Sarah update

2/1/07

HI!!!!

I'm sitting here half smiling, half crying because we have the MOST WONDERFUL friends and family in the UNIVERSE!!!! I just spent 20+ minutes reading the replies from my last e-mail from you all and I can' t tell you how blessed I feel. There just are no words. My only regrets are that I don't have a printer to print then all out, or the time to reply to each one. I truly, truly love you all!!

On top of that.... WE HAD A GREAT DAY!!! Your prayers are working!!!

Sarah's last 2 days in the HBOT chamber were flawless!!! I have the bravest little munchkin. She just lays in there chewing on her scrubs, or kicking around. They put Dora on the TV and she seems to see it. She can also hear it through the speaker. She's so sweet. We are so proud of her. The technicians are IN LOVE with her!!! Harman and Nicole. They are great! Some of you asked me what the HBOT was for. Basically, for the hour she is in there she is breathing 100% pure oxygen. This floods her brain with pure oxygen and "wakes up" any sleeping/damaged/etc. brain cells in there. They then think this allows her brain and muscles to "remember" the physical therapy she receives afterward. They also have stroke patients who use it and have regained use of their once paralyzed limbs. Also, it is used for wound care. There is a lady who has been there twice after us. She is diabetic, and it heals her wounds quickly. It's quite amazing. It also is known to improve the vision in patients with Cortical Vision Impairment. But because it's not PROVEN to do anything and is considered experimental, insurance won't cover it. God forbid we start to actually heal people in this country... some medical places and drug companies might start to lose money.... sorry.... won't go there....... ANYWAY.... that's what the HBOT is for for those of you who asked!!

Sarah has been doing great at the physical therapy sessions. She gets extremely tired and begins to fuss a lot, but she makes it through. The little boy who was supposed to start next week can't come, so Sarah is the only patient. Amy said we can adjust the schedule for Sarah a little because of it. We are going to start giving her a 45 minute break in between so she can close her eyes and rest for a while. She did it today and it made the second half so much better. Answered prayers.

Last evening Jerry and I noticed an amazing thing. Her muscles are beginning to be more pronounced. Last week I was carrying her naked to get a bath and I was patting her butt. I noticed for the 1st time that she really didn't have a butt. It was just kind of like a chunk of skin there. (Sorry for the graphics) But lastnight, her butt acutally felt like it had some muscle behind there and kind of felt firmer. (Too bad I can't donate for a transplant). We also noticed that her arm and leg muscles are more pronounced. They just are kind of more bulky. Amy thinks so, too.

She was casted today to make molds for Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFO's). We should get them before we come home. They can't believe up here that she didn't already have them. Basically, she will be wearing little braces that will keep her foot at a 90 degree angle. They will go up her leg to underneath her knee. I was so excited for her. They couldn't believe I was "handling" it so well, because some people freak out when they realize their kid needs this stuff to walk. I am just so HAPPY and so THANKFUL that somebody out there is FINALLY helping my kid and pushing her to the next level. Also... the AFO's are gonna be PINK!! Who wouldn't be happy about THAT!!!???

I took a few pictures in the HBOT today. I'm going to TRY to email them. You all know how I am about that stuff!!

That's about it for now. I'm going to go give my angel a warm bath. I think that helps her muscles, too.

I love you all so much!! Jerry leaves on Saturday morning, so pray he makes it to J-twn without any trouble. He's going to take the Long Island RR to Penn Station and get to the Amtrack from there.

I'll talk to you all soon!!! Kisses from all of us!!! We love you!!

Love,
Lori