time flies....

hello all!

so, my apologies for the "once a month" post promise. turns out, it's been a hectic couple of months! josh and i bought a new townhouse and moved....and i'm getting ready for graduation from law school. anyway, i figured it was time for an update!

overall, mom is continuing to progress, albeit slowly. physically, she's still doing great. now that the weather is finally warming up in indiana, mom and dad get to go for 2-4 mile walks daily. plus, i think it's just nice for them to be able to head outdoors more. what mom continues to struggle with is her memory. i can say that she has good days and bad. there are days that she remembers thing spot on, and shows better orientation to day/time. there are also days where she is very confused and has trouble remembering things.

in order to remain positive, though, i think it would help to list the positives. after all, it's being positive that has gotten us this far! (1) mom's personality is defintely still the same. she's her sassy, stubborn self and it's such a relief to still have that. (2) there are times where mom's memory and awareness about her injury are dead on. (3) mom's spirit and determination are definitely there and helping her to get through the days.

on another note, mom and dad have been going to a brain injury support group occasionally. it's definitely been a positive, and nice for the both of them to be around other people who also face brain injury on a daily basis.

finally, i would just ask that everyone keep the thoughts and prayers going. mom has come a long way....but there's still a long road ahead. i'm headed to indiana next weekend to spend a few days with them, and hope to be able to report more good news. my best to everyone...hope you are doing well! thanks to everyone for the continued support!!

much love,
xoxox
steph

can you believe it's february?

hello all!

as promised, we'll be doing about a post per month from now on. it's hard to believe january has come and gone! overall, i have to say mom and dad are doing pretty well. their teamwork is nothing short of inspirational. mom is still struggling quite a bit with her short term memory, but it is improving slowly. there are many times that she does really well remembering things...where things go, where certain rooms are, etc.

mom is also expressing more and more self-awareness regarding the accident, and also frustration with things being obviously different now. while it's difficult to watch her go through that, we have to be optimistic and supportive. i am always reminidng her how proud we all are of her strength and how much we love her!

mom is also adapting to life with her vision issues (poor sight in her right eye). she's gotten really good at scanning areas, and using her left eye to see things. the right eye vision is spotty at times, though, so who knows whether or not it will improve. as far as anxiety, it has pretty much stabilized. there were some tough times in early december, but some new medications have helped mom tremendously!

as far as the holidays, they were really great! josh and myself, ken, jacque and the girls were all in indiana and had a really fun christmas. the girls were so excited to see grandma k....and she was pretty excited to see them as well :) it was a lot of fun, and we had a relaxing 5 days all together in sweetser. it was definitely a merry christmas!

i think that's pretty much it. we are just so grateful to see continued baby steps of improvement. mom is truly a walking miracle, and while it's tough at time, we have to be so grateful for her progress over the past 11 months. we were fortunate to be able to spend a wonderful christmas holiday together and i look forward to visiting them as soon as i can! thanks much to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers. it helps more than you know!

much love,
xoxox
stephanie

happy holidays!!!

hello all!

first...i want to let everyone know that we'll be updating the blog once a month or so. that way, we can put a little more information in the posts. things don't change too much day to day anymore.

to update everyone, mom and dad are doing pretty well! josh and i are getting ready to head out to indiana for a week to spend christmas with them. looks like jacque, ken, lauren and mia will be joining us as well. we're looking forward to relaxing on the couch, and eating lots of christmas cookies. mom is pretty excited for us to visit....she tells me every time i talk to her on the phone! we plan on putting up some christmas, baking up a storm, and watching all our favorite corny holiday movies (christmas vacation anyone??)!

as many of you may know, mom has stopped therapy for now. her short term memory problems were making it difficult for her to retain information from session to session. so, hopefully once things improve she can start back up again. although she's not in therapy at a rehab center, her and dad get quite the daily workout in at home. they usually go for walks, work out at the local ymca, run lots of errands, and spend time reviewing family photos and such. although mom's short term memory is slow to come around....it does seem to be improving bit by bit. additionally, mom continues to take medicine to help with anxiety. it seems to be helping. overall, her progress over the past seven months has been tremendous. i really feel so blessed to be able to spend another christmas with both my parents. they are so strong, and i am so proud of their everyday teamwork!

i'm hoping to help mom do a post herself sometime while i'm in indiana....watch for that. that's pretty much it! merry christmas and happy new year to all. thanks again for all the love and support you have given for mom and dad. trust me when i say they truly appreciate it! here's to 2007.....let's hope it's a good one :)

much love,
xoxox
steph

a weekend in indiana!

hey all:

i know aunt cathy posted a bit about this weekend....just wanted to put in my two cents as well. overall, it was just fantastic to spend some time with mom and dad. i hadn't been to visit since august and was anxious to get back and see how things are going. plus, it's nice to be able to help dad out while i'm in town. for josh, it was his first time seeing mom since the accident.

mom has definitely shown improvement since august. physically, she looks just great! dad has done a fantastic job keeping the physical activity up. it seems like more bits and pieces of mom's short and long term memory are coming back. she even(from time to time) appears to have more of an understanding as to her limitations/injuries because of the accident. as aunt cathy said, improvements have been pretty slow....but it's great to see her continue to work so hard. i think the hardest part is the inconsistency in her memory. one minute, she may remeber something and just a few minutes later she might get confused again. it's a definite emotional roller coaster, especially for mom. her and dad work together, though, and it's so nice to seem them constantly picking each other up.

that's about it. josh and i are just looking forward to returning for another visit over the holidays. i think it's going to be different this year, but definitely good. can't wait to see everyone sometime soon! and, as always, keep the faith. mom continues to improve each day and it is our hope that with everyone's love and support she'll keep right on going!

much love,
xoxox
steph

update- 10.1.06

hey all!

just a quick update for you. first, i must say, mom is definitely sounding better and better as the days go by. each time i talk to her, i feel like our conversations are inching closer and closer to the kinds of conversations we used to have each day.

also, mom went to see the outpatient doctor, dr. backhouse (the spelling may be wrong), on thursday for an evaluation. dr. backhouse told dad there has been definite improvement over the past couple weeks. way to go mom!! mom is set up to see the speech and occupational therapists next week to see what they think. i'm getting the impression, though, that it's only a matter of time before mom is ready to begin work in outpatient. hopefully a few more weeks and we'll be there!

i wanted to thank everyone for the support and encouragement for josh and i in our triathlon adventure! it was an awesome experience, and it made it even better that we were doing it as a tribute to mom. all in all, we ended up raising $1522!!! in keeping with mom's commitment to charity, we donated $250 to the Brain Injury Association America. the rest went to mom and dad to help out with medical bills and such. thanks again everyone, i couldn't be prouder of the support our friends and family have shown for mom's sake! we'll be doing another triathlon next summer (with longer distances...yikes!), so we can't wait for that.

that's about it. just keep the faith everyone! a special thanks to dad, cathy and chris for working tirelessly to help mom recover. she is so lucky to be surrounded by you on a daily basis! love you guys!

much love,
xoxox
steph

They're in the Mail!

I mailed the bracelets today to all that have sent checks....so keep you eye on the mail and let me know if you don't receive them by next week.

Please note: puppy not included!

xo
a

The Results are IN

Steph and Josh raced in the Hyannis Sprint II triathlon today and rocked it! Woohoo! They trained so hard- and thank goodness the bracelets were here in time for them to wear. Steph finished 31st in her bracket with a time of 1:45:14 and Josh finished 4th in his bracket with a time of 1:16:07. WAY TO GO GUYS!!! From the results, it looks like Steph had a stacked bracket, lots of stiff competition.

We are so proud of you both!

In other news, Steph and I had a great weekend in Camden, Maine last weekend. Josh couldn't make it, he had to follow Tiger all around the PGA Tour (I know, I know- pity him!) but we were joined by Marc and a couple of friends. We both decided that Camden is so cute it makes us sick. Seriously, it is a gorgeous place and to quote Steph "I'm a little weirded out right now about how much this place looks like Northern Michigan".....hahaha.....that's why we love it! And it's only a few hours from Boston. And it has Lobster. And Seals. And Moose.....ok, the fauna are a bit different from Michigan, but the flora bears an uncanny resemblance to MI. Unfortunately the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto started to blow through.....so Sea Kayaking from Camden to Rockport was out (BOO!). The rain held off until Sunday, and we all left a day early. The photo is of Steph and me at the top of Mt. Megunticook along the Ocean Point hike (1400 feet up!). In the background is Camden Harbor and in the far distance is Rockland.

Just a fun update for you all checking the blog to see we a few of us finny's are up to. We are thinking of you Buz, I know you were with Steph each step of the way - she carries you in her heart every day! We all do!

xo
a

quick update- 9.7.06

hey all:

not a whole lot new...but i wanted to post. dad is still waiting to hear from the hook facility (in indianapolis) and the insurance company. they should be contacting him soon, either today or tomorrow, or maybe next week. dad is also scheduled to meet with some doctors from the outpatient team next week. as aunt cathy mentioned before, they'll be checking mom's meds and working with dad on a few things.

other than that, mom and dad are doing pretty well. they're going through a daily routine of physical therapy (2 mile walks and workouts at the ymca) as well as other activities (running errands, going to paige's soccer games, hanging out with aunt cathy/uncle chris). mom is doing well, but still struggling quite a bit with her memory, especially short term. again, the docs say she'll come out of this...it'll just take more time!

that's about it. thanks to everyone for the continued support of josh and i! we can't believe the race is almost here. check out positivelybuzie.pledgepage.org for updates on our triathlon fundraiser. the race is saturday at 7:00am. you can check out either www.timeoutproductions.com OR www.coolrunnings.com for race results. we're in the "first timers" division. we can't wait to race....this one's for you mom! we love you and dad so much!!

much love,
xoxox
steph