Good Report

Well it was a pretty good day in KC. We left early so we could see a couple of people before our appointment. We got to see Janie our chaplain and then we got to see Becky!!! Poor Becky she held Bella for close to an hour and Bella was out cold the entire time. So Becky I am really sorry you didn't get to see her smile but I bet it was nice to get to hold her again. For those of you who don't know, Becky was one of our primary nurses.
We then went to her appointment. That's when it got crazy. There were a bunch of people there to see us, well to see Bella!! Melissa our awesome social worker and Dorothy our equally awesome FHP person were there. We were so excited to see both of them. They have done so much for us and I don't think they will ever know how much we appreciate them!!
Okay so on with the appt. They are not really big concerned with her throwing up. She seems to be holding her own with that so no changes there. She has grown some and gained some weight. She continues to move up on the growth curve. She is still not on the growth curve for height but she is for weight. So she is just short and chunky!!! Just kidding baby doll. I also asked about her sleeping so much. It is a concern of mine because I feel she sleeps way too much for 10 1/2 months. Dr. Gratny said she is sleeping so much because of the brain injury. She said the only time the brain can heal is when you are sleeping. So I guess the sleeping is a good thing. She needs to sleep to get better. She explained to us that Bella basically started all over when she suffered this last crash. So even though Bella is 10 1/2 months old, she is kind of like a 3 month old. She is doing everything a three month old would do. Matt and I had talked about this before. We both kind of felt like that she had to start back over at square one. She just needs time to catch up. They did say in clinic that no one knows just how much of her functioning she will get back. I would like to argue that point because I BELIEVE she will get back all of her functioning and then progress along like any other baby. It is just going to take time, determination, strength, faith and prayer!!! And whatever level she ends up at, I know she will be the best that she can be.
So, all in all, everyone was impressed with how she was looking. She had so many comments on how long her hair has gotten. Everyone thought she looked great. Dr. Gratny is very pleased with the way she is progressing. She decreased some of her vent settings but did not release her yet to be off the vent for a few hours a day. She said she would probably be ready next month for that step. So we are not scheduled to go back for another month. We will see PT, OT and cardiology next month. We will then see ENT in January and they will eval her to see if maybe she can start eating by mouth again. I think they may scope her in January. So we will see.
Sorry I didn't get anything posted until now. We did go to our friends Amber and Mike after our appt for a quick visit. We just got home and settled in for the night.
Love to All
Oh and you know I would have put tons of pics on here from today, but I went off and left my camera this morning. SORRY!!