10/25 update

From Joyce:

"Kat had a very good day yesterday. We were able to observe her therapies with her and were so happy to see how much progress she has made in her recovery. The therapists already knew that she was much stronger than when she arrived at Bryn Mawr. Even last week, she had little strength and a therapist had to sit behind her to hold her up in a sitting position. She can do that all by herself now. Even better, she surprised the therapists on Monday with her ability to move her left leg and arm. We thought we saw her left leg move this weekend but the therapists before that had warned us that she was not showing any movement on the left side! 

We continue to be optimistic about her recovery but know she still has a lot of work to do. The therapists are working on standing, walking and movement. She is talking more but still needs to increase her volume. We are so happy that is able now to communicate her needs. She still has the stomach feeding tube and is working on learning to eat again. Her speech therapist tells us they have to be very careful that none of the food or liquid goes into her lungs so they purposely progress slowly in this area. She still has a brace on her wrist but it is healing nicely. We are so happy to see her smile sometimes again and her face looks so much brighter. 

She is doing well cognitively but is not yet at 100%. Kat has progressed to a different wheelchair that allows her to pull herself along with her right foot. She has more freedom of movement!

We want to express our deep thanks to all of her friends and extended family for your continued support in so many ways.  

When you come to visit, if she is awake, there are some things you can do to help. Continue to encourage her and make her smile! Try to get her to talk! We have been told she has "left side unawareness". To help her work on this, try to sit on her left side and if you're showing her something like photos or cards, do so from her left side. You can encourage her to do things like playing cards, write or color in the sketch pads and books, and if she's feeling good take her for walks in the hallway and even better, see if she will pull herself along with her foot. 

Thank you again for all your thoughtfulness!"