"Darlene kicks Dr. Doherty", Oh Boy

03-26-2009
1712 hours


You read correctly, yesterday Dar kicked Dr Doherty's hand while sitting in her wheel chair. Dar had just returned from physical therapy where she spent 30 minutes in the standing position.

After therapy Dar and I went outside for about an hour and had a good time. Full of smiles and laughter, she enjoyed herself imensley.

About 1:00, we went back to her room to get her hooked back up to her fiddles and put her hand splints on.

Dr. Doherty came in shortly therafter. During her eval of Dar we moved Dar's leg supports out of the way thus allowing her feet to dangle to the floor. Dr. D asked Dar if she could move her right foot and give it a little kick. Dar, smiling as only she can obliged docs request. Only a little movement at first but when asked again Dar put more into it and really gave her right foot the boot, this time about a foot. Dr. D asked Dar if she could kick her hand that was in front of Dar, and of course Dar did, smiling and laughing the whole time. Dr. D put pressure against Dar's foot and asked her to keep pressure against her hand, this time Dar really got into it. She was fantastic. Such a trooper.

The left foot is coming along but at a slower rate than the right. Arms and shoulders still appear to sore and tender but we are hopefull that more time will take care of that. Hands, wrists and fingers are much improved and not near as tender as they werea couple of weeks ago.

Medically Dar is still fighting some kind of bug, a bug the docs have not quite pinned down. Antibiotics are done, not much to be suctioned when and if Dar needs it, but blood count is very slightly elevated. 11 is the norm and Dar was at 11.5. Dr Doherty has ordered up another x-ray today, some more blood work and and another culture from the lung. The "cath" is to be removed, (placed again more for physical therapy sessions) than any other reason. With all the fluids Dar has been getting she was "going" all the time, having trouble getting thru class.

When talking with Dr. D, she is the first to say that Dar has and I quote "come/progressed light years from when she arrived". She is the first to admit that she thought it would take longer, I sometimes think back to what she said the first day we met, " the longer this takes the better the outcome/recovery".

We still have a huge marathon to go and by no means do I take these small, visible beginnings lightly, but is'nt it exciting to read the things that Dar can do?

Something else that is beginning to happen is that Dar is figuring things out on her own, she knows something happened, she knows that certain things don't work like they used to, she knows she is in the hospital, she knows I am not there like I used to be, she knows she isn't able to talk, she knows she cannot see, she knows, she knows, she knows. With that knowledge comes fear, frustration, anxiety, embarrassment, all sorts of things. She can tell us she does not hurt anywhere, then she will tell us she is upset. What over, we don't know, we, I, have to try to find these things out. At the same time, my guilt kicks in, my guilt that I am not there 24/7, guilt that I have to return home and work instead of working with her, guilt that when I leave, I am leaving my best friend. It's tough, very very tough. I guess thats why my new friends that I have made at the hospital have become such a part of my life. Text messaging, phone calls cuz I know they are there. It makes it just a little, I mean a little easier to be away from Dar.

During your prayer time, pray that Dar will continue to find the peace that she needs to get thru these moments of "upset", the ability to keep that beautiful smile, her infectious laugh, her beautifull smile, but most importantly "HER WILL TO LIVE AND RECOVER". She is such a fighter and I am so proud of her. Proud beyond anything you can imagine, when other gave no hope, when others quit, when others said ther was nothing, no hope. What did we say, "DAR IS A FIGHTER, SHE DESERVES A CHANCE TO FIGHT", and what has she showed them, "SHE HAS SHOWN THEM HOW WRONG THEY WERE", Dar has not done this alone, we all know who sits in first chair, God, then all the rest of HIS TEAM. I don't even know if there is any one person more important than the other. When you think about it, Dar could not be doing this without HER TEAM, but HER TEAM would not be doing this without Dar and the impact she has had on your/our life either because of the "event", your friendship with her before, your friendship with her because, your friendship through God, who knows. I guess what matters is that we are all in this together, together to show others the power of prayer, friendship, love because we choose to, the desire to "PAY IT FORWARD", and I guess the desire to reach out to a fellow human being whether you know them or not.

Thats what its all about folks, Dar doing what she has always done all of her life, bringing people together, thinking of others, not wanting anything other than to see people happy. Meek as a church mouse, but making an impact heard all over, THATS MY DAR.

GOODNIGHT EVERYONE, WE LOVE YOU ALL,

DARLENE AND DANNY