December Update

12-30-98

On Monday, November 30^th Catherine woke up and crawled into the bathroom as is her normal procedure. She walked out and got back in bed and thought, "What did I just do?"  So, she got out of bed and did a couple of laps around the room to see if she was indeed walking on her own. She was so excited that she got right on the computer and emailed the news. Later, she went into therapy and her physical therapist worked with her on her gait and moving her shoulder. She is walking slowly and deliberately but she is walking. She'll have to practice, practice, practice to get her balance and everything to work like it should. I find that we do so many things unconsciously, without even thinking about all the aspects that go into it. Watching Catherine makes me realize how intricately and expertly we are created as only a Supreme Creator could do.

Catherine's schedule has changed somewhat, but has been the same for the month of December, in that she has therapy on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. She only has physical and occupational therapies on 2 of the days and on Wednesdays she goes in an hour earlier and has an outing with another girl in therapy and two therapists.

One day Catherine was walking with me at the hospital in the hall and the head of security came by and told her that she was an inspiration to all of them. Catherine later told me that no one would hurt her at the hospital because all the "police" like her and watch out for her. She referred to the security guards as police because they are in uniform and they always say hello to her so she feels very confident that they are looking out for her.

On Wednesday and Thursday afternoons she has a teacher come to work with her on her schoolwork and on Friday mornings the cognitive retrainer comes to the house for four hours of work. I have noticed that the schedule tends to tire her out, especially since doing more cognitive work. That is as taxing as the physical workouts. She has cut back on her outings in the evenings because she is just too tired. She only made it to choir practice on one Tuesday evening and didn't go to Bible Study on Mondays. She is usually very busy on the weekends so she starts her week on Monday, tired instead of recharged from a quiet weekend.

Sister-in-law Joy, Catherine, sister Joy,  niece Allison and nephew Isaac. We had company two weekends and then there was a lot of extra activities thrown in with the seasonal things to do. She went to her cousin Jimmy's choir concert which was a Medieval dinner with the choir singing Christmas songs. She said she really enjoyed it. She has participated in Choir at school in the past, so I think it was reminescent for her. She made a couple of trips to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. We found that very tiring. She had thought it would be a good idea to go to the mall and walk from one end to the other as exercise, as the weather outside doesn't afford many days when that is possible. We walked from end to end and she was exhausted and sat while I ran into some stores. I walked back by myself and got the car and brought it to the door closest to where she was sitting to save a few steps. We saw the photographer from the newspaper whom we hadn't seen since May. She had told him via email that she was walking, so was glad to be able to show him.  We made a trip to Camp Verde on Friday the 12th to celebrate Neta Bess and Allison's birthdays. Joy and Allison drove up from Phoenix to meet us. We had dinner together and since we aren't big cake eaters we had a cranberry apple crisp with candles in it. We enjoyed ourselves and spent the night together. The next morning we went out to breakfast and each left in a different direction.  Catherine enjoys church and is able to participate in the singing, standing, listening and going up front with the choir to sing. She continues to progress and to keep a good attitude. We are proud of her hard work and attitude and ever thankful and mindful of our Lord's blessings.

For the Christmas holidays, we have driven to Texas to see our family. We left Tuesday afternoon about 4:30 and drove all night intending to reach Ft. Worth to visit friends by 9:00 Wednesday morning. An ice storm changed our plans and we ended up getting a motel in Wichita Falls as there was ice from there to Dallas and further south. Several of the freeways were closed from the ice and there were a lot of wrecks and jackknifed 18 wheelers. We rested and then called my folks and found out we could bypass Dallas and go north of it and then drop south beyond the bad areas and go on to Tyler. We decided to make a run for it and get in late that night. We had ice leaving Wichita Falls for a couple of hours and then it cleared up. The next day, which was Thursday, the rest of the family arrived at different times. There were 25 of us there all together when everyone arrived.

Catherine was very tired from the traveling and took long naps each day. She really enjoyed seeing her cousins and visiting with them. They reciprocated the feelings since many hadn't seen her at all and the ones who had been to Arizona to see her, hadn't seen her this good. She was in her coma when her Aunt Susan last saw her. Even her Aunt Angela who was there in July, and Uncle John and Aunt Gayle who saw her in August, could tell a big difference. Everyone gave her lots of encouragement and told her stories of how she had looked and how scary it was to see her in the different stages of her recovery. Catherine said that she was so glad to have had a Christian family that was so supportive. When we were relating the daily range of motion exercises and family interactions back at that time, she looked at us and said "Thank you again for being there like that for me."

Catherine went for a couple of jeep rides with her cousin, Phillip, who brought his jeep from Louisiana for that purpose.  She had fun. On Monday after lunch we left Tyler and drove to the Houston area to spend a few days with my youngest sister, Angela, who lives in Katy. Catherine came down with a cold and lost her voice from laryngitis. So many people had bugs and we were in such close quarters, I guess it was inevitable. Catherine, with her usual upbeat outlook, said she thinks when her voice comes back after the laryngitis, it will be more like her old voice again. It's been a good holiday with family, food and fun. Catherine thoroughly enjoyed being with everyone and has been very sweet.

Jeep Ride

Catherine enjoyed visiting her cousins.

Hugs from Grandma Neta.

In reflecting over the last year, we are in deed thankful for His blessings to our family. Catherine asked "What would I have done without this family to hold on and help me even when I was asleep."  I put on a tape in our vehicle that was a harp music tape someone had purchased for her while she was in the coma. We played it a lot while she was in the hospital. She said she could remember it when we put it on. Some memories that weren't there before seem to be coming back.