Day 321 - Tuesday October 30, 2012

Even when Bridgett is having a bad day with lots of pain if you ask her how she is doing, she is always doing terrific, wonderful, or whatever word she's on for the week.  Today she was in just terrible pain and we were working through it with mag phos, rice bags, pain relievers, etc.  Mark came in the room and asked her how she was today and she said WONDERFUL!  I said even when she's in pain she's wonderful and she said....how can I not be wonderful?  I'm alive!!  We should all have such a great attitude!

Day 320 - Monday October 29, 2012

Update on using the arm bicycle.....Bridgett woke up with neck pain on Sunday morning although it was just a one.  Then today she woke up with neck pain at a two.  This morning we had a craniosacral appointment with Kari which went well.  By evening Bridgett was hurting everywhere.  It's that time of month and she is always miserable then...ever since she had her right ovary removed in Dec. 2010.  She is having kidney pain, neck pain, and ovary pain so it's hard to tell if it's the arm bicycle flaring things up or just the regular hurt everywhere pain. We will see in a couple of days.  The endocrinologists checked out the left ovary (looks great!) and the right ovary removal site by ultrasound and they say that they believe that scar tissue is causing the problem and there is nothing they can do about it.  Hummm......

Day 319 - Sunday October 28, 2012

Today was a rare day when Mark, Stephany and I got to go to church together and Tyler stayed home with Bridgett.  The occasion was the dedication of the Calgary Temple and we headed into Kalispell for a broadcast of the event.  It was a wonderful meeting and it was just so fun to spend some alone time with Stephany as well.  We really don't get to do that much--be alone with Stephany--although we need to start setting some time apart for that very thing!  Afterwards we stopped at Scott, Jaclyn and Weston's house to switch vehicles (Mark had Scott's truck to get wood for someone and so Scott had the Lexus) and it was so nice to get to see them!  It seems like such a long time since we got to really visit.  We didn't stay long as Tyler already had responsibility with Bridgett for about four hours and it was important to relieve him.  However, overall it was such a wonderful and spiritual day!  I really needed that!  Ginny Reed made it a point to come up and give me a hug and I really appreciated that so much!  She said she'd been thinking about me and how much my life has changed.  I started to cry a bit--I'm just fine if we don't talk about things! (Well, I'm fine if I plan ahead to be talking about the situation--to therapists, doctors, etc.)  Anyway it was so nice of her to be thinking about me and to take the time to talk to me. 

Day 318 - Saturday October 27, 2012

I got a call from my mom today and she reminded me about how good it is for the brain to do puzzles.  We went through quite a few weeks where we did puzzles every day, back when Arrianne was home.  It's been quite a while now and it's definitely time to get the puzzles back out and get to work!  Thanks mom!

Day 317 - Friday October 26, 2012

Today was one of those nice days when we could just stay home and get things done.  Bridgett is back to helping around the house, in a small way right now; we are taking it slowly so as not to flare up her neck.  She is helping unload the top rack of the dishwasher, helping with some cooking and baking, etc.  Today the arm bicycle showed up and Bridgett was so excited to use it.  I only let her do it for like one minute (her max was five minutes at the PT) and we will see how things are tomorrow.  For the past week she has pretty much had no pain in her neck--yippee!  We don't want to rush anything and have a flare up of the muscle spasm!

Day 316 - Thursday October 25, 2012

One of the hard things is that most people don't realize how Bridgett is really doing; I know because I am with her 24/7.  For example, the speech therapist yesterday was thinking of some goals for Bridgett.  She suggested that Bridgett babysit for Connor (4) and Caden (2), her nephews, alone for 30 minutes.  Well, that's just not a good idea at all!  Since we were just all sitting there together and I don't say certain things in front of Bridgett I just said Bridgett tell Lynne where they live and she said Provo.  So, that took care of that.  But, in the long run I need to talk to Lynne and get her to realize that Bridgett is doing great and doing better all the time, but she is still not totally aware of herself yet and can't be in charge of someone else when she can't really be in charge of herself!  It will come, just give it time---another one of Bridgett's favorite sayings these days!  She tells us all this when we are frustrated about anything.  I think many people see Bridgett and because she's funny and quick with her responses they think she is farther along in the healing process of the brain; she is still trying to remember who she is and her past right now; we just need to give it time.

Day 315 - Wednesday October 24, 2012

Today Bridgett had speech therapy with Lynne.  She really likes Lynne so that's helpful.  Lynne is wanting to have Bridgett set some goals, with our help.  Bridgett said her ultimate goal is to return to college.  She has decided (for the time being) that she doesn't want to return to Provo College for Personal Training but instead go to UVU and major in psychology or child development.  Of course, things may easily change but this has been on her mind for the past three or so weeks.  She is interested in working with people with brain injuries and trying to help them recover.  She has asked a lot of questions about different degrees that people have that work with her but has narrowed it down to these two fields right now.  Now we have to set some short term goals to help her get back to college.  In many ways she is doing just great, but of course there is a long way to go to get back to college, listening to lectures, note taking, passing of exams etc.  But, one step at a time.  Some days I hear the little tune in my mind...take two steps forward and one step back...but most of the time I just focus on the direction we are headed.  Bridgett is headed in a great direction and we just need to help her continue that trajectory! 

Day 314 - Tuesday October 23, 2012

Every day Bridgett is supposed to watch something on TV while wearing pinhole glasses with the right eye (the better eye) patched.  Initially we had a problem with this because Bridgett hasn't wanted to watch TV at all--not even movies.  The only thing she has watched since the accident was 45 minutes (WOW!) of the Olympics, the equestrian events.  Anyway, the occupational therapist suggested that we watch something on youtube on the ipad and that has worked out so well!  So, now everyday we watch something on the ipad, usually just for five minutes but up to ten minutes.  Bridgett's favorite clips are sports (shocking, right!).  Her very favorites are rugby or something with Michael Jordan.  We branch out to other things like figure skating, bull riding, etc. but we seem to get back to Michael Jordan the most, followed by rugby. 

Day 313 - Monday October 22, 2012

It's funny the things what Bridgett picks up and remembers.  For example, the other day she said to me...when the doctors helped with my brain injury, didn't they pierce the dorsal mid brain and that is what damaged my eyesight?  Exactly right; she's just heard us talk about it and then has picked it up and remembered it. Such a random thing to remember.  Perhaps this supports the idea that the brain loves to remember exciting or high intensity things--things that capture the attention--better than the boring and mundane.

Day 312 - Sunday October 21, 2012

As far as physical things that Bridgett is working on doing each day:

• I've challenged her to walk up and down the stairs at least twice each day, with no assistance from anyone.  In the rehab hospital Bridgett was doing seven sets of stairs each day, up and down, with no assistance.  When we got her home in the apartment in Provo she was doing three sets several times a week, but holding onto the railing; they were cement stairways outside.  By the time we got home she was doing one flight to the basement, holding on with both hands to the railing.  Soon she was nervous about doing the stairs, worried that she might fall and hit her head or re-injure her neck.  She began to tell me she didn't want to go downstairs because she might get hurt.  The neurologist here said that initially she had no fear and it was because she wasn't really aware enough to be afraid. Now she realizes fear, which is a step in the healing process.  So, we set small goals and work up to larger ones.
• Bridgett does cross skipping each day.  This is skipping where you touch the opposite leg with the hand (i.e. touch the right leg with the left hand).  Actually, you should try it--it's pretty physical and can be tiring!
• Riding on the stationary recumbent bicycle in the house.  We have been encouraged to get her a recumbent bicycle for outdoors, but we really don't have any good place for her to ride it at this point, so for now we will just use the stationary bicycle inside.
• We were walking 1-1/2 to 2 miles a day outside until we started up with bears in the yard.  So, now we are walking when either Tyler or Mark have time to go with us.  We take bear spray and they take a gun.  It's hard to be consistent with this, but we are working on getting back to daily on the walking.

Right now we are not doing physical therapy because of the issues with the muscle spasm in her neck.  Somehow we will have to figure out how to strengthen the neck without doing the exercises that she was doing in PT that caused the muscle spasm in the first place--mostly doing things over her head aggravated it I think.  I have ordered what they call an aerobic pedal exerciser--otherwise known as the arm (or leg) bicycle.  This is the one piece of equipment that everyone seems to think helps strengthen the neck/arms without causing problems with the muscle spasm that Bridgett has had going on.  So, I just ordered one from amazon.com and it will be here on Friday.  It's under $30 so much less expensive than going to rehab plus so much more convenient to do at home!

Day 311 - Saturday October 20, 2012

Of course originally Bridgett was unable to read regular sized print, like in a book.  Then months later she was able to read regular print but it fatigued her eyes too much (June - August) and she could not read more than a paragraph at a time.  In September, using reading glasses, she could read a two page non-fiction article in regular print.  By this month the reading glasses are making it harder to read and so she stopped using them and she is reading the two page article easily without glasses and no fatigue.  So also answers questions at the end of her reading about content and vocabulary.  She reads about various subjects, to include the Hubble telescope, lizards, salivary glands, spiders, how fax machines work etc.  It's fun to see Bridgett's progress and very encouraging as well.

Day 310 - Friday October 19, 2012

Bridgett woke up this morning and without any prompting said to me--I don't want to go anywhere today so will you cancel my massage appointment please?  I was just so excited that she remembered that she had an appointment!  I went ahead and cancelled the appointment and thought to myself that this is another sign that Bridgett is getting to be more like herself all of the time. Although Bridgett is a very social person, there are times when it's cold outside and she just wants to hunker down with a book and read and stay indoors.  That is what she did most of the day today--read! Somehow when we took Bridgett's pinhole glasses to rehab on Wednesday they got misplaced somewhere.  We have looked everywhere and contacted Lynne who didn't see them in her office anywhere.  Of course, Bridgett was quite broken up about that--NOT!  She hates those things but dutifully wears them when I request it.  I often have to remind her that they really are helping her eyes get better.  I ordered another pair and they will be here on Monday.  In the meantime, Bridgett is enjoying a short reprieve!

Day 309 - Thursday October 18, 2012

I am still awaiting the written lab reports from Bridgett's recent blood draws, taken on orders from the endocrinologists office in Utah.  Actually they did like 6-7 tests the first time (in Utah)  and 5 the second time (at KRMC on orders from Utah).  It took quite a while to hear the test results verbally; all tests came back in the normal range.  Faith said that while the tests are in the normal range, they will show low or high normal on some things and that will give her a clue to what's going on. However I must say that since we saw her in Utah things are quite a bit improved with the hormonal issues that Bridgett was having.  Maybe just getting correct blood flow to the pituitary gland is helping in that area.  I will continue to monitor how things are going so that I can report to her.  We will be headed back to Utah in about four weeks and Bridgett will see Faith 2-3 times while we are there.  We have three appointments scheduled but we may not be able to stay long enough for the third appointment. 

Day 308 - Wednesday October 17, 2012

Today we had our second appointment with Lynne Beauclair at the Kalispell Regional Inpatient Rehab.  I think I forgot to tell you all about the great appointment we had last week.  Bridgett was quite funny and very hyper.  She just kept saying the funniest things.  Lynne several times tried to talk to Bridgett in a serious way but soon enough Bridgett would say something so funny and Lynne would just start laughing even though she was trying to be serious.  Lynne said that Bridgett reminds her of a stand up comedian; in some ways not far from the truth!  It was so funny because towards the end of the conversation she said she detected a slight British accent in there somewhere.  True!  Bridgett loves to speak with a British accent, although she really wasn't doing it that much but you could still sometimes hear it a bit.  Today Bridgett was settled down quite a bit and we had a more serious appointment (as much as possible with Bridgett's humor).  Lynne did some evaluation testing and then afterwards we showed her a list of the things we do daily.  She was going to give us some "homework" but said we already do so many great things that it would be unnecessary.  Bridgett demonstrated several ipad apps she uses and Lynne said that actually helps with her evaluations because it shows things that her testing doesn't.  Bridgett is quite fast with many of her apps and that really shocked Lynne I think.  She said that she wouldn't be able to do some of them herself.  One thing that was very evident in Lynne's testing was the fact that Bridgett can concentrate on the task at hand for quite some time.   She was asked to decipher a code and she really concentrated and I think did well.  I couldn't really see but I will ask Lynne after she scores the test.  I am very glad that we got in to see Lynne and I do really like her.  We will have weekly appointments for a while now and see how that goes.  She also suggested that we check into meeting with a neurophychologist, which I am happy to do whenever the doctors think the time is right; she is going to talk to Dr. Lindsay about this and will let us know.  One thing she said last week was in effect--Bridgett you are a puzzlement; the speech therapist in Utah said she was a conumdrum. I mentioned that to Lynne this week and she smiled and said exactly my thoughts! Also this week she said I think that before the accident you were a very smart person and probably no one even realized how smart you were.  She is very impressed with the things that Bridgett does.  She said that Bridgett is quick with her comments, whitty, thinks and processed quickly, understands things with a deeper meaning (don't cry over spilled milk), sensitive to peoples feelings, etc.  She said she's never seen anything like Bridgett in a TBI patient before.  Of course, we always all knew that Bridgett was a unique and very bright and wonderful individual--that hasn't changed since the TBI. 

Day 307 - Tuesday October 16, 2012

Sometimes I think back to those early days of Bridgett's injury, when they told us how long her recovery would take.  I remember thinking and saying that even if it took two years, in the perspective of a life that is not very much; at least Bridget would still be able to have a full life after her recovery.  Sometimes I have to remind myself of how we all felt at that time.  When you are living through the recovery you have days of feeling like it's been forever, like things are improving so slowly. When I have these feelings I have to remind myself how very far we've come and how much hope we have for the future.  Keeping perspective is so important.  Eternal perspective is the most important of all--things happen in God's time.  Sometimes we get impatient but we have to remember the scripture...be still and know that I am God.  Today is a day of reflection on these things. 

Day 306 - Monday October 15, 2012

Today Bridgett remember something from long term memory--Edmonton Mall!  She remembers taking a trip there as a family (actually we've gone twice) although she couldn't really remember much about the mall.  This is what I think sometimes--it seems that she remembers the essence of things but not the details.  I know I have talked about her long term memory problems before.  Months ago I said that it seemed that her only long term memory would be what we remind her of either in stories or written in her personal reference book that I made for her--it's like we are re-creating her long term memory.  The personal reference book has a lot of information in it but just imagine trying to put everything in it to remind someone of their entire past--unfathomable!  I have like 18 pages of information and I try to add more all of the time but it's hard to know what to put on these pages.  I have a page for each of the following: Bridgett's siblings, childhood memories, schools attended, jobs she's had, cars she's driven, sports she's played, a family tree for Mark's family and my family, etc.  I used to have a bunch of pictures (initially) and then we found out that she couldn't see the pictures to identify anything anyway.  Now she can see the pictures, but she remembers the people so they aren't so necessary and I just have written info.  I guess it will always be a work in progress!

Day 305 - Sunday October 14, 2012

It seems that we have missed church for so many Sundays in a row.  Between Stephany being sick and Bridgett's neck hurting so much it just hasn't worked out.  We all miss attending and I am hoping that soon we can make it back.  Thanks to everyone who is putting Bridgett's name on the temple prayer roll.  Please add Stephany's name as well. 

Day 304 - Saturday October 13, 2012

 I was helping Bridgett get her hoodie off of her head (it hurts her neck to take it off alone) and suddenly I realized that there was a wasp inside her hoodie right by her neck.  I quickly took it off and threw it on the floor which really startled and scared Bridgett.  I told her about the hornet and looked around and by golly it was on the floor right by our feet.  I said ohhh and scared her again and then grabbed a kleenex and squished it.  It scared us both and then we both broke out laughing so hard!  

Day 303 - Friday October 12, 2012

Yesterday at the eye doctor I asked a questions about Bridgett's optic nerve that is pale; I keep forgetting to ask anyone when I actually have Bridgett at the eye doctor.  Anyway, my question is why is the nerve pale--what does that mean?  He said that once an optic nerve is damaged it doesn't get good blood flow and it then looks pale.  I looked this up on the internet for an explanation:

"The optic nerve is the place in the back of the eye that sends all the vision messages to the brain. If something happens to it, it stops working. That is called optic nerve atrophy. Atrophy means “worn out.” The eye doctor can look at the optic nerve through the pupil. If the optic nerve is atrophied, it looks pale instead of pink."

He said that generally if the nerve is pale it won't work correctly and it is unusual that her eyesight has improved so much.  He was impressed! 

Day 302 - Thursday October 11, 2012

Bridgett woke up today saying that her heart pain was a four or five on a scale of 1 to 10.  That concerned me right away.  She keep holding her heart and looking worried.  Her neck was also hurting again and the pain was up to a five.  I gave her a Lortab and a muscle relaxant and some mag phos to relax the muscles and had her lay down and read while I called the doctors office.  The only time they could see Bridgett was while I would be in another appointment at the ophthalmologist's office with Stephany--more about that later.  Mark said he had political meetings and couldn't help out and so I enlisted Tyler to take Bridgett to Michelle Helwig's office in the early afternoon.  I then put a rice bag on her heart and that helped ease the pain.  Bridgett explained the pain as feeling like an arrow was stabbing her; I told the doctors office it felt like a knife was stabbing her and she corrected me saying it was an arrow and that was very different.  I'm not sure I can picture how it would be different but she was very emphatic about this' maybe the pain felt more piercing.  Everything went fine at Bridgett's appointment. They did an EKG at the office and her heart is doing just fine.  Michelle said that she believes that Bridgett is experiencing pleurisy. She told Tyler that it could be caused from the accident and that Bridgett might always have the pain off and on.  Bummer!  Thinking about it afterwards, Mark has had pleurisy for a long time and both Scott and Tyler have had pleurisy occasionally in the past.  So, maybe it's just hereditary and we won't worry too much about it.  At least now when she gets the pain we know it's not her heart and also we can reassure Bridgett.  In the past when her heart has been hurting she has asked a lot of questions about when people have heart attacks.  I finally asked her straight out if she was worried that she's having a heart attack.  She answered in a round about way saying that she is young and healthy and shouldn't be having a heart attack.  I know therefore that she worries about it, as would probably anyone so this can reassure her.  About Stephany....the CMV can have a complication of retinitis-which can cause permanent blindness.  This is only supposed to happen in HIV patients or those that have had an organ transplant.  They list those with compromised immune systems--which Stephany does have.  I called and talked to Michelle Helwig's office and just mentioned the eye pain and they immediately referred us to the eye doctor, so we went.  Stephany's eyes have been hurting really bad and her vision has been blurry at night.  Her appointment went well and Dr. Olson said her eyes are just fine.  He said most likely it is pain from her sinuses causing the problem.  Since I have had optic neuritis before I was a little concerned and he definitely could understand that. It was definitely reassuring to know that her optic nerves are doing just fine. This CMV is pretty weird.  Anyway, Vern tested Stephany yesterday and gave us something and sure enough her eyes are feeling better.

Day 301 - Wednesday October 10, 2012

I forgot to mention this story from yesterday....Mark had called me to say he was headed home from work which should take about 35 minutes.  Sometime after that he called me and he didn't have good reception.  I finally figured out that he was in the driveway calling and I immediately thought there must be a bear in the driveway.  I could catch a word here and there and he said window and porch so we ran to the front door and looked out the leaded glass (not ideal) and there was indeed a black bear just off the porch.  The bear moved towards the grass so Tyler opened the door and stood on the porch and got a picture with his phone.  We all stood there and watched it for a bit and then it finally ran off around the side of the house.  Mark came in then and he and Tyler ran to the back deck and watched the bear walk around the back of the house on the path and then start down the path to the lake.  Part way down he veered off the trail into the neighbors yard.  Mark called to the neighbors, who were in their hot tub, but they didn't hear him.  The bear continued downhill to the beach and we came inside at that point.  Then Mark then told us his experience before he called on the phone.  He had parked his truck and headed across the driveway into the house.  He heard some noise and thought it was a deer.  However, as he rounded the corner he saw a beer trying to climb a tree and the bear was looking at him.  He quickly turned and bee lined it to the truck, not looking back!  The bear meandered around a bit while he called us and then the story above explains it from there. As Bridgett has been re-telling this story she always says there was a little bear cub in the yard.  Well, that "little" bear was probably two years old or so and weighed about 250 pounds; not something you would want to wrestle!  Bridgett always says if a bear attacked her she'd just kick it in the head.  Hum........ Always something exciting happening! We've seen a bear in the yard every year for the past four or so.  So most for our neighbors told us they'd never seen bear around here before although the Fish and Game guys said there are definitely bear around here.  At least this one was a black bear and not a grizzly like last year! As long as we are on nature stories around the house, we are being deluged by hornets!  Enough said on that point--hopefully soon that story will be over as well, with only this one little bit of a reminder.

Day 300 - Tuesday October 9, 2012

This seems like a good place to stop and report progress on recovery for Bridgett.  By the way I started this blog recording things by the day.  When we reach a year if I am still blogging I will switch to just putting the date, in case anyone was wondering!

• Neck: pain doing better all of the time!
• Hormones: doctors don't know what to think.  They label her symptoms idiopathic at this point.  We'll just keep on addressing the issues from a natural healing perspective I guess.
• Eyes: still having trouble moving to the outside with both eyes.  Left eye still prone to "wandering" towards the middle.  Eyesight  fluctuates; the day they tested they considered her vision in the normal range.  Other times she has trouble seeing from any distance.  For example, yesterday we were walking in the driveway.  Mark has HUGE political signs in the back of the truck.  Bridgett was unable to read the huge lettering until we were within about 15 feet of the truck.
• Memory:  Bridgett is spontaneously remembering things I am surprised about.  For example I was naming people from Kalispell that we know from church.  I named several people and she was able to fill in the name of another family member that I hadn't named.  She even remember the names of Ligia (spelling?) and Joe Hardy's boys and they were people that we knew but didn't hang around with and weren't in our ward.  Interesting what the mind remembers--kind of like she remembers unusual things.....hum.  Then if I ask her basic questions about her own childhood she is blank still. I asked about her baptism and she doesn't remember anything about it.  The only story she remembers from her childhood is an unusual one that Mark reminded her about.   She does remember things that I have put in her personal reference book that she reads or I read to her.  So, she remembers recent things better than past things....hum.  She is getting pretty good about staying on track with the day of the week and the date.  She is very conscientious of time and wears her watch without prompting and refers to it often.
• Still having heart pain and erratic heart rate

Day 299 - Monday October 8, 2012

Today we had an appointment at Michelle Helwig's to get Stephany's blood tests done again to see where her CMV levels are.  In this way they will be able to tell if she has a chronic condition or what.  She really has not felt well since she had her tonsils out and of course before that she was sick all of the time so I am thinking that its a chronic thing.  She had mono and then repeated strep infections, culminating in having her tonsils removed last October.  Just these past couple of days, in the afternoon, Stephany has been a little talkative and smiley.  She has been up walking around a little bit.  Michelle said that she just needs to take it easy and not overdo or she will be right back in bed for another two weeks. Bummer!  While we were there I had them check Bridgett for a UTI; the test was negative.  She has been having regular kidney pain for the past two weeks.  We are crossing our fingers that she doesn't have a kidney stone.  She's passed three or four before; it's hard for me to remember.  Bridgett thinks she's passed three and I lean towards four.  Anyway, we are continuing to remind her to drink at regular intervals.  Otherwise we are back to doing Bridgett's "program" of activities to help with brain processing.  She has a list that we dutifully check off each day--well, almost each day!  When we travel things get a little messed up and when her pain level is too high it's hard to get things done.  Speaking of pain level....since the second time Faith worked on Bridgett her pain level has stayed so low.  She has not had to take any Lortab since the drive home.  Most of the time her pain level is below 1 although occasionally it goes to 2 for a short time and then she lays down on the heating pad for a bit while she reads.  Bridgett is reading a bunch again and I downloaded books 4 and 5 of the Harry Potter series for her.  I have to remember to regularly charge the Kindle or we run into trouble! 

Day 298 - Sunday October 7, 2012

This week was general conference weekend and so we got to watch church on TV, broadcast from Salt Lake City.  Saturday when we watched the two sessions Bridgett didn't really want to watch.  She sat in the kitchen and played games at the table (she could hear it) or laid in bed reading (she could still hear it).  But today she sat through the entire first session of conference. These past two months since her neck has been acting up she has not been able to sit through church.  Today she didn't really sit through the whole thing either; she got up and walked around several times to keep her neck loose.  But she stayed in the room the whole time and really listened to the talks; that was so nice!  She got really excited to hear the prophet speak, as did all of us.  Arrianne was able to go to the conference center for the Saturday afternoon session so that was fun for her.  All in all it was a wonderful Sunday.  I really enjoyed the talk by Jeffrey Holland, The First Great Commandment; he was the president at BYU when I was a student there.  He was so powerful during this talk!  I also really enjoyed Henry B. Eyring's talk titled Where is the Pavilion.  Actually President Eyring was the president at Ricks when Mark and I were there! Fun! I probably shouldn't name specific talks because they were all so wonderful.  Anyway, it was an amazing conference and I felt spiritually renewed and refreshed.

Day 297 - Saturday October 6, 2012

We went walking at the house today--all of us--Mark, Tyler, Bridgett, Stephany and me. The funniest things happened...Tyler and Bridgett walked outside first and they were talking about bears sometimes being in the yard.  Tyler said he had his gun (and I had the bear spray).  He then whistled to call a bear like whistling to a dog to come.  Bridgett thought it was funny so she said here bear, here bear, I'm edible, come on bear.  That cracked me up--I'm edible!  So far we have not run into any bears although there has been bear scat at the entrance to the driveway.  Stay away bears is what I say!

Day 296 - Friday October 5, 2012

I woke up early and got through emails and mail before anyone else woke up.  When Bridgett woke up I told her I needed to go get groceries and she wanted to go with me.  We spent about $200 on groceries and headed back home to restock the fridge and cupboards.  It's hard when we get home and there's nothing in the house! By nothing I should clarify--nothing fresh; when I am gone Mark grabs something in town or eats something frozen or packaged.  It was also good to eat something home cooked today and not restaurant or fast food; that's one of the drawbacks to trips! We had an appointment with Brian Miller today.  He again did ultrasound on Bridgett's neck as well as massage.  Her range of motion was good when he measured it after he finished.  I told him that even though the neck pain is getting better, our goal is to get Bridgett to the point where she can stop taking Lortab and muscle relaxant every day; he agreed that this is a good goal!  She still had some trigger points but they didn't hurt at all when he massaged them so he said they would be considered latent.  We talked to him during the appointment about his upcoming adventure race that will be in New York; really adventure racing sounds very interesting! Brian's team consists of three people: two men and one woman.  Their race lasts for 30 hours beginning at 7:00 a.m. on a Friday morning and ending the following afternoon.  Each team will run, mountain bike and canoe.  Each person on the team has a different responsibility; Brian's is navigation.  They have to reach certain points during the race and he is in charge of getting them to each point and through the race. Of course Bridgett was very interested in hearing about the entire thing and also of course she told Brian that she is confident that he will win.  Brian said he doesn't think they will win because their team is older than many of the other teams but he is concentrating on finishing the course.  I told him maybe he needs some of Bridgett's confidence and positive thinking!   Anyway, we will be able to see him on Tuesday and then he will be gone the balance of the week. 

Day 295 - Thursday October 4, 2012

Today we finally had to pack up and leave for home.  It has been a kind of crazy trip really.  I saw Jenn only twice this trip, my mom and sister once, and Arrianne I saw at least once a day, but often while she was studying or just becasue she slept at the hotel.  We didn't get to see any of my brothers or Mark's sister at all but hopefully next trip down we will have a little more time.  Making two trips to Monroe broke up the week quite a bit.  Also it was hard to see people because Stephany still felt so miserable (although she is not contagious).  Driving to Monroe takes 2 to 2-1/2 hours each way plus the 1-1/2 hour appointment in between.  With bathroom breaks and stopping to grab a bite to eat, it's a long day!  That's another reason why I waited an extra day to come home; I didn't relish the idea of the long day Tuesday followed by another long day driving back to Montana.  I had hoped to get a nap Wednesday and I did--for 30 minutes; I was definitely hoping for longer than that!  Anyway, we were able to get out of town by 10:00 a.m. and the trip actually went pretty well.  We only had to stop three times although I was exhausted and had to pull over at Pocatello and have Tyler drive.  He ended up driving the rest of the way home so actually that was nice.  I always drive unless Mark is with us and then he drives so this is the first time one of the kids has driven.  Of course Tyler is so experienced that I felt entirely comfortable taking a nap which I did.  Bridgett's neck pain stayed low for the entire trip, only getting to a 2 after many hours on the road.  I then gave her the Lortab and muscle relaxant and we were fine after that.  We got home between 8:30 and 9:00 sometime so we made good time.  Stephany was not very comfortable on the trip but at least the trip was bearable for her as well.  We were all glad to get home and get back to our own beds etc. 

Day 294 - Wednesday October 3, 2012

Faith asked about the specifics of Bridgett's blood work and really Hayley Miller, endocrinologist, didn't tell me specifically.  Accordingly I called Hayley and asked her to please forward a copy of all of Bridgett's blood work to me for my records and I will forward a copy of this to Faith to look over.  Faith is wondering about highs or lows that may still be in the normal range but will show a pattern.  Faith is a Naturopathic Doctor as well as a craniosacral therapist.  She teaches craniosacral classes to other Naturopathic Doctors at Bastyr University in Washington, traveling there once a month.  Additionally she owns a clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado and travels there once a month.  She is a busy lady!  I feel so fortunate that we found out about her!  Thanks again Kari!

Day 293 - Tuesday October 2, 2012

I got a call from the endocrinologist and she said all of the follow-up blood work was in the normal range and they don't have any more answers for the hormonal imbalance.  I guess we will just keep doing alternative things and hope that helps.  We had another great appointment with Faith. She said that the brain was responding well to the adjustments.  The front part of the brain was less hyperactive and the back part had more activity. I don't think I initially mentioned that Faith said that the front portion of the brain was hyperactive trying to make new connections and working so hard while the back portion had less than normal blood flow and activity. She said a lot of the memory stores are in this back portion. Faith said that the occipital was doing well, holding it's adjustment and that she was able to do other work on the neck this time.  She also worked on the heart pain Bridgett is having off and on.  Several people have said that she has displaced ribs and Faith said this as well today; she was able to do some adjusting and hopefully that will help.  She also worked on inflammation and scar tissue in the pelvic region.  Additionally she was able to address the eye orbits and the zygomatic arch again.  She gave me a list of things to tell Kari to work on when we get back home, at Kari's request.  So this was weird--on Thursday when we went to see Faith I entered her address in my car's GPS and the route took me one way.  Then on Tuesday when I picked the same destination that was saved in the GPS it gave me a different route.  I had known that Faith said the drive was shorter than it had taken me so I took the second route (also I couldn't remember all of the little turns on the first route and the GPS didn't display that choice).  Anyway as I was passing the first turn off of the interstate I called Faith to make sure I should remain on I-15 and she said stay on the interstate until we get to Scipio.  Well, by the time I got to Scipio the GPS said to stay on the interstate and not to turn off.  I stopped at a gas station and asked if I could turn there and get to Monroe and they said yes.  I mentioned that the GPS told me to continue on the interstate and they said GPS will always pick the interstate over a secondary highway.  I didn't explain that on Thursday GPS picked a bunch of secondary highways!  Anyway the GPS kept telling me to turn around after I headed to Scipio but after quite a few miles it gave up and re-routed me through Scipio and to Monroe.  Whatever! 

Day 292 - Monday October 1, 2012

Tomorrow we will see Faith Christensen again for a craniosacral appointment.  Bridgett's neck pain was low for Thursday, Friday and Saturday but has been increasing since yesterday. At least the pain was very low for a few days.   It's too bad that Faith isn't close to us so that we can see her regularly.  Today I was able to get away for a couple of hours and have lunch with my sister and my mom. Afterwards we went to see a place that mom is thinking about moving to and it was such a great place.  It's a basement apartment in a gated community and the woman upstairs is single and a member of her ward.  There are several neighbors in her ward and it is such a nice quiet place.  The apartment is huge and beautiful.  Mom told the lady that she would rent the apartment and I am so excited for her!

Day 291 - Sunday September 30, 2012

Sometimes I just randomly remember something funny and today is one of those days.  A couple of weeks ago Bridgett saw our little rebounder trampoline that we have in the house and asked if she could go outside and jump on the trampoline.  Why do you want to jump on the trampoline I asked (knowing that her neck was hurting so badly I was really wondering)... and she said I really miss doing flips and I'd like to go and do one.  I had to stifle my laughter while Tyler explained to her that doing flips was not a good idea when you have a terrible neck ache.  Apparently he explained it correctly and she said she'd wait for a while before she tries it.  By the way...yes, she does know how to do flips on the trampoline and she has lots of fun doing them!  Speaking of apparently...that's Bridgett other favorite new word lately only she likes to purposely pronounce it with the stress on the first syllable.  I guess it's hard to explain how she says it but like an ipad app...app-a-rant-ly.  Anyway, it's amusing!  She also has a really cute way that she says WOW that I can't really explain.  She really like to have a lot of inflection in her voice as well.  She often says something like I hope you don't mind my the inflection in my voice because I like to talk that way.  Bridgett's speech and inflections are contagious and it seems that we all start talking like her at some point.  The craniosacral gal has now picked up the WOW too and said it while her son was playing basketball after he made a bunch of shots in a row; she said he jerked around and couldn't believe that she was the one that said it! It's funny how much people pick up on Bridgett's cuteness! 

Day 290 - Saturday September 29, 2012

Things were a little less crazy today.  We got checked out of the second hotel and back into the first hotel and now we can stay put until the end of our stay.  It's a little crazy to check in and out places!  I don't know why people don't stay at this place--it's still a Marriott, it's cheaper than the others, they have continental breakfast, they have free wireless and give you the password when you check in, it's newer and actually nicer I think, etc.  Anyway, I enjoy it here at the Springhill Suites.  Bridgett's neck is starting to hurt again.  It seems that we made it a little longer after seeing Faith than the other therapists (an extra day probably).  Of course, Bridgett's still in her great, happy mood even with the neck pain.  The funny thing she is saying lately--whilst.  Like will you hold this whilst I do this.  Hah! I still haven't had a chance to see Jenn. The little boys are sick and I can't take Bridgett or Stephany there; Arrianne is super busy with school this week and Tyler is gone.  With Bridgett's neck pain and Stephany still feeling miserable it's not really easy to leave them alone.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have the chance to sneak over when Arrianne is not busy.  Tyler did get to see her before he left hiking and he said her belly is getting big.  I have a picture of my niece at term with twins and WOW!  I really admire the women who carry twins--it's a hard thing to do!