Well, here I am again - been awhile this time! As those who have gone through this before know all too well, progress does eventually slow down a bit...that's when the sheer will and determination of the injured person comes into play. The Drs. all agree that a person will "plateau" in their recovery process after 18 to 24 months. At that point, they are about as good as they are going to get, recovery-wise. Kimmie is just now at the 9 month point and she's going strong! :)  She went in for her latest assessment back in December. The Dr. said that, according to her test scores from when she was in college & teaching, she was at around the 95th percentile before her accident. All of the tests now show that she's already back to around the 50th percentile - that might not sound so great, but it really is! He told her that he had no doubts that with some continuing education and rehabilitation...and some more speech therapy...she'd be back to about 90% by the time she plateaus!!! Talk about encouraging!!! She was pleased with the news and is so eager to get back what's been lost that she drove herself to the college and signed up for a speech class! She's also teaching again on a limited basis. Can you believe that!?!? She's working as a teacher's aide for now - trying to get back into the swing of things and taking it slow at first. One of the many complications (and a fairly common one from what I gather from others) of her brain injury is that she has trouble dealing with larger groups of people. Not sure why it happens...perhaps over-stimulation for the brain...but it tends to confuse her and she needs to just get away to another room and be alone for awhile. It happens even with family members - like when she was home for Thanksgiving. It's one of the "hidden side effects" of TBI that she's going to have to learn to deal with now. Her speech, although still in need of some improvement, has suddenly gotten MUCH better over the past month or so! Much clearer and easier to understand. Her problem there, for those who don't understand, is not a mental capacity problem...it's a structural one...she simply can't control her tongue muscles well enough for clear speech. The fact that she's doing so well already leads me to believe that she will eventually be able to control it fully. It's been a real stumbling block for her, since communication was her livelihood before the accident. She would get sooooo frustrated with us for not being able to understand what she was trying to say. She handled it well, but she did get frustrated a lot, I'm sure. Her Dr. said that she had to be one of the happiest and most cooperative persons with TBI he'd ever met with. *laughs* I told ya from the beginning - this couldn't have happened to a nicer person. She's taken almost everything like a trooper and is still giving it her all. For those suffering through the initial pain and anguish this type of injury doles out, please remember that point, if nothing else... ATTITUDE is everything! Yours, theirs...and the doctor's! If a person thinks they can't get better, chances are they won't get better! If they hear the Drs and nurses and/or family around them (and YES, they DO hear you a lot of the time!) talking as if things are horrible and hopeless, they are likely to just give up! Keep positive in the face of whatever comes...talk to them as you would normally. Tell them you miss them and want them to get better...but don't cry over them and act as though life has ended. Once they are awake and going through recovery, be there for them no matter what...but don't treat them like a baby or they will never learn to do things on their own. This injury does change lives...there's no doubt about it...but life does go on...and it can be good again :)  Please keep the faith!
 
 
 

Thank you to all who have sent e-mails and prayers for Kimberly!! It really does help and each one is appreciated!
Please continue praying for Kimmie's complete recovery...the Drs said it would take a miracle...our miracle has happened!!

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