What a good day...

Yes, she is coming home - after 8 months in the hospital. I am in daily contact with the discharge planners trying to get her to Kaiser Vallejo (for family caregiver training) and they have said they won't take her this week, but will probably on Monday.

She will be in Kaiser Vallejo for up to two weeks.

I have told Kaiser that I want her home before the end of the month, regardless of when Kaiser Vallejo accepts or doesn't accept her. We'll take the training at Kaiser Walnut Creek if we have to. She's ready. Doctors all say she'd be better off at home, and safer (from all the nasty junk floating around in a hospital - yikes). Now she just needs her family, and friends, and home, and time.

Yesterday she picked out the paint color for her room. I'm picking it up tomorrow and painting this weekend.

Today she and I designed some clothes for her. We figured out how to make some dresses that will be comfortable, accessible, easy to put on/take off and not interfere with her trach. We even figured out how to put sandals on her and keep them on, since she can't yet control her feet.

Today, just for fun it seemed, she decided to show off something new and when I arrived she rolled her head all the way to her right shoulder, then all the way over to her left shoulder and back again...laughing the whole time. That girl is unstoppable.

Then we called her Grandma Sande and they got to talk. It was Sara's first phone call with someone other than me. They both really enjoyed it and Sara was smiles the whole time. She was very proud of herself when it was done, having worked her computer as quickly and as accurately as she could, and communicated for herself. And I did hear her grandma get a little choked up at it and some of the things Sara said - and knowing they came straight from her precious granddaughter.

Sara gets to see her beloved Daniel tomorrow and her friend Sylvie! Sara is so looking forward to it. She loves him soooo much and they are truly one together. She's happy that Sylvie is back from school and gets to come visit. She thrilled Sylvie the other day when she sent her an email and got this great response back.

(ooh...and we found a button on her screen that reads her emails out loud, so she doesn't have to read them [screen position, her bed angle, and font size makes it hard to read much yet]. it worked awesome - so she CAN get longer emails.) We still can't get the respond feature to work. I have to call Dynavox support and ferret it out with them.

She wants me to call and talk to her on the phone tomorrow even though she is getting to see her boyfriend and dear friend. (she'd rather have them over Mom...I know... :) I am fine with that! LOL) She loves it when I call her and yammer on...she gets to practice the computer without me there, watching and helping. She's proving to herself that she CAN do it

...its is so nice to see her so bright and encouraged...looking forward... that right there is the Essence of Sara.