Ashley enjoyed her road trip to Valparaiso this weekend for her cousin's first communion. In fact we all did. She was even wide awake coming and going taking in all the sights.
It was another good week for Ashley. She did well in therapy and with a few medical/dental appointments thrown in. She was quite the cooperative patient which makes everything that much better.
Ashley started demonstrating an new skill yesterday. As we were finishing our dinner (Ashley has her 'pleasure feeding' with us) we asked if she wanted anything else and Mary noticed that Ashley appeared to make an intentional exaggerated blink with both eyes. "Could this be Ashley saying no?" Well we immediately started putting Ashley to the test...
Yes! or should I say No! Either way, Ashley is now using her button to say yes and she will blink to say no. It was quite exciting at the Harrington house last night as we salted Ashley with yes/no questions.
Thank you for your continued prayers for Ashley and us.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
April 22nd
Ashley had an appointment with her Neurologist on Monday. It went very well. In fact he noted marked improvement in Ashley’s range of motion and the decrease in the spasms. These are significant gains that we have noticed since Ashley has been home. It is reassuring to have the doctor see the improvements as well. It also means that she is becoming less reliant on medications and some of those have been reduced. We anticipate that some of the side affects like drowsiness will decrease and this will have an increasing positive impact on her recovery.
The therapists are also noting Ashley’s improvements in therapy. She has been home for just over three months and we have not had any set backs. The nicer weather is providing us with an opportunity to get Ashley outside more often and that has to be stimulating. It can also be tiring; she is ready to call it a day earlier then when is has been indoors all day long (other than commuting to therapy).
Ashley will be making a road trip one day this weekend and she is looking forward to it. Please pray for her to have a safe and enjoyable time.
The therapists are also noting Ashley’s improvements in therapy. She has been home for just over three months and we have not had any set backs. The nicer weather is providing us with an opportunity to get Ashley outside more often and that has to be stimulating. It can also be tiring; she is ready to call it a day earlier then when is has been indoors all day long (other than commuting to therapy).
Ashley will be making a road trip one day this weekend and she is looking forward to it. Please pray for her to have a safe and enjoyable time.
Monday, April 14, 2008
April 14th
Ashley can’t wait to talk. She is creating sounds more than ever and over the weekend she was positioning her mouth to annunciate. We can’t attest to hearing sounds that we could say were words, but Ashley was trying. There are so many signals that have to reach so many muscles to get her speech back. The best news regarding this is that Ashley is not getting frustrated about it; she is encouraged by our reinforcement of her efforts.
Throughout this entire ordeal we continue to be in awe at Ashley’s positive attitude. Like everyone else she has her ups and downs, but we see many more smiles than frowns and whole lot more laughing than crying. Her determination combined with all the prayer support we are receiving is keeps us all going.
In speech therapy last week they lifted the bar on testing Ashley’s cognitive reasoning skills. It has included history homework. Ashley has been tested on Revolutionary War Era topics; specifically on Paul Revere and George Washington. It was a refresher course for Mary and I as well. While Ashley did not ‘ace’ the first test she came away with a solid ‘A’ at 95% correct.
Speaking of therapy, on Friday one of the therapists came over in the morning to assist with Ashley’s morning routine. That evening two more therapists came to watch a movie with Ashley. This was all on their own time. It is a reflection of the true vocation therapy is for the professionals at Lutheran. This is one of the many blessings we have encountered on our path to Ashley’s recovery.
Ashley was able to get outside in the neighborhood some more last week and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Just as Ashley being home has provided a conducive environment for Ashley’s rehabilitation, we are confident that warm sunny weather (needless to say, Ashley’s favorite!) will provide another boost to Ashley’s progress.
Throughout this entire ordeal we continue to be in awe at Ashley’s positive attitude. Like everyone else she has her ups and downs, but we see many more smiles than frowns and whole lot more laughing than crying. Her determination combined with all the prayer support we are receiving is keeps us all going.
In speech therapy last week they lifted the bar on testing Ashley’s cognitive reasoning skills. It has included history homework. Ashley has been tested on Revolutionary War Era topics; specifically on Paul Revere and George Washington. It was a refresher course for Mary and I as well. While Ashley did not ‘ace’ the first test she came away with a solid ‘A’ at 95% correct.
Speaking of therapy, on Friday one of the therapists came over in the morning to assist with Ashley’s morning routine. That evening two more therapists came to watch a movie with Ashley. This was all on their own time. It is a reflection of the true vocation therapy is for the professionals at Lutheran. This is one of the many blessings we have encountered on our path to Ashley’s recovery.
Ashley was able to get outside in the neighborhood some more last week and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Just as Ashley being home has provided a conducive environment for Ashley’s rehabilitation, we are confident that warm sunny weather (needless to say, Ashley’s favorite!) will provide another boost to Ashley’s progress.
Monday, April 7, 2008
April 7th
We missed posting an update last week, but that wasn’t for lack of news. As you will see from the latest picture added at the bottom of the site Ashley’s standing frame has been assembled and she is using it. We’re glad we had the pros do it. There was a bit of fine-tuning and we wouldn’t want Ashley to be uncomfortable in it.
Over the last couple weeks Ashley has continued to improve in several ways. She is looking to her left much more often and she is moving her right arm more frequently. She is managing to work those tight tendons out. Quite often Ashley will move her arms, or her legs and when we question her to find out if she was trying to get our attention, or if she had a muscle spasm she will indicate that she was merely exercising her control. It is a reflection of Ashley’s determination. We know that therapy and the workouts we do with her at home are quite tiring, both physically and mentally, but she just keeps going.
Sound is another major change. While Ashley is not forming word sounds yet she will respond when asked to say something. Like with moving her arms and legs, Ashley will warm up her vocal cords often. In speech therapy they are confident that it is just a matter of time, and a lot of hard word on Ashley's part, before she will be speaking again.
The warmer weather is a blessing. We got out with Ashley on Saturday and Sunday and plan to do so every day that it is nice out. Nothing seems to please her more than to get outside and to stroll through the neighborhood. It is apparent that Ashley likes bumping into the neighbors, most of whom she has not seen since last summer. Her beaming smile confirms that she enjoys seeing everyone.
We continue to hear of the prayer support that is being offered on our behalf and it is certainly humbling. We don’t know what we did to deserve all the loving support we have received. We are very thankful for it. Ashley’s faith is strong and we can see that she is positively influenced by it as much and the rest of our family is. We would certainly say that prayer is a vital component to making Ashley’s traditional therapy an ongoing success.
Over the last couple weeks Ashley has continued to improve in several ways. She is looking to her left much more often and she is moving her right arm more frequently. She is managing to work those tight tendons out. Quite often Ashley will move her arms, or her legs and when we question her to find out if she was trying to get our attention, or if she had a muscle spasm she will indicate that she was merely exercising her control. It is a reflection of Ashley’s determination. We know that therapy and the workouts we do with her at home are quite tiring, both physically and mentally, but she just keeps going.
Sound is another major change. While Ashley is not forming word sounds yet she will respond when asked to say something. Like with moving her arms and legs, Ashley will warm up her vocal cords often. In speech therapy they are confident that it is just a matter of time, and a lot of hard word on Ashley's part, before she will be speaking again.
The warmer weather is a blessing. We got out with Ashley on Saturday and Sunday and plan to do so every day that it is nice out. Nothing seems to please her more than to get outside and to stroll through the neighborhood. It is apparent that Ashley likes bumping into the neighbors, most of whom she has not seen since last summer. Her beaming smile confirms that she enjoys seeing everyone.
We continue to hear of the prayer support that is being offered on our behalf and it is certainly humbling. We don’t know what we did to deserve all the loving support we have received. We are very thankful for it. Ashley’s faith is strong and we can see that she is positively influenced by it as much and the rest of our family is. We would certainly say that prayer is a vital component to making Ashley’s traditional therapy an ongoing success.
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