June 29, 2008
We start this update with a profound thank you to all of Jenny’s friends and supporters. It has been 10 months since Jenny’s accident, and the continued interest in her recovery as demonstrated by well wishes, cards, and inquiries along with ongoing donations to Jenny’s Make It Happen Fund still feels humbling to our family. Jenny has certainly been and continues to be a wonderful gift in all our lives, and we are grateful on her behalf for your ongoing love, support, and prayers. We extend a special thank you to Alison Wade who compiled and edited “The Runner’s Cookbook, Winning Recipes from Some of the World’s Best Athletes” this past spring. The book is on sale through www.runnerscookbook.com, and the proceeds are being split evenly between Jenny’s Make It Happen Fund and the Ryan Shay Memorial Fund. Ryan Shay, an All-American runner, died suddenly during the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon last November. It is an honor for Jenny to be supported along with the Ryan Shay Memorial Fund through this special project. Jenny and her family are appreciative to all the athletes who donated their favorite recipes for all to enjoy. We also extend a special thank you to the Badgerland Striders who donated one dollar from every entry from the June 25th Superun to the Make It Happen Fund. The running community has been and continues to be some of Jenny’s biggest supporters as she works on her recovery. Our heartfelt thanks to all the people involved in these special projects and events and to all who continue to be concerned about Jenny and her recovery.
In the past few months, Jenny has made great strides in many of her therapies. At the same time, she has experienced minor medical setbacks, due to infections and dealing with both mental and physical challenges.
In our February update, we indicated that Jenny was walking distances of up to 150 feet while still at Sacred Heart Brain Rehab Facility. Distances now are much reduced, due to a focus on proper body mechanics. When Jenny first arrived at Mount Carmel BIR Center, her physical therapy team evaluated her flexibility, muscle tone, and general physical condition. They came to the conclusion that because of her many months of inactivity, Jenny’s muscles and tendons needed to be stretched and reshaped. As a result of their plan of action, Jenny was removed from a walking regimen and placed in a series of leg and foot casts. After 60 days of rigorous stretching exercises combined with leg and foot casting, Jenny’s muscle tone is much improved. She is now at the point where she is taking her first steps without the help of a walker, but still with the assistance of two physical therapists. Her steps are more controlled and her form is greatly improved. She continues to have challenges with the left side of her body, which makes it difficult for her to coordinate her steps. Jenny’s care team continues to work with her left arm and hand, which have severe mobility limitations. Jenny’s posture is much improved, thus her care team is now focused on increasing her ability to turn her head. While some of these issues center around Jenny’s neck injury, most have to do with muscle inactivity. Overall, Jenny’s physical abilities are lagging slightly behind her care team’s expectations, however, the team does feels that Jenny has made great strides in her physical recovery.
With regard to Jenny’s mental acuteness, she continues to battle short-term memory problems. She has, however, demonstrated an incredible ability to recall events and general knowledge from her past. Her “Jeopardy” like memory is extremely sharp with her ability to name bands from the 80’s and political candidates from the late 90’s. However, her ability to remember visits from friends and family on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis can be challenging. Jenny’s cognitive skills have shown improvement, including her ability to read paragraphs and short stories and demonstrate reading comprehension with questions asked by her speech therapists. Jenny’s emotional state continues to be slightly detached, whereas she appears to understand her situation, however, is somewhat disconnected from the overall ramifications of her injuries and her long-term prognosis. While this is troubling on some fronts, one advantage is that there is currently less risk of depression and anxiety. The flip side of this, however, is that Jenny does not demonstrate an emotional drive to recover from her physical and mental injuries. While this is difficult to understand, we are told again and again that the brain is a mysterious and not completely understood area of medical science. Thus, many patients over time will heal emotionally - it’s just not easy to predict when or if that will happen.
Two aspects of Jenny’s recovery that are somewhat humorous include her eating habits and recreational time. While Jenny has always been fond of a variety of different foods, since her recovery began she has developed an affinity for “any” food including the institutional variety she now receives. Because of her challenges with swallowing, Jenny is currently eating a pureed version of the meals served at Mount Carmel. She does not seem bothered by this, rather it seems like three meals a day is not nearly enough; asking when her next meal will be has become a predictable question for the staff!
During recreational time with other patients, Jenny often plays simple card games. These games help reinforce various aspects of Jenny’s occupational recovery. As many of you know, Jenny has always had a take-charge personality. This aspect of her character is magnified during card games as she will often tell the other patients which cards to play and in some cases will play their cards for them. While this is an encouraging sign in Jenny’s recovery, it is a challenge for the staff because many of the other patients are very willing to let Jenny make their decisions for them!
Other challenging aspects of Jenny’s recovery include dealing with incontinence, dental work, and the needed reconstruction of her jaw. While we anticipated additional plastic surgery to occur by this time, the extent of Jenny’s injuries in her jaw area have proven severe. Until Jenny regains a full range of motion and is able to open her mouth wider, her oral and plastic surgeons cannot begin reconstruction work which will be followed by numerous trips to the dentist.
While some of Jenny’s challenges are daunting, we continue to have great hope for her future. It is evident that she continues to make progress in her recovery, and we hope and pray for improvements to continue over the next few years with Jenny’s ability to regain much of what she lost 10 months ago.
With the summer weather, there has been an opportunity for Jenny to venture out and enjoy the warmth of the sun and some fresh air. We hope you are able to do the same - we wish you all a happy, safe and relaxing summer.