Update - Sunday

Its hard to keep up with blogging - so forgive delays in information.

Sara's father Tracy was at the hospital this morning. He reported that she was opening her eyes slightly for him and tracking him. Always great to see because that is improvement over yesterday and is definately purposeful movement.

None of you know Tracy, but he is the textbook sceptic. While he has heard and seen that Sara is indeed conscious and aware and communicating, he needs to check and be sure. I understand that and don't fault him at all. He asked her some yes or no questions, getting answers but directly opposite of what he expected. So, for the mean time he thinks she's "reversed". That is, when she thinks she is saying "yes" she is actually saying "no". I told him I am not worried about this right now because I tell her no movement is no, any movement is yes. I did this because I've read that it is so tiring for people with Locked In Syndrome to communicate early on and get so tired. Also, the doctors told us that she may get a little worse before starting to get better at communicating. This would be due to her brain swelling at the site of her injury.

All this sounds grim - and honestly, it is right now. She didn't die in the accident (for which i am so selfishly grateful) but this is a very hard place to be as well.

A few things we have learned so far though:
1. Sara is IN that body. Her brain is just damaged in the area that connects the part of her that tells the body what to do on purpose.

2. Sara is a fighter and wants to fight. She knows she's really hurt. There have been times the last few days that she could have slipped away if she wanted to go, but she didn't. She agreed with me when I did not sign a do not resuscitate order. I told her that if she wants to fight, we will fight this with her.

3. Research on her injuries and prognosis and this and that will make you insane. There is such a WIDE range of recovery experiences that we can't figure out what to expect. There are so many variables that we don't know where to start. We are all wanting to know, get something definitive to grab onto and work from. With this syndrome, there truly isn't any.

4. Truly, how far she will recover is up to her. That being said, it is a little soon to be looking at recovery. She is still healing from her other injuries and from the stroke itself. And, when recovery starts, it is going to be a LONG hard road for her. I'm lacing up my shoes and getting ready to be with her every step...I know quite a few people are. She's going to take us on a journey...

...I'm so tired right now. Please forgive just trailing off at this point. She has surgery tomorrow and I want to be there.