Reading and Writing

I can't believe today marks a month that we have been in the hospital.

Katy had another great day yesterday. She has started to calm down more of the time, sleep better and have a better sleep/wake pattern, and all her therapies made progress. In her speech therapy she started using her voice a little more instead of whispering but the rest of the day she went back to whispering. She also was able to swallow little spoonfuls of water better than the day before. She is learning to swallow before taking a breath when something is in her mouth.

While that was a blessing, it was really incredible to see her read off a sheet of paper and do some math. Later in our walk, she started repeating, "St. Joseph's," which it took me a little while until I realized she was reading the blue signs in the hospital corridor. Then she started reading them all, "Pediatrics activity," "Outpatient," etc.

PT took her to the parallel bars and helped her shift weight from one leg to another so she can learn to walk again. They also taught her to reach for things.

Later in the day she told us who her brother and sisters are, her mom's name :) and again, her name, address and age. When they asked if she knew she was in Marshfield, she opened her eyes really big but then said, "Thorp." When the Occupational Therapist said she heard Katy likes Math, Katy started listing multiplication tables. Overnight she was saying, "ratios," and talked about, "Robert," so if one of you is Robert from a math class, she was thinking about you!

I did a boo boo. The kid next door was whining very loudly which is a normal thing...you'd have to hear it...and I mumbled "hush that kid up." Katy started repeating it over and over so I was glad she stopped before somebody came back in.

Katy also went outside for the first time in a month. We went to the pediatrics patio and enjoyed a few minutes of the evening with one of the other patients. She enjoyed it for a while then asked to go back in.

Finally, last night she was asking for the nurses. I told her they were in another room with a patient at that time. She said, "I don't care. I'm more important." That's my Katy!