My Angel loses her halo!!!

Dear Friends & Family,

An incredibly wonderful thing happened yesterday. Allie's halo vest was removed. She is wearing a neck brace since the muscles in her neck have weakened so much. We are fondly referring to her as our "bobble head". In time, the muscles will be able to once again support her head, but for the next three months she will wear the neck brace at all times. It was pretty scary for Al (and me) as they removed the screws from her head. But she handled it like a champ and in fact went out for a ride on the freeway today and then to Hobee's for lunch with Jordan, Brianna, her nurse Merlyn, Scott from Rec therapy, and me. She's a bit sore and learning to move her and get her comfortable is a new challenge and experience. Another piece of good news....our discharge date is Wednesday.

The not so great news is that Allie is on a course of medicine to resolve some granulation she has in her throat which is preventing her from voicing and can make a trach change dicey. That is our biggest concern right now. Other than that she is making great progress physically and emotionally. She's eating all three meals now and is taking most of her meds by mouth. We are going to start working on her Doc. to see if we can get him to agree to remove her stomach tube. That will be the next great milestone.

Her smile when friends visit is priceless and although her nights continue to be without sleep and her sadness is at times overwhelming, her coping skills and outlook is beyond my greatest hope. Her friends continue to amaze me with their compassion, dedication and overall love for her.

Recently Allie attended peer support group although she remains the most "disabled" in the unit. She attends skills group and plays poker, blockus and other games with the competitive edge we all know her best for.

We cannot wait to be back among our friends. We miss you all so much and are forever grateful for all the love, prayers, support, meals, help with pets, visits, donations, etc. I can't wait for Al to see her new room. I haven't seen it yet myself, but hear it is perfect. Bamboo floors and pretty green walls. We hope to have a van this weekend to bring her home in.

See you all soon.

Love, Peace & Happiness,

Deborah