Day 32 morning

Saturday 5/29, am

Anel is doing better.

There is no denying she’s aware of the people in the room. I talk to her when we’re doing our morning routine. This morning, I was telling her that I was going to clean her ears and asked her to turn her head. She did. I was probably only about an inch of rotation, but she did it. She also knew which direction to turn her head. Brick. Brick.

Her hand was really active to she’s picking at her thumb cuticle with her pointer finger. Something I’ve seen her do a thousand times.

They put a valve on her trach. It does make it a little harder for her to breathe but it also her to speak. She hasn’t said anything yet but I can hear her tone when she coughs.

I’ve seen great strides in her this week and I know even more is happening that I can’t see. I’m excited about next week. It’ll be a big week.

Recovery Timeline

I’ve been asked about the time frame for her recovery multiple times. No one really knows. They say most of the recovery happens in the first 6 months and at a year it’s usually level, but then they add everyone is different.

What I hear over and over from people that work in neuro is that the brain is a magical organ. I don’t know if it applies to all functions, but some functions such as speech can be relocated to a different area of the brain if necessary. When blood and oxygen can’t reach a specific portion of the brain, as in a stroke, it liquifies and dies. It’s normally a hard rubbery substance. So if the portion of the brain that controls speech dies another portion can learn and take over that responsibility.

I’m not saying Anel will have to learn how to speak again. I’m not saying that we know a portion of her brain that died. I’m not saying it’ll take her a year to recover.

I am saying we simply don’t know. The brain is a magical organ.

Thank you for loving us through this.