"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

September 25

Melinda had a good week. She received a good report from her therapist. They said she has improved and doing well. The last 2 sessions, Melinda is working harder on her balance with her walker. Praise God we haven't used her wheelchair the last 2 days. Speech is working really hard to get Melinda talking louder. We again have homework this weekend. OT is using a resistance band to strengthen Melinda's arms. She pulled it 3 times and said, I'm done my arms hurt. OT said, no you have 20 more. Melinda went to see her family doctor and we are going to be seeing a specialist about her eyes. She still has double vision and she tested about 20/50. Hopefully with some special glasses this will help her eyes and motor skills improve.

I would like to say a few words how thankful and appreciative of all the prayers, support, love and concern everyone has shown our family through these last 4 1/2 months. Thank you to the District Attorney's office for your support and donating your time so I could be with Melinda. xxooxxo Thank you William S. Key employees for your support. Ft. Supply School, "You are Awesome" Thank you students and staff for all your acts of kindness. To our church family, First Christian Church, thank you for the dinner and baked goods auction held for Melinda. To everyone that donated to help with our expenses. THANK YOU! We are truly touched and blessed. Thank you for the calls, visits, get well cards, prayers, a kind thought or concern. I thank all the doctors, nurses, therapist and medical staff that helped with Melinda's recovery. And most of all, give thanks to God our lord and savior. Please continue your prayers for Melinda. God Bless you!!

September 22

Melinda is adjusting at home and doing well. She is keeping the same schedule as she did at Jim Thorpe Rehab. She is up at 7:45 am to get dressed and eat breakfast. At 9:00 am she starts with physical therapy. Right now she is working with the walker and trying to regain her balance. At 10:00 speech therapy comes and they work on Melinda's voice. I told Melinda this would be her chance to scream at mom. She liked that idea. The therapist gives Melinda homework through the week. Melinda has to remember 15 things she did in a weekend to work on her memory. Occupational therapy has been working on Melinda's right hand. She tries to pick up toothpicks with tweezers. She is also working on writing with her right hand. In the afternoons Melinda works on the floor doing trunk exercises and leg lifts and uses a putty to work with her right hand. Melinda is doing very well going up and down the stairs at home. She is progressing a little each day. I was really excited today. I asked, Melinda to take one step with each foot. She did and did not lose her balance. She took another 2 steps, one at a time and did not lose her balance. Praise God!! With repetition over and over she will be walking soon. I know in my heart that all the prayers said for Melinda has gotten her this far. We are so thankful and can't thank every one enough for all the support and prayers that has helped us through this difficult time. It is truly a miracle that Melinda is home and doing well. GOD answered our prayers. Please keep Melinda in your prayers as she continues to work hard every day to improve to get better. God Bless!

September 3-12

Melinda is doing well and counting down the days till she can go home. She was very excited to have her peg tube removed since she is eating regular foods and taking her medicines by mouth. I would always tell Melinda, be patient, everything will come off one at a time. I promise! We are going home!! On Friday, September 4th Melinda had her therapy sessions all morning long while Todd & I started packing and loading everything in the car. At 12:30, Melinda's therapist (Theresita, Jenna, Jenny) threw a pizza party to say their goodbyes. It was sad to say goodbye, but very excited to be going home! It has been a long 4 1/2 months. I apologize for not updating Melinda's progress this past week. We are happy to be home and adjusting and getting into a routine. Our home has a lot of stairs, so this has been a challenge. Melinda will continue physical, occupational and speech therapies at home. The therapist will come to our home 3 days a week and when Melinda is stronger she will be able to do outpatient therapy. Melinda is in good spirits, getting stronger every day and is enjoying being with family and friends. Melinda is still working on her balance. She is getting better using her walker. On Friday, September 11th, Melinda had an orthodontics appointment to check her braces. The doctor said her teeth look great and amazingly there wasn't anything damaged on her braces from the accident. Melinda can have her braces removed next month. Melinda said, "When I get my braces off, I want to take senior pictures." We are so thankful for all the support we received. All the prayers and kindness you have shown our family. God answered our prayers!! We brought Melinda home. Please continue to pray for Melinda that she gets stronger and continues to progress in her therapies.

Sept. 1 - 2

Melinda's week is going very well. Tuesday Melinda got her feeding tube taken out. She missed aquatic therapy that day but it is a relief to get that tube out of her stomach. On Wednsday morning PT and Melinda went to the gym and placed a mat on the floor and layed down as if she had fallen with no help to get up. She tried to get up without no help or very little. We are still a long way from her doing this on her own. Her trunk still needs to be strengthened and her whole right side is still week with limited mobility. This exercise completely wore Melinda out. She was very tired after that. It was a very good exercise for her to work on her entire body. In the afternoon she had another swallow test done. She did well on the thin liquids from a spoon. She tried thin liquids from a cup. The first time she did good. The second time she aspirated a small bit. The ST okayed to give liquids by spoon but only the ST can give Melinda thin liquids by cup right now. They are working on getting a drink and tucking her chin to swallow and after swallowing completely then she can raise her head.
Things continue to improve and we are grateful.
The therapists are all starting to make preparations for Melinda to come home. They are giving her pep talks about continuing to work hard at home and giving her things to work at and exercises to do. Melinda's short term memory is getting better every day and she is getting stronger.
We are excited about being able to come home but we have a long way to go. Keep Praying. Our prayers are being answered. Praise God and God Bless.

August 28-31

Melinda had a good weekend. Her grandmother (Mema) arrived Friday to stay the weekend with Melinda. On Saturday sister Leann and neice Britany came by to spend the day. They had a great time visiting and being funny. The weekends go by so fast that it is not fair.
Melinda is looking forward to the day she can go home. She has been told she needs to work very hard to get ready and so she is. Monday morn. OT worked on Melinda using her walker to get to the bathroom since we don't think her wheelchair will fit. She is progressing nicely and we think she will be fine there.
We have had concerns about stairs and Melinda's ability to use them since our house has stairs everywhere. PT worked with her this morning on some stairs and Melinda did great on the stairs. This is a huge weight off our minds. She will continue to need help with them but we know she can handle them.
Melinda continues to progress and it is our hope that when she comes home she will continue to do the same and have faith that this will happen.
The prayers and the Lord continue to produce miracles with Melinda and we thank everyone for that.
God Bless.

August 26, 27

Melinda is having a good week. She likes getting in the pool to work on her balance and core strength. I think it helps with her joint movement. She seems to be stepping better while trying to walk. She still needs two people to help her walk but she is getting better at it each day.
Melinda had a fun afternoon this afternoon at therapy. PT and ST got together and combined to work her. They hooked up the wii and put in Guitar Hero and had her sing while standing using her right arm to steady herself and held onto to the microphone with her left. This got Melinda to use her right side and her singing for speech. It went really well and she had fun.
Melinda is looking forward to the weekend. We don't have any plans but she enjoys the rest.
Thank everyone for everything. God Bless.

August 25

Melinda continues to work hard with her therapies and is making progress. She got to do something special today and went out on an outing to Target this morning and looked at clothes. Melinda picked out a tank top and a sweats type jacket. We also did things to work as her therapies. She used her right arm and hand, she tried on clothes, and she walked a little bit behind a cart. Melinda had a good time and as soon as she got back she got in the pool for her aquatic therapy. All in all she enjoyed the day. She walked with PT in the afternoon session and seemed to move her hips and legs a little better after being in the water.
Thank everyone for the prayers and cards. Keep praying and God bless.

August 21 - 23

Melinda had an enjoyable weekend but it wore her out. Melinda had her usual day of therapies on Friday. On Saturday Melinda was given a pass to leave the hospital for a while. That after noon we loaded up and went to Shawnee to see her sister Leann for an early birthday. We visited for a few hours and then went to eat. After we ate we came back to the hospital. The day completely wore Melinda out and was ready to go the sleep as soon as we got back. She slept all evening, all night Saturday and slept most of the day Sunday. She had a restful day so hopefully she will be ready for another week of therapies. Melinda is improving every day but will still need lots of therapy when she gets to come home. She is ready to get out of the hospital come home.

Please remember to keep Melinda, Jon, and their families in your prayers. They are working. God Bless.

August 20

Melinda had a good day today. She is getting better and quicker at getting herself dressed in the mornings. She is starting to use her right hand a little to grab and hold items to help put clothes on like her socks. She is not very strong with it but she is trying. She still needs a little help with holding her legs up over her other knee so she could reach her feet. She also worked at standing at the bathroom sink and working at balancing herself and reaching for items and using her hands and fingers to do things like twist caps off or flip caps to open them.
PT's morning session worked on Melinda's balance also and her trunk strength, then walked a little at walking with the walker. In the afternoon session PT came to the room and Melinda walked with the walker in the hallway. She walked all the way around the nurses station back to her room, took a breather and then did it again. When she remembers to keep her hips under her, lean a little forward, and stand up straight and tall, she looks really good walking and she seems to walk better.
ST is still working on Melinda's short term memory and pronunciation of her words. Her memory is getting better. She is still needing to work on her lung capacity and air intake. Melinda was told Wednsday that they set a tentative release date of two more weeks and she was excited and has not forgot that for sure. She asks about every 30 minutes how many more days she has left till she can go home. She also asks quite often about her school and if they have started and if she will be able to graduate with her class.
Thank you everyone and God bless.

August 18 & 19

Melinda has had a goo couple of days. On Tuesday ST played some of the songs off of Melinda's cds and they sang to them. They had a great time and laughed a lot. Tuesday afternoon OT came to get Melinda to do something different. She hooked up a wii game to the tv near the nurses station. Melinda played baseball and a little tennis. She could not quite get the timing down but she enjoyed it anyway. PT came by while Melinda was playing and thought that was a good idea. PT asked if she could use it on Wednsday. On Wednsday PT put a twist to the wii game and had Melinda stand to play it using her good arm (left) to play and to use her weak side to steady her and to balance herself. In the afternoon PT came by with a walker. PT stood Melinda behind the walker and with a little assistance Melinda walked. She still has balance problems and she still crosses her right leg in front of ther left but she is moving her legs better and she did a good job of hanging on to the walker with her right hand. We are making progress and it is exciting but she has a lot of hard work remaining to be able to do things on her own. She had two people helping her with the walker but she was doing most of the work.

Prayers are being answered. Please continue to keep Melinda in your prayers.
God bless you all.

August 14 - 17

Melinda has been doing great with her therapies. She is working very hard to recover her mobility and flexability. She continues to make progress. Friday evening Melinda was given the ok for a short pass. She did very well with the transfer from her wheelchair to the vehicle. Once she was in the vehicle and we started driving she said she was feeling car sick. Dr. Smith says that is pretty normal with brain injuries and the new movement in the vehicle. It should get better.
Melinda has a very busy weekend with lots of visitors. She was up in her chair most of both days. Sunday evening she was very tired. She was so tired she wanted to lay down and not finish her dinner. I knew she was tired when she said that because she is always hungry and ready to eat. She layed down and she slept all evening. She was woke up to get a bath and then she was back to bed again. She woke up tired Monday morning and was a little sluggish for her therapies and the therapists noticed she was not her normal self. We made it thru the day and she is going to get plenty of rest this evening and tonight so she will be ready tomorrow morning.
Melinda want to thank everyone for coming to see her. She always enjoys getting visits. She continues to have a good attitude and works very hard. Please continue to pray for Melinda's progress.

God Bless.

August 12 & 13

Melinda is staying busy with all her therapies. She is working very very hard and never complains. All the therapist is seeing Melinda's sassy, ornery side and keeps us all laughing. PT said, Melinda is depending on her left hand to much and forgetting about her right hand." PT is using techniques to get her to balance her body without the use of her right hand. Melinda is frightened and she feels unstable. PT is using a mirror so she can see the correct way to stand and take steps. Melinda's right knee hyper-extends with every step, she is having a hard time walking and is in a lot of pain. I asked, "Does she need a knee brace?" They said, "No. The muscles need to be strengthened a lot more." Melinda is enjoying aquatics(pool) therapy. She was a little frightened when the therapist let her lose her balance in the pool. With a brain injury you have to re-program the brain to learn these things that are automatic to an un-injured brain. OT is working with Melinda's right hand and this has been a very slow process. I know, everything is in baby steps and one day at a time. The neurosurgeon finally contacted Dr. Smith and said, "The neck brace can come off!" YEA!!! Melinda hasn't had any pain in her neck or arms the last couple of days. Dr. Smith also, stopped her heart rate/blood pressure medicine and said, "she should have more energy." Melinda's 4 week evaluation went well. She continues to improve and estimated date of release is 2-3 weeks. When we get home, Melinda will have continued Physical therapy, Occupational therapy and Speech therapy. Please continue to pray for Melinda, Jon and our families. We still have a long road to recovery ahead of us. Thank you for your concern, love and support. God Bless!

August 11

Melinda had another busy day. She is working hard in all her therapies. She's dressing her self better and really trying to use her right hand. In PT, she is working on her hips, balancing and standing by herself. Melinda is doing some alphabetizing and memorizing in Speech therapy. Dr. Smith said, "Melinda's UTI infection is a little resilient to the antibiotic and she will take bactrim another 7-10 days." The doctor said, "I won't be doing a skin test to take her out of isolation, because it will just come back positive, and Melinda won't be able to do aquatics therapy." Everyone is saying that Melinda will really benefit a lot in aquatic therapy. Melinda aspirated on thin liquids and didn't pass her swallowing test. She did upgrade from drinking honey thickness to nectar thickness. ST - Jenny said, "Melinda's throat muscles are still weak because of the neck brace." We will keep talking to the doctor about taking the neck brace off. Melinda enjoyed the pool therapy. She worked on balance and walking.

Melinda wants to say a few words.....Thank you for all the prayers for me, without your prayers I would not be here today. Thank you for the letters, cards, visits and all the love and support I have received. This helped me stay strong. I love you all and I can't wait to go home. Hope to see you all soon! Love, Melinda Rae