Changing of the guard

Well, after much soul searching, I've come to the conclusion that my control-freak gotta-fix-it nature just won't let me do what is needed for Dorothy's recovery. So Bob is going to be taking over Dorothy's medical appointments and school stuff. And since I doubt he'll ever post to the blog, I guess this is "adieu" - that is, goodbye for now.

Thank you all for your concern and excellent advice, and for your continued support. I don't think I could have done it without you.
-Mikele

Another milestone reached

Dorothy reported to me the other day that the "dream-like state" has finally passed! I'm so pleased for her. It means that she finds it easier to focus, and she says she's feeling more motivated about school. Big sigh of relief for me!

Looking forward

It looks like I'm going to be putting in more office hours starting this week. I guess the good news about that is that I can have a better separation between work and home, which I hope will help reduce my stress level. I know I shouldn't be anxious about things, but it's just so hard to know what is the right thing to do. If I go to work, I worry that I'm not helping Dorothy make forward progress. If I stay at home, I risk losing my job. And I'm not sure that I'm even doing any good staying home - I know in my head that Dorothy has to find her own way with schoolwork, but my heart just worries and worries that I'm not encouraging her the right way, that I'm just nagging (to which Dorothy would reply with a resounding "YES", I'm sure.) It's a puzzlement, that's for certain.

We'll be juggling my work hours with Dorothy's medical and therapy appointments, which should be interesting. She has quite a few this week.

On a positive note, we got to spend some quality time with Al & Heidi, who we're known since we were newlyweds. They live in the Valley, so we don't get to see them very often. It was nice just hanging out with them. Heidi and I went for a nice walk with the dogs around the lake while the guys hiked Cerro San Luis (Madonna). Then we watched a movie, which was fun too. Especially explaining things to Al. That was funny. :-)

Oh yeah, and we still only have one car, so when I work, Bob has no car. Hopefully we'll hear from the auto shop soon!

Have a great week, everyone. I have a funny feeling that I'm going to be too busy to post much this week.

Busy week

We've been keeping busy this last couple of days. I ended up with a pretty good headache from the accident, but that seems to be fading. I managed to forget about a therapy appointment the other day. It's really hard to remember everything, even when I keep a datebook! You still have to remember to look in the book. I've been working a few more office hours lately, and that has always been a problem for me, keeping more than one focus in my life. I will figure this out, though!

Dorothy gets a four day weekend this weekend! Lucky kid! I worked today and will work all day Monday as well. And back to the problem of trying to get all my housework done on the weekend. Shopping for chicken feed, people feed, doing laundry, dishes, yard work... you know the drill...

On a high note, some of our oldest and best friends from Visalia are in town for the weekend, so we get to spend some time with them. Yea, Al & Heidi!

Too much, too soon

Well, we have a real "Waaaahhhh". We had to take Jane back to the dog rescue place this morning. Yesterday afternoon on the way to Physical Therapy, Dorothy & I were in a car wreck. We are fine. Well, my back is weird, but the ER doc said it's probably strained ligaments. When we got home from the ER, Jane was missing. Bob, Dorothy & I spent the next two hours going door-to-door, putting up posters, making phone calls and stressing. Thankfully, a good Samaritan one block over had taken her in, even fed her dinner, so Jane was home in time for bed last night.

Dorothy pointed out that perhaps now isn't the right time to have a new dog, what with our lives already having so much stress just in getting through our days. We talked about it and all agreed that she is wise, so Jane went back. She is a lovely little lady, and I'm sure she'll find a home soon. So Dorothy & I are a little sad today, but wiser.

Dorothy's New Pal Jane

Here's a pic of Dorothy's new pal Jane. She's a rescued dog, a Dachschund Chihuahua mix, probably about 5 months old. She's already completely bonded with Dorothy.

Just for the record, here's the posting about her from the rescue shelter:

Jane is a 5 month old doxie/chi. She is playful, sweet and looking for love! We are guessing she will be between 12 and 15 pounds full grown. She is a bit shy on first meeting, and tends to be a bit quiet, but that could change once she knows she is loved & is in a permanant home!

This little darling has the look of a doxie, but the longer legs of a chihuahua... an adorable mix of two wonderful lap dogs that also have the energy to get out and do things with you!

If you are looking for a small puppy, please consider coming to check out Jane!

This great dog is all ready for a new home! The adoption donation of $250.00 pays for this dog's medical care & also contributes to the medical care needed by other dog's that come into our rescue. (some dogs need hundreds of dollars worth of care to make them adoptable) Why purchase a dog for hundreds of dollars (that still needs vaccinations & neutering & microchip) when you can get this darling dog that already has everything and help other dogs at the same time??? Every life is precious! Thank you for your support.

This pet is up to date with routine shots.
This pet has been altered.

Sunshine & bike rides

What fine weather we had this weekend! Sunny and warm with the sweetest smells... Dorothy enjoyed a couple of short bike rides - a first since we've been home. Not that I was really happy about it - the worst thing you can do when you have a head injury is to get a new one. So of course, I was paranoid she'd fall and hurt herself. But of course, she didn't. Yeah, it's a "Mom thing."
I had the joy of putting a few flowers in the front yard over the weekend. Something I can look at while I swing on the front porch swing... You know, life is really, really good.

A quiet day...

A quiet day has a whole different meaning now that we're so far into recovery! Dorothy has been sleeping a lot, something her neurologist is really encouraging. So sometimes the rest of life has to take a back seat to sleep. I wouldn't mind that myself...

Neuro report

The neurologist reports that Dorothy's EEG is for all intents and purposes NORMAL! Yippee! He also saw her in the hospital, so he was really pleased to see how well she's doing. He reminded us that Dorothy does in fact need to continue to take it slow and as stress free as possible during this healing process. That was reassuring in itself, knowing that even though she's mostly symptom free, she is still healing and will be for some time. Helps me to understand things, like why the pressure of doing school work is still a problem. He also said that she's doing well enough that I can work some more hours in the office. And while it's fun being a stay-at-home mom again, I do miss the challenge.

Life goes on

As Dorothy's speech therapist reminded us today, a head injury happens to the whole family. Wise words.

We have up days and not so up days - on the whole, the best analogy I can come up with is that getting through this process is like wandering through a maze, with blinders on my eyes and my feet tied together. Not only can I not see through to the end, sometimes I can't even negotiate the turns.

I am a driven person. When I see a problem, I fix all my attention on trying to fix it. So it's hard for me right now - this isn't something I can fix. I can't make everything better according to some plan or schedule. I can only watch ... and wait ... and pray.

Therapies

Well, today we received approval for more speech and physical therapy sessions. Dorothy's range of motion for her left shoulder is pretty good but needs work - and she's getting her balance back well.
We also have approval for a series of speech therapy sessions - so we're going to be really busy with all of those for the next four weeks. And now that all of Dorothy's mouth issues are gone, we're hearing a few more challenges in her actual speech, so that's just as well! Speech Therapy, as I think I've mentioned before, has been mostly about cognition (memory, reasoning ability, logic - things like that) and not so much about actual speech.
Dorothy tells me that she was yelling the other day (can't remember why) and now her voice has taken a couple of steps back - quieter, raspier. But it's just a little step back.

Final report on the jaw

Dorothy's oral surgeon has declared her jaw healed! Yea!