses and comments were totally appropriate, so she must be ready for your calls, texts, FaceTime, etc.  The timing of it is tricky.  There are many unpredictable doctor, nurse, and therapist visits throughout the day. So I'd say just try whenever best for you and she will respond if/when free. Lastly, Rie asked for the Amazon app.  I informed her that Amazon had gone out of business! 💗🙏