Second year Day 166 - Tuesday May 28, 2013

More appointments today with Faith.  She was able to get back to doing brain work for Bridgett and a little bit of eye work.  Bridgett does respond so very well to Faith, and I'm so glad that we found out about her.  I just wish that she were closer, or that she was always here and not gone half of the month.  If she were always here, I'd just rent a place and stay for a few months and get things under control.  But, this is the best we can do right now and I'm thankful for her and for our ability to get to see her.  Not only is Bridgett's pain level low right now, we don't need Lortab, Robaxin or even Advil!!  Yippee!!

Second year Day 165 - Monday May 27, 2013

Happy birthday Sue (my sister)!  I called Sue on the way out of town,as we were headed to Monroe to see Faith.  Mark and Tyler left at the same time we did, and we all got gas together.  Then he and Tyler headed north and we headed south. We grabbed some lunch on the way, to eat after we got to Faith's house.  Our appointments were at 1:00 and so kind of tricky for eating since we were driving since 10:30ish.  We had great appointments and its so nice to have Bridgett off Lortab and Robaxin!  Faith has the magic touch and right away Bridgett was out of pain.  YES!  We got some food afterwards and got settled in the hotel and promptly fell asleep early.

Second year Day 164 - Sunday May 26, 2013

Kind of a quiet day.  Bridgett was still in a lot of pain and not comfortable.  We brought food into the hotel so that she didn't have to go out.  I forgot that I was going to post this days ago, when her pain was really high--one night after a lot of pain all day, she said to me...."sometimes I think it wouldn't be so bad to be in a coma again, because I couldn't feel any pain."  It broke my heart!!  I called to Mark and had him help her while I excused myself to cry for a while.  Sometimes it is very disheartening to see her go through such pain, and especially when it gets to such a terrible point for her.  Her pain is high right now, but not that high thank goodness!  I'd glad that we see Faith tomorrow.

Second year Day 163 - Saturday May 25, 2013

Today we all went out to eat at Tucano's to celebrate the graduation.  We all had a good time.  Bridgett was hurting too much to want to eat much, but finally the Lortab kicked in and she ate a little bit.  After a while, she and Arri went outside walking (Arri wasn't feeling too hot either and didn't eat much) while the rest of us finished up.  In the afternoon Tyler stayed with Bridgett while Mark took care of some business and the girls and I went shopping at the mall and Target.  We had a good time and then headed back to the hotel for dinner and rest (yes!).  It has been a good trip overall so far.  Mark and Tyler will leave for home tomorrow or Monday and then Monday the girls and I will head down to Monroe to see Faith for all of next week.  I'm glad we have all week to see her.  Arri was going to spend some time in Provo, but she expected to be helping give one of her roommates a bridal shower, and those plans had to be rescheduled for now.

Second year Day 162 - Friday May 24, 2013

The big day!  Bridgett and I had to leave early to Ogden for her appointment.  Mark took Stephany to the school to get her "graduation" picture in cap and gown.  Our appointment in Ogden went really well.  Overall they were very happy with Bridgett's progress.  We did discuss her eye situation.  At this point, they are advising us to go ahead with the eye surgery.  Bridgett has an appointment at Primary Children's in July for a consult and then I guess we will talk about scheduling surgery. They said that it will probably take several surgeries (yuck!).  But, I guess they way I feel about it is this.....I didn't want them to ever do they surgery in her brain on the optic nerves, and we avoided that so maybe this will be OK.  I picked up mom on the way back through Salt Lake, so that she could come to the graduation.  I dropped her at Mike's for about an hour and then headed to the hotel.  I had time to sit for about 10 minutes, then it was time to get ready and go up to the tabernacle for the graduation practice.  I took Stephany and picked up mom on the way.  We got there and had a repeat of Arri's experience (at the same place!)....the guy forgot to show up to unlock the building, so we had to wait outside for him to show up.  It actually took him about a half an hour to arrive, so we just visited in the car with grandma.  The practice went great.  Stephany had some time to visit with Brother DeGraff and get her picture taken with him.  He and Sister DeGraff said that it was the end of an era......the last of the Noland's to graduate from Liahona!  Actually Scott and Jenn graduated from American School.  I didn't find out about Liahona until Tyler and Bridgett were in Junior high.  I can't remember when Liahona started up, but it was some time just shortly before we had kids going there.  Anyway, the kids have all graduated from there since. The graduation went great and we all had a great time.  Afterwards I took grandma back to Mike's house while Mark took the kids to the hotel.  As far as how Bridgett did....well, she was doing good all morning and then when I took grandma to Mike's the road was very bumpy.  I went slow over all the bumps I saw, but coming over a hill I couldn't see a bump until we hit it and it REALLY hurt her neck.  She almost started crying.  We got out and she walked for a while to try to get brave enough to get back in the car.  Then, of all things, we had stopped on a hill and when I turned off the engine I turned the wheel hard and when I tried to start the engine again I couldn't turn the key at all.  This happened to me once in Arri's car, but this was in my new car!  I finally called Mark, who told me to keep trying and finally I got the key turned and the wheel turned, got Bridgett back in the car and headed back to the hotel.  For the rest of the day she was very sore and when Mark showed up at the graduation with the kids, she sat for like two minutes and then had to walk.  Tyler took her out and walked and sat in the back alternatively and that's how they did during the graduation.  Bummer!  So, we are back to Lortab and Robaxin.  Can't wait for Monday when we get to see Faith again!  Oh, side notes....Jackson and Jaiden (Dave's kids) were able to come to the graduation as well and that was so great for Stephany.  Also, Deb came too.  And, at the graduation, before things started, Bridgett got to talk to both Brother and Sister DeGraff.  She remembered them both of course and it was so fun to see her with them!  They both gave her hugs and had such nice things to say.  Brother DeGraff said that he felt so honored that one of the first things Bridgett remember was the quote by Thomas Jefferson, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never be."  Anyway, it was very touching to me to have him talk to Bridgett and it was fun for her as well.

Second year Day 161 - Thursday May 23, 2013

This morning Bridgett and I got up and headed to Monroe to see Faith.  We would have seen her yesterday as well if we could have made it down.  But, at least we have today before I take her to Ogden tomorrow.  We made the trip fine and had a great appointment.  Bridgett had no pain when we left and didn't have to take her scheduled Lortab while we were there.  While we were gone Arri met with Serena and Mark took Stephany to the school to pick up her cap and gown and still made it to his appointment.  Tyler left in the early afternoon to head down here.  He did call me to say that it had snowed in Montana last night (brother!).  Bridgett had a fairly good rest of the day and evening although she did finally have to take a Lortab in the evening.  She does better when we can stay in Monroe for a bit after the treatments so that things settle in.  We got Stephany's gown pressed and ready to go for tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be crazy too!

Second year Day 160 - Wednesday May 22, 2013

We hit the road a little later then we wanted--9:30, but we made good time.  We had to stop a few more times than normal to walk around, but overall the trip went pretty well.  We ended up taking two cars.  Mark and I and the girls took my car today and Tyler will leave tomorrow in another car.  He and Mark will be in Provo for the weekend and then head back to Montana.  Tyler stayed an extra day because he wanted to see Brad Watterud.  Brad is fighting Friday night and Tyler is really bummed that he will miss the fight.  But, Steph's graduation on Friday night is the most pressing issue!  So, he will visit with Brad tonight and then head down tomorrow.  We were just glad to make the trip in one swoop today and get settled in!  Tomorrow will be a little hectic for sure!