Kjerstin was very tired today, but she still did her therapy. They held the phone up to her ear today & I talked to her. She tried to talk to me. It sounded a bit like Chewbacca off Star Wars but at least she is trying.

She is still coughing quite a bit, but they said she has drainage and it's also a reaction to her trach. They said her body wants her to get rid of the trach, which is exciting news. So.......................the trach comes out Monday!! So starting Monday we will start learning to talk again! YAAAAA! Thank you for all the prayers that have gotten us to this point.

She sat up and visited with all of the family today. She can hold herself in a sitting position for a short time but then she needs to lean against something. She is still smiling, especially at Jerimiah's jokes. Today Jerimiah told the nurse Mike's name was Timmy and the nurse believed him. Later she called him Tim & they said Kjerstin thought it was pretty funny. I can't wait to hear her laugh again, especially without coughing. But seeing her smile has kept us going. It was very hard up until that point. It is still hard, but it was like we saw that and said, "We can do this! She can do this! And we are not going to stop until she does!"

Please pray about Kjerstin's school situation. Now that Mom is not working for the district, Kjerstin has to be accepted as an out of district student. The district office informed Mom that if Kjerstin needs any kind of assistance (like a para), she will not be allowed to return to school in Derby. She is a Sophomore & it would be extremely hard for her to have to go to school somewhere else after all these years, especially with what has happened. The therapists say this is the last thing she needs. They say everything needs to stay just as it was, even her room. This is a crucial part of her recovery process. Please pray that this is resolved and Kjerstin can go to school in Derby with her friends. Kjerstin does not need any set backs with her therapy. We have not told Kjerstin about this, as it the last thing she needs to know about. She cries enough as it is.

Please don't forget to get your tickets for the Luciano's Fundraiser on August 7 from 1-4pm. You can get them from Luciano's. There will be live music, food, drinks, and a raffle. All the proceeds go to Kjerstin's fund. Jace will even be in town for this fundraiser!


I will not blog tomorrow as I have to work all day and then drive to Nebraska. I will update again on Sunday.

Please continue to pray! Thank you so much for all you have done.

Kjerstin did a lot of writing today. She wrote all of our names. She even wrote I heart Bo! (Jerimiah's nickname). Mom took pictures and sent them to us! She is starting to communicate more bu writing on her dry erase board since she can't talk.

She sat up today and hit a ball off of a tee with a baseball bat. A plastic one of course. This helped her quite a bit because when she couldn't throw a ball last weekend in therapy, she cried. So, being able to hit the ball helped her a lot. Later in the day, she sat all by herself!! She is making good progress.

I hope to see many of you at the senior center tomorrow night for scrapbooking. Please continue to pray.

She flirts!!!

A little background..... Kjerstin's doctor is really cute and the nurses and us call him Dr. McDreamy! I told Kjerstin he is single and not very old so she needed to pay attention to him. I went on to add that once she gets well and is old enough, he should have his student loans paid down and would be a good catch! She just smiled. That was Saturday!.............. Today when he came in, she turned and looked at him and said "Hi" and waved! Yes she spoke around her trach! Then as he was leaving she said "bye!" I love that kid. Mom and Dad thought it was hilarious! Go Kjerstin! Like I told Mom, whatever it takes to get her to work hard at getting better! This may be the one and only time she listens to me so I had to get it on the blog!

Today they worked on point of balance. They sat her on the side of the bed and checked to see if she could balance herself. She was wobbly but when she lost her point of balance, she corrected it. She was able to do this to the right side and the left side and she did it by herself! The therapist said this is awesome and a big big step towards improvement.

Kjerstin also stood up today! The therapist helped her and she had a walker. The time she stood was very short, but she did it 6 times. Mom sent us a picture! I know this may not seem like much, but it is truly amazing! The doctors have even remarked at what a miracle Kjerstin is! This really wore her out! She threw up the last time. She gets really dizzy, though. They are trying to figure out if it's her medicine or just from laying down so much.

Her hemoglobin is finally coming up. She is at 10 and we need her at a minimum of 12. Much better than 4, though! Big improvement. This will help with her energy level.

They are going to put a camera in her nostril on Friday to check her swallowing ability. If she is swallowing good, they will take out her trach. Pray, pray, pray for this. We really want her to be able to talk. It will help sooo much!

For the child that wasn't supposed to live and then wasn't supposed to come out of her coma, she sure is proving them all wrong and she's not done yet! Thank you God for answered prayers and for saving my baby sister. I told Kjerstin she's going to walk again. we won't settle for anything less. We will push her as hard and long as we have to!

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I am soooo excited to see her this weekend. Please continue to pray. We still have long way to go.

Today Kjerstin asked for Rootbeer in her ice chips. They wrote pepsi or lemondade on the dry erase board & Kjerstin wrote root beer. It's hard to read. Looks like a 4 year old wrote it, but still this is awesome. Today she stood, with assistance and they let her try to write. She wrote mom & dad. They asked her if she recognized family members and she shook her head "yes" to all of them. When they asked her if she remembered the accident or her car, she shook her head "no". There are a few other short-term things she does not remember. They said she has some short term memory loss but there is always a chance it could come back. You just never know. Soon we will start showing her more pictures and working on her memory.

We were hoping to get her trach out this week, but today she started coughing up a lot more phlegm. She was almost cleared up. Kjerstin absolutely hates having her lungs suctioned! And we hate seeing her endure it. So, mom asks that everyone prays that her congestion/phlem dries up so that we can work on getting her trach out so she can learn to talk again.

Mom says Kjerstin gets real dizzy when she gets up so her time up is very short. She still can't bear weight on her left leg because of her cracked pelvis. She is still smiling, though. One day at a time is what we keep telling her, and ourselves.

Life has changed. Perspectives have changed for all us. I'm seeing Dad do things I never thought he would do. Good things for Kjerstin........rubbing her feet, catching phlegm, writing in a journal to her! Small miracles are happening all around our big miracle-Kjerstin. Wait until I tell her how her situation has touched so many lives!

We will be scrapbooking Kjerstin's pictures on Friday at the Mulvane Senior Center. Please come join us. I will be going to Nebraska again this weekend, so if anyone would like to send any food, please let me know. Mom & Dad would love anything. Having food there allows them to eat lunch and dinner at the hospital without leaving Kjerstin.

Colten helped me with the blog tonight & he thought Kjerstin's name should be highlighted.

Please continue to pray.

Today Kjerstin wrote on her dry erase board " I don't want to" when it was time to go to therapy. It is a little hard to read because she doesn't lift her hand or out spaces between the words, but Mom is getting good at figuring it out. Mom always sends us pictures of it on our phones. They made Kjerstin go to therapy anyway, but they said she pushed back in the bed when they went to get her out. I'm sure she's tired and frustrated. I can't wait for that trach to come out so she can learn to talk and start expressing her thoughts and feelings. They also said she was tired so they moved her bed time up. She is still anemic but her hemoglobin is coming up. This is adding to her fatigue. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day for her. We will have these days. I can't begin to imagine what is going through her mind. I can't say that if I was in her position that I would want to go to therapy sometimes either.

They have started giving ice chips to Kjerstin to help her learn to swallow again. She had a little root beer in the ice chips today. They asked if she wanted lemonade in them and she shook her head "yes". She started doing that quite a bit today; shaking her head "yes" and "no". When they asked her different questions regarding things going on in her life right now, she answered them all correctly. This was very exciting! That brain of hers is working on healing.

And most importantly..........she wrote "Bo" on the dry erase board. for those of you who don't know, this is Jerimiah's nickname. He was very excited. He says it's because she likes him more. HAHA! This is our family joke!

Please remember all of us in your thoughts and prayers!

She cries.......

We made it home today. It was very hard to leave. We told Kjerstin to make sure that she keeps working hard during her therapy sessions. You could tell she was sad we were leaving. We promised we would be back next weekend. I have to work Saturday, but Colten and I will go back Saturday night and Sunday. Jerimiah & Steph will be there all weekend. I can't wait to see what progress she makes this week.

She cried again today. We were outside and she was visiting with Jocelyn and her family and Bella, Mom's dog, when tears started rolling down her face. She was tired but she is also starting to process through everything that has happened and it is hard for her. She can't tell us what she is thinking and I'm sure that is even harder. We tried to reassure her, but I sure wish she could talk to us so we could help her through the thoughts running through her head. We will get there. while it's hard to see her cry, it's also joyous. This means that she is progressing and we have moved to a new stage in recovery. It also means that her brain is healing. Keep praying for peace for Kjerstin.

I just wish I could make this all go away for her. That we could get rid of that wheelchair and go out to eat and get our nails done and talk and make jokes and laugh. When you go anywhere during the day, you see people doing things. Normal things. Things we used to do. But now we can't. We can't go to dinner or Wal-Mart or the mall. We can't walk to get the mail. It's hard to see other people doing these things. Mom cries nearly every time we go somewhere and it's hard for Dad too. I keep pushing Mom & making her go. Sometimes she argues, but of course she never wins! This is me she is talking to! The only one who has not listened to me is Kjerstin. Imagine that! She is listening intently to me now. Seems kinda weird, but nice all at the same time.

I told her that one day soon she will get to dance again and sing with the music turned up too loud. We will go on another road trip and this time my tail bone won't be broken so she won't have to help pull me out of the car the whole trip. (That was the only time that it was nice that my lil' sis was taller and stronger than me!) Hopefully mom won't walk in pee again. Kjerstin smiled when I told her that part! I told her she will get her chance to go to college and get married and have kids and do all the things she ever dreamed of. She looked at me a little unsure. (The eyes really are a window to our soul!) I told her that she will, she just needs to keep working hard & not give up. Not ever! She will go on to do great things! I reminded her what a friend said to me this weekend: God is giving her a second chance. He's not done with her yet! He has a plan and she will go on to do mighty things!

We did have a great time talking and joking. It is so AMAZING to see her smile! Today Jerimiah and I had a marker fight at the end of her bed. She smiled and laughed and made noises at us. Of course I lost and ended up with marker all over my face and arms! I didn't want Kjerstin to feel left out so I went and marked an "X" on her forehead. She grinned! The nurses always like to come in the room when we do these things because they LOVE to see Kjerstin smile! Mom was taking pictures of Kjerstin with her phone and Kjerstin groaned at her. We figured out she doesn't want Mom taking pictures of her & sending them to people. Good luck with that Kjerstin. We all know Mom & pictures!

I also officially got broken in today! Kjerstin coughed real hard, the trach cap went flying and phlegm got all over me. Oh well. It's not the first time she has puked or spit or even peed on me. The joys of being 18 and having a baby sister! I told her I already did this with her once. This time we should be pros and raise her right! She just grinned again.

Jerimiah helped with her therapy quite a bit and they tried to throw a ball back and forth. Kjerstin couldn't do it as well as she wanted, but we told her to work on it this week and we will try again next weekend. Time to get that pitcher's arm back to work. She did watch a little softball on TV today. I can't wait until we see her on the mound pitching again!

I miss her already. I know we all do. But she will be home soon. As Mom says..... This too shall pass!

Say prayers for Mom & Dad. They are exhausted- mentally, emotionally, & physically. They are still trying to wrap their brains around this.

And, when you are having a bad day, remember, you don't have a traumatic brain injury! Take a breath, hold your head up and remember.....God has you just where he wants you!

On a fun note, we had a great road trip. We all packed in together in the car- Me, Colten, Jerimiah, Steph, Jocelyn(Kjerstin's best friend) & the 100 lb. doberman (Bella, mom's dog). Believe it or not we all got along great. I think we have a different perspective on "family time" now and how precious it is. Jocelyn stayed in Lincoln, as her dad lives there and she is helping Mom some. On the way home we had Karaoke! Yes in the car & we are all TERRIBLE singers! It was a blast! Steph didn't sing much, she just laughed at my singing and dancing! I got a ball thrown at me and stabbed with a light saber. Occasionally, my whole seat would jerk, because Jerimiah "thought" he saw a bug on it! Yes, the ball and light saber was my 29 year old brother, not my 7 year old! One would think after 29 years, he would quit torturing me, but no. He's still rotten as ever. Oh and yes, I was driving! Jerimiah had to ride because he needed to play Xbox! Yes, in the car. He rigged it up to the portable TV and then to a power device that plugged into my outlet in the car! We had wires running everywhere, but he had fun! Can't wait to go together again in a couple weeks. We will have to have the video camera this time so Kjerstin can see and hear our spectacular singing!

Please PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Kjerstin has a long, hard road ahead of her.

She Smiles!!!!

What an amazing day!! Today we found out just what Kjerstin was thinking. She went to therapy and was trying to stand and walk. The therapist had to actually tell her that she couldn't try to walk. That her body wasn't ready yet. We explained the steps of therapy to her, but you could tell she was frustrated. You could read the emotion on her face. She wanted to walk. She wanted to just be well again. She wanted to cry. I wish I had the answers she was looking for, but I don't. I don't know why- Why she has to go through this. We were positive and told her we would get there one step at a time, but that sometimes she would need to cry and that's OK. I am so glad that she is giving it her all.

After therapy, we went back to her room. She kept scratching her head. I asked her if her braid was too tight and if she wanted me to take it out. She just looked at me. I told her to hold up one finger for "no" and two fingers for "yes". After I said it about the third time, Jerimiah said, oh my gosh, Wendy, if she could raise her finger right now, she would flip you off! Kjerstin proceeded to lift her middle finger and flip me off & then she just grinned! We all died laughing. And then we all cried. Even her nurse. That was the first time she smiled! She did it many more times and we all sat around and talked and she would smile at us. Now we know, "our Kjerstin" is with us.

One of the nurses had her daughters bring up seven puppies. We took Kjerstin outside to see them. We put them on her lap and she touched them. One of them licked her on the face and Kjerstin even pet one of them.

Tonight we sat and talked and joked for almost an hour. Kjerstin just smiled and smiled. She laughed several times too. However, when she tries to laugh with the trach in, it makes her cough. Tonight, she coughed a lot, but it was good because she was getting all that phlegm out. We made jokes and would "take cover" when she would start to cough. She would smile while she was coughing we when did that! The reason we had to "take cover" is because the other day her trach cap wasn't on tight and when she coughed hard it went flying across the room and then the phlegm went flying too!! We had so much fun tonight. It gave us a renewed spirit and HOPE! She's going to make a full recovery. We won't accept anything else!

We are excited to go back in the morning. However, it is going to be so hard to leave. I wish she was closer, so we could visit everyday. The nurses said they were so glad we came up this weekend. They said they have seen a big difference in her since we have been here. We have a long way to go, but today was SOOOO exciting.

Please continue to pray.

Kjerstin made tremendous progress today! She wrote on her dry erase board. She wrote the letters "KJ" and she wrote "Y" when she was asked if she could see Mom & Dad!! She has been raising her arm to give a "high five" and she gave Jerimiah a "thumbs up" when he was talking to her on Skype today. WOW!! We are so excited!! Can't wait to see her tomorrow! I can't wait to see how much she has improved in 6 days!!!

Thank you to those who sent meals and to the person that mowed my yard today. Thank you all for everything. Please come to Kjerstin's fundraiser Saturday in Derby from 11am - 2pm. Shirts will be available to purchase and so will bracelets.

Please continue to pray!

Mom's The Word

Kjerstin said "Mom" today. Mom says that is hard to understand but she says it. Kind of like when a baby first starts talking. Today she absorbed all her food. They reweighed her & she is up to 120 lbs. Her nutritionist was very excited! Mom has figured out that when there is a new or loud sound, Kjerstin does better if Mom explains it to her. Mom has also noticed that if she tells Kjerstin what they are doing during therapy and why they are doing it, Kjerstin tries harder. Today they got her in a standing position. Since Kjerstin can't completely hold her head up yet, mom helped hold her head. They used a therapy device to help support Kjerstin's weight with the help of the therapist. They did this for 1min. 45 sec. the first time and 1 min. 30 sec. the second time. Mom made sure they got a picture of it. Today's Xray showed that Kjerstin's broken wrist is healed, so they took the brace off. Her pelvis is healing well, but they still aren't letting her bear any weight on the left side. They have started having her wear glasses to help with her vision problems. One side is covered at a time and they switch sides every four hours. However, Kjerstin took them off and threw them across the room! Imagine that! Mom says they are pretty ugly looking glasses. Bright Pink & really big! We gotta get a picture of that.....I'm thinking next years yearbook?!! Anyway, the nurse put them back on and when she came back in the room, they were crooked because Kjerstin moved them out of her way! At least she didn't throw them this time. The nurse thought that it was great that Kjerstin was able to do this.

I told Mom that I was bringing her and Dad some food and she was very excited. She says that she has her email all figured out and she wants me to make her a facebook page and show her how to use facebook. Watch out world!! Mom is loving the laptop and navigating the internet. I think its a good release for her and she can do it in Kjerstin's room.

I am excited to see her this weekend and see her progress. Please continue to pray. Thank you for all you have done. We couldn't have made it this far without the love and support from all of our friends and family.

Today Kjerstin started absorbing all of her food. Kjerstin not absorbing her food has been an issue off and on for several days. However, today was the first day she absorbed all of it prior to her next feeding. Kjerstin originally weighed 140 and now she is down to 116! This is why we are so excited about her absorbing all her food.

She is trying to talk more and more. On the phone today, we told her we missed her & she made all sorts of noises back to us. She sounds like Chewbacca off of Star Wars! They said we will be able to understand her a lot better when they take her trach out.

Her culture came back negative today, so she is over her pneumonia! YAAAAA!! Now she just has to get all of those secretions coughed out of her lungs!

Mom passed her second test regarding suctioning Kjerstin's lungs. Since she did this, Mom & Dad can now take Kjerstin for a walk in her wheelchair without a nurse or therapist. Mom was very excited.

I know these may sound like small things, but in our world they are HUGE! Remember, this is the girl that they first said would never live and then said would probably never wake up. Now we are praying and working towards sitting up alone and then walking. Go Kjerstin! The will is there and the therpaists say Kjerstin's will to get better will make all the difference. I tried to warn them, but I don't think they get it. She is stubborn and fiercely independent. Kjerstin will do what she is told she can't do. She will show them. She has always been that way. I have no idea where she got it!!

A room at one of the facilities opened up today, so Mom & Dad moved from the hotel to it today. They now have a bed, fridge and washer in dryer in their one-room facility. they are pretty excited. It is $35 cheaper a night than what the hotel was charging. Since they have this now, I can take food to them this weekend. So, if anyone would like to send food to them, they would be absolutely delighted. Please let me know. I would like to have it by Thursday night, as I am driving up there on Friday.

Please don't forget the scrapbooking event and the fundraiser on Saturday. Also, we have a ton of bracelets left that we need to sell. Please contact me or a family member to get yours. We are praying for an AWESOME turnout on Saturday. Don't forget that Mom & KJ will be on Skype at 11:15 at the fundraiser.

As always, please continue to pray. Miracles are happening before our very eyes!

Every Day is A New Degree of Improvement

Kjerstin had a great day!! Today she picked up green and blue balls and handed them back to the therapist. She tried to say, "Yes", but it wasn't very clear. The fact that her lips are moving to form words is Amazing! They quit having her wear the boot on her foot and told us she would have to have a cast, but today they said her flexibility improved so much that she doesn't need it. Another Miracle!! She is blinking her eyes once for "no" and almost twice for "yes". Mom and Dad can tell the difference now. She is able to hold her head better and turn it. She sat in her wheelchair for 3 1/2 hours!! Her goal for this week was 30 minutes. The doctors had their team meeting today, and will continue to every Monday. They had to set new goals for Kjerstin because she had already reached them! YAAAAA!!! Go Kjerstin!! We knew she would exceed their expectations. She always has! That defiant personality that made Mom & Dad crazy is now delighting them. Isn't it funny how God uses everything for the better?!

We had requests to place a link to Kjerstin's fund on the blog site and fundraising blog site, so that you can donate via Paypal. Jerimiah did this tonight, so it is now available.

Please continue to pray.

Scrapbooking

Friday's event has been moved to the Jeff Lange Building in Derby from 6p-12a. A Creative Memories Consultant will be there with supplies/paper, etc. and part of the proceeds will be donated to Kjerstin's fund. Please come and help get an album ready for Kjerstin. Some snacks are being provided by the Dollar General Store in Mulvane. Please email me if you will be attending, so I have an idea of how many tables, chairs, etc we need at wtiday@gmail.com.


The scrapbooking event for Friday, July 30 will be 6p-12a at the Mulvane Senior Center.

Hope to see you there!

So Sorry about the missing udates for 2 days. We were in Nebraska trying to get things situated and we were all sharing a hotel room. We drove back in time to go to the fundraiser and didn't make it home until after the fundraiser. We are all exhausted.

Kjerstin is progressing slowly. Mom says that every day is a new degree of better. The therapists say this is the hardest time for friends and family because the recovery process is so slow. The last two days Kjerstin has got to go outside in her wheelchair. She has a special wheelchair she sits in so that she can take a shower. She really likes that! She is making noises and trying to talk still, but no words. She has a very intense therapy schedule. Each day Mom is given a printed schedule of all the therapy. It's usually something every hour or so. Kjerstin is watching TV quite a bit. We did find out that she has double vision in one eye. They will do therapy to get that fixed. The doctor said today that they plan to take out the trach in a week. That is very exciting! Kjerstin is still coughing up phlegm, but the good news is that she is doing it on her own through the trach and Mom didn't have to suction out her lungs!! Small things, but MAJOR improvements in Kjerstin's world.

Mom & Kjerstin will be online to visit with everyone at 11:15 am at the Fundraiser on Saturday. Please come to the fundraiser and visit with them and help support Kjerstin's rehabilitation. It is from 11am-2pm in the south part of the parking lot of Caribbean Sun Tanning Salon in Derby.

Mom has an email account now. It is lindanellwebb@gmail.com. Mom has a laptop and internet connection in Kjerstin's room. Mom says Thank you Thank You Thank you to everyone. Thank you to Donna for the laptop. Mom is so excited that she can keep in touch and we can all Skype. She says thank you for the cards and donations and prayers. She also wanted me to tell Stacy thank you for the very sweet, touching letter. She read it to all of us. She tells all the doctors, nurses, and therapists, how wonderful everyone "back home" is. She is trying to do thank yous but says please forgive her for being behind, as it's hard to do with Kjerstin's schedule and she hasn't been sleeping through the night, so Mom has to nap, bathe, eat or get out of the hospital a little during the day when Kjerstin naps.

Dad says thank you to all of the guys at work that donated their time to him.

Stephanie and Jerimiah said Thank you to all their friends and their family, especially Becky, Audra & Ali for cleaning for them! Poor Steph was quite a trooper. Not only did she have Brynlee, the baby, with her all week at the hospital, but Saturday morning she woke up with her eye swollen shut. Since we were out of town, she is having to wait until Monday to go to the doctor, but she also has to work. So, say an extra prayer for her.

Shirts should be in at the end of the week and bracelets are in. Amy had to go on vacation, so please contact me if you need a bracelet at wtiday@gmail.com or 316-209-8972.

Mom is sleeping on a vinyl couch in Kjerstin's room and Dad is at a hotel, since there are no rooms open at the facility. They are on the waiting list though. We are having to move them around hotels because the Special Olympics is in Lincoln this week. We moved them to a different hotel on Saturday before we left and we will move them to another one again this Friday, but at least they have a bed.

Please continue to pray. Mom says this every time I talk to her.

Scrapbooking

Please come and help scrapbook my sister's pictures. We are trying to get some albums together for them to use for therapy and to help Kjerstin remember who she is. They said you never know what will spark a memory. We will be meeting at the Mulvane Senior Center on July 23 & 30 from 6pm to 12 Am. Drinks and snacks are allowed. I will bring all my paper, stickers and tools. Please bring your tools so we can be more efficient. Please let me know if you are attending so that I can get enough chairs & tables. Thanks so much.

Wendy
wtiday@gmail.com

Kjerstin got a new trach today. A smaller one. We put a cap on it & she is breathing normally. To do this, she has to be off oxygen. That is why we have had to wait. This is an important step. This allows her to learn to talk again. She is trying to talk today. Just noises, no words. She looked very intently at Jerimiah today and when he went over to see what it was, she reached over and put her arm on his shoulder and tried to talk to him. Dad got soooo excited!

She is coughing up phlegm still, but it is getting better. We had to change out her bed because she is moving her legs so much that she kept kicking the metal sides. We got her a bed that has plastic sides and we put velcro pads on them. I took her for a wheelchair ride and showed her around the pediatric unit. She liked the reclining wheelchair. After showing her around, she fell asleep in the wheelchair, so I just let her sleep. She even snored. She watched a lot of TV today and is wearing shorts and tshirts, as of today.

Tonight she hadn't absorbed her food from her afternoon feeding, so they are keeping an eye on her and if she hasn't digested/absorbed it by morning we are going to start some meds to help with this. They didn't seem to think this was a big issue.

Tomorrow is the team meeting and they will give us an idea of her goals, length of therapy and so on. They asked today if we would be open to transferring to a skilled nursing facility for mid-level therapy (if needed) after finishing her therapy here at Madonna. The facility would be in Omaha. Of course, we have no idea if this will even be needed.

It is still hard for me to leave her. I just still keep wondering.....why my sister? But Mom says God has a plan. This is really hard. One minute you have it all together and the next you just find yourself crying and not thinking straight. As a family, we are doing great. Mom & Dad are doing good, too. We actually laughed together at dinner. Yes, we all ate together, even Mom.

I have learned a few things from this so far.....

1) We have the best mother anyone could ask for. She has taught us so much and molded us into who we are. She taught us how to love. And even more she taught us how to have a caring forgiving heart. She taught us about helping others and sacrifice. She is the one who insisted that we remain a close family through the years. She annoyed us by making us go to each others games and functions, but boy we are glad we went now!

2) Being the oldest isn't always bad. I realized today that I have so many more and different memories from the other siblings. Things I can tell them about.

3) Jerimiah has Mom's heart! Even though he is a guy, he is very caring and has a tremendous ability to love. I knew he did, I'm just seeing that love demonstrated.

The staff here at Madonna is phenomenal! Mom feels very comfortable with them caring for Kjerstin. They listen to your concerns and make notes and take care of everything! The are always patient and they all think mom is so funny.

You know, they say that KJ has the personality to get through this, but she also has to have the support to do this. Mom is a huge part of that support. Mom is giving up her life and will continue to until Kjerstin is well. Mom will never give up. She will sacrifice it all. She won't let Kjerstin give up either. And that is part of what is going to help Kjerstin get better. Mom's undieing devotion. Kjerstin will soon understand the blessing of a loving mother.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. It is hard to believe it has been almost 3 weeks. It seems like it was just yesterday when KJ was sitting on my couch. It's hard to believe this has happened and actually sometimes, I don't want to believe it! But as a friend told me, (Dr. Alberto Carro) I can't let the devil creep in. When things seem impossible, I remember those words. It's amazing how something so seemingly small, can have such a tremendous effect.

WOW! What a busy, exhausting day for Kjerstin! But she is all settled in & her room is decorated. The flight was delayed twice, but she arrived safely. Mom took pictures of the whole trip from the ambulance to the airplane to the sky to the flight crew. Imagine that, huh? They all loved her, but how can you not love mom & her silly self. Dad bought Kjerstin a big wooden pink crown that says "Princess" because that is what he has always called her. We got her a big star shaped 3D light that hangs above her bed. She was thoroughly entertained watching Dad & Jerimiah put the light bulb in it, as it was already hung above her bed before we got a chance to get a bulb. Colten & Braden put decorations on the windows and we hung pictures and cards all over her walls. She has balloons and her stuffed animals from the hospital that everyone brought. After arriving, she had a bath, met the staff and then rested. Mom left for dinner and to get out a little. when she came back Kjerstins heart rate was elevated. As soon as she saw mom, it dropped to normal. Mom was upset. She said that she won't leave again unless there is another family member with her. Kjerstin started scratching her head today, though she looks a bit like a chimp when she does it! Don't anyone tell her I said that. :) She still has a lot of phlegm coming up out of her trach from coughing, but this is good. Much better than being in her lungs. This trip exhausted her and she was a little pale, but otherwise fine.

The bracelets have come in early, so they will be available to purchase at the fundraising event this Saturday. We are still gathering sponsors for the back of the shirt, but we are trying to see if we can get some shirts printed for this weekend's event.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Mom was telling all of the staff here about what wonderful support we have had from friends, family, the community, and people we don't even know.

I can't wait for KJ to start talking to us again. Much to my surprise, I miss her witty comments. But most of all I miss her smile & her laugh! The little things we take for granted. Please don't forget to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you......Right Now. Not later or tomorrow. RIGHT NOW. There is no promise for tomorrow. We only have now. That is why it is called "The Present". Every day is a gift. Use it wisely.

Today was a very exciting day! Kjerstin moved a lot. She grabbed onto our shirts and held our hands. She moved her legs a lot. She prefers to have her leg hang off the bed. Every time we put her leg back on the bed, she moved it off. She kept pulling on her gown and when we put it back like it was supposed to be, she would pull it back. She did this several times. It was like a game she was playing. The whole family seems to have good morale, however we are all exhausted. Mom was doing really well today. Kjerstin is scored on a 15 pt. scale. She got three points just for making it to the hospital. This was her score (three) for quite some time. On Friday, at our meeting, they explained that she was a five. we were very happy with the improvement. Today they have moved her up to an 11!!!! This is amazing progress! Also today when they put her in her wheelchair,they let her listen to music. The cord from the headphones was across her nose and she reached up and brushed off of her face. That was very exciting. Tomorrow is a big day, so please continue to pray.

Today Kjerstin got to sit in a reclined wheel chair for 30 minutes. They held a stuffed animal (the Eagle Med Eagle) in front of her and asked her to grab it. She lifted her hand and tried to get it. This was good progress. She watched a little baseball. We have put different things on TV, but nothing seemed to interest here until last night. Dad decided to change the channel and put baseball on. As soon as she heard the ping of the ball hitting the bat, her eyes darted and she started watching the game. Talk about exciting Dad. Just what we need......more of a reason for him to constantly have baseball on the TV. See... Kjerstin is the youngest, so she never had to suffer through the 13 hour road trips to Tennessee listening to the baseball games on the radio! We didn't have ipods or DVR's back then and heaven forbid if Dad missed a game. Oh! and we can't forget the basketball games on the radio too!! (We were such abused children! haha!) One would have never thought that one of the things that made me & Jerimiah crazy would be one of the things that Kjerstin reponds to! There was a change of plans and we will not be going to Nebraska until Wednesday.

Keep Praying!!

Today was a good day. Kjerstin had a lot of visitors, starting with the Eagle Med pilot and nurse that transported her! Mom thought that was really neat. Thank you so much for coming and visiting. I actually got to go do a small amount of grocery shopping and pay bills today. Colten got to stay home and have a friend over. We needed a day at home.

Several times today it appeared that Kjerstin was nodding yes. Just a simple small downward nod when she was asked certain questions. It was very exciting to see. She is off of oxygen and doing well. I have been taking pictures every couple of days. Tonight I took a close up of her face with her eyes open. I don't think she liked that, but one day she will want to see these pictures. She is still being fed through a feeding tube. She can't talk but she has made a groaning noise a couple of times. She constantly keeps moving her right leg around. We are pretty sure she wants something done, but we have yet to figure out what it is. She followed a red and then a yellow square with her eyes when she was asked to by the therapist. She did this several times, which was AWESOME the therapist said.

I am trying to see if we can get a room at the MRC on a couple Friday evenings to get together and scrapbook some of Kjerstin's pictures. I will bring all of my tools, paper,etc. so that everyone doesn't have to use all of their things. I hope that we can get a large group together and have fun. I will keep you posted.

A friend of the family went and took pictures of the house, rooms in the house, the driveway, etc. so that in therapy they can properly teach her how to navigate the house and to help with her memories.

Please continue to pray.

Paypal account

There was a request to set up a Paypal account that is connected to Kjerstin's Donation Fund. We have done that. The account on paypal is called kjerstinwebbdonationfund@cox.net.

I also was requested to let everyone know that the fund is set up as a non for profit charity and has a tax id, so all donations are tax deductible.

God Bless!!

Today Kjerstin rested a lot, which is good. They want us to have her rest quite a bit right now. She did stare at the TV some today. She tried to smile at me. The corners of her mouth twitched and you could tell she was trying to smile. Tonight she reached up and grabbed the syringe when they were giving her tylenol. Mom was very excited. The doctors say that Kjertin's progress, while it may seem minimal, is actually way ahead of where they expected her to be.

Please continue to pray as we transport Kjerstin to Nebraska and start her rehabilitation.

And to all of those who like to scrapbook, I am going to try to coordinate a scrapbooking get together and scrapbook Kjerstin's pictures. Mom doesn't scrapbook, so she just has tons of pictures. However, she said they are organized in a rubbermaid container. Kjerstin's 3rd grade teacher made two pages today and brought them up. Mom & I can journal, but if we could get some pictures on pages from diferent events throughout her life, the doctors said it would help tremendously. They said you never know what will spark her memory. Plus, the more they know about her, the more it helps them. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas of places and people who would like to participate. We will have to do this soon as they will need them in the next 2-3 weeks.

If there is a computer gooroo out there that knows how to print off her blog pages and facebook pages, could you please let me know. We want to print them off and put them in her scrapbook for her to read when she gets better.


Mom was sharing today with someone at the hospital how wonderful everyone has been and how blessed we have been with everyone's support. She started to cry when she was sharing this. I just wanted to share this with all of you. There is no way we could ever thank you enough and I can't wait until we get to tell Kjerstin about it.



I had a request to list the fundraising events on this site. They are:

Saturday July 17 at High Park in Derby - Neighborhood Riot Concert 6pm -10 pm. $1

Caribbean Sun Tanning - Kjerstin Webb's Fundraiser..

Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 11:00am Parking Lot in front of WSU in Derby, KS.
There will be food,entertainment, and raffling of some cool stuff!! Tickets are only $5 per ticket for some great stuff.

Derby Jewelry - Cross Necklaces - $30 each $4 of each necklace goes to her fund

Silicone bracelets & t-Shirts will be available to order/purchase at the fundraising events and the bracelets are available to order from Amy Neff for $5 each.

More details at kmwfundraising.blogspot.com.

If you have any questions, please send me a message.

God Bless !

Moving Time!!!

We are moving Mom & Kjerstin to Nebraska Tuesday morning at 9am., so please come and visit this weekend., as Monday afternoon and evening will be very busy. Don't forget to sign her quilt when you are here. We are excited and scared all at the same time. Her pneumonia is getting better. Mom and Kjerstin will go on the plane and the rest of us will drive up. The facility wants all of the family there for Tuesday & Wednesday at the least to get her settled in & to help them learn who Kjerstin is and help with memories. This is a huge part of therapy they said. They want Kjerstin to remember who she is through us.

I need all of the friends and family to make her a poster or just write on cards or 8x11 size paper and bring them to my home or the hospital by Monday. These will be used to decorate her room. The facility said that they want her room decorated on Tuesday as soon as we get there. She can have balloons and flowers in her room if anyone wants to send any. She will be at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, 5401 south Street, Lincoln, NE 68506.

There is not a room open at the facility right now, so we will stay in a hotel temporarily. However, mom is on the waiting list. Mom & Kjerstin will be there for a couple months and then Kjerstin will be in therapy back home for at least a year.

At the fundraisers we will have a video camera set up for friends and family to record their favorite memory. We will burn this on a DVD and send it to Kjerstin at her rehab facility to help with her recovery. The doctors at the facility requested that we do this. So, please come to the event and support Kjerstin and record your favorite memory, even if it's my friends from when she was a baby. We need memories from all stages of her life.

There have been two girls that have came and visited mom in the hospital that survived traumatic brain injuries and had full recovery. Their parents came too and shared their experience with mom. It was wonderful. It gave us so much hope! One of them even gave Mom her prayer blanket that she had received when she was in the hospital recovering from her brain injury.

We are having shirts printed to sell at the fundraisers. We are looking for sponsors to help cover the costs of the shirts. The sponsor will have their business logo printed on the back of the shirt. Please let us know if you are interested. Mo was hoping we could find sponsors this week so that we could start printing shirts on Monday. She was hoping to wear her shirt to Nebraska on Tuesday.

Thank you so much for your support and please continue to pray. They told us Kjerstin's progress may be slow and it will be hard for us at times, but we will get there!!

Hope

Kjerstin is doing GREAT!! Today when the therapist was there, she opened her eyes and kept them open! When the therapist asked her to lift her arms and legs, she did! Just barely, but she did! Everyone at the hospital nearly cried!! Kjerstin's Xrays look better today, so her pneumonia is getting better! Due to her tremendous progress, today they told us she has a very good chance of recovering! This is the first good news yet. We are not out of the woods, but we have a lot of hope now. Today was a very good day for our family. We have our meeting tomorrow with the rehab liason, so please pray about this meeting.

Mom wanted me to see if one of Kjerstin's friends has her orange backpack. We can't find her backpack and her ipod is in it. They want us to use her ipod to help stimulate her, so if you have it will you please bring it to my house or the hospital.

I want to thank Great Harvest Bread. They have made breakfast and snacks for our family every day. They have been praying and hug us every time we walk in the door. Their cinnamon burst swirl is Mom's favorite and for a while was one of the few things she would eat. Please thank them for our family when you stop in for their goodies!!

Thank you again for all your support. We look forward to all of our visitors this weekend. Please continue to pray. There is a blog set up for the fundraisers going on. It is kmwfundraising.blogspot.com and there are updates about fundraisers, bracelets, etc. on facebook at meals and more for the Webbs.

Thank you so much for all your support. PRAY PRAY PRAY!

With Love,
Wendy

Correction!

Jerimiah sent me a text early this morning and so we have a correction! The kids call Mom "Grams" and "Grammy". Mom has been teaching Brynlee to say "Grams", so Jerimiah wanted it added. Haha. I think we just make up reasons to talk to each other sometimes. So, Jerimiah, here is the correction! :)

At 10pm on Channel 3 there will be a short story ran.

Please continue to pray. Prayer has gotten us this far. Kjerstin has defied all odds and continues to.

Today the doctor said Kjerstin's Xray looked better in some spots and worse in some spots. The respiratory therapist came in and Kjerstin coughed up a lot of phlegm. He was very excited because he said she needs to do this to get her lungs clear.

Kjerstin decided that today would be a good day to open her eyes for a while. Jerimiah and Steph were beside her bed and she opened her eyes about 3/4 of the way and focused on Steph. When Jerimiah talked toher she turned her eyes and focused on him! This is huge!!! They sent someone to get Mom. When Mom got there and spoke, Kjerstin's eyes darted over and looked at Mom. She kept them open for a good five minutes. She closed them for a bit and then opened them and looked around off and on for the next 15 to 20 minutes. Everyone was sooooo excited!

Earlier in the day the therapist sat Kjerstin up on the side of the bed and Kjerstin opened her eyes briefly when they did this. We are still excercising her feet, legs, arms and hands several times a day. Mom has started reading to Kjerstin. She told Kjerstin she was a captive audience, now.

Alayna Kempf and her husband made Kjerstin a quilt. It has squares on it for friends and family to write messages to Kjerstin on. Please make sure when you are at the hospital visiting, you stop and sign her quilt.

Jerimiah and his family will be out of town this weekend for a ball game. Mike & I were supposed to be out of town, as Mike and Colten were supposed to be in a wedding. We haven't decided if we are going yet. I want to be close if Kjerstin wakes up. With that being said, please feel free to come visit Mom, Dad, and Kjerstin at the hospital. Mom LOVES visitors and it helps occupy her mind. I can always tell when there isn't many people there because she starts calling me about silly things. So, if you have any time on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, please stop by. Don't ever think there is too many people because Mom gets so excited with everyone there and she writes down in Kjertin's journal who all has visited. In addition, when there is other people visiting, it gives Jerimiah, Steph, Mike & I time to nap or try to spend time with our kids. This has been a huge adjustment for Colten, Braden, & Brynlee.

We found out today that it is going to cost $1000 a month for housing for Mom to stay with Kjerstin. Insurance doesn't cover any of this. On top of that, Mom will not be returning to work. Mom started to stress out and I told her it would all work out. I told her that there are a lot of fundraisers for this very reason. So, please pray for peace for Mom. This is the last thing I need her worrying about.

The meeting for the liason from the Madonna Rehab Center has been changed to Friday, so please keep this in your prayers.

Today was a very relaxed day for Kjerstin. Her temperature is up some, so they upped her antibiotics. She opened her eyes several times today, moved her eyeballs and closed them again. We are trying to get over the pneumonia so that they can transfer her to Nebraska.

There were a lot of hard realities today. Jerimiah called me today and said, "Sis, do you realize that the kids will be losing their Grandma?" Anyone that knows our family knows how involved mom is with her grandchildren. It may sound a bit selfish on our part, but the kids are used to Grammy & Kjerstin being at every event and they are at her house at least once a week. This will be a huge adjustment for them and Mom. We decided that we will find a laptop for mom with a camera on it so the family can use Skype to communicate and she can see her grandkids and we can see her & Kjerstin. Moving Mom and Kjerstin to Nebraska, while Dad and the rest of us stay here to work is going to be very hard for all of us, but we have to do what is best for Kjerstin. If anyone likes road trips, Mom would love to have people visit when she moves to Nebraska, especially during the week, because we kids won't be able to go up there until the weekends.

All of us had to go back to work today & that was hard. I am still sitting at the hospital now. We are working on organizing the family and close friends so that we have someone here all night with Kjerstin to help monitor her and make sure someone she knows is here when she wakes up.

We are learning how to care for her tracheotomy. The family is expected to maintain her tracheotomy when Kjerstin is in the rehab facility. Mom is doing good. She is suctioning the liquid from her lungs, taking care of the tracheotomy, changing her diapers, and giving IV meds. She was very unsure at first. We are talking about the woman who freaks in these situations. But she has stepped up and been awesome. She puts on those blue gloves and goes into nurse mode. She stuck her finger in Kjerstin's mouth trying to brush her teeth and Kjerstin bit her! Imagine that! The nurse's gave mom the "employee of the day" award! She was soooo excited. They are now getting mom her own box of blue gloves! Man have our priorities been changed! The little things that make us happy.

Please continue to pray. Pray for Kjerstin and pray for Mom. Mom is going to need strength to do this on her own. Thank you so much for all your support.

Day 9 - Imporvement

Today has been AWESOME!!!!!! Kjerstin has been opening her eyes and yawning. She also flares her nostrils. Especially when mom irritates her. She doesn't do it on command, just when she wants. Imagine that!!! We can't say that she is awake, but we do know for sure she can hear us. The physical therapist is having us sit her up and work her arms and legs. When the therapist was working with her today, she was telling Kjerstin to lift her arm. Kjerstin didn't get it lifted but the therapist felt her assisting in lifting her arm. The therapist was very excited! Mom is learning how to work the tracheotomy and suction and give her IV meds. She has found "mom-mode" and mom is doing much better. She has to be able to do all these things before we transfer Kjerstin, as mom will have to maintain her tracheotomy and everything else at the rehab facility.

Her fever is down, but they want her infection free before they transfer. The liason from Madonna in Nebraska is coming down either tomorrow or Wednesday to evaluate and interview to accept her into the program.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and help. There is a concert fundraiser on July 17 at High Park and one in the parking lot of Carribean Sun in Derby on July 24. Please come out and help us raise funds for Kjerstin's expenses. Please see Facebook for the details. There is a sight on Facebook called "meals and more for the webb's". Please join this for all the fundraising info. There are rubber bracelets being ordered that are $5 each that have Kjerstin's initials and "God is good all the time" on them. There are also the cross necklaces and her fund at Carson Bank. Thank you so much for all you have done. Please continue to pray as this is going to be a long hard road.

Sorry for the delay in updating. About Day 7, Everyone hit a wall and we were exhausted. Kjerstin is off the ventilator and breathing good on her own. She is moving her arms and legs and head. She opened her mouth a couple times. Her eye balls are moving now, but she has not opened her eyes. They removed the stitches from her head. She had approximately 35. We are stimulating her with music and moving her legs and feet and arms trying to encourage her to wake up. Her pneumonia is a little worse today, but we now have her on three different antibiotics. Her temperature has came down. It was a good day. Very uneventful, which was a nice break. Please continue to pray.

Update.............

We had to bag Kjerstin briefly because her oxygen dropped to 57% and put her back on the ventilator. However, she is breathing over the ventilator now and initiating breaths in addition to the level that the respirator is set at. Other wise she is good. Temperature went down and she is still not awake but not being sedated. She has not had to be put on any additional medications. I will update more tomorrow.

Please enjoy your holiday , pray and HUG your loved ones.

More Miracles!!!

Kjerstin is off the respirator and breathing on her own!!! They have removed the brain pressure monitor and her main line and arterial line. She is moving her arms and legs . We are just waiting for her to wake up now. We finally got to clean the blood off her face and out of her hair. we washed her hair and brushed it. They wanted to shave it all off, as they have shaved one side of it off so far. I told them if they did she might sit up out of bed and punch them! The nurses thought that was funny.

Jennifer Chambers, owner of Carribean Sun, is putting together a fundraising event for Kjerstin. I will post details as things we get them finalized. Part of the funds from this fundraiser will help cover the costs of transporting Kjerstin to the new facility.

If things keep going like they are we will be transporting Kjerstin to Denver or Nebraska in the next week n a half or two weeks.

Some people have asked if instead of buying a cross necklace, they can just donate. They can at Carson Bank. It's called the Kjerstin Webb Donation Fund.

Also, there will be a piece ran on the news tonight about Kjerstin. One on Fox News at 9pm and one on Channel 12 at 10pm.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and support. Please continue to pray.

Movement

She just moved her head!!!! Mike was suctioning her mouth and she moved her head from one side to the other!!!! Miracles happen! Keep Praying!!

God is good all the time........

Today is a good day. We have removed her foley and we took her off sedation. She is breathing over the ventilator some and we are close to taking her off . She is still anemic and we removed a lot of pus from her lung again. When the pneumonia clears, she is off the ventilator, and infection free, they will be transferring her to another facility in either Denver or Nebraska. Please continue to pray.

My mother has a request. She would like everyone to put emergency numbers in their phone under the name "ICE" (In case of emergency). Kjerstin did not have any identification with her and they way they found Mom's number was under "ICE" in her phone.

Derby Jewelry is ordering Silver cross necklaces with Kjerstin's birthstone on them. They are $30 and $4 of every necklace purchased goes to the "Kjerstin Donation Fund". All of the family is getting one and we are pinning a matching one on Kjerstin's gown. If you would like one, please contact Derby Jewelry at 1747 E. Osage Rd. Ste B., Derby, KS 316-788-4337. This fund will help with all of the bills and the expenses.

Thank you for all of your prayers