Day 289 - Friday September 28, 2012

Today Bridgett and Stephany rested at the hotel while I ran around like a crazy person getting some business done in Provo that had to be taken care of.  At the end of the day I was a little frazzled but I did get everything done that I set out to do so that was the good thing.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a quieter day!  Bridgett's neck pain was low today.  She is doing lots of reading while we are on our trip--back to reading the Harry Potter books on the kindle.  She has used the Kindle so much--daily almost!  Thanks again Alicia!  It's so awesome to live in the technology age.  Almost everyday I marvel at the many things we are able to do because of our technology.  It is really a helpful thing with learning--I love the computer and ipad games and apps that really help teach, re-teach, remind etc.  I think I mentioned this before but when the therapists said that Bridgett would re-learn many things and remember some things I felt a little bit overwhelmed about the whole thing.  As the months have passed I have seen this happen and it's really amazing to think how much she has re-learned vs. remembered.  It really seems like a long time to talk about nine months but living it goes by fairly quickly, thank goodness for all the pregnant women!  As in pregnancy, there are those days that we seem to have where it seems that nine months is forever, but generally the time passes fairly quickly.  I guess that's true in life as well....we just need to keep perspective about things.  Some days that's harder than other days.  Overall life moves along very quickly and often leaves us wondering where the time went and what we have really accomplished.  Hopefully by the end of our life we can look back and feel that we really did accomplish a lot and feel satisfied with what we have done.

Day 288 - Thursday September 27, 2012

It was rather a crazy day today.  Because of the BYU football game we were unable to book all of our nights at either of the Marriott hotels by Arrianne's apartment and because of conventions we were unable to book all of our night at the Marriott Convention Center by Jenn.  We only stay at Marriott Hotels because they are the only hotel that doesn't allow pets and because of Stephany's very great sensitivity to cats we don't risk it at other places.  So, Mark got me booked for one night at the Springhill Suites, then two nights at the Convention Center, then back to the Springhill Suites for the balance of our stay.  I had to leave to Richfield by 11:30 and with late check out the kids had to be out of the hotel by 1:00.  Then they couldn't check in to the Convention Center until 3:00 and I wasn't getting back until about 5:30.  So, I called on the way out of town to square things away at the Convention Center and found out that they didn't have any record of the reservation.  Mark was traveling as well and out of cell phone contact so I was luckily able to book another reservation and got like one of the last rooms they had.  Tyler got checked out with Stephany and they got something to eat and then picked up Arrianne from school (they had her car).  Then Tyler dropped them both off at Arrianne's apartment and went to Jenn's to visit--everyone was sick with a cold there and so Stephany couldn't go over.  Meanwhile Bridgett and I found Faith's house for her appointment; luckily the GPS could locate the address because it would have been complicated to find otherwise with lots of turns and changing of small highways etc.  The appointment was AMAZING!  Faith showed me on a replica of a skull what had happened when Bridgett had her wreck.  It all made so much sense and is what I intuitively thought happened.  Her zygomatic arch was broken and they fixed it but the doctors acknowledged that this arch was compressed in comparison with the right arch.  Faith said that this zygomatic arch was compressing on the eye orbits and skewing Bridgett's vision.  She feels that as she is able to release the zygomatic arch this will allow the eyes to return to normal motion!  Also, when she had the blow to the left temporal lobe this compressed the sphenoid bone which is in turn is compressing the pituitary gland and not allowing it to sit straight or to receive the proper blood flow.  So far the doctors have been unable to understand why she is having hormonal imbalances but I believe this is why.  Additionally when she had the shearing injury at the base of the skull it is contributing to tension in the occipital bone and adding to or causing problems with her neck pain.  Perhaps I am not explaining myself perfectly but if I had a skull I could show you!  Anyway it was a great appointment and we are excited to see Faith again on Tuesday.  We got checked into the new hotel without issues and Tyler left on his backpacking trip with his Marine buddy.

Say 287 - Wednesday September 26, 2012

It's my birthday today and kind of a weird day!  I got up early and finished getting everything ready for the trip.  Tyler was up early finishing getting his gear ready.  I didn't wake up Stephany until sometime after 9:00 and told her to just slowly be waking up.  I was still worried that she might not feel good enough to go and would have to stay with Mark.  I hadn't told anyone about the trip really because I didn't know if it would work out at all to go--between Stephany being sick and Bridgett's neck giving her fits.  Anyway Bridgett woke up feeling good with neck pain only at a level of one and then about 10:00 Stephany finally rolled out of bed and got dressed.  I opened a card from Mark and read a really sweet note that Bridgett wrote for me (herself) and packed up the package that Jenn mailed to me. We were able to leave by 10:30; I figured that if we left by noon we'd be OK so it wasn't too late actually.  Of course, normally I like to get on the road by 7:00 or so but it worked out OK.  The first part of the trip was dreadful really. Stephany rode in the front through the Swan because it's so windey and she was already nauseated (even with the Zofran).  Our first stop--Seeley Lake!  When we got to the Interstate I was going to have them switch places but Stephany was still on the verge of vomiting so she stayed in the front until we got to Dillon.  By then Bridgett's neck pain was at four even with Lortab and she was miserable.  Tyler has had neck problems and he said his neck was hurting some too and that the back seat was not good for neck pain.  We had already stopped in Deer Lodge but had to get out and take people to the bathroom in Dillon and walk around to loosen up Bridgett's neck.  Stephany and Bridgett were both miserable and I thought brother--I'm going to have to get a room here and stay in Dillon and have Tyler come back and get us after hiking!  But the girls both said to keep going even though they were miserable. By the time we hit Idaho Falls (and stopped again) they were both doing better and the last leg of the trip was actually pretty good, relatively speaking.  We made it to Provo and got checked into our hotel and even got to see Arrianne, who came to stay at the hotel with us (we had two beds and a pull out).

Day 286 - Tuesday September 25, 2012

Tyler has decided to go backpacking in the Uinta's with one of his Marine buddies so we can all ride together to Utah and be able to visit the girls.  Also, there is a craniosacral therapist that moved from Colorado Springs CO to a small town by Richfield UT; she is also a naturopathic doctor.  I have called her and she has agreed to meet with Bridgett this Thursday and next Tuesday.  I am hoping that we can stabilize Stephany's condition enough that she can go with us.  The doctors said travel is fine just so long as she sleeps a lot, doesn't have to get up early, stays hydrated, etc.  So late this evening I hurriedly packed for myself, Bridgett and Stephany and we will cross our fingers that it will work out.  It won't be one of the greatest trips maybe but the benefits to Bridgett will be great and we will get to see the girls (and the little boys!).  Stephany really wants to go especially to see Arrianne!

Day 285 - Monday September 24, 2012

Today we finally got a phone call from Stephany's doctor with the results of her blood tests...she has CMV or cytomegalovirus.  It is causing all of her symtoms including the vomiting.  The doctor said her level should be below .6 and it is instead 4.3.  They said the treatment is the same as for mono: fluids and rest.  They will have her re-tested in two weeks to see where her levels are then.  As far as being contagious they said don't kiss on the lips and don't drink out of the same cup--we never do that anyway!  Of course, Stephany doesn't want anyone else to feel like she does...MISERABLE!  One of the nurses said she had it about five years ago and she is married and like in her 40's and said it's the worst thing she's ever felt.

Day 284 - Sunday September 23, 2012

It's interesting the little details that Bridgett has been recalling lately.  For instance she has been very interested in my wedding ring, asking who picked it out (me or Mark) etc.  Then just a couple of days ago when she was looking at it she said something about Jenn's wedding ring.  Immediately my attention turned from what I was doing and I asked her what she remembered about Jenn's wedding ring; Bridgett then describes it exactly to me!  Cool!  Also just recently she remembered about someone she hasn't remembered before and she mimicked their mannerisms! So apparently she now remembers about that person!  Bridgett is very good at mimicking people's mannerisms, speech and expressions.  I mean sometimes I think she should be a comedian!  She definitely gets us all laughing regularly!  In any case she helps us all keep perspective about things at times; regularly when someone asks something she says it either will or it won't in a matter of fact voice.  Sometimes this is just the answer we need to quit stressing about something and realize that it will resolve one way or another. 

Day 283 - Saturday September 22, 2012

Today I finally got a little bit of me time and went and had a facial.  It was nice to go and just do something alone for myself.  Stephany is still very sick but Mark sat with her while I came and Tyler played games with Bridgett.  My birthday is coming up so it was kind of an early birthday thing. 

Day 282 - Friday September 21, 2012

Today was a rather crazy day.  Mark and Stephany were planning on a temple trip to Cardston and then suddenly Stephany was violently ill throwing up.  I ended up taking her to the doctor and they ran a bunch of blood tests and sent us home with a prescription for Zofran.  Mark had to go to town so Bridgett stayed with Tyler while we were gone to the doctor.  Poor little Steph is so sick!  We are keeping her kind of in quarantine hoping that Bridgett doesn't get it too.  I was going to tell you about a new website we found out about from our friends the Busicks...freerice.com. It has two goals:

• Provide education to everyone for free.
• Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

It is a very interesting site and you should check it out! Bridgett was intrigued with the idea of helping people while she answers questions and has set a daily goal to fill two bowls of rice each time she plays. 

Day 281 - Thursday September 20, 2012

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before--but we are going to New York over the Thanksgiving holiday!  Arrianne was invited to sing the Messiah at the Lincoln Center on the Sunday following Thanksgiving and we decided to just make it a family trip--kind of a celebration of life if you will....celebrating almost a year since Bridgett's accident.  None of us have ever been to New York City before so it is very exciting!  Bridgett is excited to go and that's the best part.  We are busy making our plans--where to go etc.  We already have our hotel booked and today I finally got our flights booked.  I must say kudos to Delta--they are awesome.  Both Arrianne and Bridgett had tickets to fly home for last Christmas (separately because they had different days off for the holidays) and those were of course cancelled.  Because of the emergency nature of the cancellation (Bridgett's coma) Delta agreed to waive any re-booking fee for using the ticket.  I mistakenly thought we had one year from the time the girls were to fly home and really it's one year from the date of purchase.  Apparently you have to re-book and finish your flight home before the year is up.  Anyway, when I called to make reservations and use their old flight credits they told me we were too late--by two weeks.  But the VERY nice lady on the line spent so much time and actually got Delta to agree to extend our time because of extenuating circumstances.  So in the end (after about an hour on the phone) we were able to get the flights all booked and we all have seats on the same row!!  I feel so blessed that everything worked out so perfectly and now we can continue planning our very fun trip!

Day 280 - Wednesday September 19, 2012

The name of that thing that Brian had us buy for Bridgett to rest her head on is the Real Ease by Doctor Riter.  It is a neck and shoulder relaxer and is used to help relieve accumulated tension and stress in the neck and shoulders.  It is supposed to help relax the muscle spasm so that the neck returns to its normal curvature.  Bridgett is supposed to use it for 10-15 minutes a day and so far it is working just fine. Every day that Bridgett has a massage her neck feels pretty good--just a 1 on the pain scale--of course with pain reliever.  On the days that she doesn't have massage she is pretty miserable with the pain hovering between 3 and 4.

Day 279 - Tuesday September 18, 2012

We saw Brian today for a massage and that went well. He said there were many knots and that the pain is muscular in nature only.  He said that when she sneezed she got a mini whiplash.  He also did ultrasound on Bridgett's neck.  We have a small ultrasound unit that we used for Arrianne's foot when she had the fractured sesamoid bone.  I have been reluctant to use it yet on Bridgett's neck because ultrasound units can cause a problem for healing fractures.  I don't want to cause any additional problems even though we have been told the fracture is healed and OK; I just wanted to check with someone first before using it.  Brian said it is just fine to use twice a day and may help her pain level so that we can cut back on pain killers.  Great!  I also asked about the TENS unit we have and he said that's fine to use as well.  Additionally he sold us a thing to rest your head on that helps the neck muscles relax and so the neck is not bowed backwards from the neck spasm.  Bridgett should lay on it twice a day for 10-15 minutes.  I will get the exact name for the thing and post it later.

Day 278 - Monday September 17, 2012

We met Kari this morning for a massage.  Immediately Bridgett had relief from the pain and that lasted for most of the day.  By evening she was back in pain again.  We have an appointment with Brian Miller tomorrow for a massage and no PT so we'll see how that goes.  I don't think I have mentioned this before....on the trip to Utah every time we went over a bridge Bridgett would say on the bridge and then off the bridge when we went off.  She never missed saying it once.  Today when we went into town it was the same thing...on the bridge, off the bridge.  She is continuing with the Batman type sayings....holy bunch of laundry Batman.

Day 277 - Sunday September 16, 2012

At some point yesterday afternoon Bridgett's neck all of the sudden started hurting.  Looking back I think it was because she sneezed (twice).  It sounds weird but sometimes when Tyler sneezes he throws his neck out and I think that's what she did.  She sneezed so hard she threw her head way down, like she bent at the waist then afterwards her neck started hurting and it hasn't really stopped.  She hadn't taken any pain killers for like 36 hours and then this happened!  She is back to taking the Lortab around the clock--bummer!  We have realized that her neck hurts less when she is laying down (gravity?) and so whenever it gets bad she seems to want to lay down more.  We started having her lay down on a heating pad and that seems to help keep it loose.  Thankfully I was able to get an appointment with Kari for tomorrow morning and hopefully that will help lots!

Day 276 - Saturday September 15, 2012

Today was apparently a day of batman quotes.  I've said this before....Bridgett always loved movie quotes and she  has a lot of them.  She has slowly been remembering quotes, but hasn't been able to remember the movie very often without prompting although that's getting better all the time as well.  This morning Bridgett was helping me upstairs in the library, straightening out book shelves.  She all of the sudden said holy bunch of books Batman! And there are a bunch of books!  It was funny.  Then later in the day she went to wash her hands and said holy hot water Batman!  Stephany asked her why she was saying that and I said she was remembering Batman quotes and Bridgett said yeah like holy rusted metal Batman--apparently that's from one of the movies or maybe the old series from when we were young; she's watched those as well.  Anyway, it was funny!

Day 275 - Friday September 14, 2012

This morning Bridgett had a massage with Kari and that went well.  Afterwards her pain level was at a zero and remained low all day.  In the afternoon we had an appointment with Dr. Lindsay, neurologist.  We discussed many aspects of Bridgett's healing including her neck pain.  We documented that this pain started up when we started physical therapy for her neck.  We all agreed that it was too much too soon for her neck and that for now we will do the massages at least twice a week and when the pain is resolved address strengthening the neck in a much gentler way.  It was a good appointment and he feels that Bridgett is doing very well.  Just before the appointment started I got a message from the endocrinologists office in Utah and gave them a call back.  A couple of weeks ago they had contacted me saying that Bridgett's ultrasound looked great and the blood tests were fine.  They said any hormonal imbalance might be caused by the taking of supplements (REALLY!).  I mean she is just taking regular supplements--nothing weird.  The supplement that they thought would be causing the problem--iodine!  Anyway, today the doctor told me that she didn't think this was the problem--good because the hormonal imbalance was evident while she was in the hospital and on a feeding tube--no supplements were being given by the hospital.  Anyway, they want further blood tests that need to be done early in the morning.  She talked to the neurologists office and it was decided that the orders would be sent there.  Also she said that the endocrinologists would be having a conference to discuss Bridgett's situation with a group of doctors.  Of course, I am sure they wanted the new blood tests before now, but I didn't get the message to call them until two days later as they left it on my cell phone and I don't have cell service at the house.  I did give them my home number (which I had previously as well).  After our appointment with Dr. Lindsay we met Jaclyn and picked up Westy so that Scott and Jaclyn could go to dinner to celebrate their 11th anniversary. 

Day 274 - Thursday September 13, 2012

We had a much needed day at home today.  Mark and Tyler played games with Bridgett while I reconciled check books and paid medical bills.  Stephany just had her lower braces put on yesterday and so she is feeling that miserable feeling even worse today than yesterday so she rested.  So, it seems that 95% of the people that you deal with regarding medical bills are just easy to work with and really just nice people.  Then there are the other 5%.  They get annoyed when you ask for any information and just say pay the bill--no matter what.  They do not care about whether there is any problem with the insurance claim etc they just say pay the bill and if it's wrong we will refund the money.  There is only one bill that I paid back in April that it turns out I wasn't supposed to pay and I still have not been able to get the money back--$422.  I received a bill showing the insurance adjustment and I knew we had to meet the deductible and hadn't paid any bills yet so I paid this bill.  Then I found out from my insurance agent that this place had submitted the bill incorrectly and if it had been submitted correctly the insurance company would have paid it in full.  So now they need to resubmit and refund my money and it still hasn't happened. So that doesn't work for me to just pay the bill no matter what.  Anyway, I spent quite a bit of time trying to straighten out an account where I had already paid the bill over a month ago but they didn't credit it correctly and so they turned it over to collection.  This is one of those offices that was so hard to work with initially and this is the gal that was so rude to my insurance agent on the phone as well.  So when I called to tell them that it had been previously paid and the check cleared our bank they said not their problem--my problem.  I have to prove by copying and faxing the cancelled check that it was paid.  Wow!  Their internal problem and I have to straighten it out!  I mean just WOW!  There are still claims (quite a few actually) from December that have not fully processed and our agent says that we are not responsible for them until the insurance company finishes processing them.  I just wish they were all processed and we could pay them and then just forget about it!  My living room table has been covered with bills, insurance explanation of benefits and the like for months now and it will be great when we can just move everything upstairs to the filing cabinet and be done!

Day 273 - Wednesday September 12, 2012

I had previously read a very interesting book by Dr. Bradley Nelson called the Emotion Code.  I recently found someone who is doing this kind of emotional clearing here in the Flathead Valley.  Today we took Bridgett to see her because obviously she has a lot of trapped emotions dealing with this accident etc.  We found that there were indeed trapped emotions contributing to her neck pain, her eye problems and blocking her memory.  These emotions were terror, helplessness, sorrow, grief, crying etc. and were from the accident as well as during the recovery while in the hospital.  Of course we know that she had these emotions and now unblocking these emotions will surely help things heal better.  Immediately when Debbie was working on Bridgett her neck pain left her body.  The rest of the day she did not have to take Lortab and only took one at night before bed instead of two.  Let's hope this continues!  Of course, only one appointment will not "fix" things forever.  Bridgett will need to do this emotional releasing more than once.  But, the results in how she felt immediately were a good testimonial to the power of the process.  Bridgett is completely straight forward about things and if the pain had been the same she would have definitely said that.

Day 272 - Tuesday September 11, 2012

The really exciting news of the day....we drove past the fire hall in Ferndale and Bridgett saw the fireman standing at attention.  I said to day is 9-11; do you remember what that means?  Immediately Bridgett's eyes registered that she remembered and she said wasn't that when those terrorists came to New York and broke down the twin Eiffel towers?  Not the Eiffel towers I said but the......and she said the twin towers.  We both were so excited and clapped our hands that she remembered.  Of course immediately she sobered (as did I) thinking about the many lives lost.  It was a terrible day in our history.  Later on she called Arri to tell her that she remembered and Arri asked her how they broke down the towers and Bridgett said they flew those...(pause to remember what they are called)....planes into the towers.  Again she sobered remembering the great loss of life.  Today we had a cranio sacral appointment with Kari that went really well.  She said quite a bit of trauma was released from Bridgett's skull.  She also worked inside Bridgett's mouth continuing with her light touch.  She worked ever so gently on the palatine bone which was really frozen up.  All of these areas have a huge affect not only on the brain but also on the neck and eyes.  Cranio sacral really is an interesting modality. 

Day 271 - Monday September 10, 2012

Again I wish I could relate to everyone how funny it is to be around Bridgett!  She definitely has not lost her gift of making people smile and laugh!  I do think it is a wonderful talent!  It's hard to really relate the things that she says and the way that she says them--but trust me (one of Bridgett's favorite sayings!) she is hilarious!  I have been trying to better organize Bridgett's things from her old apartment that she is not currently using.  Right now it works out pretty well to have everything stored in Arrianne's bedroom but it doesn't look too great to see all of those stacked up boxes.  However, since Arri isn't home I guess no one really sees it.  I meant to mention this months ago when we packed up Bridgett's apartment.  When Mark, Tyler and Arri packed up Bridgett's things I was thinking about the fact that it was so wonderful that there was nothing in her apartment or bedroom that she wouldn't want us to see.  I mean she didn't own or have anything that she would be ashamed of having anyone else see.  That's pretty good for the typical young adult!  Of course, we didn't expect to find anything that we shouldn't but it was very gratifying to find all of the good things in her room: scriptures, quotes, uplifting literature, of course lots of sports related stuff, only modest clothing etc.  On another note entirely, Bob talked to Bridgett about riding one of those new three wheeled recumbent bikes; apparently they are all the rage right now and people actually compete with them.  Bridgett got really excited thinking about actually riding a bike again and competing on it.  Of course, this would be off road.  The problem that I see right now is finding a place where she could actually start riding it off road.  And the weather will be a problem fairly soon.  We need to spend some time thinking about the whole thing.

Day 270 Sunday September 9, 2012

Mostly it was a quiet day today. Bridgett's neck was hurting too badly to go to church so I stayed home with her.  A bit later when Tyler was around I had him stay with Bridgett while I took Stephany to church for Young Women's.  Scott, Jaclyn and Weston came out to visit and play games with Bridgett.  They stayed for a game of three thirteens and then Bridgett's neck hurt too much to continue sitting anywhere and so I put her in bed to play flow on the ipad.  When Bridgett is laying down the pain is significantly lower (gravity?) and so lately she has been lying down quite a bit during the day.

Day 269 - Saturday September 8, 2012

Bridgett again asked me to not wake her during the night for pain killers.  However, during the day Bridgett's neck was a little cranky and we had to go back to giving her Lortab about every five hours.  It was very nice today outside and we spent a little time sitting in the sun on the deck as well as walking around in the sun.  When she was brushing through her hair today she told me what she often says to me about short hair--never cut your hair short until you are too old to do anything at all with it....I mean like REALLY old!

Day 268 - Friday September 7, 2012

Last night for the first time in weeks Bridgett asked me not to wake her to take Lortab!  She slept all night and just took them when she awoke at 7:30.  We headed off to see Kari again for a cranio sacral appointment which went well.  During the day today Bridgett went at least eight hours without taking Lortab, also a first for these past weeks.  Of course she always maintains her happy mood so that is great!

Day 267 - Thursday September 6, 2012

We went and saw the new craniosacral gal today. When we actually met I knew that things would be good; you can just tell whether people are legitimate or not.  Kari was very attentive and very intuitive and she worked great with Bridgett!  She is very gentle with Bridgett and I think that is so important, especially right now.  When we got home after the appointment Bridgett felt tired and went in to take a nap.  She slept so deeply I was almost concerned.  After a couple of hours I went into the room and started making light noises to start waking her.  It took her a bit to wake up but she felt rested.  She ate dinner and then wanted to go to bed for the night.  Apparently some people react to cranio this way, by being very tired after a session.  Also sometimes people have an increase in energy or feel achy. 

Day 266 - Wednesday September 5, 2012

Bridgett's neck was a little more sore this morning after that long drive yesterday, but still not nearly as bad as it has been.  Shortly after she woke up this morning Bridgett said except for this neck pain my life is perfect!  She's a cutie! Today was mostly occupied with unpacking, washing, going through mail, etc. and we will plan to get back to the regular schedule tomorrow. Josh sent me a text yesterday on the way home and said that Bridgett's energy was pretty low and he wanted to try to help us find a qualified therapist here for her to see.  I had been given the name of someone that practices in Bigfork and I called her today and actually spent about an hour on the phone with her.  Based on our conversation I feel really good about taking Bridgett to see her and we got an appointment set up for tomorrow.  Hopefully she will be as good as Josh!  I forgot to mention that last Saturday night I took Arrianne out to eat at a Chinese restaurant in Provo and while there I saw Leslie (one of the trauma doctors from the Provo ICU) sitting at the table next to us.  She looked up and recognized me and I recognized her and so we had a little talk about Bridgett.  She said every time she passes Provo College she thinks about Bridgett.  She was so happy to hear that Bridgett was doing so well.  I told her about the basket that Stephany had made and she said just to come and bring it up (along with Bridgett).  I had already called the hospital and asked about bringing the basket up and there was a bunch of red tape to get permission to leave it there; it seems funny that anyone would make it so hard just to leave something nice for people!  Anyway, it seemed a blessing to run into Leslie and I was glad that we had decided to try a new place to eat!

Day 265 - Tuesday September 4, 2012

Today was the big day that we drove back to Montana.  We said goodbye to the girls early and got on the road about 8:30.  Actually Bridgett's neck was still doing great after seeing Josh yesterday.  We only had to stop twice on the way home, which is usually how much we stop anyway!  Her neck pain stayed pretty low all day although she felt uncomfortable several times.  It was so much better than the trip to Provo!  Of course, she is still taking Lortab around the clock as well as the muscle relaxant. It was hard leaving Arrianne in Provo without Bridgett.  It's wonderful that all of the girls are so close to each other but it is also hard for them to be seperated.  Arrianne now faces the reality of not having her big sister to watch out for her and to be there at the apartment at the end of a long day.  Bridgett did tell Arrianne that she will be back to school sometime and they will be roommates again.  All of these things are adjustments that we make in life.  Life is about change--the one sure thing in life.  Change is hard for almost everyone but it is the reality of life.  These past months have been full of emotion for everyone.  Of course, the bottom line is we are all so grateful that Bridgett's life was spared.  Sometimes we just have emotional moments and adjustments that we really didn't want to have to make. 

Day 264 - Monday September 3, 2012

The first thing we did this morning was to go and visit the ICU in Provo.  Stephany had made a wonderful basket to leave at the ICU for people that had a family member in the ICU.  It's full of things that might be necessary or at least nice to have--travel toothbrushes, mouthwash, lotion, deodorant, chapstick, protein bars, life savers, decks of cards (for the waiting room), candy, and nuts (maybe more I can't remember!).  The nurses were just amazed to get the basket.  More amazing yet was their reaction to seeing Bridgett.  Of course, not many people return to the ICU to say hi.  It was very fun.  Trauma Tom was there and they paged him to come and say hi.  We saw a couple of nurses we recognized.  It was very fun although it was sobering for the girls I think.  We got a picture of the three girls standing in the waiting room although Arrianne said I can't think of why you want to remember this place.  We do have some pictures of family and friends in the waiting room while Bridgett was there; of course, we were all so stressed it is hard to even remember those days very well.  From my point of view, it was nice to be where we are now...with Bridgett doing so much better and just visiting the hospital!  It represented a little bit of closure to the whole thing I thought.  Afterwards Bridgett had a massage with Josh Chappell.  He did a great job of loosening up her neck muscles and she was at a pain level of zero afterwards!  We then headed to swin at Deb's house (along with Jenn and her family and Deb's daughter Sonya and her family), which might not have been great timing since Bridgett had just had a massage.  I don't know how much of this I have blogged about but Bridgett had been so afraid to swim because she thinks she might drown--even in the hot tub.  This has been very strange for us as Bridgett has always been a great swimmer and fearless in the water ever since birth.  Overall Bridgett has always been unafraid to try new situations etc. so to see her so afraid has been very uncharacteristic.  When she saw Bob last week her challenged her to swim some time in the next week.  They talked the whole situation over and the fact that Mark would help her and that the water would be shallow enough that she could just stand up.  She ended up being excited to swim and so she readily agreed to go to Deb's to swim.  We got pictures of her as she slowly entered the pool.  Normally in the freezing cold lake she would just plunge in (like she did at the polar dips!) and this time she instead slowly entered down the steps, stopping to get used to the feel of the water.  However, once in the water she stayed for quite a while and really enjoyed it.  She did some floating and she treaded water.  She played with the beach balls and swam underwater.  All in all it was a great time and I got some cute pictures.  When she got cold after about an hour she got out and got dressed and then shortly thereafter we all had some dinner and then headed back to Provo.  While we were there Deb's neighbor Leslie came over (after Deb got my permission) to meet Bridgett and I.  She has been reading the blog and wanted to meet us although she had previously met Mark and Jenn and Tyler Fenn.  It was so nice to meet her and discuss Bridgett for a bit.  I showed her a picture of Bridgett in the ICU; although it is a hard picture to look at it really helps you realize how far she has come.  It's good for all of us to remember where we have been and where we are now.  All in all it was a good day and we all had fun.  It will be hard to leave Provo tomorrow and we will miss our sweet daughters so much.  It's always to fun to spend time together and hard for that time to end. 

Day 263 - Sunday September 2, 2012

It was a quiet day today.  Mark stayed with the girls and I took a little time to go visit my mom by myself.  We haven't really had much time to spend alone since my dad passed in December (while Bridgett was in a coma).  It's hard to really discuss things with so many other distractions so it was nice to be alone and just talk.  It's such a hard thing--losing a spouse (and a father).  My mom is so brave and strong and I love her so much.  I am glad that Mark was here so that I had this time.  Afterwards we spent most of the rest of the day with Jenn and it was so nice to be able to just talk to her as well.  This trip we have actually been able to spend quite a bit of time with her and her family.  Many of our trips are so busy we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like to.  It's such a big thing right now is Jenn's life--being pregnant with twins.  There are so many decisions to make and it is a lot different than just being pregnant with a single child.  Bridgett had a great day today as well.  We had hoped that she would be able to go to ward prayer with Arrianne and see some of the people from their ward (which is still Arri's ward now) but unfortunately things did not work out for that to happen.  Next time we are down we will plan for that. 

Day 262 - Saturday September 1, 2012

This morning we decided to go to the Salt Lake Aquarium; we've never been there before but it looked like it would be fun.  It is located in Salt Lake at the corner of 7th East and 106th South. 
It was actually pretty crowded probably since it was a Saturday and in addition it was rainy weather outside so a good day to be inside! We had a great time there seeing all of the different fish, etc including penguins.  Stephany had a fun time petting a couple of sharks and we got a picture of the girls standing "inside" the jaw of a great white shark.  There was a lot to see and Bridgett didn't get tired out until towards the very end.  She and Mark found a nice bench to sit on while we headed back so that Steph could pet the sharks again.  It's great to have Mark here with us!  I was hoping that Josh would be able to meet us again today but he still has not had time yet.  We are crossing our fingers for Monday.  Bridgett's neck is getting tighter again and we need to get someone to work on it.  However bad the pain is, Bridgett is still always her happy self and still almost always smiling.  When the pain gets high and you ask how she is doing she still says besides the fact that it feels like a horse and a cow are kicking me I'm doing just wonderfully (or grand or whatever the word for the week happens to be!)  Still no word from the endocrinologists office:(

Day 261 - Friday August 31, 2012

It has been fun driving around the Provo area because Bridgett remembers her way around, which is exciting!  She has been able to give me directions to several places.  It was kind of a hectic day today as I had payroll to get done, in addition to other things.  The endocrinologist called a couple of days ago and said that they had decided that they wanted her to get a pelvic ultrasound before we leave for Montana.  They said they left orders the the University hospital to get us in by Friday no matter what.  I called and they scheduled us for this morning and so we headed up there while Bridgett drank 32 oz of water prior to the appointment.  Everything went great with getting the ultrasound and the technician was so very nice to Bridgett.  She told Bridgett that the left ovary looks great and that she was able to get all of the information that the doctors would need from her to better diagnose the issues.  The doctor said that the results of the blood tests would be available by today as well so I was hoping to hear from them, but they did not call.  Arrianne and Bridgett hang out in the afternoon while Stephany and I got some errands done.  Arrianne was working on some homework and Bridgett saw a packet of some of Arrianne's music flashcards and picked them up.  Right off she started naming the names of the notes.  Arrianne said she did great although she had a little trouble with the bass clef (but only a couple of notes).  That was pretty exciting.  Of course, we have known that she reads notes when she plays the piano, but it's exciting that she remembers the names of the notes!  Mark flew back in from Tampa after the Republican National Convention and it was great to all be back together!  It seems like the end of a very long week and I guess as I look back over my schedule--it has been a very long week.  We have accomplished a lot and visited a lot as well.  Bridgett has held up with all the travelling not only to Utah, but back and forth from Provo to Salt Lake four times in the past seven days--including several appointments on each day.  She seems a little tired out--but she has hung in like a trooper!

Day 260 - Thursday August 30, 2012

For those who are wondering....Jenn had her ultrasound and she is having twin boys-fraternal.  Fraternal twins are apparently the kind that are hereditary and there are sets of twins in our family--both on my side and on Mark's.  So, I guess that means that there could possibly be more twins some day in our family!  It was all exciting news although Bridgett was holding out for twin girls (as were some of the rest of us!).  We had another great appointment for Bridgett today with the brain processing experts; the last time we saw them was in May just before we came home.  She was tested on various things and she did just great! She tested in the top 1% of the population on a visual processing test! They were very excited about how well her eyes were doing and they were amazed with her progress overall.  They will get a new protocol ready for us to be doing for the next three months.  Based on their testing, they believe that Bridgett will make a full recovery and be able to do anything she desires.  We of course have always believed that but it is always good to get an opinion from others that deal with these issues on a regular basis.  We drove back to Provo feeling elated and then we hit the BYU football game traffic; still I was so excited even the bad traffic did not dampen my spirits.