Day 127 - Thursday April 19, 2012

Every day it is an adventure to see what else Bridgett can remember!  I asked her about some more scripture mastery scriptures and although she didn't remember them all, she remembered quite a few!  She is always the most clear in the evening--I may have said that before--so I pick evenings to ask her things like this. Also in the evening she sat around with Steph and Tyler (Arri was at a concert) and sang songs that she used to like and she remembered the words to the songs.  She also remembered many of the gestures that the girls had made up when they sang together.  That was fun!  Of course, remember that even in the hospital she was remembering Disney songs!  At the brain injury support group they talked about how important music is.  In fact they said that there was one patient who could only speak one word but she could sing about 50.  And the craniosacral guy, Joshua, said to listen to a lot of music.  So, all of these things were exciting and fun.  Now for the day---we had speech therapy and physical therapy.  Both went great.  First speech--I brought the Kindle that Kasey had lent to us and interestingly enough LeAnn brought her Kindle for Bridgett to try out.  So, we had a side by side comparison of apples to apples and you could clearly see that at this point Bridgett really needs the keyboard Kindle--or at least the non-touch screen Kindle.  The large Kindle is what Kasey has--but it costs like $379.  Bridgett read for LeAnn and then LeAnn told us that the thing that will really helps with the brain is reading and that is what she assigns patients to do.  Of course, before now it has been too hard for Bridgett to read much.  And, since she has started reading many things are improving--we have already noticed it and it's only been a few days!  So, I am excited!!!  Next LeAnn asked Bridgett some questions about herself and she did pretty good on memory.  LeAnn asked Bridgett if she remembered her (LeAnn's) name and she didn't so LeAnn told her.  About 10 minutes later she asked if Bridgett remembered and she said no so LeAnn gave her three choices of "L" names and Bridgett picked the right one.  Then a half an hour later LeAnn did the same thing only this time the prompt was that her name started with an "L" and Bridgett remembered.  I am inserting here......after we had physical therapy and then went home I also asked Bridgett and just had to give her the "L" hint and she still remembered!  I asked again when it had been 3-1/2 hours and she still remembered!  YES!  LeAnn will be excited to hear about this!  Back to speech therapy now...LeAnn did that game where she plays a tape and the guy says words.  Every time he said a "B" word then Bridgett was supposed to push a button.  It's long--I started watching the clock after a bit and he went for two minutes while I watched--so I think it was like a three minute thing.  Anyway, Bridgett got every word except one and what was better and made LeAnn so happy--she remembered what she was doing for the entire time and even afterwards she could tell LeAnn what she was supposed to do.  That was a big improvement!  Next she read sentences for Bridgett to repeat.  Bridgett's good at this.  LeAnn started with 7 word sentences, them up to 15 word sentences and Bridgett did great.  Also, LeAnn quizzed her about the sentences afterwards and Bridgett had good recall and remembered everything.  Next LeAnn did short three and four sentence stories and asked comprehension questions.  Bridgett got most of these without prompts and the ones she missed she got with the prompt.  Bridgett's assignment--to read.  My assignment--to post very short phrases about Bridgett around the room--I am 22, I live at Alpine Village Apts. etc. Oh, to insert again--Bridgett went to the bathroom at home before we left and made it through both one hour therapy sessions and back home before needing to go again!  (the evening was not so good again, but at least the day was better!)  Next we went to physical therapy.  Bridgett rode the bike and did the stair stepper thing.  Also she walked outside on the rocks again and did very well.  Shane had her walk along the curb too.  When we went inside he talked to us and said that Bridgett is doing well at most things including balance etc.  He said that all she really needs is to increase in stamina and strength.  He knows that she hurts but believes that as she continues to do things anyway the brain will heal and things will quit hurting.  It was a good day and he and I could both see that she was feeling better than two weeks ago.  So all around it was a good day and I feel so good about things.  Also I talked to an experienced massage therapist who worked in the medical profession for over seven years.  She has so much experience with injuries including lots of knowledge about TBI.  She will see Bridgett next Friday.  She said she felt very good about the craniosacral guy, especially when she heard that he had a TBI too and she said to continue with him.  She also said to continue with Dr. Roberts.  She said that Bridgett is in a great window in time to have work done.  About the memory...she also said that she had a client who didn't remember long term for many, many months but then it all came back to him.  So, she said just hang in there and do everything you think that may help--which is what we are doing!