No pictures again....Yesterday my friend, Chante, and I went to see mom. Chante is a licensed massage therapist....and a very good one if you ask me! I wanted Chante to show me how to massage mom's neck. Since the stroke mom hasn't been able to turn her head to the left and she says that it is stiff. Chante was able to work on her a little and mom could move her head a little more afterward. Mom had teared up a little when Chante was rubbing her neck, Chante said that massage is an emotional thing and that it is nice to have someone touch you that cares about you and not just a physical therapist or nurse!! I didn't think about that but I bet it is true!! John said mom moved her left foot about an inch or so....she has a brace on her foot now that helps keep her foot more secure.
It looks as though mom will be coming home on the 10th!!! We are all a bit nervous but I am sure with all of us helping her she will do just fine...and maybe even make more progress!!!!

Just a quick note.....We had a family meeting on Monday with the Drs and therapists. It was a meeting to tell us about mom's progress and to talk about what the next step will be. She has sort of plateaued so they think that unless she makes progress she needs to come home...in other words this could be it for her progress. But we know she is in there somewhere and we just need her to work harder!!! It isn't that she isn't working that hard on purpose but she isn't making the connections...it is very frustrating for her and for us! But the bright side is that she will be home maybe next week! Maybe she will make more progress at home. Well that is it for now, we should know more tomorrow....hopefully.....you know how Drs are!!!

*I should tell you that mom still has no movement on her left side...she can transfer from bed to wheelchair pretty good but that is it!

You might wonder who these people are...They are the Jensen's. They are friends of Brian and I. Their little girl, Shelby, who is 7, had an aneurysm. On Tuesday she had brain surgery at the U. She had the same neurosurgeon as Mom!!! They thought she had a stroke because of her symptoms and they couldn't see it on the ct scans. It turned out to be an aneursym in the middle part of her brain and it was 4 times larger than they thought. She was at the U because Primary Children's had never seen anything like her case before....She is doing great now! Shelby, like mom, has a long road of therapy ahead of her. Please keep her in your prayers too! If any of us know how prayers can help it is us!!!

It is interesting how these things come about and how we are hearing more things about strokes than we have heard before....Like the commercials showing on TV.

I thought I would just put some of Jodi's birthday pics on for all of ya!!!! Jodi and Jade...aren't they cute! We are singing "Happy Birthday" to Jodi and her friend Emily has the Gong....we had such a good time! Brian and I took her and 8 of her friends to a restaurant called Bonsai. It is like a Benihana's but cheaper...Mom had talked about taking her and her friends to dinner so Brian and I decided to do it...We had a blast! It happened to be on the night of the sugar bowl so the place was empty...which was good cuz 8 teenagers can get kinda loud!

Bishop Simmons and his wife, Sue, came to visit mom today. Sue and mom are nursery leaders in the ward!

Jax giving Grandma Janie kisses....notice Jade making the kissy face too!!

Baby J giving kisses too...he LOVES to give grandma wet kisses!

The grandkids with Grandma Janie...

Jodi and Jade with Mom....

We had a good visit with mom today. We went up after church and Jodi, Jade, Jacob and John were there too. We took mom to the commons area where we can visit better.

So Jodi had mom almost laughing today....Jodi said that mom's hands looked dark, like she had a tan...and I said "Jodi, didn't you know that tanning is part of Mom's therapy!!" Jodi looked at mom and said "Really?" It was kinda a blonde moment!! Mom just looked at her and raised her eyebrow and winked at her!!!! It was soooo funny!!! We asked her if she missed all the noise...she held up her finger and thumb and gestured "a little bit". Jodi asked her what she wanted to eat first when she is able to have "real" food....I thought she would have said shrimp or steak but she wants a hamburger....Jodi asked her what her number one wish would be and she said to walk....so we are all praying for her to get her wish!!!

Well no pictures again...I keep forgetting to take my camera....maybe tomorrow after church!
We had a nice visit today with Mom. We got mom out of bed into her wheel chair, she did alot of the work herself, then we went to the commons area and she got to watch the kids play!!! I think that she would watch them all day long, I know she misses them! She was in good spirits, a little tired but that is too be expected when we go at dinnertime! When we were leaving Brian made her smile so big it was almost like the old mom!!! He had a cup full of water and bent over to kiss her goodbye and spilled a little water on her arm....she looked at him and he said "sorry it's my first day using a cup!!!" She smiled soooo big! It was nice to see!! Yesterday when Grandma and I went up there we were asking her about therapy and Grandma asked her about the machine that helps her stand...She said "What is that machine that helps you stand up called?" Mom looked up at her and without missing a beat said in her little whisper "The standing Machine!" I just busted up laughing and said "Duh! Grandma!" It was hilarious!!

These pictures were taken on Sunday...sorry again for the lack of updating...I like to update when I have pictures and you know, when I have time...so right now, in between the kids brushing their teeth and saying our prayers before bed, I have a little minute to update!!!

Well, the week has flown by! Mom had a lot of therapy this week which has worn her out. The Doctors were concerned about some "swelling' by her right eye and that her left eye was "bloodshot"...I guess John and Mom got quite the run around today while going to the eye appointment...I didn't talk to John, but grandpa said it was just a waste of time! It turned out to be nothing...I guess it is better to be safe than sorry!!!

If anyone is interested I know mom would be so happy to have visitors!!! She is at the University Rehab Unit....

Thanks to all those who have helped us during this time....even the littlest gestures help us get through this difficult time....