Au Revoir ICU!
June 24, 2010 Day 6
Brad took the night shift and let us all go home and sleep in our beds. Sleep never felt so good! We all thought we would watch a show together before bed and we kept dozing off!
In the morning we were trying to get the house and ourselves in order and got word from Brad that Mary was talking--a lot!
Her words were sometimes mixed up but she usually will notice it and either correct it or ask for help. She talked non-stop to Brad and the nurses for 7.5 hours!
By the time we arrived, Brad looked completely exhausted. We did not have a full understanding of how this could be, but after a few hours, we got it. It is exhilarating to talk with her.
She is so passionate about what she is saying and also needs word search. She is very repetitive and wants to make sure that you believe what she is telling you.
We laugh and cry and look at each other and hug and pray and say to each other 'this is a wild ride!'
'I am a 100% completely different person.'
Mary has always been very confident in what she believes. She has had to defend her religion all throughout her life, but has done so with class and confidence. She has had a more difficult time expressing her emotions to others or expressing to others sorrow, regret or whatever she needs to improve in herself.
If you are able to visit Mary while she is recovering, I am confident she will tell you what she tells us: 'I am a 100% completely different person. Do you believe me?'
Yes Mary! We believe that you are more amazing than ever.
Gain a blood clot--lose a few pounds!
Some of Mary's interests and focus are super intensified right now. She has always been an athlete and very health conscious. She has been working out regularly since she came home from BYU this summer and she and I had a goal for the summer of losing a few pounds and getting more fit.
Yesterday, she asked her nurse:
'Do you have a measurer? A measure thing--that tells how big you are? Oh a scale--do you have that? Can we find out if I lost any money? (pounds)
Her high tech futuristic hospital bed can do almost anything, including weigh her! In the bed! It takes the bedding into account. It has a digital readout and knows how much she weighs since she arrived through today!
'Ok, so is it better if I lay really flat? Will I weigh less?'
(she lay so still and was like a kid about to receive a great surprise)
She lost 8 lbs in 82 hours.
'Are you being serious with me? I lost 8 pounds??!! Oh my gosh!! That is the best thing that has happened to me all week!'
Simple pleasures are the best : )
'I have never loved anyone more in my entire life.'
Have you seen Mary's room this summer? It is OUT OF CONTROL! We don't know how she has functioned, but in her defense, she has been keeping really busy with odd jobs and has had many Nanny jobs since Catherine’s wedding in May. Sometimes she had several jobs at the same time. Consequently, she had not one spot of carpet to step on or one inch of space on her bed!
Yesterday, Jessica began the feat of getting Mary’s room clean. When Phillip told Mary that Jessica is cleaning her room, she said, 'She is cleaning my room?! I have never loved anyone more in my life!'
The Invention of Lying.
For now, Mary does not have the 'sensor' button working completely, in her speech. She will be completely honest with you. It is very beautiful, but at the same time it is a roller coaster as we prepare ourselves for what she will say next!!
The wonderful part though, is she tells each of us how much she loves us many times. She is so sincere and she says:
'Do you believe me? This is me--I am being very serious right now. I love you so much.'
Most of us have not ever heard Mary tell us these words--it is such a blessing.
She is full of joy and she is very positive. She says she wants to be better from now on and she feels that she was not the person she should have been. We reassure her that she is wonderful and please don't worry.
She also is complimentary to every single person she interacts with.
'You are so hot!' 'Mom your skin looks so good.' 'You are in such good shape-you are all so beautiful.'
Au Revoir ICU
Last hour, Mary graduated to the 7th floor!! She is progressing along slowly, but her doctor says she has many days left here.
She will have a physical therapist and a speech therapist very soon.
We are so excited for the next step!
Feeling Helpless?
We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, prayers and concern for Mary. It gives us great strength and it helps us to carry on. Words are so shallow and meaningless for us to use as our expression of gratitude to you! We cannot really fully comprehend just how blessed Mary is to have so many people who are praying and wishing her well, all over the globe.
Please know that every card, text, and email are being read. Mary loves to read the cards she receives. We hang them up in her room and she is remembering every person so far!
Even though you may feel helpless, your prayers are actually helping us the most! And within the next week, there will begin to be many other opportunities to help Mary. She will likely benefit from visits and other occupational and speech therapy activities.
Brain experts
If you would like to learn more about what happened to Mary, please go to this link below: (Thanks to Elisa Ho!)
Learn it ! Live it! Love it!
Peg and the Fam
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