Rhythm Being Estabished

Things seem to be settling into some sort of rhythm and Meagan is improving steadily. Her speech is back to normal. Last night she ventured onto the computer to finish a movie. She then went to her email and with a little help from Casey and me was able to start deleting junk mail. Took a bit of repetition and reminder but she did it. She is moving around the house confidently and handling her own dressing and self-care. She walked around the block again yesterday and did some yoga with the occupational therapist.

She's regaining the weight lost during her hospital stay. I think it helps that along with the great dinners being provided by the Faeries, she is downing Odwalla shakes laced with high fat ice cream adding up to at least 750 calories - we should all be so fortunate.

She is getting comfortable with her rehab routine and the people. So comfortable in fact we are going to cancel the physical therapist and just go with the speech/cognitive therapist and the occupational therapist. That will get her down to four visits each week, which better suits her schedule (gotta get those naps in - these sessions are tiring), temperament and keeps her fresh for upcoming friend visits. She will start working on managing her own calendar, regaining use of the phone and computer, and work on writing and drawing. She says each day she is feeling a little sharper, and the motivation to improve is increasing - although she still expresses no concern for a lot of left brain activities and prefers to focus on working on those things important to her - relationships and connecting. She is also unconcerned about her inability to drive (likely ever again) and I've told her I can take her to see friends and to appointments or there are lots of friends who would be able to help out if needed to get her somewhere or pick her up if they have an outing.

We had a visit with Dr. Kaplan yesterday and as he says, we are in a holding pattern while her brain calms down. Her sodium levels seem to be stable, a good thing given all the sodium she is ingesting. She hit the Fritos hard yesterday. We see him again next Tuesday and may schedule a visit then to see the radiologist to discuss the next steps in brain zapping. That actual procedure probably won't occur until after we return from Riley's graduation (May 15th). We will be driving down and back since she can't fly. She is pretty unconcerned about that procedure and the one that would follow  - the two week hospital stay while being treated with Interleukin-2. My guess is that treatment would not occur until around July 1, as her brain needs to recover from the radiation treatment before starting the systemic treatment (the Interleukin-2).

Her recovery is making it easier for me and I am starting to focus a little more on my own self-care. Casey is really good about reminding me to do this. Her ability to go out with friends now, or have friends over for blocks of time will give me some time to do things I's like to do and regain a little sanity.