Day 16: Transfer

Ronda has improved leaps and bounds physically. She is medically stable for the most part. She is still missing a big part of her skull and she might get a new and improved fancy 3-D printed plastic skull in its place. For those of you wondering, her real skull is in a freezer someplace. These are often re-implanted but sometimes cause problems if they are rejected as foreign by the body. The newest technology is to make a new one using high-tech plastic. Seems weird to me but I'm no brain surgeon. Ronda is off almost all of her medicines. She is breathing on her own without any additional support. She is still on a feeding tube and will be until she can pass a swallow test. Her swallow function is working great but she isn't cognitively ready yet to get the green light to eat on her own. She is tired but awake and alert a lot of the time. She is walking short distances with a walker and a therapist by her side. She is able to have some short conversations. Her voice is weak and gravely but it's coming back.

She was medically cleared to be transferred to in-patient rehab. On Thursday she was transferred to the beautiful new rehab hospital at the University of Utah. We expect her to be there for a few weeks at least. Ronda will receive medical support and 3 hours of therapy per day. There will be physical therapy and occupational therapy to help get her stronger and able to walk and take care of herself when she gets home. She will also get a lot of support from speech-language pathology to help her cognition. This is where she needs the most support. Short-term memory is Ronda's biggest deficit right now. She still does not remember much of anything post-op for more than a few minutes but we're seeing a few improvements. On Wednesday she told Amber that Mike was golfing that day. She had that conversation with Mike more than 5 hours earlier. She did not remember seeing Mike that day but she remembered enough of the conversation to tell Amber he was golfing. So we have hope that her brain is healing and re-learning to make connections again.

I frequently ask Ronda if she knows where she is or what happened. She is starting to remember that she came to the hospital for one reason and then something went wrong. When I remind her about her stroke she is starting to nod as if that seems vaguely familiar. She doesn't hold onto new information for long but it seems like it's getting closer to the surface. Her voice and manners seem almost childlike. She can't quite make sense of her surroundings but she's not upset by it for the most part. She is aware that she doesn't know what's going on but she's fine with it. She's not angry or frustrated or upset. Just curious and disoriented and at ease. When asked where she is she looks around as if seeing her room for the first time and says things like "I'm in this fun place with all this stuff in here."

Over the past few weeks, Ronda has received flowers, cards, and messages of encouragement. I read her some of these messages and she cried and cried. She was so touched to hear that her friends and loved ones believe in her and are cheering for her.

Thank you to those of you who are reaching out. We are sharing your messages with Ronda and she loves to hear from you.❤️