Katie is doing very well at Mt. Vernon! She has gotten the routine down and is making some friends. There is one young gentleman there about her age that she has became buddies with. They usually eat their meals at the same table and he is showing her the ropes. The staff there is great as well! They are always making sure Katie is doing alright and that she has everything she needs. Right now they have Katie in speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. She is doing very well with her physical therapy. She has been walking and is doing a great job with it;however, she has to have someone walking with her just to keep her safe. The doctors are impressed with how well she is walking though. She does have to use a wheel chair though to move around because her legs will give out after so long and they do not want her to fall. So they are doing the therapy to build her strength back up.
Katie's speech has gotten better, but she still has trouble saying words. You can tell that she knows in her mind what she wants to say but cannot get the words out. Usually when she says anything it is one or two words. She does undertsand you when you talk to her though and will try to give you an answer if she can. Last night we brought her some games to play and we played with the cards. We played the card games war and go fish and she did really well with this. She remembered how to play the games and what the rules were. I did have to give her brief instructions on the games but once we got to playing she knew exactly what to do.
Katie has been eating very well and every night we have been with her she has ate pretty much everything on her plate. This is a very good thing! She has also been sleeping quite a bit, but that is normal because she has had very little sleep in the last month. Katie will be in Mt. Vernon for about four more weeks and then she will have to go back to Barnes Hospital to do another treatment of the biotheapy (which is the chemo type of medicine that she has been getting). Also, I did not explain this very well, they do the biothrepy through an IV not s shot. After that they will tell us what they think the next step for Katie will be.
If you would like to come visit Katie at the rehab center just let my mom or I know and we will let Katie know. The best time to visit her would be anytime after 4 pm because that is when all of her therpy is done. Please just let us know when you are coming before you go there so that she does not become overwhelmed.
If you would like to send Katie any mail her address at the Missouri Rehab Center is:
Katie Highfill
Missouri Rehabilitation Center
600 N. Main St.
Mt. Vernon, Mo 65712
Please make sure that you put all of this information on whatever you send her. Also, feel free to send Katie mail to our house because we are at home now and can bring it to her.
Thank you for all of the help and support that you have given our family! We are very appreciative!
Never tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon.- Unknown
Your life is your message to the world. Make it inspiring.- Lorrin L.
Lee
