Day 90 - Tuesday March 14, 2012

Bridgett had a rough night.  I decided to let her sleep in and cancel her appointment with Kasey at the low vision clinic.  We will see him next Tuesday instead.  I also cancelled her therapy appointments for the rest of the week.  For the past 2-1/2 weeks I have been waiting for 24 hours before the appointment, hoping that she could go and then cancelling.  She has not been able to go to therapy since the dreaded Friday the 24th episode.  Now she has the virus that the kids have and she is feeling even worse than usual.  So, we will just rest up for the rest of the week and try to get better.  Several times in the past it has happened that I have met someone through providential means.  I feel that the Lord is truly blessing our family to have interactions with others who have experienced brain injuries, because we have met so many people since this has happened that had a brain injury in their past.  These encounters give us hope and strength.  I wanted to tell you about one such encounter.  Mark has been meeting with various car dealers trying to find a van for work back home.  He has had pretty extensive conversations with a man whose son had a TBI several years ago (maybe five?).  Anyway, they have discussed the situations several times but yesterday I was so frustrated about trying to get Bridgett to eat something and I called Mark and interrupted him while with this man.  It happened that the man told Mark that his wife did homeopathic testing and advising.  He said she is very busy and they were getting ready to leave out of town but he would call her and see if she would talk to me.  She agreed and we had quite a conversation.  Because of her work with homeopathics she was able to help her son and he has had quite a wonderful recovery.  She agreed to meet with us today and give us some suggestions.  We took Bridgett with us (luckily not all the way to Salt Lake) and she did OK.  I did NOT give her Zofran and she did not throw up which was good.  The woman said that Bridgett did indeed have a virus (she brought it up, not me).  She gave her four things for Bridgett to take.  She had explained to me over the phone about the level of radiation in Bridgett's  body from all of the imaging she's had.  She had 30 CT scans and an MRI plus probably about 30 x-rays.  They x-ray her chest every day that they did CT scans and I guess she's had more because they have x-ray her neck probably at least five times with they did not do CT scans.  I already know that this radiation is such a problem but I guess I hadn't thought about how it is affecting her digestions.  So she said Bridgett's body is frail and needs nourishment but she can't really digest.  She told us to make organic chicken soup and have her drink the broth.  I called Jenn last night and asked her to do that for me and the chicken was apparently wonderful so I know the broth was great as well.  Anyway, we got home about 4:30 and Bridgett napped.  When she woke up she has about 3-4 ounces of broth, which was a lot of liquid at one time for her.  She slept again and then woke up feeling better.  She asked to come to the living room to rest on the couch.  I had to run to the grocery store and while I was gone Deb stopped by and I guess did flash cards with Bridgett and she did awesome.  She's been great with the flashcards lately; her language is really getting good.  Anyway, when I got home she had some of the special protein drink that was recommended.  Later on Mark gave her a beautiful blessing.  Stephany also wanted a blessing to help get better so Mark gave her one as well.  This whole situation is very hard on Stephany partly because of her age and partly because she is such a loving, connected person and feels that pain of the family so acutely.  Of course it's hard on all of us.  I sometimes joke that we probably all need therapy and it's probably true!  But, we love and support each other.  We are a very close family and we all love each other so much.  We are there for each other.  I really appreciate all the help each of my family is able to give!  It's hard for Scott because his help to the family includes being in Kalispell taking care of our business so that we can be here.  Jenn is great to help with massages, cooking and just good old loving! She and Bridgett have a great relationship. Tyler is great with Bridgett and they are very close.  He is always able to cheer her up and relates to her in a way no one else can.  Arrianne and Bridgett are very close and Arrianne is the one that is able to fill in for me when needed, especially with personal care, fashion and social issues.  Stephany is Bridgett's "little me" in Bridgett's words (pre-accident of course) and they are very close.   It's cute because she can get firm with Bridgett and Bridgett will listen to her.  Mark is always the steady one and that's a big help when I get to the break down and cry point.  I really can't imagine being able to do this alone without the help of the entire family.  I did see people at the rehab that seemed to only have one support person and I wonder how they manage.  Of course, through it all our extened family has been great and we feel so much love and support from each of them.  Then it helps so much to know that so many people are praying with us and for us each day! We feel that support and really need it!  It helps me to see how many people read the blog and I often try to help Bridgett understand how important she is to each of us and each of you.  And for each of us, our faith in Heavenly Fathers love and help is what sustains us and enables us to face each day with a happy heart and hope for the future.  Wow this sounds so serious!  And it is!  But each day we do find humor where we can and try to laugh at ourselves.  Sometimes Bridgett is so danged funny!  In the evening when I get tired I tend to laugh easily and then watch out!  But I figure it's better to laugh than to cry.  I was also able to talk to a woman on the phone about essential oils. She herself had a brain injury 15 years ago and can relate to what Bridgett is feeling. She had a mild brain injury and said that she felt like she'd been run over by a truck for the first year.  She finally felt better after about 18 months.  She remembers that foggy feeling, that feeling that you aren't really in your own brain, etc.  It's been 15 years since her accident. She told me that she uses frankincense every day still.  I had ordered bergamot, elevation and citrus bliss for depression and she said those are the best and exactly what she would have suggested, especially for deep depression.  Those will be here tomorrow.  She told me that there are several essential oils that could help improve Bridgett's appetite but she said that Bridgett tested for myrrh.  I looked up myrrh later on and it's also used for amnesia and memory loss!  Cool!  So, I will get some tomorrow.  Of course the kids joked that she's got frankincense and myrrh--whose going to get the gold!  Also, Dorothy sent me a text that Rosemary will help heal the shearing; so now we have a nice little bunch of oils to use.  I feel so much better this evening about everything.  I was really getting worried because Bridgett has lost so much weight and then her appetite has been so poor.  Not a good combination!  But, I am very optimistic about everything and although everyone has assured me that this is a VERY long process, I know that we can make it!  Bridgett is strong and she can make it--and we can make it right along with her!