Day 259 - Wednesday August 29, 2012

So now I am reporting about our appointment at the Moran yesterday.  It went so well!  First they tested her actual vision with the following results:

•  Vision: originally 20/60 in the right eye and 20/200 in the left eye...now vision is 20/40 in the right eye and 20/60 in the left eye. 
• Color vision: originally none in the left eye and limited color differentiation in the right eye...now normal in both eyes.  
• Field of vision: that was originally very limited and almost no peripheral vision....now is normal for both eyes.
• Double vision: still almost the same and still the brain is usually ignoring the left eye, although she does have vision in that eye.  She tracks well with both eyes.

I asked about the frequent broken blood vessels and they indicated that this is a sign that the eyes are strained.  They did not seem concerned about this.

Based on the above results they are no longer recommending that she have surgery on the left optic nerve. Although the optic nerve is still pale her vision is in the normal range now and so they believe that the optic nerve will just continue to heal. Instead they recommend surgery to fix the "crossed eyes".  They said that this surgery is a very delicate and precise surgery for adults and that they would give us the names of doctors that we should consult.  This would mostly be a cosmetic surgery so that the eyes look more normal. 

I was so happy about the results of this appointment!  I do believe that the eye exercises that we do daily have made a great difference in her vision.  We will continue our protocol for the eyes.

Day 258 - Tuesday August 28, 2012

Today was a big day of appointments in Salt Lake at the University of Utah hospital area.  After Bridgett showered and washed her hair I was fluffing it up so it looked cute.  She said why are you doing that and I said so that your hair looks cute and not like a boy hair cut.  She said I don't have a boy haircut I have a save your life haircut!  She's so funny!  We headed up to Salt Lake to the endocrinologist's office.  We got there early and they got us right back for vitals and into a room but then waited like 40 minutes for anyone to come in to talk to us.  At all of these offices there is the regular doctor and then because it is a learning environment (the University) we get first someone who is in residency or some kind of a thing so they are not a full fledged doctor yet.  Anyway, we saw Miller (? first name), a woman, first and she was very nice.  She said that Bridgett's symptoms did not fit with what she thought was a pituitary problem but that she would have to discuss with the endo--Schlegel.  So, she left and went to talk to him.  After a while I realized that we needed to speed it up or we would miss the 1:00 appointment at the Moran so I stuck my head out of the room and they were just coming down the hall.  I told them that we had an appointment in 25 minutes at the Moran and they said yes--it shows on their schedule as well and they were trying to help us make it there on time.  So, the endo said he would enter stuff in the computer for blood tests while Miller spoke to us. She said they believe that Bridgett possibly has some problem related to the removal of the ovary in December 2010 that is causing the problem. They asked for info to get the pathology reports as well as ordered a number of blood tests.  She also mentioned that she was married in Bigfork and either she or her husband was from Montana--it was very rushed and I didn't ask questions that were not relevant to the situation.  In any case, they sent us to the lab and then there were problems with the computer and ordering of the tests and it was all taking so long that finally we had to leave and I told them we would come back after our meeting at the Moran, which we did.  I will report about the Moran on tomorrow as there is so much to tell. 

Day 257 - Monday August 27, 2012

Arrianne had her first day of classes today.  While she was in class Bridgett, Stephany and I went shopping!  We hit some craft stores and bought some great things that we will work on when we get home.  Actually I was originally thinking that we would make something while we were here, but it turns out that Arrianne had some of Bridgett's things in her apartment that need to go back home with us and there won't be any extra room to make sure that crafts don't get squashed!  I called Michelle Helwig's office and left a message about how bad Bridgett's neck is doing still--pain level is three or higher all the time with taking Lortab and muscle relaxer and then goes up to five or six when the Lortab is wearing off.  Michelle called and spoke to Dr. Lindsay and one of the nurses called me back and said when we get back to Bigfork to come in for a cortisone shot. YUCK!  We have been trying to avoid that!  Luckily we finally heard from Josh and he was able to meet us and give Bridgett a much needed massage and VIOLA--her neck pain is now so much better!  We will now call him "magic fingers" Josh!  Josh was able to release the spasm I guess because her pain level went almost completely away--like to zero. Then she moved her neck around a bunch and said oh I guess it's a one. Hopefully he will be able to fit us in for at least one more appointment or preferably two.  Too bad he doesn't live in Montana!  Jenn, Tyler and the kids came to the hotel and went swimming with Stephany.  Bridgett and I popped our heads in but it was too noisy and "stinky" (chlorine) for Bridgett so we went to the room until they were done. 

Day 256 - Sunday August 26, 2012

I was going to take the girls to church today but then realized that if anyone gets sick this week it will totally mess up all the doctors appointments.  Not only that, getting sick would be so hard on Bridgett's neck.  Since we have just barely (almost) recovered from all having that very bad cold virus I decided that we would stay home today and keep everyone away from germs until next Sunday.  We spent time at the hotel while Jenn's family (Jenn was at home resting as well) and Arrianne went to church.  Afterwards we all went to Jenn's and made dinner and ate together.  It's great to be able to spend time with Jenn and her family!

Day 255 - Saturday August 25, 2012

This evening we had a little family reunion with my siblings (and families) and mom.  Today is dad's birthday and it seemed to be a great time to get together.  On the drive up to Jons house on the freeway Bridgett was making the funniest comments and then she said it's a good thing my hilarity wasn't killed in that accident!  What a girl!  We all had a great time together at the reunion.  Bridgett did great!  She recognized everyone and sat or walked around visiting with people.  She of course wanted to do some walking (she is getting rested up from the trip) and so Arrianne took her outside to Jon's backyard, which has a perfect place to walk with a circular drive that goes all around the property.  It was cool and there was a breeze/wind and so it was nice outside.  The kids were outside playing four square and having a good time, so there was laughing and playing there as well.  I took her out the second time and it was very nice.  I thought afterwards about how well she did--there was the usual happy noise and commotion of a family reunion and she handled it well.  She was of course happy the whole time and didn't ask if we would leave or if she could go somewhere and be alone so that was great. Arrianne at one point asked Bridgett if it was too noisy and Bridgett said well it's noisy but not like I want to go kill myself noisy!  Bridgett!  She's the funniest! It's great to see that things are getting more normal all of the time and that slowly she is getting back to more normal life.

Day 254 - Friday August 24, 2012

So Bridgett started weaning off the neck brace although her pain level has still been pretty high.  For sure when we are in the car she wears it and off and on during the day.  She is still taking the muscle relaxant and two Lortab and her pain level is still about three most of the time.  We saw Dr. Roberts today and that went well.  Also we spent part of the day trying to help Mark get a little shopping done before he flies to the Republican National Convention tomorrow.  Bridgett wanted to come while Mark picked out some clothes and she was so funny at the store.  She helped pick things out and when Mark picked out something she didn't like she'd make a little face.  Mark said if I buy something you don't like will you tell me it's ugly and Bridgett said no--that would be mean.  I would just tell you that I don't want to be seen with you while you wear it!  Hah!  She's funny!  We all ate lunch at the Olive Garden which is the place Mark took her when he was traveling and came into town.  She was very excited to go there and remembered that she loves the food.  That was a big improvement over a few months ago when she couldn't remember it at all and didn't even want to eat there at first (although we did take her and she liked it).  She had her usual five cheese ziti although she thought about ravioli for a bit (which is just what she would normally do because she loves both!). It's great to see that she is oriented and knows where we are and can kind of tell us where to drive etc.  We saw some of Bridgett's and Arrianne's friends today. They are girls they knew last year  I think they were a little startled when they saw Bridgett but then they had never seen her at all since the accident so it was probably somewhat startling.  For those people who originally saw Bridgett--they are amazed at how well she is doing.  So, it's all relative. 

Day 253 - Thursday August 23, 2012

Today the pain was easing up a little in Bridgett's neck.  She is almost done with the medrol dose pack, which I think has been very helpful.  I talked to Sara Marie (acupuncture) and she suggested that we get Bridgett a good massage while we are in Utah.  I have left messages with Josh (who does craniosacral) and hopefully we will get to see him at least twice while we are here.  We start with doctors appointments tomorrow--today we spent time visiting with Jenn and the boys.  Next week, while we are here, Jenn will get her ultrasound and find out about the twins so that will be exciting!  She is going to have the ultrasound with Tyler and they boys and then let the girls and I come in to see afterwards.  It will be fun for them to see an ultrasound.  The girls and I have been having lots of discussions about pregnancy etc. because Bridgett has had lots of questions.  It seems that this is one of the things that she only remembers spotty information about.

Day 252 - Wednesday August 22, 2012

The trip wasn't too bad after all.  Bridgett's neck was definitely hurting and the pain level was sometimes as high as five, but overall she did pretty well.  We had to stop five times and walk around but otherwise no problems.  We were on the road about 12 hours and all arrived tired but happy that we made it in one day!

Day 251 - Tuesday August 21, 2012

Bridgett's neck is still hurting--in fact she has asked to start wearing the neck brace again because of the pain.  The medrol dose pack is helping but the pain is still about 3-4.  We leave to Utah tomorrow so cross your fingers!

Day 250 - Monday August 20, 2012

I called Michelle the first thing this morning and told her that Bridgett's pain was getting somewhat better and that I think the Medrol dose pack is the reason.  I also told her that unlike all of the other times Bridgett's neck has been hurting--this time it is right on her neck at the fracture site.  Michelle said we need to get an x-ray and make sure that everything is OK.  We went to Kalispell Regional and got the x-ray and later this evening Michelle called and said that she doesn't have a comparison x-ray so she called Dr. Lindsay to compare and let her know.  She said that the official radiology report is not in yet, but she didn't see anything really noticeable like a new fracture.  She will get back to me with more details when she has them.  She did say that Bridgett's neck is bowed backwards--indicative of a muscle spasm, which we know she is having.  I really want an official report or comparison before we leave driving 10 hours to Utah.  Hopefully they will be speedy getting back to us!  Today Bridgett said the funniest thing.  She said to Arrianne you are so pretty.  You're my sister so you should be pretty.  Of course, if you were ugly I don't think I would tell you!  Funny girl!

Day 249 - Sunday August 19, 2012

Bridgett was even worse today and so I called Michelle Helwig.  I didn''t want to disturb her at church but I needed to try to get a hold of her.  Her answering service said that they would try her and I said not to disturb her but leave her a message.  They said if she didn't answer they would have her call back.  Then when she called back she apologized for being in church and said her phone was accidentally off!  I said I didn't want to bother her during church anyway so it all worked out.  She called in a prescription for a Medrol dose pack and we got started on it right away.  By  evening Bridgett was starting to get some relief--thank goodness!  We are pretty much back to where we were (pain wise) when we first got back to Montana.  It's so sad to have her whimper in pain--although if you ask her how she is doing she says except for the fact that my neck feels like a horse is kicking me I feel wonderful.  (today she added that it feels like a horse AND a cow are kicking her)  She says it with a big smile and she means it!  Bridgett really can teach us all to bear our afflictions with patience, a wonderful attitude and a smile!!  Michelle told me to call her tomorrow and keep her updated on Bridgett's pain level.

Day 248 - Saturday August 18, 2012

Bridgett woke up really sore today.  She didn't have much appetite and every time she started eating something she would take a couple of bites and then say she was done.  I started giving her the muscle relaxant this morning.  It didn't really seem to help much and by afternoon Bridgett was even worse.  Scott, Jaclyn and Weston came over to visit but decided not to boat ride so we all visited and played games (hand and foot).  Bridgett played for a while but then was so sore she had to go lay in bed on a heating pad. I was pretty sure that Bridgett used to take double the amount of Lortab that they had prescribed for her now so  I called Michelle Helwig for advice.  She said that Bridgett could double the amount of Lortab she is taking and to let her know if she is still having a hard time tomorrow.  It seemed like a pretty long day and we were back to the point of having to help Bridgett up and down from seated to standing and from laying to seated to standing.  It was so sad to see her in so much pain and I remember afresh the pain she was in back in May.  I did talk to Michelle about PT.  Bridgett's neck is weak and does need to be strengthened, but she was having no pain as long as we weren't doing any PT to strengthen her neck.  So what is the balance?  Michelle agreed that it is a hard call right now.  She said to call her tomorrow if the pain is still as bad and she will prescribe a dose pack to bring down inflammation. 

Day 247 - Friday August 17, 2012

Kind of the highlight of the summer for us has been the Northwest Montana Fair, which is held every August around the 15th.  When we lived in Kalispell we all had the opportunity to work at the church's Boy Scout booth, located inside the grandstands.  There were actually two booths, one that made hamburgers, french fries, etc and a second booth that sold cotton candy etc.  Additionally the scouts walked the grandstands selling pop.  We all have many memories of those days at the fair, working in the booths.  When the kids were young we also went to the carnival.  Occasionally we went to the rodeo. As the kids got older, we skipped the carnival but always went to the rodeo.  So, it's a tradition for us.  We all got tickets to the fair this year--we take Scott, Jaclyn and Weston too (and would take Jenn's family if they were here).  This year is the first year Tyler wasn't with us, as he is still in Africa.  Earlier in the week Bridgett said she didn't want to walk around and look at the animals but today she said let's go look at the animals.  Mark dropped us off close to the animals, went and parked and then caught up to us at the draft horses barn.  We had already walked past the llamas and the miniature horses.  By that time everyone voted to go find something to eat and so off we headed.  Mark, Bridgett and Steph got hamburgers and Arri and I got Island noodles (soba noodles with veggies).  Bridgett wanted to go sit in our seats in the grandstands and we found our seats and relaxed, ate and waited for the rodeo to start.  Initially Bridgett was doing pretty well although her neck was bothering her. She said it felt better to be sitting down.  We brought something that Mark had called a lounge lizard that is a kind of seat with a back that is padded so that it would be more comfortable for Bridgett and it seemed to really help.  I worried that things would be too loud for her and she didn't complain at first.  I offered her the ear plugs and after the loud speaker started up she took me up on the offer.  Later she said they didn't help much and so we tried the ipod ear phones, not hooked up so no music, and they worked better.  Overall she enjoyed the rodeo as did the rest of us, but by 9:00 her neck was hurting and she wanted to get up and walk.  Mark got up once before that and they went and got cotton candy but otherwise she was pretty comfortable until 9:00.  I walked with her for quite a while and she finally sat down for the last five to ten minutes of the bull riding, just before 10:00. Overall we all had a great time. We walked to the car and headed home.  I had given her a Lortab before the rodeo and I gave her another on by the time we got home.  We had picked up the muscle relaxant but I didn't want to give her a new prescription before bed just so I could make sure that she was OK.  We'll see how things are tomorrow.

Day 246 - Thursday August 16, 2012

We saw Sara Marie today and Bridgett had acupuncture again.  I am hoping to get this neck pain under control soon.  Sara said that she could feel the neck spasming and so now we will wait and see how things are tomorrow.  Unexpectedly this evening Bridgett had a fairly large bruise at one of the acupuncture sites; it is about 1/2 in. by 3/4 in.  I will have to ask Sara about that as we have never had that experience over the several years that one or the other of us have had acupuncture.  It bruised on the sore side (dang) so we are being careful when we try to massage it.  Sara recommended that we rub Tiger Balm on Bridgett's sore neck and also said we could put Tiger Balm patches on the back, which we will try.  Meanwhile I have been busy this week (still) organizing and paying medical bills for Bridgett.  My first job was to have Arrianne help me match the EOB's with every bill that we have received; we have received a crazy number of pages from the insurance company in addition to the actual bills.  Next I had our insurance agent get a list for me that shows who we owe the $5,000 deductible for this year to.  It's hard to figure that out with all of the paperwork!  I finally got that and so then now I have been matching their information with mine and then finally paying the deductible.  I did discover that several of the bills were misfiled withe the insurance company and had to be resubmitted by the provider and that a couple of the claims need appeal by us because they were treated out of network when they shouldn't have been.  Also I found that there is one bill that the insurance received and it went to my deductible, but we have never received a bill and don't know who the money is owed to.  I called the insurance company for more information and then called the phone number that they gave me only to find that the office denies that we owe them anything.  I have been calling to different IHC offices but no one seems to know who this doctor is.  I googled the doctor with no results--of course I would have better results if I knew what kind of doctor, etc.  Anyway, I don't know exactly what will happen with that one, but I finally got all of the other bills dealt with in some way.  Now to figure out the last years bills.  We had already met our deductible before the accident and so one would think they were all taken care of--but the insurance only paid usual and customery on the bills, leaving money due to these people that we thought would be covered.  So the next step is to send letters to all providers and ask that they accept the insurance payment as payment in full.  We'll see what happens. 

Day 245 - Wednesday August 15, 2012

We finally had a day when we didn't have to be anywhere and boy was it nice to be home!!  We all kind of kicked back and relaxed a little.  Back in February when Bridgett had to go from Provo to Salt Lake for rehab it was far too much for her to be in the car that long.  Now we regularly drive to Kalispell and it's at least 35 minutes to any appointment--and she does just great!  I have been thinking back on many things since the accident.  I remember asking if Bridgett would have to learn everything again, including the names of things, or if she would eventually remember things or what to expect.  They said both things would happen--she would remember some things and re-learn others.  I was thinking about how she had to learn to get dressed, to wash her face, to eat, to walk straight, holding her head up, etc.  How far we have come really.  Its good to think back from time to time and to realize how much progress there has been.  Initially she couldn't name anything, although we did discover that she couldn't see hardly anything so it wasn't just that she couldn't remember the name of anything.  Once we had that figured out we realized that she really did remember the names of many things, or with very little prompting could come up with those names.  She spontaneously remembered how to read--and not everyone is able to do that.  She thankfully remembers how to spell most everything--which is good because with limited short term memory this would be challenging.  She is remembering times tables.  And it's weird what the mind remembers and what it doesn't.  For example I asked her what she wore to church because she was thinking about where Tyler is and she said wasn't it an animal with a trunk?  So, it's weird that the mind remembers that instead of remembering the word elephant.  After thinking for 30 seconds or so she remembered that it was an elephant--but strange how the mind remembers things!  And she could remember she was wearing an elephant but couldn't remember that it was a necklace and wondered if it was on her clothes somewhere--like a print or something.  Odd!  Then randomly she will remember something we told her months ago--like Mark told her to hold her hands to her sides and shake them to try to get them warm when they feel cold (which is very often).  Every now and then she will comment that her hands are so cold and that she already tried to shake them to get them warm and she will demonstrate.  We haven't said anything about that since we got back to Montana, and that was three months ago.  So, why does the mind remember this fact and not others?  Odd.  As I have said before--the mind is an amazing thing. 

Day 244 - Tuesday August 14, 2012

Today was an interesting day at OT.  Denise gave Bridgett a google map and had her navigate from the south side of the Summit to Mountain Valley Foods.  It wasn't really far to go but it took quite a bit of time.  First of all Denise oriented Bridgett to the highway and to where she was on the map.  At every corner (and then sometimes in between) Bridgett had to stop and figure out where she was on the map and how to get to the destination.  For me or you that would be fairly easy because we know where we are basically in our own town but Bridgett still doesn't really remember town at all so it's like being in a foreign city to her.  I discovered that not all street corners have signs for both streets at the crossroads and of course we all know that not all streets in Kalispell have sidewalks.  Also, sometimes the street corner only has one sign on it.  This can be confusing to someone who doesn't know their way around.  Also, google maps don't always represent everything is such a way that it's easy to understand where you are.  Sometimes Bridgett would come to a parking lot entrance and think that it was a street.  She would have to really look around to figure it out. It was 85 degrees outside and took us about 50 minutes to go to the store and back, so by the time we were done we were hot and thirsty.  We had to rush to get to Brian's for PT directly following this.  I told him that Bridgett was tired before we got to OT and then we walked and navigated for 50 minutes, which taxed her brain, and she was worn out.  We skipped riding the NuStep and just did arm exercises and balancing.  We finished up the appointment with Brian massaging Bridgett's neck, shoulders and back.  She is still having pain at about a three.  Hopefully between the massage and acupuncture on Thursday we will get rid of a lot of the pain. 

Day 243 - Monday August 12, 2012

Today we had an appointment at Bigfork Family Practice with Michelle Helwig.  We needed to establish a family care physician here in Montana and so I called the neurologists office for a recommendation.  They told me that I should take Bridgett to Michelle; she had worked in their office before apparently and so she has experience dealing with TBI patients--just what we need!  I loved their suggestion because I had previously taken Tyler there to see Michelle and we both really liked her so much.  They scheduled an hour for our appointment, knowing that there would be a lot to discuss.  Everyone was so sweet with Bridgett and she loved it there.  Michelle really took her time to get to know Bridgett.  I think she always gets to personally know her patients; she was the same way with Tyler.  I really appreciate that in a primary care setting; someone who has an interest in what is happening.  Michelle talked to us about some of our concerns and had good suggestions for us.

• Concerning the itching of the scars--perhaps the nerves are waking up and just getting sensation now.  In any event, she prescribed some cortisone cream for us to try.
• Concerning the neck pain, which was at a three again--she said she could prescribe a muscle relaxant but Bridgett said she didn't want to take any pills.  She takes vitamins every day, but normally never likes prescriptions if she can help it so I thought this was a good sign that she felt that way--more of a normal response.  I did tell Michelle that I may call and have her go ahead with the muscle relaxant as we might need it while driving back and forth to Utah.
• We discussed the possibility of giving her a shot to bring down some of the inflammation.
• Concerning the erratic heart rate--it really just is all over the place--it was high and then low while we were there.  Michelle said she would call and talk to Dr. Lindsay and see if he felt it was neurological or what.  They will discuss what if anything we need to do about this. 
• We discussed the hormonal issues and the fact that we will see the endocrinologist at the U of U on the 28th of this month.

Michelle asked Bridgett what things she wants to do and of course she wants to get back to training for a triathlon.  Michelle asked which of the events she really wanted to do the most and Bridgett said run a lot, swim and then bike (last).  Michelle said that water therapy would be great for her.  She said to talk to Brian about this and that there are other places to go for water therapy besides the Summit.  I had mentioned to Brian on Friday that we were seeing Michelle and he knows her and said to tell her hi--which I did.  We gave Michelle lots of copies of records from Bridgett's hospital stays etc. and discussed lots of history of the wreck with her.  It was a great appointment and I feel very confident working with Michelle as we go forward.  Remember that when we were in Utah I kept looking for someone who had experience with TBI for a primary care, because it's very different than many other situations.  I feel so fortunate that we have finally found someone! 

Day 242 - Sunday August 12, 2012

Over the weekend we got out some other games that we haven't tried playing with Bridgett yet and we all had a good time; actually Mark was in Billings and Tyler's still gone so us girls had a good time!  First we tried Catch Phrase and Bridgett actually did quite well with that.  The time limit is a bit of a problem so we just "paused" it on each word.  If you don't know this game--it is a hand held game.  You pick what category you want and then start the timer.  A word shows up on the small screen and you describe the word to everyone and they guess what it is.  After people guess the right word you pass it on to the next player.  We usually play it in the car while traveling--except the driver doesn't get a turn to hold the game and describe--just guess!  The next game we played was farkle--a game Mark and I learned in college.  You take six dice and roll and try to get the highest score to win.  You can keep rolling any number of dice as long as you get three of a kind, a straight (1-6), or a 1 or a 5.  If you ever roll without getting one of these choices--you farkle and lose the points from that turn so the trick is to stop at the right time!  Bridgett beat us the first game!  She's usually lucky at games!  Last the girls played Disney Trivia with Bridgett.  The first game through she had a hard time remembering facts, but the second game Arrianne divided the piles of questions and put the most commonly known movies in one pile for Bridgett; this was a great idea and she won the second game!  Actually Bridgett would normally always win at this game because she's good at trivia and she has always loved Disney movies.  Even as an adult, if she feels sick she picks a Disney movie to watch.  It must remind her of happy childhood days! 

Day 241 - Saturday August 11, 2012

Bridgett says the funniest things!  Arrianne was trying to tell you that she liked something (food) that she really never liked and Bridgett remembered that she hated it.  She said to Arrianne--Whatever!  Don't be lying to me.  Arrianne said I'm not lying--I'm just trying to change your memory!  So, now we can see we are past that point and that Bridgett actually remembers what she likes and what she doesn't like--thank goodness! 

Day 240 - Friday August 10, 2012

We saw Brian Miller today and things went well there.  So now we have had several days in a row working to loosen up Bridgett's neck.  First we had Brian on Tuesday, then Ginny on Wednesday, then Sara Marie on Thursday and now Brian again on Friday.  He did not have to do the dry needling again. If we can just keep the pain at a 1 or 2 we are happy although hopefully she will eventually not have much pain for too long of a time.  I know that Mark worries about her having a lifetime of pain--he had a bad wreck just before we got married and had neck pain for years afterwards and his neck wasn't even broken.  We just do all we can, pray with all our energy and then we hope for the best outcome.  It won't be so bad if she has to see an acupuncturist regularly as long as the pain is gone or mostly gone in between appointments.  Mostly right now I am trying to get the pain under control before our drive back to Provo in two weeks.  She's been great in the car lately (until last week) so I think things will be just fine, although we may break the trip up into two days instead of driving straight through.

Day 239 - Thursday August 9, 2012

Something very exciting happened for us today--I forgot about an early morning appointment I had for Stephany and Bridgett reminded me about it!! She woke up and put on her watch, looked at the date and remembered what we had planned for the day!   When I said we needed to leave for our appointment with Sara  Marie by 11:30, she said yes, but what about Stephany's appointment!  That doesn't seem like anything big to everyone else I'm sure--but it was huge for us! We got Stephany to her appointment and then headed to Sara Marie's for acupuncture.  Everything went well there and Bridgett's neck pain is doing much better.  After Brian did the dry needling the pain went from almost six to three and now the pain is between 1 and 2.  Sara also wanted to make sure that we are still planning on seeing the endocrinologist in Utah and I affirmed that.  All in all it was a very good day!  Oh, I forgot to tell you this--Bridgett always says the funniest things!  I asked her something and she told me the answer and then she said---it's all there in my brain, sometimes its just tricksy getting it out!!

Day 238 - Wednesday August 8, 2012

Today we had a Ginny Wood appointment.  We just love her!  She is always so sweet with Bridgett and genuinely loves her and all of us.  Ginny was gracious enough to split the appointment with us, so first I had her work on Arrianne since she is headed back to school in two weeks.  After about 15 minutes she worked on Stephany for 15 minutes.  I was thinking great--she'll have a half an hour for Bridgett, but Ginny surprised me by asking me (telling me) to let her work on me for a bit.  She said that I need to take some time for myself.  After 15 minutes she worked on Bridgett for about 15 minutes.  Everyone left feeling happy and much better!  I love that Ginny addresses the whole body and that is usually what is needed!  Next we ordered some gluten free pizza from Moose's, picked up some things from the health food store, picked up the pizza and ate it and headed up to Dr. Stebbins.  I called them at 1:00, after their lunch hour, and said that Stephany's appointment wasn't until 3:00 but that we were in town early and didn't really want to hang around for hours doing nothing if they could fit her in.  They said come up at 1:25.  I left Arrianne and Bridgett in the car, at their request (with the car running and the air conditioner on).  About the time they called Steph back I looked over my shoulder and saw Arrianne and Bridgett walking in to use the bathroom.  Bridgett saw me and walked towards me and then suddenly there was Dr. Stebbins saying hi to Bridgett.  I said do you remember him and she said Dr. Stebbins! Yes I do!  He gave her a big hug.  He asked if she was coming in to get retainers (we had previously discussed this) and I said she is ready to wear them now and asking me for them, but that I hadn't made an appointment yet.  He said let's just do it now, so off we headed to brush teeth and get a mold.  He's just the nicest guy!  Five of our six kids have had braces done by him...everyone except Jenn, who didn't need braces.  Anyway, we got Bridgett's mold while Steph had her bands changed and then we were all off to the office.  We stopped there to give Mark a kiss and to sing Happy Birthday to Melissa.  I thought Melissa would want to see Bridgett and I also thought it was good for Bridgett to go to the office.  We have been there twice, but each time Bridgett just wanted to stay outside.  Anyway, we found Mark and gave him a hug and a kiss, got to sing to Melissa, Melissa gave Bridgett a big hug and then the girls headed off to look for Scott so that they could give him a hug and kiss too.  A few minutes later Terry came into the office and said hey was that Bridgett outside and I said yes.  He said that when she walked outside into the sunshine she broke out singing Blinded by the Light!  Mark used to sing that to the kids...apparently she remembers!  It was a fun and busy day!

Day 237 - Tuesday August 7, 2012

We had an appointment with Brian Miller for PT today and discussed several concerns that I have right now.

• Bridgett's neck pain has been at 5-6 the past several days and nothing seems to help.  We do have the acupuncture appointment on Thursday, but many every day activities are affected--getting her shirt on and off, helping unload the dishwasher, etc. 
• Bridgett's high resting heart rate.  Once again her resting heart rate is high.  On Friday it was 123.  It is regularly between 106-112.  We had discussed previously that perhaps as she works out more it will drop and it did seem to come down for a bit, but it is up high again.  I indicated that I had called Bigfork Family Practice and set up an appointment for them to see her and he agreed that he would do the same in this situation.  BTW the neurologist's office recommended Michelle Helwig at Bigfork Family Practice as she used to work with them.
• A couple of the things that they want her to do on her protocol from UT is to creep and crawl.  These things hurt her neck too much and she can't do them.  Brian said that the strengthening exercises that he is having her do right now will address these concerns. 
• UT wants me to get a video of her jogging/running.  Brian said that he will do that in a couple of appointments when he has addressed her neck pain.

Because of the neck pain Brian only worked on balance with Bridgett and then started right in on neck massage.  It was cute because Bridgett told him he was so good at his job and did the best massage ever.  Then she said I'm sure all of your patients tell you that to which he said actually no they don't.  No one ever tells me good things like you do, so thank you! After massaging Bridgett's neck, Brian indicated that she had several trigger points, or muscle knots, in her neck.  He said she should indeed be in pain.  Brian said he could do what is called dry needling, which is different than acupuncture and very effective for trigger point pain.  Acupuncture is superficial, whereas dry needling is right into the trigger point.  This can be tricky if you don't know what you are doing, but I have confidence in Brian.  He has had hundreds of hours of training in this technique.  I agreed to the therapy and so Brian began the process.   He was able to address several trigger points.  Bridgett was great and just laid very still and relaxed while Brian did the treatment.  He said she was the perfect patient!  He told Bridgett that he is unable to talk to his family about patients and use their name, for confidentiality purposes, but that he mentions her to his family because of her great positive and happy attitude all of the time.  Again as we left Bridgett said he's the nicest man ever!  When we got outside I sang (thinking of the Will Smith rap song) he a nice guy...and Bridgett immediately started off on the rap song and did the entire thing, singing (rapping) the words just as fast as he does.  When we got in the car I had one of his CD's and I played a couple of songs and I was amazed at how she knew every word and was just as fast an animated as ever! 

Day 236 - Monday August 6, 2012

Bridgett's neck continues to hurt and I think I will see if Sara Marie can possibly see her sooner than Thursday. Her pain level has been up as high as 6 and that is not good. She is back to using the rice bag several times a day. It has been three weeks since Bridgett had acupuncture. Sara recommended that we see her every two weeks, but we had to cancel an appointment and now I couldn't get one until Tuesday or Thursday. Tuesday is when she sees Brian Miller and he will massage it. Sara originally told me not to schedule on a day she sees Brian. Sara Marie only works on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I will leave a message and hope to hear from her soon.  Recently someone gave me a hug and said they just didn't know what to say and they were so sorry for us and for what has happened.  I appreciated this sentiment but I want to say....don't feel sorry for us, don't pity us or Bridgett, just see the wonderful healing taking place and know that she is indeed a miracle and that we are blessed to be part of this wonderful miracle daily.  Please know that I focus on her healing and I don't take time really ever to have a "pity party" or to wonder why.  I focus instead on the marvelous blessing that Bridgett survived this terrible wreck that by all accounts should have killed her.  I focus on the marvelous, miraculous way she is healing and the hope for her future life ahead.  I focus on the great love God has for all of us and the wonderful ways He blesses us. Hopefully we always provide a positive atmosphere for Bridgett's healing and support her in the way the Lord would have us do.  I do pray for guidance and direction daily to be the best help for her that I can be.

Day 235 - Sunday August 5, 2012

Today we all went to church together.  It was nice to have everyone feeling pretty decently and able to go to church.  Stephany is still not feeling great, but better than she was.  Bridgett wore one of her necklaces that has an elephant on it as well as a ring with a tiger on it--for Tyler who is in Africa for a month right now.  Each day she spontaneously remembers where he is--what country (which I don't post because of security reasons) and what he is doing.  It is great to see her memory doing so well.  Without prompting, when she says a prayer she blesses him to be safe and return home safely, adding without being shot.  Of course we all pray for his safety but it's cute hearing her so specifically bless Tyler.  After church Mark's uncle Jim Eddington helped give a blessing to Bridgett.  It was a wonderful moment, especially because his blessing said almost the same thing that Mark's blessings have said.  We always say that it doesn't matter who gives the blessing (if they are worthy) that it will be the same and today we got to see that principle in action.  It is always so comforting to hear the words of these blessings and to know that Heavenly Father is mindful of Bridgett in such a personal way. I do truly feel the fruits of these blessings on a daily basis and I am so thankful to have our little Bridgett alive and well. Daily her wonderful happy attitude reminds us of the many blessings we have all around us each day if we will but take time to enjoy them--to stop and smell the roses as it were.  Also daily as she speaks about her experiences during the time she was in a coma it reminds us of the wonderful plan of salvation--of the Father's love for us and of the love and concern He has for all of us personally.  Today as we sang the hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" I was overcome with gratitude and love for the Savior and for his sacrifice for us.  I pray daily that I can live worthy of His love and that when I see Him, He will call me by name and I will know that I have been accepted into His kingdom surrounded by this wonderful family of mine, whom I love so much.

Day 234 - Saturday August 4, 2012

Well this is another sign that things are getting better for Bridgett all of the time--as of today she is back to singing in the shower!  I think that now that she can wash her hair by herself and thus shower by herself things seem more normal and she is able to act more normally--thus to sing in the shower!  It made me very happy to hear her singing!!  I think that I have mentioned something about this happening before, but yesterday at OT Bridgett was looking at something that I was reading and read it upside down--she has been doing this for the past several weeks--another sign that the brain in processing more like normally.  Denise was impressed! She can also read things backwards in the mirror. 

Day 233 - Friday August 3, 2012

Bridgett really likes having her watch to refer to.  She actually always knows the year, month and approximate date but this way she can have the exact date and time any time she needs it.  She also uses the planner each day to keep track of what needs to be accomplished as well as to record what she has done.  Today we met with Denise from OT at the Summit.  After the problems we had there with the speech therapist I was able to speak to the manager and we made arrangements for Bridgett to meet with the OT there as long as I could set up appointments with her directly and just go straight to her office instead of having to check in with the office people.  So today we met her at noon.  The appointment went really well and I do feel good about meeting with her.  Joe, the manager, offered to have us meet with her at another office, but at this office they have the Dyna Vision and I know that really has helped Bridgett.  I just feel very lucky that Kalispell has a Dyna Vision.  I had called the inpatient rehab from Utah and asked about it and they said no one here has one--hah!  It's their out patient office! Anyway, I want Bridgett to have access to it and don't want to avoid the office and have her miss out on using it just because of bad experiences with other people.  After OT we went to see Brian Miller the PT.  I told him that Bridgett's neck has been hurting more lately and today it hurt to get dressed.  He didn't increase her workout any and spent longer massaging her neck afterwards.  He said to let him know how things go over the weekend.  He also suggested that we night need to make another appointment with Sara Marie for acupuncture.  I told him that I had already done this.  Her last appointment was July 10th.  Then, we had to cancel the one of the 24th.  I was unable to get one sooner that next Tuesday and we see Brian again that day, so I ended up making one for Thursday.   Later on this afternoon Arrianne took Bridgett out to the deck and painted her toenails.  We had stopped in town at Walgreen's and Bridgett saw some fingernail polish that she really liked and I bought it for her.  It's called savage and is a turquoise color.  Bridgett hasn't wanted to have her toenails painted ever since she left the inpatient rehab, so Arrianne (who loves to have her toenails painted all the time) was happy to be able to do them for Bridgett.

Day 232 - Thursday August 2, 2012

More and more I have questions about the vestibular system and how exactly Bridgett has been affected by problems from her TBI.  Overall I think her balance is pretty good; however, she is prone to feel that she needs to hold onto things or people so I think she feels like her balance is not that great. From time to time she stops what she is doing, says that she feels tipsy (or tipsity) and needs me to reach over and hold my hand out for her.  I don't know if the vestibular system is something that can change from time to time or what because sometimes she feels confident going up and down the stairs while holding onto only one handrail (or maybe even just walking next to someone even if she is not holding on) and sometimes she holds both handrails and seems less confident about her balance.   It seems that each month we have more and more questions, instead of less and less!  Strange!  I have many more questions for the neuro ophthalmologist at the Moran Eye Center when we see her later on this month and I am compiling a list.  We bought tickets to go to the rodeo during the fair later this month, which is a family tradition of ours.  I will be sure to bring ear plugs for Bridgett so that the loud noises don't bother her.  She hasn't particularly been bothered by noise, but she hasn't been around loud speakers, announcers, loud music, etc. yet, so better safe than sorry!  Concerning noise, last week I was commenting to Mark that Bridgett is able to sit in a room and do whatever she is working on (maybe an ipad game)  while others are talking in the same room (even at the same table) and while Arrianne is singing in the next room.  She is not distracted by everything else going on around her and is able to stay focused--that's great in my opinion for anyone that has challenges with processing!

Day 231 - Wednesday August 1, 2012

Well I just heard this story from reunion....and I need to verify it before I get the entire story right.....but apparently one of our relatives has a friend who was one of the first responders at Bridgett's wreck.  I'll say it again...it's a small world!  Anyway, apparently at the scene they didn't think she would live at all and so he was so surprised to hear that she was alive and doing so well.  They figured that if she lived she would be in a permanent vegetative state.  Of course, that's what they were telling us when we were in the ICU as well.  Anyway, I thought it was a good time to post the glasgow coma scale.  Remember that hers was initially 3 and that she was not breathing or anything on her own.  The doctors told us that a rock has a glasgow coma score of three.  When I get the full story I will post it.

Day 230 - Tuesday July 31, 2012

Today we saw Brian Miller and Bridgett got to go outside and jog and then run with him.  She actually did really well with both.  He is continuing to work to strengthen her neck muscles as well.  Afterwards we went shopping at Maurice's at the mall.  It's funny...one thing different with Bridgett these days...when we are shopping she never wants me to buy anything for her.  Previously Bridgett could always find something cute at any store and always wanted me to buy something for her.  Now even when I ask her if I can get something for her she always says no.  Funny!  She very happily helps pick out things for her sisters though and she still has great fashion sense. 

Day 229 - Monday July 30, 2012

Today we had a Ginny Wood appointment and things went really well there.  Afterwards we saw Vern.  We are still trying to get the lungs under control so that they don't hurt.  Bridgett has been doing multiplication lately and that's exciting!  Also we have downloaded another really interesting ipad game--flow--that Bridgett really likes and she is very good at it.  She is up to doing the 9X9 levels and is doing great.  You have to problem solve to try to figure out how to connect color dots.  Just the past few days we can really see more of Bridgett's personality coming through.  She sings along with the songs on the ipad and uses the same hand motions and movements she normally would have.  It's fun to see her more and more like herself every day.