Rehab 2

January 9-  Today, we started on a new medicine called bromocriptine. Research suggests it can be used to speed up the recovery process in children with cerbellar mutism. We are very hopeful as we start this new medication, but as with this whole process it has no guarantee on whether it will work or not. We are however, incredibly hopeful! Shayleigh is able to play with playdoh with her left hand and move it around on bedside table. We are concerned about her vision though. She plays with her playdoh but stares straight ahead and won't hardly look down at her hands while she is playing with it. We voiced our concerns to the pedi and the physical medicine dr and they have put in for a vision consult. Unfortunately, the vision clinic is only once a week on Wednesdays and she won't be available until next Wednesday. Shayleigh is also able to lay on her stomach. She is making progress, it just isn't as quickly as we would like.

January 10- Shayleigh is very tired today. She doesn't want to do much of anything but sleep, but when she is up she is more alert and content. No "miracle" has happened with her second dosage of bromo, but we still continue to wait and hope and pray. We had a family dinner this evening and we all went (my parents, me and Shayleigh). They had fajitas & I also found some grapes. We parked Shayleigh at the table and it was pitiful the way she watched me as I ate the grapes. She wants to eat so bad. We have decided that we won't be eating in front of her anymore. Or taking her anywhere with us while we eat. We are hoping that she will be able to start eating soon. Shayleigh is more vocal today than she has been in the past. Normally, she has just been crying, but today she was making other sounds which was encouraging.

January 11 - My dad came in from Lake Charles and was playing with Shayleigh today doing a little silly thing he did when we were kids and she smiled and laughed/giggled!! It was the most amazing thing to hear and see!! The best part was that her giggle/laugh sounded just like it used to! It was music to this mommy's ears for sure!! Later on in the afternoon I was snuggling with her and "getting her neck" and she laughed and giggled for me too! She only does it if we try to make her laugh, but hey, it's a sound worth working for! We sent the video of the first laugh to daddy and it made him so happy! He is so ready to get down here and love on his girl! Shayleigh is doing much better using her right hand. It is still weaker than her left, but she has been trying to use it more. Daddy arrived and came bearing gifts mommy told him we needed from home. Most important gift was Shayleigh's hair bows!! She has never been without bows for this long and since our hair was long enough to fix I put the hair bands up and I didn't have time to look for them before we headed over here for rehab. The nurses and pretty much everyone who pass by my room and see the bows are stunned. They all stop and ask if any are for sale! lol. Of course, Shayleigh says no, they are all hers & that it is very important for a little girl to be properly accesorized! (ok, maybe mommy says that, but I'm only saying what I know she's thinking.).

January 12- Shayleigh touched her nose today. Just randomly. She also swiped at her face and rubbed her eyes. Sounds like something simple, but oh so encouraging to see! She is interested in finding things. She also put her hand in her mouth and was messing with her tongue. I think she is trying to tell her tongue to wake up!! Shayleigh sat straight up in bed last night and scared the mess out of me. lol. It was good to see, but it was just super surprising. She also scared the tech who was in the room. We will take every little bit of progress we can! (just maybe not in the middle of the night. lol jk)

January 13- Today is our day off from therapy. Although we normally do some type of therapy ourselves in her room. Today we played with playdoh. She loves it! We have finally found something that she still enjoys playing with. She was able to squeeze playdoh with her right hand! A huge improvement from not being able to do anything with her right hand! She is also able to transfer playdoh from her right hand to her left hand. She hasn't been doing that. Last night she scared me again. She was restless turning from side to side. I normally give her a few minutes to see if she will fall right back asleep, but she didn't so I got up from the couch I have next to the bed and her tongue is sticking out of her mouth and her eyes are wide open. Talk about scare me to death. My first thought was that she was having a seizure, but it was so quick and she rolled right back over and fell right back asleep that I knew it wasn't a seizure. The nurse came in and we started goin through her medication list to see if any of the side effects could/would cause that. We also called the pedi that was on that night. He didn't seem too concerned, but said that if it happened again to call and he would come and check her out. Needless to say I didn't sleep much at all for fear of missing something. Fortunately, the rest of the night was uneventful. Shayleigh has also found her belly button. And if you ask her she will find it for you.