June 16th

Ashley was a bit under the weather at the end of last week. She never ran a high temperature but she was feeling blue Wednesday through Friday. We don’t know what it was, but we are happy to report that she bounced back on Saturday. Ashley stayed home from therapy on Friday. The only other time she has missed therapy since being home has been once for snow.

I guess we can no longer say Ashley has not been sick since being home. Of course being sick once in the last 5 months is nothing compared to the number of infections and random bugs she had to fight off during her six months of in-patient status.

Over the weekend we got out to inspect the new grade level curbs that have been installed in the neighborhood. They all met our approval, and will make it much easier to get around. We took advantage of the beautiful weather to do just that. We also got back in the pool with Ashley on both Saturday and Sunday. She floated around and you could tell she was in her element.

We also took advantage of Ashley feeling better on the weekend to use the pedal machine for both her arms and legs. She showed a bit of frustration when she tried to coordinate her pedaling, but she also exhibited her drive. At one point when we asked if she wanted to stop she would not answer. When we asked if she wanted to keep trying we get a quick positive response. Ashley wants to succeed and she is willing to fight for it.

Right now Ashley is listening to three books and enjoying them all. Emily is reading “Twilight” on her visits. In speech she is listening to “The Great Gatsby” and we are reading her “One for the Money” sent to us by Ashley’s St. Mary’s roommate’s mother. Ashley is enjoying all three and is able to answer questions about all of them showing that her cognitive ability is as strong as ever.