"ONE LAST MESSAGE"

Melinda is settling in at Pate rehabilitation in Anna Texas. She isn't so homesick. It's a 6 hour drive, so we go every other weekend to see her. She is kept busy during the week with her therapies. Weekends are pretty laid back. We had her conference and stated that we wanted Melinda to have a structured and routine in the evenings and weekends. She needs repetition, repetition to remember to start doing things on her own. Melinda has to do her own laundry with a little help. She has to fold and put away her clothes. Melinda has a home bound teacher from Anna School that comes to the rehab and teachers her Government and English IV. This is really going to help her cognitive and memory. The school is working closely with Melinda to see how she handles school work. Melinda is working hard to build her strength. She has started using a treadmill and walks about 30 minutes. They are also having her walk on different surfaces to help with balance and coordination. She has even got to use the cane but only in physical therapy. They also have started her in the pool using the treadmill. Melinda really liked that. Melinda said, "I am finally starting to feel my muscles again." OT is working with Melinda's right arm and hand and it seems to be getting better. Melinda is getting to type on the computer to work her fingers and strengthen them. She still wants to just use her left hand and so she gets tired of us telling her to use that right hand. Melinda also has a counselor that talks with her about what her limitations are with her disabilities. Sometimes it is frustrating for Melinda to understand. She only understands that she is 18 and a teenager and an adult. The rehab evaluated Melinda and have chosen March 12Th to be her discharge date, which happens to be her birthday. She is excited that she gets to have a birthday party and a coming home party on the same day. We will all be excited to be home again.

I want to thank each and everyone that helped Melinda and our family get through this difficult time. I know this journey we're on isn't over, but with every day God continues to heal her and with all the continuing of prayers she will cross that finish line with the biggest smile on her face. We are so humbled and blessed by all the caring, love and support we received and we know that our God is Alive! Don't lose faith, Never!

I want to try and thank everyone for your kindness. There were a lot of people that helped Melinda. All the profressional medical staff that stabilized her for the trip to OKC, Ballard Aviation for flying her safely to OKC, OU Medical Trauma ICU and all the doctors and nurses that worked around the clock to save Melinda, Select Specialty Hospital, Dr. Huff, nurses, respiratory and therapist for all their hard work to get Melinda to the next level, Jim Thorpe Rehab, Dr. Smith, nurses and all the therapist that worked hard to get Melinda started being an 18 yr. old teenager again.

Melinda and her family are very humbled by all prayers, love and support we received over the past year. God Bless you all!! We are blessed to have our beautiful daughter home.

December 23, 2009

Melinda has been really busy this past month. Melinda continued to receive home health therapies 3 times a week. As Melinda progressed, it was decided that she needed outpatient therapy. It was exciting to know that she would be using new equipment to help her walk and strengthen her right arm. Melinda is working hard to get her balance and coordination.

Melinda started back to high school for her senior year. We decided that it would be best for her to do 1/2 days, 3 days a week. Melinda would also need an aide to go to school with her, to help her from class to class and with her assignments. The school didn't have an aide for Melinda and so we prayed and god brought Melinda's friend Carolyn. Melinda was so excited to see all her teachers and classmates. Melinda went to school for a week when we got a call from the rehab in Texas. We were told about Pate Rehabilitation in Texas back in October that helped with post traumatic brain injuries like Melinda's. I had taken Melinda to Dallas Texas to be evaluated and the case manager said Melinda would be a good candidate. Pate rehab had been talking to our insurance and they approved Melinda to go starting December 15th. The insurance approved the first 30 days but could as long as 3 months. We packed her bags and headed to Anna Texas. It was a fast and busy day getting Melinda admitted and meeting all the therapist so they could evaluate her. We went to the main house to see Melinda's room to unpack her things. Her room is like a mini apartment. She has a refrigerator, washer & dryer and a separate living area. When we started this process to get Melinda to this rehab, we were told that the insurance would say no and she wouldn't be allowed to go. We all prayed and never lost our faith that this was where Melinda needed to be to continue her recovery. It was very emotional, mostly for me to say goodbye to Melinda. She let me know this week that she isn't so homesick and is meeting new friends. As a mom that makes my heart feel a little bit better. We are driving down on Christmas day to see Melinda and visit for a few days. Please keep Melinda in your daily prayers that she continues to progress. I pray to God that he continues to give us strenght to stay strong and to never lose faith.

Nov 22nd

Melinda is doing well. She seems to be getting stronger every day and is getting good walking with the walker. We got her a walking cane but didn't work out so well. She fell a few times. We don't want to rush if she isn't ready but we know soon she will be. She is getting better about doing exercises and will even initiate them on her own. Melinda's spirits remain high and she is looking forward to going back to school. We are still working on that. Melinda will need an aide with her at school. Melinda isn't receiving occupational or speech therapy at this time. She only has enough visits for physcial therapy to last through December. I talked with her PT and we are working on getting Melinda to the facility to use their equipment to work harder on her balance. Everything is going well and Melinda continues to do her daily routines without much assistance. Melinda is using her right hand to eat and has been doing a lot of writing. It is truely amazing to see Melinda improving. Thank you for your continued prayers. God Bless you and Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov. 11th

Melinda is doing well. Working hard every day. We haven't heard anything about the rehab in Dallas TX. We will just keep praying. Melinda received her seasonal flu shot, H1N1 shot and her pneumonia shot. She couldn't afford to get sick since her immune system is not strong. She is wanting to go to school really bad. We are talking to the school about getting started on her senior year. Melinda asks, Am I going to school today"? Melinda will need an aide to help her the whole time she is at school. To help her to each class, to the bathroom, etc. Melinda's writing is improving. She is using her right hand to write. Her writing is legible and easy to read. We had an appointment with her doctor. Dr. Kirkendall said, "Melinda has improved in the last 6 weeks. She has built up more strength in her arms and legs. He wants her to build up her thigh muscles. This will help with her balance. Melinda showed Dr. Kirkendall that she could walk by her self. He was amazed at her progress. He will see her in another 2 months. Dr. Kirkendall gave Melinda a pep talk. Told her that God has a plan for her. Told Melinda she could have died, but there was reason that she didn't die. Dr. Kirkendall told his story about when he was 17 yrs old he was injured badly. It took him 3-4 years to heal. God saved him for a reason. That Melinda has a second chance. We got paperwork back from social security. Melinda has been deemed disabled. Only for now, not forever. Melinda's custom wheelchair is being delivered tomorrow from OKC. Praise God we don't even have to use the wheelchair very much. Melinda will like it, she ordered a pink one with white spokes. Please continue to pray for Melinda. Melinda is improving every day and we thank God for all his blessings. God Bless you.

Oct 31st

Melinda is doing well. She continues her home health therapies 3 times a week. She is working really hard. She is using her walker all the time. She only uses her wheelchair if she has to walk long distances or has no place to sit. We are practicing doing some walking without the walker. This is exciting. The balance has improved a little. Melinda has fallen a few times but is okay. We have talked about maybe getting her a cane. Melinda likes that idea and wants a pink one. She is doing so well getting herself dressed in the mornings and is even started tying her shoes. We are also noticing Melinda is showing a lot more emotions. I do believe our teenager is back. She does get frustrated with her exercises and doesn't want to do them. We have to have pep talks as to why we have to do exercises. Melinda understands that she won't get better if she doesn't work hard. The eye specialist in Enid gave Melinda good news. She does have some problems with her eyes but the doctor thinks maybe in 6 months they could improve. The doctor said, her retina and optical nerve looks good. I think he called it a muscle on the top of the eye that is damaged. The doctor said, this is common with any head injury. With the extent of her injuries her eyes look really good. He also said, all Melinda's physical problems are due to the brain injury and not her eyes. Melinda is enjoying having her braces off. She has to now keep track of her retainers. So far she is doing pretty good with keeping up with them. We stopped by Select Specialty Hospital to see the all the medical staff. Oh my gosh! They were amazed how much Melinda has improved. They told Melinda how really sick she was. It was a really good visit. We saw Dr. Britt which was the backup doctor for Dr. Huff. He looked at me and then Melinda and then back at me. He says, I know you. I said this is Melinda. Dr. Britt said she looked amazing and he would tell Dr. Huff. Our next trip was to see Dr. Smith, the rehab doctor. He said, she looks well and she needs to continue to walk at least 30 min - 1 hr a day. It was a long day for all of us but a exciting day to see everyone that helped with Melinda's recovery. We are looking into a rehab in Dallas TX that specialize in brain injuries. We took Melinda on Oct. 23rd and they evaluated her. They asked, Melinda why do you want to come? Melinda said, I want to walk. They said that Melinda would be a good candidate for their program. They also have a 98 acre ranch with horses. They have kids that are Melinda's age. Melinda is ready to go but awaiting the approval from the insurance company. Please pray that Melinda will be accepted and keep praying that she will continue to get better. God Bless.

Oct 11th

Melinda continues to improve with each new day. I know god is still healing her and I know every one continues to pray for her complete recovery. I have faith that she will. We are all adjusting well and have gotten into a routine. Melinda is working hard in all her therapy sessions and her therapist says she is improving. Melinda continues to have good spirits with a big smile. She is glad to be home and we are all happy to be back together as a family. On Tuesday Oct 13th Melinda gets her braces taken off in Yukon. The orthodontics said there was no damage to her braces and her teeth moved beautifully. Melinda is very excited to be getting them off and lets us know every day. We will then go into OKC and see Dr. Smith (rehab) for a follow up appt. We will also be stopping by Select Specialty Hospital to say hello. When Melinda left Select Hospital she wasn't talking and was just beginning to smile. They will be amazed by her progress. On Friday, October 16th, Melinda has an appt. with an eye specialist in Enid. She still has double vision and other problems going on with her eyes. The family doctor said, this will help her motor skills a bunch. I am excited. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I will keep you updated on how her appointments went. God Bless!!

Oct. 11th - update from Melinda

Hello this is Melinda I'm doing much better I'm walking but with a walker. i want to say thank you for all the prayers and sticking by my side through it all. i would really like to thank my mom and all my family, because without them i don't know how i would of made it. Thank you to everyone really, because without you guys i don't know where i would be. I know this has made me stronger and i know god is still healing me. right now I'm trying to learn how to walk again. i have therapies everyday. i can dress myself. i have to have help taking a shower and up and down the stairs. i have problems with everything on my right side but getting better with it. I have a lot of visitors that come, which I'm very thankful for because without them i don't know where i would be. thank you to my church the first christian church for having a benefit for me. thank you for all your prayers. i was really glad to see everyone in church. i was told i received a lot of visitors while i was in the hospital. thank you. i thank every one for all my cards and phone calls while i was in the hospital. i know i have a long ways to go so please keep praying for me. Love to you all. oxxoxxxoxox Melinda