Week 3 - Goodbye Staples

In the last two weeks, as Ronda has stabilized medically, we have learned more about the challenges we are going to face cognitively. Overall Ronda is becoming a lot stronger and is doing well with her progress in occupational therapy and physical therapy. She is working really hard getting stronger every day. She is still unsteady on her own two feet but sitting up and walking with assistance is becoming easier and easier every day. She is still missing a part of her skull and will be for at least another month. Until then she needs to wear a fancy helmet any time she is out of bed. She is still not very happy about her half-shaved head but she's handling it well, choosing to laugh instead of complain about it. Overall Ronda's attitude has been very positive and she has not experienced much frustration or pain. Her biggest complaint is being bored and disconnected from her social life but her attitude has been REMARKABLY positive. Please feel free to reach out and send a message to Ronda. You can text Mike or Ronda directly, they'll get to her either way.

One of the greatest challenges we are facing is her widespread cognitive deficits. We expect these will continue to improve in the coming months. She is already showing a great deal of progress but we don't know which of her impairments will persist longer than others. Right now the most visible of her deficits are short-term memory and anomic aphasia - or finding words. The speech therapists have admitted that they are perplexed by the widespread impact on her brain. They think all parts of her brain have been at least partially affected by the stroke. Although a conversation with Ronda will quickly show that her brain is not working the same way as it used to, she is still the same person! She laughs and smiles at all the right times, she knows her family and friends and she enjoys finding out what is going on with everyone.

This past week Ronda got the staples taken out of her head. By none other than her own husband! Mike reported, "A resident came in and said he'd received an order to remove Ronda's staples. His eyes were uncomfortably darting to and fro, so I quickly stated my credentials and asked him if he would like me to perform the task. He seemed relieved and quickly said he would like that. So her ~ 110 staples are now out, and Ronda chatted the whole time, only claiming discomfort with the final 10."

It is so nice seeing the light coming back into Ronda's eyes and listening to her laugh and talk like her normal self. We know the road ahead is still a long one but we are definitely seeing miracles happen for her. Keep praying that her brain will continue to heal itself and she will be able to keep helping others and doing what she loves. Thank you everyone for your love!