McKenzie is a healthy 13 year old from California. At the time of diagnosis she was a cheerleader and very active. We had a hard time making her sit still actually. Here is her story...
The start:: It all started a few weeks ago when Kenzie was itching and scratching her arms and wrists alot. We noticed this but she was covered head to toe almost always so we didnt see what was really going on and she didnt say anything about anything out of the ordinary. She just thought it was either the bumps she has had her whole life "the smart bumps" or bed bugs or mosquito bites or something. We didnt give it that much thought until it kept going on and didnt get better. My sister and mother took her to the Dr on Thursday December 30th 2010. Belski wasnt in so she saw another provider in the office. He diagnosed Scabies, a skin rash, and prescribed the cream Pymetherin. They immediately went to the pharmacy and got it. We applied it that night and she was to shower the next morning and we had to wash everything she was in contact with. It was a huge job but the house got very clean. At the time we put the cream on I was then exposed to the severity of the skin rash and was so sad that it had gotten that bad without me noticing, but with winter weather I didnt see her arms or legs and didnt think anything of that. The rash had gotten very bad and the spots were big and red scab looking things. I had her start using Neosporin to help heal the skin and it seemed to work to heal some of them and the large ones took weeks to heal. So we thought we were done with everything, except the Dr had said that we needed to reapply the cream a week later so we did that on Friday January 7th. The 8th we went shopping and had fun registereing for some gender neutral baby items. The next day I was going shopping again and Kenz didnt feel like going. She stayed in bed all day that Sunday and slept most of that time which is uncharacteristic of her so it was strange but I just thought she didnt feel good and Luca was home so I let her sleep. Monday she just couldnt go to school, she said she just didnt feel good. No fever, no vomiting or anything so I asked Tiff if she could watch her which she did and she said she stayed on the couch all day. A low key evening and she didnt feel well the next day either so I took her to gramma Nellies. She stayed on the couch all day and watched tv and movies and rested. Tuesday afternoon I made Kenz a Dr appt and my mom took her in. Again she saw another Dr (need to fill in more of the sotry here)==============
Monday January 17th 2011:
I went to work and left Kenzie home with Luca since it was a school holiday. I made Kenz another appointment since she still couldnt move her face at all and didnt feel any better. Sharise took her to the Dr and after another examiniation and the mono test came back negative Dr Belski admitted she had no idea and recommedned that we take her that night to Madera Childrens' Hospital. My sister called me and said that Dr Belski was getting referral paperwork ready and checking our insurance to make sure we could go there. My sister called me and of course I told them I had to leave right then, it was the end of the day anyhow and I was understandably a mess. I drove home and we packed up. When Kenzie walked in the door with Sharise (they had gotten stuck at the Dr office getting paperwork ready) I could tell she was walking funny, her left leg didnt want to do what she wanted it to do, then she showed me that her left arm was doing the same thing. She walked straight over to me and hugged me and said "I don't wanna go" I was so sad for my little girl. "While packing she showed me she couldnt put her hair in a ponytail because her left arm wasnt working. She was crying and saying "why is this happening to me". It was really really hard for us both. But we knew we had to go to the hosptial for that answer. My mom and Sharise packed up and we all got on the road to Madera. We got to the hospital at around 8pm. Kenz was not feeling good and let alone she really really really did not want to be there. Dr offices scare her enough and this was like the most frightening and anxiety inducing thing she had to go through at this point. We had to go to the ER which was over loaded with people. So many sick kids. We had a young girl in a wheel chair who had a kidney transplant and a young boy with a bebe in his leg along with many infants with fevers and coughs and colds. I had to wear a mask because I was pregnant, Kenzie tried to but just couldnt stand to have it on. The wait was awful and the worst part was they were so full that they wouldnt let my mom sis and Luca in with us, so they had to go to the cafeteria and we had to sit alone. Kenz was really uncomfortable and tired. She could still walk alone but it was hard. We finally got in to be seen at almost midnight. Kenzie was just so scared and uncomfortable the whole time. They had to do a lot of tests so they drew blood, put an IV in and did a total assessment of her symptoms. Then they ordered a CT scan. I was a mess but held it together for her of course because she was already so scared. The nurse in the ER was Brittany and she was really good with calming Kenzie down. They got the test results back from the CT and the other tests that they did and there was some talk of the possibilities of what could be wrong. They said it could be a tumor, guillain barre syndrome, tranverse myelitus or something else I can't remember right now but it was another super scary one. Of course all Kenzie heard was tumor and got FREAKED out. We got moved to a room and mom and Sharise went to find a hotel. The room was nice considering it was in a hospital. It had a couch that turned into two little futon type beds and had its own bathroom, and little lights in the ceiling tiles that looked like stars. It was a nice size room with a big window. She wanted to put on her own jams so we asked and they said we could so we did that and at around 3 or 4 am we finally tried to go to sleep.
We met her Dr's on Tuesday and it was a team of drs. Dr Kinneson, Dr Reitman, Dr Martinez and a med student Julie. They talked with us about the thought of this being guillain barre syndrome or GBS perhaps with a Miller Fisher variant because it had started in her face. They answered all of our many questions and discussed with us at length the treatment options, the tests we would need to confirm diagnosis and did lots and lots of the sensory tests that they had done in the ER and more, to test reflexes, movement and strength ability.
Wednesday they attempted to do an MRI with Adavan but Kenz was just too too too nervous and the noise and shaking was more than she could bare. So they rescheduled the MRI for Thursday with anesthesia. Our days and nights were going by so fast with tests, and the nurses came in like every hour or two to check vitals. Kenz still had an IV and was hooked up to aot of monitors. To go pee we had to take her IV polke and unplug several plugs, which wasnt fun since she needed to get there quickly as she had lost a little control of the urge.
Thursday we did the MRI with anesthesia and I had to take her down to the sedation room and leave her there with the sedation team. I was a mess. I went back to the room sat and cried for a while just because she was out of the room and it was a good time to do it. I called a couple people and took a shower. It was my first one since Monday morning. It felt good but weird also. We had a private shower though. They brought her back from the MRI safe and sound but she was still coming out of sedation and she said the nurse was annoyed with her for being upset that I wasnt there even though they had told her that I would be there. That upset me a little but we got over it. She was very irritable and wanted silent and dark so we did that. Mom and sis took a little break and I sat there in the silence. I dont remember exactly when they talked to us about the results but I remember mom and Sharise acting all weird about me getting out there to discuss the results. Dr Reitman sat us down at a computer and showed us the spots of inflamation. She had 2 spots on each side of her cranial nerve VII and then inflamation down the spine more towards the base. He said there was no tumors and he actually started with that to get it out of the way. The reason mom and sis were so upset was that they had run into him down int he cafeteria and said oh do you have kenzies MRI results and he said "yes and we have some things to discuss" so they freaked because that was all he would tell them and I am sure that's due to HIPPA regulations and whatnot but it drove them alsmot sick to be wonderng for about and hour or two what that meant. So they had concluded it was indeed Guillain Barre and would start IViG treatment that night. So we settled in with that diagnosis and got ready for treatment. It was something that could be done in her room and through her regular IV so we were pretty excited.
Friday January 21, 2011
Lombar puncture: Went down to a special little room. Dr Reitman put on a Kesha song for Kenz while they started the sedation, she got really comfortable and then once she was sedated (she was smiling it was very cute) he turned it to a classical ballad of some sort and started the procedure. The sedation took almost as long as the procedure, and while she was very afraid that it would hurt she did not even feel anything. She kept asking if the needle was in after they were already in and almost done. The liquid was clear and I expected it to be colored for some reason. But she did well, and we went back to the room. She had a headache and was told to lay on her back and we inverted her bed to alleviate the headache, it appeared to work as she felt a little better after a couple hours of resting. We put on Justin Bieber acoustic and just relaxed. Friday night she was a bit upset because she had missed lockdown, but that came and went.
Saturday January 22, 2011
We got up in the morning, my dad got here pretty early cuz he's an early bird. Kenz was feeling great! She got up and adamantly wanted to walk to the restroom (in our room) by herself. I walked right behind her just in case but she did well. She stood at the sink and brushed her teeth, made a few funny faces since she had some movement back in her face finally, did her makeup and wanted me to do her hair in a high pony and wear her bow. I was super excited that she was already feeling better and was really encouraged that we were on the right track. Dr Reitman came in and said that we should be transferred down to rehab Monday. Around 11 or so I told her that we needed to go for a walk. We walked almost the entire distance and right before we got back to the room she got weak and Randy, a med student from Columbia YCCD, grabbed a wheelchair and luckily had been walking a short distance behind us. We got her back to the room, got her in bed and she wanted to rest. Dad and Luca went down and got some food and while they were gone Kenz said she had a headache again. I asked the nurse if she could have tylenol or something and she said she would check, so she did and brought some in. It was in 2 doses and we got half of one down and Kenz acted like it tasted gross, but that wasnt that unusual. We tried to give her the rest and she just kind of got irritable, coughing and gagging and acting like she couldnt breathe. I asked the nurse to call the Dr and tried to calm her down. The nurse came back and started giving Kenz oxygen. Kenz was really uncooperative and didnt want the oxygen, couldnt handle the mask, it was almost as if she was having a panic attack or anxiety attack. I stayed right by her side and was fairly calm just trying to help those that had come to help her. I know it was even more overwhelming because within about 4 minutes the room was full of people, people watching, people doing different things. They called for an xray, they called for rapid response, they called Drs and ICU people and then they called a Code Blue. I freaked. FREAKED! Luca had switched with me because I couldnt be in the room during the xray so I was in the hall when they called code Blue and I cannot explain that feeling. I was so scared, I was so distraught and I was worried on top of about Kenz I got worried that I would throw my self into preterm labor for getting so worked up. all these medical people around kept telling me to be careful and whatnot. ================================
The next few days are a bit of a blur. Kenz was intubated and admitted to the PICU the Pediactric Intensive Care Unit.
Friday - January 28th 2011
Another long hard day. Woke up and Kenz was coughing and had an ok but rough morning. She had an xray at 8am and an MRI (with anestesia) at 10am. They kept her sedated and I think it went just fine. The attending nurse Karen said that she slept the whole time. PTL. When they got back here they had to reinsert her feeding tube but she was still pretty sedated so it wasnt that bad. Then after that she had shivers and shakes and a coughing spell which led to her gagging and spitting up. Then she was pretty calm. She had another round of plasmapheresis and wanted to hold my and the whole time. She could never really get comfortable. After that she was calm for most of the day. She had to wear the leg warmer things that massage her legs to prevent clotting and the boots every 2 hours on and 2 hours off to prevent ballerina or tip toe feet. She slept what seemed to be comfortably. Today we talked more about the tracheostomy and I was obviously upset because I dont want to have to do that. One of the RT people changed the settings on her ventalotor and I didnt even notice til a while later. I was upset because I was like why was this changed and the nurse pulled me out of the room and said that they had changed her rate to 2 and she has been on it like that most of the afternoon and was doing just fine! Better than she has been doing in days. Dr Herrerra came and talked to me and said that if she can sustain a rate of 8-13 through the night while she sleeps then we can look to extubate! PTL! So we sent out messages to all of our prayer warriors asking for them to double up on prayers. I read several passages here in the room tonight and Sharise had a vision of two angels sitting at her bedside helping her breathe. Its now 11:26pm and so far she has not made the alarm sound and its set for 2 breaths. Matt is here that is Marissa's husband and he said she is gonna do just fine. Today was an up day and a rather encouragin day. I think I smiled for the first time in a few days. I have that glimmer of hope and tons of faith that God is working here in room 2508. A few of the passages that I read tonight were...
Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. Psalm 16:1:
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16
I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. Psalms 17:6''
Tonight - Oh Lord I claim these living words of yours. I ask for healing of McKenzies breathing abilities as a first step in her recovery process. I ask that you show the Dr's and medical staff here that we arent crazy in believing that You will do this and that through the healing of McKenzie Arie-ann Smart, your child, we are able to lead at least one person to You and change the course of their eternal dwelling. I pray for the Dr's to be pleasantly surprised tomorrow maybe even saying we should extubate on Saturday! What a glorious Sunday we would have if on the 7th day we could also rest and be ready for a recoevery process without any additional complications. Father God I trust and believe that you can do this and that your will will be done here tonight. I ask this by your healing stipes and loving ways. Amen.
Saturday January 29th 2011
Pretty much got very little sleep last night. I felt compelled to check the monitors even though I was fairly comfortable with Matt the RCP and the nurse, I still needed to visaually see how she was doing. Plus I have to pee alot in the night. She did very good through the night. She hit 5, 6, 7 at several times but for the most part the nurse said she did well. So I was pretty happy today feeling confident that God is working here on her healing. Dr Herrerra came in and said that the MRI looked better than 10 days ago, but there was still inflamation but it looked better. She seemed a bit encouraged by this too. Dr Erish came in, a neurologoist we hadnt yet met, and he wanted a complete rundown of her entire sequence of events and checked several things on her. When I mentioned that they had suggested doing a tracheostomy he was apparetnly very shocked and said he would talk to them about it, talk them out of it i think is how he said it. Then he sat outside the room with Dr Herrerra and they talked for quite some time. They never came back in to talk to me so I suppose it was all medical jargon I wouldnt understnad anyways. Kenzie was on pressure support all day today until about 7pm tonight. They put the ventilator on a rate of 8 for the night so she can rest and then at 6am will go back to pressure support and possible extubate tomorrow. this was very exciting news for us! They didnt keep this info from her. They told her and she was happy, well as happy as she can be on the Fentanyl and DexMedetomadine and clomadin patch. Now my fear is that they will change their minds, or worse take the tube out and then have to reintubate or end up doing the tracheostomy. But I am going to have faith that God has this and is working every detail into His master plan. Kenz had a big day today finally going to the bathroom. RPetty much every single thing we do is a big deal. Moving her causes her to cough and gag on the tube and yet she has to be moved to make sure she doesnt get a clot. She is still wearing the massaging leg braces and boots so she keeps her feet at a 90 degree angle. Nancy the RCP during the day has been really great with her. They had to retape her tube today and thats a big job especially when Kenz was coughing thoughout. But Nancy stays so calm and patient with Kenz and is able to calm her down after a big upset.
Sunday January 30th 2011
PRAISE THE LORD! Kenzie got extubated today! Now the next step is keeping her strength and keeping her healthy and strong in her breathing! Our day started off with Kenzie still gagging and coughing a bit but not too bad. She had her chest xray at about 7:30 and we were up so that was fine. Dr Herrerra was already there and ready to get going on our day. Kenzie had a plasmapheresis treatment scheduled for about 10 am. After that the plan was to extubate. She had a little rough go needed to be suctioned through most of her treatment because they had decreased the amount of meds she was getting and she was more alert and therefore more bothered by the tube. After plasma she had a pretty big coughing spell and was gagging and having a hard time catching her breath. The nurse kicked everyone out and Dr Herrerra asked me to sit down and not stand and watch... just in case it got too much for me. I sat and was crying but was happy too that we were able to do this. Taking the tube out was not fun for Kenz but definitely wasnt as bad as having it in and it only took a minute to get it out. She almost instantly felt better. She was coughing and needed mouth suction but was ok. She felt better already and started feeling better except her throat hurt. For the next few hours she suctioned her mouth almost exclusivley. She was opening her eyes when we asked her to and doing her incentive sperometer which measured her exhaled breath. We had to measure ten breaths per hour.
Monday January 31st 2011
Woke up this morning and opened up the room blinds. Trying to give Kenz a better sense of day and night. We dont go to bed until around midnight so it makes for long days. Today several Drs came in to visit. Another neurologist who just wanted to check in, he'd been following her case through notes. The ENT surgeon and trach trainer came by and were pleasantly surprised that Kenz had been extubated. The Dr actually checked her out and said it sounded like she was moving air very well. Dr Lemahn (who was the intensivist like Dr Herrerra) came in and talked to us for a while. Said that we would keep her on the oxygen and just watch her closely, he also talked about us doing the swallow study and getting her ready to try some food or drink. that made Kenz happy. The social worker came by too and wanted to talk and he just kind of lets me talk and asked starter questions just to kind of gauge how I am doing. He had heard about the possibilty of a trach and I told him how scary that was for me but that God had taken control of that scary situation and gotten us out of it. He knows that we are Christian and he feels very comfortable because we have a huge suppport group.
We got another new nurse today Eileen. Eileen was very nice from the getgo and got Kenz to do some stuff like open her eyes and sit up. She had lots of things to try if Kenz was uncomfortable and lots of new ideas for Kenz. Her urine showed a small bit of a UTI and so they wanted to take out the catheter, Kenz was happy but nervous but it only took a second and now she can get up and pee! There is a little toilet in the room and she went on it like 3 times that was a HUGE step. While on it the first time Eileen gave Kenz like a complete shower. She made a bit of a mess but didnt care, she washed Kenzie's hair and washed her all over and Kenz felt so good! We got her back in bed and she combed her hair put it in a pony and lotioned her all up. It was a very big job and took a while but Kenz apprecitated it so much! She was laying there after all the getting ready and said I heart her and made a heart with her hands. We both through she had said I hate her, but she clairifed and we both cried. When Eileen came in to say goodbye since her shift was over Kenz gave her a hug and said " you've been amazing, thank you so much" It made her and I both cry! It was super sweet! Then Kenz proceeded to have a wonderful night. She brushed her own teeth and cleaned her cuticles and took off her nail polish. It was a very productive day. She felt refreshed and clean and no cathetar, no tube and she was smiling and being goofy and it was such a touching day! She even posed for some pics for the first time since we had been here. Smiling and brushing her teeth! very cute! she had some jitters most of the day and the nurse and Dr said that she could be having withdrawals from the medicines she had been on the past week. I felt so bad because it makes her so uncomfortable. She just shakes sometimes and gets irritated. They gave her some methadone to combat that and it appeared to help. Tonight we have a male nurse which Kenz was not thrilled about but I think we will be just fine. He is actually pretty nice. All in all a PRAISE GOD day!
"Thank you Lord for keeping Kenz strong and getting us through this day. I pray that You protect her lungs while we sleep and help her breathing pattern tonight be even better than last night! In your Holy Precious name, Jesus we thank you ! AMEN!"
Tuesday February 1st 2011
What a glorious day! Praise be to the Father God! Kenzie had a rough night, a few shivering fits and felt like she was having a hard time breathing. Maybe it was nerves or anxiety but whatever it was its gone now! Plasamapheresis at 5:30 with Kelly (our original girl who did it and we really like her - she's fast and super knowledgable). We slept after she left for a few hours. When Kenzie woke up she was very sad. She started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said "nothing hurts I just dont' want to be here anymore" and she was crying and it was so sad to see her so sad. I told her that everything she was feeling was perfectly normal and that it was ok to cry. So she did for a while and I just held her and g-ma held her hand. It was probably very therapuetic for her though. The Child Life lady Marion came in with the dog Lucy and Kenzie started crying more because she said it reminded her of grandpas dog Lucy. I didnt know she was that attached to her and perhaps it was what was combined with her already super tender emotional state and the meds she was on. She calmed down and then the Drs started coming in. they were all very impressed with how she looked and her stats. Carol from speech therapy came up and did the swallow study on her and she tried one ice chip, then two, then some water, then some thickened apple juice, then a graham cracker! She did so well they didnt have to do the xray swallow study and Kenz was put on a soft foods diet! WOOHOO! Carol got her a popsicle a blue one and she liked it! Dr Lehman was still the Dr here and Dr Herrerra was out but Dr Lehman is actually really nice! He came in and evaluated her and he said "well it looks like she has had a miraculous recovery" and that made us all cry because that is what we KNOW happened, but for a medical professional to admit it was wonderful! He could have said spontaneous or something else but no, he said "miraculous!" and we know it was just that! He took out the larger IV in her thigh and that wasnt so bad. It made a hole in the crease of her thigh the size of a pencil eraser. it was strange to look at it since it was a pretty large hole and it wasnt bleeding... interesting. A few hours later the nurse came in and said that they would be moving us to rehab shortly. "What?... Did I hear that corectly?... Can it be true?" Oh man! I packed so fast! then we were escorted downstairs to the rehab department. What a wonderful feeling! Considering all we went through over the past few days. This was a great day!
Wednesday Feb 2
Our first official day in rehab! we are so so so so happy to be down here!! Praises to God are sung constantly! I can sing again now... well we were singing all along but the song and melody is different! We met another new bunch of people down here. Everyone is still really nice. Kenz has a busy day! Leah comes in at 9 to watch her get ready and evaluate what she can do independantly. Then we had "school" with Joy (Hurt, who refused to work at a hosptial and be called Mrs Hurt) at 10 but today we just met her and got the school info situated. Then we went down to the gym and met with Randy and he worked with Kenz for an hour on her eval. He gave her a starting point of a 3 on a 1-5 scale. That's good but we should be at a five so she has some work to do. Basically her balance is off, her strength in her arms and legs and trunk are not what they should be which we knew already but this is good because each part of her leg, knee, ankle etc got a score and we can see when those change and know when she will be ready to come home! Then she met with Carol again and she approved any food diet but still wanted to stay away from the fast liquids so we will have to still thicken everything. Kenz is not too happy about that but we have to be safe first. We were done with the day around 4 and we were so tired! We slept well again and although Kenzies calf muscles were sore inthe night we had a good night! She is still monitored overnight on the heart, breathing monitor. I like it because I know someone is watching around the clock and I can rest assured. We all sat in the room and watched American Idol and it felt pretty close to normal actually for being in a hosptial. Kenzie decorated her name tag for her door and put on it "Our God is so good so strong and so mighty" it was a touching addition to her cute name tag and a cute reflection of her faith and appreciation of God and how He is healing her!
Thursday Feb 3
Another busy day. First thing Kenzie had to do was eat breakfast, she wanted frosted donuts and they brought her french toast too so she ate a little of that. I got her the donuts and milk from the cafe. She ate and then the nurse came in with her meds which she absolutely hates! She takes more than like 5 minutes to take them... they just taste so gross! Then Leah got here at 9 and observes her getting ready and sees what she can do, she can change her own shirt unassisted now! That's great! She brushes her own teeth while standing at the sink, and even felt ok to put on some makeup and flat iron her hair a little! Then we were off to the gym for a while Leah work with her. She sat on a balance ball and played with kinects blocks and built some things with Leah. It was a fun way to have therapy. Then we met with Joy and she got Kenzies teachers info that I had acquired and she said that she would get us some assignments and we had to meet with a neurophyscologist Dr Lepper (?SP) He did a complete evaluation of McKenzie. He said after the evaluation that she was pretty on track cognitively and that her short term association and memory of words or numbers is inefficient, I told him that memorization was never something she was super good at so I didnt know if that was a reflection of the syndrome or just her. He seemed pleased with her evaluation. After that we got a little break and rested. It doesnt seem like it would be much but Kenz gets tired and its hard. Then we ate lunch. Kenzie went to Teen Time and really enjoyed just being around other kids her age, they colored pictures and listened to music. I think it was a nice thing for her to participate in. Luca stayed home tonight for the first time since we have been here. It was fine but I missed him.
Friday Feb 4 2011
I had made a Dr appt for today and Sharise took me. We went and they told me I needed a pap. I wasnt too thrilled but it only took an extra minute and then they said I was two weeks overdue for the ultrasound and they would try to get me in today. They were able to and I was kind of sad because I had wanted Luca and Kenzie to be there with me but I told the lady to just write it down and that way we could all open it together that night. I went to Target with Sharise too since I needed some stuff. When we were on our way home Kenzie called me and told me that they did an ultrasound of her legs to see if there were any clots. I kind of freaked because I wasnt there but obviously it didnt hurt and it was all done by the time I even talked to her so it was fine. I got there shortly after we talked and the nurse came up to us pretty quick to let us know that the ultrasound was normal and didnt show any clots. PTL! We were so happy! Kenzie's legs just hurt and are sore because of the workouts. We opened the paper that night and found out that we are having another precious daughter to love... Kenzie was very excited as we all were!
Saturday Feb 5 2011
Grandma Nellie came up with Dad today. We all sat around in the room and hung out. Father Simon came down to see us too, that was real nice. Kenzie didnt remember him but he had some stories to tell her and they were really touching. He is a very spirit filled man. I am glad we got to know him. Kenz had PT today with Dana and she let her do some cheer stuff for some of her workout today and that just made Kenzies day! It was so cute that she was able to do it and have fun! We all just loved Dana for working that in! Later that day Nellie and her family came to visit. They chatted for a while then left Nellie here to watch a movie with Kenz. She LOVED that! They even brought back in and out when they returned to pick her up later. It was so very nice and Kenzie enjoyed every second of a little bit of normal time with her friend. I know she misses them all so much!
Sunday Feb 6th 2011 -
Today was Superbowl Sunday and we had a fun day here in Kenzies room! Mom, Reece, Luca and I all hung out here with her. Not that there was anywhere else we wanted to be! Kenzie actually got to go outside today for the first time in almost three weeks! We ook her out to the RV and ate lunch there. She got to see Issa and lay on a regular bed and just get a change of scenery.
Later on she took a shower all by herself. I was right there of course but she did everything, shaved, washed, and washed her hair too! I was so proud of her for doing her hair because that was something she hadnt had the strength to do yet. It was a good day. We finished it off with a prayer asking for strength for tomorrow and this week and continued healing and a continued speedy recovery.
Monday Feb 7th 2011
We had a really good day. Kenz did really well at PT and they were impressed with the changes and improvements she had made since Friday. They were talking about how they think she can go home sooner rather than later and there was a nurse there who Randy was giving updates to and I heard him say that she was doing so good that he thought she was ready to go back to school when she left the hospital. Of course we were really happy with this news. She met with Joy to go over school work and Joy was happy with what she had done and went over a few things with her and gave her some more work. Erin, Shelly, Aynsleigh and Mallory came down to visit and this made Kenz super happy too. Erin left Mallory here while she took her mom to the Dr and so that was fun for Kenz to get to hang out with Mall. I went upstairs to turn in some paperwork and so she got a little teen time in.
Tuesday Feb 8, 2011
DISCHARGED!!! AMEN AMEN AMEN! =)
Today the Dr's wanted to talk to us and before we even talked to them te nursing staff came in to do meds and check blood pressure and stats and were all saying things like "I hear you are going home today" W had no idea but we were pleasantly surprised and then that made us even more anxious for our "family meeting". We met with the whole team of rehab people and they went over how McKenzie had progressed over the last week and how they felt confident sending us home. She should never have a flu shot Dr Krocker said though. Ever. Ok done we thought. No needle! Kenz was ok with that too. =)
-March 11 2011
As you can see the past month has flown by. I do not have time to sit at the computer like I did in the hospital. There is not as much waiting around in life back at home. But we are back at home! PTL! God is so good! Miss McKenzie is doing so well. She is doing outpatient therapy now for another 4 weeks or so and her one main focus is being able to jump for cheer tryouts in 3 weeks. We have come a long way! Its been really amazing how fast she has healed. The Dr's want to see us again in June. I hope she is 100% by then but am fairly confident that she will be. She has just kept improving each day. She went back to school the Thursday after we came home and although we created a 504 plan for her she's doing really well. The plan was more to help ease the workload of past work and she has been doing everything else since she's been back.
We still give God all the glory and all the Praise and all the Thanks we can possibly give Him. Praying for continued healing with no relapses! AMEN!
