High-fives and thumbs-up!!!

Katie is progressing more and more each day. I was with her this weekend and both days she had improved from the previous time that I saw her. On Saturday they took out her port in her neck that they used to get the blood for the pheresis treatments. I believe this made Katie feel better because it was one less thing that was hooked up or attached to her. The place on her neck where the port was is healing very well. Today when I saw her she just had a band-aid over the area and it looked a lot better. They also started giving her medicine to slow down her heart rate and blood pressure so this made Katie really sleepy yesterday. She had her eyes closed for most of the day and during some of that time she was actually sleeping. They did get her moved over into the chair and did not have to keep her strapped in since I was there. She did well with this both yesterday and today.

Today we received some great news!!! Her nurse today came in and said that she was able to get Katie to give her a high-five with both hands and then interlock her fingers with Katie. Then, she was also able to touch Katie's foot and have her raise it up by asking her to raise her leg. She did this with both legs and I was also able to get her to do part of a thumbs-ups. She was able to close her hand together into a fist with her thumb on top but could not lift her thumb up. So I asked her to wiggle her thumb instead of raising it and she was able to do that! The best part about the day though, was she did the high-five and thumbs-up thing for the doctors and they were VERY impressed. All of her doctors were very excited to see this improvement in Katie. In addition, she was more alert today because they stopped giving her the medicine to slow down her heart rate and blood pressure because her blood pressure was getting too low. So, today if I asked her a question she would sometimes answer by shaking her head yes or no. For example, I asked her if she wanted to watch the football game on tv and she shook her head yes. Then, I asked her to wave at some friends of ours that came to visit and she did that as well.

Now, we are in the process of getting Katie into a rehab facility, so that she can begin relearning the how to do everyday things, such as walking, using her hands etc... Katie is progressing very well and we were very excited to see and hear this news today. It was a wonderful blessing and God has really shown us that you shouldn't take anyone or even the simple things in life for granted because you never know when they may not be there or you will not have the ability to do something.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying, supporting, thinking and helping us out through this time. It means a great deal to us and we feel so blessed to live in such a great community and know so many wonderful people. Thank you for all the prayers for Katie, God definitely has his hand over her.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.- 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 (Let God's love strengthen and guide you)- Someone on my hall wrote this verse and sentence on a sticky note and put it on my door here at school. I thought it was very encouraging and it made me think of everyone who has been supporting Katie through this tough time and how everyone has shown LOVE! Thank you!