Amazing Courtney

Yes Courtney is truly amazing and she continues to amaze the staff here at Braintree.

Today Courtney did much more walking and lots of standing. She sat in the wheelchair in front of a bar and pulled herself to a standing position over and over. Melane told Courtney that she would stand 10 times. Like the driven determined person we've always known her to be Courtney kept standing past the count to 10. Courtney had 3 separate therapy sessions today during which she practiced standing and walking.

Tomorrow Courtney will use a machine called Lite Gait. There is a harness that goes around Courtney's body and allows her to weight bear as much as she can but holds her body straighter than she can currently do so. She can walk alot more with this support without having 2 people holding her.

Courtney had apple sauce and ice cream and her trachea was capped (meaning that she was only breathing through her nose and mouth) most of the day. We talked about a plan to remove the trachea maybe by the end of the week or early next week but we are going to be aggressive about it because she is ready. When the therapist turned the spoon upside down so Courtney could lick the ice cream off the spoon Courtney immediately imitated her and did the same thing when feeding herself!

Courtney is also doing alot more to help dress herself. She raises her legs, reaches down to pull the pants, moves her upper body off the bed to pull the shirt on and puts her arms through sleeves almost independently. She spreads the blanket out herself, fixes her pillow the way she likes it was working to try to pull her socks on!

So much happens and changes every day that the staff is amazed and excited. She played catch with a ball with Melane today and then kicked the ball back and forth. Craig throws her stuffed pig in the air and she grabs it out of the air with one hand. Her eye and coordination is so impressive.

Interestingly she won't follow simple commands like close your eyes, open your mouth, thumbs up. It's hard to tell if she's being stubborn or just hasn't woken that part of her brain.

In answer to a question asked earlier, Courtney is just emerging INTO the confusional state. I know it seems odd that she could be counted as minimally conscious and yet doing so much but that is mostly due to her not speaking and very often not following commands. We are not concerned because her progress is so much more than anyone here expected when she arrived 3 weeks ago.

Tomorrow Courtney will eat different ground and pureed foods and do alot more PT/OT.

As a Mom I'm of course beside myself with happiness when Courtney stands and walks and shows her determination but the best part of today was that she was smiling while standing and being encouraged by Alissa and Melane. Your prayers are being heard and answered as Courtney makes her way to a full recovery and back to the life that God has planned for her.
Thank you!