Carly has had a lot happen in the past two weeks since the last update. First, let me apologize for the long delay in getting an update posted. Since leaving the hospital time management has been an issue for us.
Carly began to speak October 1st, which was her 23rd birthday. In speech therapy, she softly but clearly said ten words multiple times during the session. We have been so blessed with the Speech Therapy that she is receiving at the University of Utah. Her Speech Therapist is Hadley Bowers (see photo) and the overseeing Speech-Language Pathologist / Clinical Faculty is Mary Foye. Hadley will be graduating this year and has already become a wonderful therapist. She not only has the knowledge skills but is blessed with a wonderful heart. She has really connected with Carly, investing a lot of time and most importantly heart into the sessions. The hard work of the U of U and Carly has begun to pay off big.
Carly’s former roommates from Tampa came to visit for her birthday. Kelly Stanton and Abby Nelson flew from Tampa to Salt Lake. It was a weekend full of happiness and joy for Carly and the entire family. Seeing Carly’s face and reaction to the girls was better than the most amazing day at Disney World. Katie flew from Los Angeles via a buddy pass courtesy of our good friends Steve and Laura Lerum. Steve is a captain for United Air. Tripp and Thy drove up from Cedar City. As you can imagine it was a big celebration that took several days. We opened presents and did the traditional Bday cake Friday evening. Went shopping on Saturday and then to The Melting Pot Saturday night for Chocolate Fondue desert. Sunday was a drive up to Park City to enjoy the mountains.
This past week, Carly not only spoke words but put together complete sentences. While we have always known from other reactions Carly was very cognitive, the addition of speech is giving some insight into additional issues she is experiencing. Carly seems to be very challenged with short term memory loss and can recall nothing from the prior day and even things within the past hour are very jumbled. Her long term memory is also confused and out of order. Yet, she is extremely happy and you would quickly say her personality is in tact. The personality side was so present when the girls visited, with lots of giggling and laughter. While shopping, Carly found a sweater that she liked. She then found the mannequin that had the same sweater and posed next to it. Typical Carly crackup. Carly’s joy for life and love of people really shines.
Katie has been having hip issues from being on her feet for very long days at work. She had an MRI about two weeks ago which shows a bone tumor in her femur. She is going to a hip specialists for a second opinion on Tuesday and will likely have surgery in the coming weeks. There is little concerned that it is cancerous, it is more of an irritant that is causing her pain and discomfort.
Please pray for Carly’s speech to return, continued improvement in swallowing, her memory to be restored and continued recovery. Pray for Katie’s hip and for all of the details Lewis Wood (Janie’s father) has to deal with the loss of Jane, his wife of 46 years.