A good Saturday

Hannah has had a good Saturday. Two good physical therapy sessions that went well with lots of stretching, transfering to a sitting position from laying down and over ten minutes of sitting up. Katie is absolutely correct, because of her growth spurt, her hands can't reach the mat when she sits up, so she needs assistance from her therapist.

We have reacquainted with old friends here who remember us from our big visit 8 years ago; Dr. Davoli and Victoria have stopped by and are amazed at how tall Hannah has gotten over the years and the pace of her current recovery. We had another special guest today, Ricky Moskowitz, who works with Tim at Raxco. He came with gifts for both Tim and Hannah; Ricky's daughter Sydney was sweet enough to go to Build A Bear and give an adorable bear named Cutie to Hannah, who has hugged her endlessly since receiving her. Ricky also brought two incredibly delicious corned beef sandwiches (their specialty) from Attman's Deli in Baltimore for Tim, they were fabulous. Hannah's appetite was much better today as she ate a whole plate of spaghetti tonight for dinner.

That's about it for now; hope everyone's weekend is going well.

Tim and Hannah and Cutie

The Weekend Switch

Thanks again for helping us stay in touch with all of you! Hannah is working so hard and like Rena said, it's true our day is full of medications, working, hugging and sleeping. Hannah can not sit up anymore so we are working on that but because her upper body grew 3 plus inches, her finger tips are the only things that reach! She looks like that game "Tip It" as we are right there to support her.

She is not eating very much...and are working on that. The last two days she has broken out on knees, back of knees, and elbows in a hive like rash. Hannah has really sensitive skin. We are trying to figure this out but it may be the mats she works or the cleaner they use between each patient. Tomorrow she wears long sleeve clothes and we put a sheet on the mat to see if she still breaks out. We are keeping a close eye on two pressure sores she has developed but all and all she is good. They had her rolling over and over yesterday, and working on some tight right sided hamstrings and hip flexer muscles.

Tim came up Friday evening with Carly. Hannah was really happy to see them. Tim brought fresh spaghetti...better than Dino's. When I go back on Sunday, we will try Ledos Pizza or McDonald's Hamburgers compliments of our Rubin Friends who also sent her "Hannah Hamburger shirt!!!"She earns the name well!

It was great to be off the chair bed and in my own bed last night. Even felt good to run the vacuum and pick up the dog hairs as you don't get much cardio work out and vacuuming last night...(not usually was very therapeutic...why is that so...perspective is a powerful thing!)

We are blessed to have really great roommates (Julie and Emma) and for living so close Carly got to see how small a room we have 4 people living in and two wheel chairs. It gave her a good visual for college! It's just a little funny that Emma only eats eggs, cheese, and pudding everyday and Hannah eats hamburgers and spaghetti, so between them we see the same foods for most all meals!

Our very good friend, Todd came by to see her yesterday, he works at at Bayview J Hopkins and he said she looked good! He looked great to Hannah who has always been smitten with him.

Today when Carly gets up we are going to spend the day together just hanging out. It's nice to get dates like this too while Tim gets caught up on his Hannah kisses. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

-Katie 7/12

Time for Rehab at Kennedy Krieger

We are now at Kennedy Krieger. It's time to learn about this new body that is very much taller, heavier, stiffer, and weaker! We even have to teach Hannah how to move her head and keep from keeping it tilted!

Mike worked on Hannah's wheelchair to help make it better for her. She is arching so much...we have decided to make the chair recline so her back mussels don't have to work so hard. She is getting up 2 times a day for about an hour...but that wipes her out she sleeps soundly the rest of the day.

I walked 5 blocks and found her spaghetti at Dinos...and she ate 8 spoonfuls last night. Not her usual plateful but it's a start. She is drinking good.

She had 2 pressure sores we are keeping our eye on but hopefully turning her every 2 hours and putting gel pads will help these areas heal.
We are amongst some amazing inspirational and sad stories here at Kennedy. 2 children have lost their entire family; one to a fire and one to a car accident. So it's a real reality check and gives one perspective. This children are amazing and have such a will to heal and survive. It is a blessing to witness this and live with other parents who have had difficulties.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Please be sure to include all the 76 other children who are with us.
-Katie and Hannah

Worn Out....The bed never looked so Good!

It's hard to consentrate right now and we are thankful we don't have a roommate at the moment because Hannah's snoring could shake a house. She went to xray for a photo shoot. She was smiling for the camera on at least 12 pictures of her spine, neck, hips etc. She loved the attention and that Mindy, Kim, and Maureen all had pony tails!

She is off jello diet! Someone needs to research alternate uses to red, green, yellow, orange jello hospitals produce. I have seen many trays go and come and the colors of the rainbow are still uneaten. Hats off to the scientists who could turn jello into an alternative fuel source !

Today the goal is to take the foley catheter out and now we will begin to cath her.
Get her to eat and drink more.
Have her sit up at least 3 times for an hour each.

If we can do these things and have a good day without too much pain, we may head to rehab tomorrow. They have nursing but many more therapist that can help us with handling her and help with her overall stiffness and turning her head and neck.

Hannah is loving our nurse Heather. She is amazing and grew up overseas. Her parents are missionaries and she is such a burst of sunshine, that the Larkin family and Hannah are smitten.
She has already played "noseies, and given Hugs which for Hannah are just as good as hitting the pain pump.

Carly is well taken care of this week as my niece, Heather has cleared her schedule to take Carly where she may like to go. We are so thankful for the many people who have helped us all get so far and for Hannah being a real trooper!
-Katie and Hannah 7/7

she grew, so we're adjusting her wheelchair

Hannah sitting in her wheelchair

Hannah sitting up