Thanksgiving in the hospital

Love the holidays in the hospital. Chocolate milk over turkey. 

"...You're gonna hear me ROAR!"

working hard

Happiest moment

Here is Tracy after walking the 150 feet to therapy instead of riding in the wheelchair. If you had any question if Tracy was still in there just look at this picture. 

Yesterday update from mom

Tracy is tired today she didn't feel very well yesterday. She still working hard in In rehab. 

They started her on weights with her leg. She is sore. She is trying hard.

     We're looking forward to spending Thanksgiving out here in Salt Lake with her Although she might not be able to go out to eat with us we will still be here with her.  Brandon and Becky will be here on Saturday in Salt Lake to stop and visit with Tracy . Ryan and Christi are spending Thanksgiving in Washington.

     She has enjoyed reading all your emails, comments, and concerns. Thank you for cheering her on'

leg weights

I love the smile on Tracy's face

I love to see her happy. That is one genuine smile. Here with Camille and Cristy. 

What a difference a few days make

Jeff (Tracy's dad) went out to see her today. He was out with her on Tuesday and Wednesday and they worked hard together. He had to go home to work the rest of the week. Upon arrival today Tracy was able to give him a big hug...with both arms. She was using movements she wasn't able to do only three days before. In addition her tongue and facial movements are becoming more precise. This suggests that she is moving along on her speech therapy as well. As a reward, dad took her outside and let her bask in the sunshine for a few minutes. She loved it. 

Shining star

Tracy has been working extremely hard in therapy. She has made it to the point of walking on her own, using her right arm, and even learning a few words. That is all repetitive. What is amazing is the speed with wich these things are happening. One neurologist said that Tracy is at least a month, if not more, ahead of schedule. They even talked about sending her home on December 10th. However since the insurance is paying well they might as well keep her out there where she gets fantastic therapy. But it is looking like she is going to be home for Christmas. Who would have thought that considering she has only been conscious for 10 days. Talk about miracles. Her speech is the weak spot at this point but that will come.  Thank you all for the support and prayers. They are felt by the entire family. 

Hard work and future

Great. She is walking and moving her arm. They are working hard on her speech. She had 3 sessions today. They are hopeful to have her home by Christmas!  Wahoo!

walking better

hard work!!!

Emails for Tracy

https://www.facebook.com/terry.luke.585/posts/235177323308417

This will explain how to send an email to Tracy. They keep them in a book for her to keep as well. They are appreciated and will be kept for remembrance. 

Update from mom

Here is the latest update as told by her mom

Tracy is doing so well in rehab that have decided to up her time from 3 hours a day to 5. She is willing to do it too. She is walking with a cane and has a brace on her elbow to help keep her arm in control, but she can move it.
When she first started rehabbing, her dad would have her move her left arm as if she was going to hold a volleyball and then try and raise her immobile right arm to hit it. It was very effective because Tracy loves volleyball. She laughed silently at that time because she had no voice. Now she can makes sounds with her voice, but can't pronounce any words. She smiles and nods yes or no. You can see in her eyes, that she wants to be well so badly!!! Those beautiful brown eyes look at you and you can see that there's the Tracy we all love so much!! 
I truly believe she feels the love and prayers from all of you and our Heavenly Father. She will do this!

More of the same but a little longer?

look and listen

Smuggled food

Camille and Troy knew what Tracy would want. Some soup from kneaders. 

Walker!

Contact info

Because I haven't figures much out about blogging yet, feel free to text or email updates or pictures or videos that you want to have put on here. This is for everyone. I will post your updates ASAP!

Brandon 435-401-0213

Lukebran@msn.com

First meal

Here is her first meal!

Swallow test

To this point Tracy has only been allowed to eat puréed food. Her throat was so weak that if she tried to swallow food that was too runny she would aspirated it into her lungs. Essentially her body wasn't strong enough to push down the correct tube. As for foods that were too solid...well you can imagine what would happen with those. So she wasn't allowed to drink anything. The picture of her with the diet coke was her pretending. Well today she finally passed her swallow test. That means Troy brought her some kneaders bakery. Way to go Tracy!

Things we have noticed

Another day has passed and Tracy continues to make progression. Every day holds a new accomplishment. She is working really hard in therapy. She works exceptionally hard when her dad is around. Of course Troy had to chime in and say "she always has wanted to please her father." But dad has been able to make a difference. He learned that after she returns from her therapy session she gets bored. When she gets bored she gets frustrated. So in order to avoid frustration you just have to keep her playing. If you keep her entertained she works really hard and stays happy. 

She is still early in her speech therapy and as such she hasn't figured out how to use her twinge or even her vocal cords. But she is trying. She will get back at this rate. Sometimes we forget she has only been conscious for a week. 

Physical therapy

She had a great day at physical therapy today. She used muscles in her triceps and biceps that she hadn't used before on her right arm which was amazing she did three laps around the hall. She was only able to do one with a rest the day before. So she is advancing rapidly in that regard. She needs work on speech. 

Another day

She had a good night of sleep. Those haven't been easy to come by. She seems to get some anxiety at night because she doesn't want to be alone. But when she has someone there she relaxes and gets some rest. She starts the morning with physical therapy and goes from there. She is actually there right now. She has made tremendous progress everyday so we will see what today brings. 

Some things don't change

The first thing she wanted upon waking up was...

The video

Here is a video of her. She is in such good spirits. She gets so proud of herself when she accomplishes things. 

Right arm movement

Tracy has had a good day of rehab. She has moved her right arm by herself without help. The doctors have said the right arm will be the last thing to return if it comes back at all. So her moving it today is no small feat. 

Sunday night as told by mom

After midnight she slept pretty good. She woul wake up and look over for me so I know that made her more confident. They kept a good eye on her. 

The dr came on this morning and said they still don't know why she had the stroke. They are starting her on Coumadin and she can't take estrogen anymore  

    They said she will be in rehab for quite a while. But she did get frustrated a few times and started pounding the bed. We had a really good nurse. She started I v fluids and that helped too 

     She is back to sleep now 

They gave her melatonin last night and that worked much better than the phentonal 

The beginning...

Well here we are at the beginning of an extremely long and difficult road. Tracy is making progress every day.  She has exceeded all expectations that have been placed before her.  She wasn't going to start real physical therapy until this coming Wednesday.  But she is there now.  She has great dexterity with her left hand and can stand and balance herself to some extent.  She is walking a bit in therapy (with help of coarse).  She is starting to try to talk.  She has a long way to go but she is making more progress than we could have ever imagined at this point.