It has been a full year since Jodi came home from the hospital.  It seems like ages ago.  We were terrified to come home and face all possibilities on our own.  We will never forget the first two months.  Jodi slept in bed with me in case she choked and I would not know it.  I had her propped up in bed so that she could control her breathing and saliva.  Neither of us slept during that time.  Eventually we moved her to the recliner at night.  She slept with pillows all around her head and still she was precarious.  I am so glad that time is behind us!  We have had a tremendous support team of family, friends, neighbors, not to mention Doctors, nurses, and therapists.  We are so grateful for all of you who have helped get her to where she is now.  Every time that we get discouraged and think that she is not moving ahead, we look back over the past 16 months and cannot believe that  is she doing as well as she is. 

     Jodi  went to SLC this past week to see the facial muscle therapist.  She was thinking that she would discontinue going to her because we could not see much change.  The therapist brought out the pictures that she took at the beginning and compared them with what Jodi can do now.  WOW!!!!  What a big difference!  We were both so surprised to see what progress had been made.  Jodi also signed off with her Orthopedic surgeon this past week.  Her foot is doing so well.  She will have a minor surgery this Friday to replace her feeding tube and then she has three more surgeries down the road.  Two on her eye (one to take out the gold weight in her eyelid and one to correct her double vision) and one to transfer a nerve from one side of her face to the  other so that she can speak more clearly. 

     Jodi continues to work intensely at her therapies.  She will again be riding the horses to build her strength and help her balance.  That will happen at the end of March. Her attitude is always up-beat and she is determined to get home with her family ASAP.  Robert is  good with her and gives her many challenging exercises to do when she goes home for the weekends.  He wants her home too.  He has been remarkable through all of this.  We could never have found another man who would be so loving and caring  as well as being such a remarkable father.  

     Jodi  is getting more independent every day.  She uses the walker most of the time without any one to assist her.  At therapy, she is walking with her "ski poles" and showing marked progress.  She also walks (very shakily) all by herself with the therapist at her side to spot her.  She only takes a few steps but it is progressive.   She eats up a storm each day.  It takes her quite a while but she does not seem to care.  We are all so grateful for this special blessing.  More later, Connie