Kerrie… who were were told, 5 months ago, would have permanent paralysis.. Kerrie.. who, 4 months ago, had some feeling in her leg, but couldn’t wiggle the toes on her right foot.. Kerrie.. who, 3 months ago, amazed us by being able to sit on the side of the bed if someone helped hold her up.. Kerrie…who, 2 months ago was able to stand at a table ( if strapped to it) and move blocks from one side of the table to the other.. Kerrie, who 1 month ago, had me in tears when she took a few steps across the floor ( while someone held on to her)… Kerrie….…

So Mom finally calls and I’m getting my hair done and can’t answer the phone ( yes.. believe it or not I actually take 5 minutes for myself every once in a while).. anyway.. I try and try to call her back, but no answer. Then I remember that it’s Wednesday and she’s at work. Not able to call.. but maybe she left me a voicemail message.. Hmm.. I think I’ll check. Get to my messages and this is what I hear: “Hi, it’s me.. just on my way into work. I’m running late tonight, because I took Kerrie to Outpatient Rehab today. We have a little glitch with that,…

Haven’t talked to Mom today, so no word on Kerrie. I’ve just gotten home from work, and thought about calling them, but it’s late and there is a good chance they are sleeping. I know Kerrie had PT today, so she probably spent part of her day learning to balance herself when she stands and trying to take a few steps in the kitchen. Dominika, the Physical Therapist, is a very nice woman and Kerrie seems to really like her. I’ll be interested to hear what she says about her after a few sessions.. she’ll make her work hard I’m sure! I owe Kerrie, and our Grandmother, a HUGE apology.…

Today’s trip to Henry Ford went really well by the sounds of it. Dr. Jana is cutting the amount of Prograf Kerrie gets and that’s a really good sign. Prograf is the drug that Keeps her immuno-suppressed and if Dr. Jana is dropping the dosage then that must mean my immune system is getting adjusted to Kerrie’s body. They want to keep the immune system suppressed, so that it has time to adjust to the new “host” and that it will “graft” to Kerrie’s body without rejecting it. This way she has less chance of Graft Vs. Host Disease ( GVHD) and the ammune system adjusts. If her dosage is…

Again with the shirt… I’m sure there is an easier way to do this, but I just don’t know what it is. Trying to get her dressed and know it’s going to hurt her. I beg her to tell me if it hurts and she just says “I’m not saying a word.” I can tell it hurts, I plead with her to tell me what to do differently, that I don’t know what I’m doing and that I will try to get better at is, but she has to tell me when it hurts, so I know I’m doing something wrong.  Again I remind her I don’t know what I’m…

Well, we survived.. mostly all in one piece 🙂 There was the incident with the T-Shirt and then another one involving a wheelchair, toilet and falling down pants.. Kerrie survived that one alright, though a little upset.. I ended up pulling just about every muscle in my back and am now walking like a 90 year old woman. Nothing a little rest, and a nice heating pad, can’t take care of.. but it did make the rest of the day a  little less than pleasant. Ahh.. the price we pay for our beautiful sisters. Just had to tell you a story about Kerrie’s Speech Therapy today and forgot to do…

So far so good.. well, for the most part. Kerrie’s 9:00am med’s made me a little nervouse.. she has a ton of them and one of them is for her blood pressure. If her blood pressure is below a certain level she’s not supposed to get it, but I don’t know how to check her blood pressure. Learned it in a college class, a million years ago, and Mom and Kerrie tried to show me when she first got sick.. but I’m pretty bad at it. Didn’t know what to do.. if her pressure was too low, and I gave it to her, it could be bad.. too high, and…

Just got to Mom’s… Kerrie’s sound asleep and Mom’s on her way ( She has to be up at 3:00am and at work by 5:00am). Hmm.. my first day alone with Kerrie. I hope they both trust me 🙂 Kerrie started PT today and, from what Mom says, it went pretty well. Speech Therapy starts tommorrow. Not too much to report today except that Kerrie has made her decision… she’s decided that she’s happy to be home 🙂 Mom must have passed the test on being her nurse! Keep your fingers crossed I can make it through tomorrow without screwing up 🙂 Jenn 

The trip to Henry Ford went much smoother today! When I asked Kerrie what she thought of the wheelchair transport van taking her to Henry Ford, instead of Mom trying to get her in and out of the car, she said it “was a great thing to happen” 🙂 No offense to Mom, or me, I’m sure… But it has to be so much easier on her. According to the BMT team everything is going very well and they are more than pleased with Kerrie’s progress from the transplant as well as her physical and mental progress. Physical Therapy received the OK to start Rehab, so Kerrie gets her first…

“Well Hello Ms. Andree.. Heh Heh Heh.. Well, I just called to gab at you, but you’re not home.. so give us a call. O.K. Bye” I didn’t know whether to laugh, or cry or both when I heard this message from Kerrie on my cell phone voicemail. She was so damn cute.. “Well Hello Ms. Andree.. Heh Heh Heh”” God, I just loved that. Loved hearing her trying to be funny. I wish I could find a way to save that voicemai message forever. Mom said Kerrie loved the new comfy “squishy” purple pillow I got for her the other day. She just sank her head down on it…