11 out of 15

Days are starting to move more in time with where they need to be. Still a little faster than we would like but definately better than 5 days ago. It seems like things are changing daily and all are pretty much for the better so I really am not complaining. Yesterday was actually a really nontraditional nice day. We took our usual shifts but about 2pm, we met all of the Roth's for Marley and Me. Since the movie started at 2:15pm and tickets were not bought ahead of time, we not surprisingly could not get into the movie. We decided to go to Bedtime Stories which turned out to be pretty funny. We had to remember that we had a 2.5 year old with us so we couldn't see anything too serious. Heidi was actually secretly thrilled that we couldn't see the movie because she wanted to finish reading the book first. Bedtime Stories was actually a really fun uplifting movie anyway. Afterwards, we headed to the Roth's for Christmas dinner. We had yummy ham with other things. They could not resist gifts. We insisted that we get nothing and Christmas would be celebrated at home but they really wanted to have something. They bought Gunnar two large Disney Cars (Chick Hicks and Ramone) that make really loud noises when shaken and then they move. He loves them! Brent and Noelle had us for Christmas this year so they got him a little candy vending machine that we plan to use for potty training. They bought Jeff and I a digital photo frame. They also bought all of the girls sweater jackets of different colors. We were admiring Noelle's earlier this week, so they bought us our own. Jeff got yummy macedamia nut popcorn. Her parents are incredible. They got wedding pictures of our family from the photographer, blew them up to 8x10's and framed them. I LOVE it! This picture means so much to me. There were two other 5x7 pictures that they included. So indredibly thoughtful. Brent got a frame with him and my mom on one side and a picture of my mom kissing Brent's forhead on the other. It really was a joke of what Noelle and her dad did. However it was so precious. Brent's cute expression made him look about 14 years old. Afterwards we played Catch Phrase for a couple of hours and cracked ourselves up. It was hilarious! We were there until about midnight busting up. I will miss these guys when we leave. We all wished that we were closer.

After the fun, Brent, Noelle and my dad headed to the hospital. They got my mom a pair of slippers for Christmas and wanted to give them to her. When Brent and Noelle showed her the present, she immediately wanted to help open it. She loved her slippers. They put the one on her left and she knew that she did not have one on her right foot. She loves slippers. Getting them tends to be an annual thing. She just wears the things out. She was still in love with them today. Mindy also picked up one of those music recorder cards for Gunnar. It was the most perfect Grandma card and sang part of The First Noel my favorite carol. We had Gunnar draw in the card. He said that he was drawing Grandma and he said, "Merry Mismus, gama." He was so proud of his card. Brent and Noelle said that she loved it. She actually opened up both eyes pretty big to look at it. She also opened it up several times to hear it. It was perfect.

This morning we again took out turns. Nurse Sally told us that they had my mom in a chair earlier (a specially designed chair) and she did great but she fell asleep in it so they moved her back to bed. She was pretty sleepy when we arrived. It had to have worn her out. While Mindy and I were there the speech therapist came in. She was so incredibly nice. I really liked her. Her goal today was to check my mom's swallow. We tried an ice chip at a time and she did great. The therapist told us that she had a pretty strong swallow for someone in her situation. She was pleasantly surprised. My mom really enjoyed the ice chips. She then tried water on a spoon and a sip out of a cup. She also gave my mom applesauce on a spoon. My mom fed it to herself and then got a little bit more and fed it to herself. We were excited. She is now allowed ice chips when she is really alert. They are planning on taking an x-ray to see how she swallows. With the stroke it has prevented her to feel any sensation, like when a little bit of applesauce was on the corner of her mouth. She couldn't feel it. The same goes for the inside. With feeling, our muscles work to keep food out of the pockets of our mouth and force us to swallow all of it. My mom can't do that on the right side so she may choke with solids right now. We are just thrilled with her hard work.

When my dad and Heidi were visiting, the neurologist stopped by. He informed them that the bleeding actually had stopped a couple of minutes after they initially stopped it. Whoever interpreted the second image and told us that it continued to spread a little was so off. He told them that we are on the tail end of the swelling. We are so delighted to hear that. He told them that there are three parts to strokes. The first is getting past death if that had not already happened at the beginning. The second is swelling which we are on the tail end of and the third is rehab. We are prepared to the long road. We are excited to be moving in a positive direction. In the next dew days, she will be moved to the med unit. Some time after, she will be moved to a rahab facility. In California, a patient must be able to do physical therapy on their own for 3 hours before they can come home, or back to Idaho in our case. So at that point, it would really depend upon my mom to get to where she needs to be to come home. My mom is such a strong person. When she set her mind on something, she will stop at nothing to get it done.

Nurse Sally told us this morning that my mom would be an 11 out of 15 on functionality, the rest of us being a 15. Mindy and I thought that the number appeared to be a little high but we know that she knows what she is talking about. Sally really likes my mom and she is fun to be around. She has been really impressed with my moms progress. We all are.

Tomorrow the rest of us (minus my parents) are flying home in the morning. I am excited to be heading home however I am going to really miss it here. We have really enjoyed the dedicated time together. We have grown to love each other more. We have all learned so much about each other that we did not really know before. We have all learned to work through our slight differences and pull together for my mom. I've learned where all of the major stores and mall are. I know how to get around different towns, to and from the airport and San Fransisco, I fit right into Californian driving...let me tell you, it is just my style. :) I will miss family the most and the Roth's are considered close family. They have gone through the worst with us. They have been right there every step of the way. They are great! I love them so much! I love my sisters more than anything. They are awesome and the bestest friends/sisters anyone can have. I don't know what we would do with out each other. I love Brent and Noelle so much. What a wild ride to the start of a marriage. Wow! If they can get through this, they can get through anything for sure. I love and appreciate Jeff so much! He has been with all of us every step of the way. He takes turns at the hospital and stays behind with Gunnar. I really love both of my brother in laws too. They have been holding down the forts at home, watching all of our houses away from theirs wives. That can't be easy.

We continue to be grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers for our family. We truly have been blessed with so many good things.