The Amazing Brain – Day 66

Carly continues to progress in every area.  She is speaking more in a very short burst, mostly a couple of words or a short phrase.  The real exciting thing is she is now initiating speech more on her own and interacting better.  Her personality has always been there, that is one thing that never has been missing.  Now with increased speech, it is really coming out.  We were blessed this week to have Rachel and Joe visit on their way to Portland Oregon where they are moving.  Rachel is famous for her cooking and she cooked dinner for the Mimstribe and the Blalocks.

All of her therapists are so impressed with her progress.  Carly has been an interesting case for all of them.  In Speech Therapy she did not fit into any particular diagnosis box.  The damaged areas of the brain did not match what she was presenting.  They never had any doubt that she would speak, it was a matter of when.  The explanation, another portion of the God Story of this journey.  We often pray for God to go before us and make a path.  Well, he does.  How is it when we left the hospital, Carly was on waiting list for therapy and speech, in particular, could be as long as a couple of months before she was to get in.  Yet, she started in speech therapy just a little over a week after leaving the hospital.  Then, how is it that Mary Foye a Speech-Language Pathologist with years of field experience and faculty member at the University of Utah happens to be at the front desk to receive Carly’s application when I dropped it off.  So instead of getting process through a pile of papers, Mary instantly begins to read Carly’s medical history with great interest.  Next step, Mary just happens to have the perfect student for Carly to work with.  Not only a perfect fit but someone with a heart that was willing to add Carly to her busy schedule without any credit, not meeting any educational requirement, just willing to give time to gain experience.  That is Hadley Bowers.  What a team that God put together to assist Carly.


Things are a little different in Utah.  For example, there is a school holiday in the fall that coincides with the opening of Deer Hunting Season.  So, as a result, Carly did not have Speech therapy scheduled for this week.  To give you an idea of Hadley’s dedication she met us on Wednesday during our normal scheduled therapy time, to visit the UCAT-Utah Center for Assistive Technology  UCAT provides assistance in demonstrating and selecting technology that can assist challenged people in a number of areas.  We looked at software for Carly’s iPad that can help her both progress and communicate.  The main tool we were considering was great and would have been a major help a month ago.  We had held off due to the expense and not having seen the system work and now with the progress, Carly has made it is not necessary.  There were other tools that we discovered that will be of great benefit.  Hadley took time from her vacation break to drive across town just to meet us and help us with the decisions.

During the first week of Carly’s recovery, Yvonne Sullivan a close long-term friend called and said you really need to read this book, “The Brain That Changes Itself”.  She was totally right.  This is the most encouraging book about the brain with many stories of how the brain changes itself.  The brain is so amazing and complete.  Many things are known, many old theories have been dispelled regarding localism with the brain and that when a particular area is damaged that function typically controlled in that area would be forever lost.  The book speaks to so many facets of the brain and how people recover and expand their function.  This is a book well worth reading regardless of your situation.

Many may already know through Facebook sources that it is now official.  Tripp is engaged to Thy.  They came to Salt Lake two weeks ago for Carly’s birthday and Tripp had the opportunity to ask Thy’s dad for permission.  He had already purchased the ring and the next day asked Thy to make it official.  They don’t have a firm date yet but are planning for the next June-July time frame.  We are certainly excited.  Thy graduated from SUU last year and is now working on her Master’s degree.

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