Generations

Carly continues to slowly and steadily improve. She has started to pull her legs up while lying on her back which she hasn’t done since her surgery in April. This new skill will help her strengthen her stomach and legs, and is one of the important first steps toward rolling over, sitting up and eventually crawling. She is also looking around more each day, and is usually pretty quick to smile with a tickle of her cheek or nose accompanied by silly sounds. (And what a cute smile it is!)

We flew to Michigan late last week to catch up with my family and spend some time relaxing at our cottage on Douglas lake. Carly met her three beautiful cousins (Kate, Tess, and Mary Claire) from Ann Arbor for the first time and also had her first visit with her great grandmother, Grammy. Grammy was quick to remind us that she will turn 97 in less than two months, and she can still describe in detail the scene when she met my grandfather over eighty years ago. Carly certainly has good genes on her side. It was amazing to see four generations of women from my family in the same room, and easy to see where Carly gets her resilient spirit.

Love, Brad

Keep On Truckin'

Carly has continued on her path of slow but steady progress over the last few weeks. Most importantly, she has steered clear of the hospital and all of her blood lab results continue to be normal. She has started to look at Christa and I when we talk to her which is something that she has rarely ever done before and on several occasions she has welcomed me home from work with a big smile. It really doesn't get any better than that.

Although things are going in the right direction, Carly is still keeping us on our toes. During a trip to Lake Tahoe last weekend Carly spiked a little fever which is a lot more critical for her than a typical kid. Because Carly doesn't have a pituitary gland she needs increased amounts of hyrdocortisone administered anytime her body is under stress, including a fever. These issues were a contributing factor to her last trip to the hospital so needless to say we were a bit nervous as we waited to see if the fever would resolve itself with hydrocortisone, Tylenol and a cold washcloth on her head. Fortunately she started feeling better and Christa and I were able to breathe a big sigh of relief. We will probably need to deal with events like this for years to come, but we take comfort knowing that Carly is always surrounded by the love from all of you, keeping her safe and guiding her on her road to recovery .

Love, Brad