Saturday (day 65)

Good evening all. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but if its broken its still good because Shawna continues to improve by God's blessing. She stays awake quite long now, but sometimes is exhausted by long stays in her wheelchair and aggressive physiotherapy. There are many aspects of her treatment we are exploring right now as she moves (or rather tries to move) body parts. She went for an assesment to Chedoke in hamilton for splinting but she moves her feet too much for splints to work correctly without causing skin breakdown. So we go back to progressive casting starting next week. Its too bad the casting didn't work properly (not mentioning reasons) the first time in Hamilton General. The pyhsiotherapist is impressed with her ability to work muscles in her back as she attempts to sit up when he works with her. He is going to bring a neck brace for next times so he can do more aggressive physio. When he is finished the session Shawna is awake for hours. She seems to be energized by that kind of physical work and struggles to perform. He is trying to assist in getting her to Rehab asap so he can use all the equipment that is available for Shawna which Dunnville doesn't have. Today Shawna was given an SLP. Its just a fancy code for swallow assesment. Unfortuneately she failed miserably. She was sleppy from being in her chair and still has trouble opening her mouth on command. That's just another task on our table now. We'll try to feed her small ice chips to stimulate her mouth to open and get used to having something in it again. We are supposed to use good smells like coffee and chocolate etc to awaken her senses to open her mouth. Its been over 8 weeks now without something (besides tubes and a toothbrush) in her mouth. We continue to have a one sided verbal communication with her to which she responds with hand squeezes, smiles, and the occasional eye lid blink depending on how tired she is. Her trache hole is now completely healed and the insertion site is progressively getting smaller. She doesn't cough at all any more (except when I gave her too big an ice chip today). Shawna really enjoys the visits that she is getting. Some people even get smiles when she recognizes their voices. That for us is so beautiful to witness. I remember a few weeks ago when on of the things I was praying for was that I might see our child smile again. Her next day trip is planned for Thursday afternoon just in case you are planning a visit. They have noticed a pressure point developing on her backside last night, so they changed her to an air mattress to head off the possibility of bed sores. Once again we can see our Almighty Father holding fast to his child and leading her along on his path. We continue to pray for her that she may experience His riches and hold firm to her faith that He is working all things to her benefit. God bless you all and may you have a bessed day of praise and worship. Al and Deb

Wednesday (day62)

Good evening all. Shawna again continues to show improvements. Her trache hole is almost completely healed. It was a rather stressful time for those who were watching her as she was producing thicker secretions when it was removed. This may have been because the hole was possibly an infection site. She is doing very well now but hates to cough and avoids it if at all possible. I think it hurts her throat to cough. She went to hamilton for a checkup with her doctors there and they were very pleased with her progress. She went by EMS ambulance with a nurse assigned from Dunnville just in case she needed suctioning. I rode shotgun as her advocate to make sure all the bases were covered with the checkup. Her white blood cell count was up slightly but her platelets were going down which is a good sign the infections are coming under control. There is no longer a pocket of infection behind her lung and the exray showed some streaking of her lower left lung which could still be scarring from the accident. Otherwise she will continue with the antibiotic treatment and they will test her spit and urine to make sure there are no more infections. Shawna rode the trip very well and was not totally exhausted from the trip back and forth as she was when she first came here last week. Today she was outlasting Deb in staying awake as deb started dozing off later this aft but Shawna kept staring away at her surroundings and listening to her music. Shawna got her new glasses today which were replaced from the accident. When Deb put them on Shawna her eyes went wide looking around the room. This morning too she responded to the doctors request to move her toes. Now her responses are not just to our family which is a very good thing. The shawna watch continues with friends and family vounteering to sit with her through the night so she won't wake up in a possibly strange environment. It is becoming increasingly noticeable that she is aware of her surroundings and possibly realizes she is trapped in a body that cannot yet respond to her wishes. I'm sure it is a great source of comfort when we read scriptures to her and pray with her and reflect on God's promises to her and all He has done for her to this point. Tomorrow she will go to chedoke for a splinting apointment to maintain her ankles and hopefully we can have the neuro doctor visit her and maybe even fast-track a swallow assesment(that may be wishfull thinking). Shawna seems to be improving significantly and our physiotherapist would like to see her in rehab asap! So would we! We continue to lay her needs before God's throne of mercy and pray that our great Physician will completely heal her. Thank you for your prayers. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Saturday (day58)

Good evening all. Shawna is enjoying all the attention lavished on her by the diligent doctors and nurses here at Haldimand War Memorial Hospital in Dunnville. Its great that members of our congregations here can visit for her stimulation. Keep up the good work! Visiting is 8 am to 8 pm(you can stay a little later, they don't get too excited). The most important thing which happened over the last few days regards her trache. I called the discharge nurse from Hamilton to say how much we enjoyed coming here but also to query her about having the trache removed. It had been corked for 120 hrs plus. Normally they remove traches after 48 hrs corked but Hamilton didn't want to send her away in a possibly unstable condition so they wanted Dunnville to pull it. The doctors and nurses were unable to do that here right away as they don't hardly know her yet. Once Hamilton realized, after my persistance, they gave the order for it to be removed so they were responsible for the order. As a result the trache was successfully removed at 144 hrs. Since I felt responsible for this order I have stayed here so far 23 out of 30 hrs to make sure there is no complications. They do not stich anything closed they just cover the skin and trachea hole with a dressing. When she coughed up some secretions she blew the dressing almost off. I have to keep my hand on the dressing to assist her coughing. She is quite stressed during these episodes fortunately she only had 4 of them in the first 24 hrs. They are becoming less frequent and now her trache is almost closed making it easier to cough and clear secretions. We are pretty sure the secretions were caused by the trache tube as her lungs are pretty clear according to her doctor. In a few days everything will be closed up. It will only take 24 hrs to close the trache . Everything else continues to progress. Communication is starting to be more apparent with hand squeezes and smiles and eye blinks for affirmative answers. This has been a real blessing. Requests from us for her to move body parts and help work against range of motion exercises are responded to a little quicker now. She seems to have good connections to some muscle groups. She will be travelling to Hamilton on Tuesday for her appointments with her doctors. Last night we we suddenly visited by some of the Slaa family. Apparently Fraser Slaa came in for an emergency apendectomy and now he's on the same floor as Shawna. When Shawna went for her wheelchair ride she went to visit him. He's doing pretty good but has to stay for a few days due to infection.

Thanks be to our heavenly Father who continues to uphold his children and give them healing. We continue to pray for Shawna's breathing to stabilize and her brain to make connections. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support and may God bless you with a beautiful Sunday of Praise and worship as we remember the blessed resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Al and Deb

Wednesday (day55)

Good evening all. Shawna's had an uneventful trip. She is presently settled into a private room here in Dunnville (room 221). At first they had her in a ward next to the nurses station, but once they saw how many visitors she was having from just family and the fact that we are determined and allowed to stay with her 24/7 they quickly moved her to this beautiful room. They are very diligent in taking care of her and check in on the Shawna sitters frequently to make sure they're not napping. She is awake most of the day hrs and rests frequently after long periods of wakefullness. Her trahe has been corked now for over 100 hrs and she continues to cough and swallow the secretions. Hamilton said our doctor would make the descision to remove the trache but he would rather Hamilton take care of it (a bit of buck passing). It looks like its up to us to force Hamilton to take care of it when she returns on Tuesday for a bunch of appointments. She continues to smile more and more now and quicker response when asked. She also continues to work against me when I work her muscles. Especially her Left side is getting quite strong. That side was at first unresponsive. She has good muscle action in her arms wrists and shoulders. Today for the first time also her legs. She moves her feet a tiny bit on command. The phsiotherapist who comes to Dunnville to supervise her physio was very impressed with her muscle tone and when they "dangled" her on the edge of the bed her back was still very strong and straight. He wants to get her on a tilt table asap and was wondering how shortly she would be going to rehab because he felt she is ready. She has to first be stable with no infections

When we look back even one week there is so much progress. We are so thankful to God for his healing of Shawna. We continue to pray for Shawna that her brain continues to make the connections. The physiotherapist said her reactions are like trying to find your way in a fog. As the fog lifts she will be able to find her way. Shawna enjoys the time we spend reading God's Word to her and praying with her. She goes peacefully to sleep when we are finished. She seems also to have a good nights rest and doesn't slip too deeply into sleep anymore. Thank you all for your prayers and messages. We continue to be uplifted by them and strengthened for our task as parents. Al and Deb

Monday (day53)

Just a quick post for visitors. Shawna is going to Dunnville tomorrow at noon. See you there!

Saturday (day 51)

Good day everyone. Shawna continues to have progress. Although its not very fast we continue to see many things which point toward a positive recovery. She is beginning to flex and make some use of her left arm. We've also seen her stretch which moved both of her arms, hands, and legs. This proves the connections to the brain are there for involuntary movement now she has to learn how to move them vountarily. All her bone fractures are healed and as a result she has been cleared to be able to use a special reclining wheelchair. She is able to be pushed around in a wheelchair instead of a bulky neuro chair/bed. Its been fun pushing her around on level 6 chasing the sun from room to room. They have not progressed far with removing her trache as she has a small lung infection possibly causing secretions. The nurses do "cork" her trache while we are there to monitor her breathing. As a result Shawna can make small vocal noises and sighs while she is corked. She tries very hard by this method to communicate with us. In regards to the infection, they are fighting it with antibiotics and her white blood cell count is coming steadily down. They have removed the filter for blood clots which was in her pulminary vein, because they can use blood thinners to eliminate clots at this point. Her heart rate is steadily decreasing they have removed one of the two heart medications. As the brain swelling continues to go down her heart rate is becoming stable. Her eyes are almost normal and reacting properly by constricting with light. The pupils are almost the right size. She continues to be awake most of the day and spent 3 hrs in the wheelchair. They put her last casts on her feet yesterday which will be cut in half and used as splints for a while till they deteriorate and then she will be fitted for splints. Shawna will be moving either Monday Mar 17 in the afternoon or Tuesday(18) to Dunnville. Everything is supposedly in place and they have trained us how to use a lift to get Shawna from her bed into a wheelchair. When the weather gets better maybe we can "wheel" her to Grampa and Grandmas house just down from the hospital(I'm very optimistic). Any of her followup treatments ie CT scans and checkups will be grouped into one day to minimize the amount of trips she will have to make with OPT. A physiotherapist is teching us how to do her physio so we can do it daily without their assistance and then he will visit Dunnville for assesments and to further train us regularly. Last Wednesday the neurologist and her assistant assesed her and asked for an EEG of her brian to check for areas of activity. We will learn more about that on monday. They will continue to follow her and will place her in the appropriate rehab program when she is ready. We do look forward to Shawna moving to Dunnville, not just because its closer to home but also because there may be less exposure to infections

God has richly blessed us by guiding the doctors and nurses hands here at the General. Although we are sad to leave a comfort zone we are happy that He has strengthened her to the point she is stable enough to be treated and taken care of in a smaller hospital. We continue to trust in His faithfullness because morning by morning new mercies we have seen. Have a blessed Sunday of praise and worship. God bless you all. Al and Deb

Wednesday (day48)

Good evening all. Shawna continues to improve by God's grace. She was moved out of the stepdown unit onto a ward on Sunday. They have been trying to "cork"(a process leading to the eventual removal) her trache a couple of times but she is just not aware enough to cough and swallow secretions. So we wait for her to be more conscious. Shawna has had some very long times of awarenes. For instance, just last night she kept her eyes open from about 500 to 800. Usually this is followed by a day of sleepiness the next. Today though she has had her eyes open for quite a bit. A neurologist and her assistant did an assesment today on Shawna to determine where she would fit in the rehabilitation process. They are waiting for some more awareness and her white blood count to be lower. Yes again she is possibly fighting another bug as her white count goes up and down. They have taken a few swabs of possible sites and will do another chest ultrasound tomorrow. They have casted her feet again and they almost have the proper angle for her ankles. The original intern neuro surgeon soke with us. Compared to his first poor assesment he was now very optimisitic and said her brain is healing quite well. He warned us of things to watch for in case the brain ventricles continue to swell with fluid. From her reactions we are sure though that they are continuing to shrink even without the benefit of another CTscan. Her eyes, specifically her pupils continue to go closer to normal with size and reactivity. Her eyes now open almost equally while she is awake and she does move them to the right to follow sound but not to the left yet. We did meet with the trauma floor doctor, discharge nurse and social service rep on Monday afternoon to discuss Shawnas poetential move to Dunnville hospital. We were assured that all Shawnas needs would be addressed and completely provided for and that Dunnville would have all of this in place before she would be allowed to move. There are several advantages for this move but our main concern is that her progress will not be setback especially in regards to the trache and vehicle transfers. I would prefer that she could stay here but this is an acute care facility and even if there are empty beds on the floor it looks like she has to go. I could write more on this subject but I continue to leave these matters in the Lord's hands as he is ultimately in charge here. We have been so blessed by Shawnas progress and so uplifted by the communion of saints that we can continue on the walk of faith knowing all things come not by chance but by His fatherly hand. God bless you all. Al and Deb.

Ps next post on Saturday unless something really important comes up ie. Her move to Dunnville

Saturday (day 43)

Good evening all. We ramain very thankfull for the blessings we have received. Shawna continues to progress well. She has more short waking times and more frequently during the day. When we arrived here this morning she was awake and waiting for us. She was turned onto her left side and both her eyes were open equally. When we talked to her she was squeezing our hands and managing quite a few smiles. I tried something new. When I was doing her range of motion exercises on her right arm I asked her to work against me to build up muscle tone. She understood because almost instantly I felt her resistance. This continued for a while till her arm was shaking a bit with effort. It must have been a struggle for her because she slept soundly after that. Its great that she can remain awake for quite long( at least when I'm there). We talked to the neurologist assistant who answered a few of our questions. We always thought Shawna was in a coma but with her responses to commands we were told she is no longer in a coma but in a period of "enlightening". Her brain is beginning to work the connections to make things work. What beautiful progress....a gift from God.
On another note the hospital has been in contact with Dunnville hospital in regards to transferring her there. Everything must be in place to assure her delicate treatment and untill everything is in place she will not be moving. There are other aspects including a neurological assesment to determine entrance into a rehab facility but there is a one month waiting list to get in. It would be better for her to wait here if she can get into Chedoke in a month. We will find out more about the poetntial move on Monday when we have a joint meeting of her doctors, ourselves and other hospital staff. We have been visited by several of the doctors who were involved in her initial treatment in ICU who marvel at her recovery and are now guardedly optimistic for her recovery. We continue to be thankful to God for her progress and know it is by His will that she continues to heal. All praise and thanks be to Him. We stayed in Hamilton last night and with the ongoing storm may stay here tonight as well. This works well for me since for some reason Shawna continues to respond better to my voice, and I've had a whole day to be here while she was awake. We had only one visitor today due to the storm and that was a friend who was on duty here at the hospital. When we spoke earlier about visiting hours we asked that you not visit from 3 to 5. That no longer applies as that seems to be Shawnas most awake time, although that varies day to day. If she's sleeping don't be surprised and just let her. If she's awake by all means continue to talk to her. Visiting is from 1100am to 800 pm. God bless you all and have a blessed sunday! Al and Deb

Wednesday (day41)

Good evening all. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Many things have happened with Shawna in the last couple of days. Maybe I should have kept writing daily. First they removed the chest cavity drain tube. This reduces another chance of infection. They have put her feet in casts to maintain her tendons and foot posture so its not so hard for her to walk later. Next thing was they took her down for xray of her pelvis. This showed that it is completely mended and she will not require any further surgery in that area. When she walks after rehab she won't have any problems with load bearing etc. They will be removing the external fixator in the next day or so. Another six infection points removed. Her trache was downsized yesterday and as a result she could spend the afternoon with darryl in the sunshine down the hallway with out air supply while she was in her neuro chair. When she got back they tested her oxygen absorption and it was at 99%. They decided to cap the trache and give her oxygen through a little tube at her nose. After a busy afternoon of semi-awareness we were gathered around her as we thought she was going back to sleep. Deb, Darryl, and Gord VanEgmond were watching as I was talking softly to her and watching her squeeze my hand. I asked Deb to come closer and asked Shawna to move the other hand that I was not holding and she did it. As a further test I asked her to try a smile which she did manage to do a few times. Deb was pretty excited about that. Then I asked Shawna if she could make a sound as her trache was now covered and she should be able to because I heard her make noise as she yawned. She took a breath and made the most beautiful small sighs I have heard in six weeks. We were beside ourselves with joy and thankfulness. She only did this when asked and at no other times prior or after. This all happens as the hospital is talking about fast-tracking Shawna to Dunnville hospital. We have so many questions about her care and condition and such uncertainty whether Dunnville can even handle her that we were quite upset before this happened. What blessings the Lord gives to his children in their time of need. I feel like I'm flying with the emotion that comes from just hearing this small response of hope. Shawna was semi awake for quite a while this afternoon and its becoming longer each day. Praise God! When we thought she was going back to sleep Deb told her we were going down for some supper and she moaned again like she was worried. When Deb said she would stay she squeezed Deb' s hand. Now we're almost afraid to leave. I've got some serious questions about whether or not she's in a coma. Her eye reactions are almost back to normal so she could be back. We're just not sure. She may have a lot of connections to make to move other body parts, but she's trying new things each day. We are so thankfull for your continued prayers and we are most assured that God does hear our prayers. Thank you all and God bless you. Al and Deb

Sunday (day 38)

Good evening all. Shawna is again having a good day. Not much changes. The brain continues to shrink slowly. There is no major drain from the brain. The way the brain drains is through the spinal cord and dissipates into the body(what I was told anyways). It will take some time! Her youngest brother, Darrin came today and finally was able to talk to her. She was responsive to him by opening her eyes a bit and squeezing his hand. It was a beautiful scene to behold. Many times we take the smaller things in life for granted. God shows us by all these small things how intricate his creation is. We continue to wait patiently for these small things to develope. There haven't been as many developments lately and I will probably start to post only on Wednesday night and Saturday nights. Not that I'm tired of writing but there is a lull in her healing as we wait for her fixator to be removed in the next couple of weeks. They are slowly removing lines to her body so that the only one left should be her feeding tube. Her catheter line was removed today she still has a power pik line in right arm and drain tube in left back. They try to remove dependancy on these lines as they are also possible infection points. Again we know we are so blessed by the Lord's healing and we remain thankful for your prayers and messages. God has strongly held us up on eagles wings. Al and Deb

Saturday (day37)

Good evening all. Shawna is having a good day. She continues to need suctioning, but not too often. She also coughs secretions up into the trache which is good. Last night, Deb and I were invited by the floor doctor to look at the CT scan of Shawna's chest and brain. The chest scan showed the pocket of infection had shrunk considerably and that the drain tube was in the proper location. The pocket is just thick which is why its not draining. They will continue irrigating it and withdrawing more than they put in to assist with clearing it up. They will continue with antibiotic treatment as her white blood cell count continues to go down. The body should be able to clean up the rest. The brain CT scan showed a bit of swelling on the right upper side of her brain. It also showed that the ventricles on the inside of her brain are a bit swollen with excess fluids, which may be affecting her eye reactions which are starting to come around but are sluggish . These will continue to drain and shrink naturally. It's a bit unnerving to see her brain shrinking down into her skull and showing a prominent ridge where the bone flap has been removed. This has become very pronounced in the last week. There was no sign of bleeding or blood clots or pockets of water which would have necessitated another operation. It remains that we will continue to wait for the Lord's work on his child. We still have much patience and continue to be sustained by the phone calls, emails, cards, and messages on this blog. Thank you all ever so much your continued parayers for our daughter. God bless you all. Enjoy a blessed Sunday of praise and worship. Al and Deb