Needed to update you on Holli since she was in the hospital for in-patient rehab in August. Holli ended up getting a new J tube in her stomach because at that time she was not eating well. While in the hospital we changed her medications around and she now has a good appetite most days. She spent a month in out-patient rehab in October but is not getting rehab at the present time due to "running out of days" with Medicare for the year. They would schedule her two times a week but for 3 hours which she did not tolerate for that length of time. She would start off doing well but then get tired and agitated. Hopefully after the first of the year can get rehab again here at home. It worked better when PT, OT and speech would come on different days for only an hour each. We will see what happens next. This summer I was also able to purchase a used wheelchair van for Holli. It has been a blessing being able to take Holli to her appointments without having to depend on someone else. Holli is now feeding herself with her left hand. This is a small but "big" step for her. I do not have to give her any more continuous feedings at night. I supplement her feedings with bolus feedings if needed if she does not eat adequately. I usually give her one feeding at night to make sure she gets enough calories and vitamins for the day. I have found out that she loves chocolate milk. We bought her non-breakable, non-leak "sippie cups" which has worked out well. Holli got a notebook tablet from Mike Waggoner, a good friend, and his Sunday school class for Christmas. This way she can play games and other things to stimulate her brain. She and Heather have been playing "bowling" on Heather's phone lately and doing a good job bowling with her left hand. I need to find a bowling app for her so we can play. I pray that in 2013 that Holli will continue to improve. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for your continuing love, prayers and support. Diane

Holli was admitted to the in-patient rehab at Baptist Hospital on this past Monday for at least one week and hopefully for two. Yesterday, after only sleeping 2 hours, was her first day going to physical therapy twice, occupational therapy twice and then having a swallow test done. She did very well yesterday ,really working hard to do what the therapist asked of her. She was helping with her bath, trying to brush her hair and teeth in OT. In PT they had her sitting on the side of the bed and then the mat in the gym doing some reaching, stretching task. She was really tired after her last session of PT. Then the wound nurses came to put silver nitrate around her feeding tube site. I am sure it did not feel good to have that done to her. They put a dressing on and said that it needed to stay on to keep it dry and free of infection. Holli immediately started ripping the dressing off and continued to do so with every one I replaced. She was very agitated by that time and all of a sudden grabbed her feeding tube and ripped it out of her stomach!! We have attempted to give her crushed up medications in her food but the trouble is that she does not have an appetite. We have succeeded getting the very necessary meds down her but she is not drinking any liquids. They started IV fluids on her this afternoon and she is scheduled to have her feeding tube inserted tomorrow. Holli's day, today, started off with her being in a very bad and uncooperative mood. It has finally improved this afternoon. I hope she will be in better spirits tomorrow so she can get some benefit from her therapy. I also post updates on Caring Bridge. You can keep up with her progress on caringbridge.org/visit/hollihawthorne . I feel very sure that if we can get Holli's mood improved that she will do well with her intense therapy session. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Diane

Sorry it has taken me so long to post on the blog. After Holli was evaluated for Shephard's Center it was decided that she needed some things evaluated before she does in-patient therapy. Back in March she was admitted to the hospital for 3 days to have a Baclofen trial. Each day she was given an injection into her spinal column of baclofen to see how her body responded. It was increased each day for 3 days. It was decided that she could benefit from having a baclofen pump implant to get the continuous infusion. That was done several weeks later. We can tell that her muscles are more relaxed and not as much muscle spasm and tone. We recently purchased a used wheelchair converted van so now Holli and I can go to her appointments without having to depend on other transportation. She does not do well out in public and gets agitated easily. Now that we don't have to wait at least an hour to get picked back up from her appointments, makes it so much better on both of us. It is hard having to depend on other people getting you to your appointments on time. It has been a very hot summer so we are not able to take Holli outside during the day very much unless we have to go somewhere. We are just trying to stay cool. We have finally been able to get occupational therapy coming to see Holli along with her physical therapy and speech therapy. To say the least, she stays busy during the week with everyone coming and going. She loves her male therapist and is always happy to see them. She is such a flirt!! Out biggest problem right now is Holli has no appetite and getting her to eat anything has been a challenge. She will cover her mouth with her hand and refuse to even try to eat. We cut back on her nightly tube feeding trying to get her to eat during the day. We will see her doctor in a couple of weeks and at that time discuss her getting in-patient therapy soon. Please keep her in your prayers as we face hopefully the next step in her recovery. I will try to do better about updating the blog. Diane

It was three years ago today that I got the chilling phone call that changed Holli and my lives. It is hard to think back and remember our journey. All the obstacles that she and I have both over come and also for my grieving my husband's death. In this process we have had many blessings bestowed upon us. I will never forget all the friends that I have meet and all the acts of kindness that was shown to us especially while I was away from home the first 6 months after Holli's accident. Holli has come so far....I thank the Lord for being with us every step of the way and for all His blessings. I am so blessed to have Holli home for the past year. We are both so much happier being home. She is still slowly progressing. It is thrilling seeing her standing with help and getting her body stronger. She talks and laughs more and more but of course she still gets agitated and will cuss you out in a heart beat!! Her favorite pass time are movies such as Muppets, Shriek, Scooby-doo or anything animated or musical. She loves to sing and will sing along with the movies or the music channel. I am once again trying to get her admitted to Shepherd's Center in Atlanta. She still needs aggressive therapy to help her continue to progress. Please keep us in your prayers about this next step in Holli's life. Thanks to everyone that has helped , prayed and supported us these past three years. I will never forget your acts of kindness.
Diane

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since Holli has been home. She and I are both so much happier being here. She is now standing up in physical therapy with assistance. Each time we stand her she tolerates it for a longer period of time. It will take awhile to build up her strength. She appears to be getting stronger, especially her left (unaffected) side but I am seeing some improvement on her right side. We finally after about 3 tries found a good foot splint that she wears daily for about 8 hours that is helping her foot drop. She is continuing to get botox every 3 months in her right arm and leg. We now have to put her arm splint on when she goes to sleep or she will take it off!! This way we can get some benefit from the arm splint. Holli is talking more and more but still confused most of the time and continues to have the short term memory loss. She continues to get agitated easily and will cuss you out in a heart beat. Her appetite varies from day to day. Some days she will eat and drink really well but then other days she will not eat anything. We still have her on nightly tube feeding to be sure she get adequate nutrition. She loves watching movies and believe it or not football. This is funny to me because before her accident she could care less about sports. When Heather has asked her during the play offs who would win , she has picked the winners every time!! It will be interesting to see if she picks the winner of the Super Bowl on Sunday. Her 34th birthday is coming up on Valentine's Day. She has come along way these past three years but she still has a long way to go.