Sorry for the Delay

Wow! I feel like I have been asleep for at least 100 years. You can just call me "Rumplestelskin", but definitely not "Sleeping Beauty". I woke up with imprints and wrinkles all over my face. I think I must have felt such a relief once she was taken off of that "ugly" vent that when I sat down in my "favorite" chair I was out! The day has disappeared from me. Dave has already been gone for more than 12 hours.

Ashley has not moved a muscle. We are still waiting for the first sign of movement from her. The nurse checked her eyes with the flashlight and got not nothing. Sometimes it just takes a while. Thats o.k. though, just to know that she has the ability to still move once she wakes up is enough for me right now.

I have so much to be happy about. Ashley has had stable "numbers" all day long. Her Sats, her temp, her blood pressure, her heart rate, they have all been beautiful! This is the first day I have felt confident in her recovery. We have such a long way to go, but we are going to get there and that thought warms my heart. They have ordered some CPT for her to try and work on her lungs a little. This is not knew to us. Ash has been on it for all but the 3 and half days we were up in co-op. Before we left last week she had begun to grab a hold of the machine with both hands and lay her little chin on top of it. This was so funny because the vibration of the machine would shake her little cheeks so fast. None of us could believe she had become so comfortable with it that she decided she could just do it herself. Ashley's lungs are looking a little better and better every day. She still has a collapse in the upper right lobe and the lower left is still a little junky so hopefully this treatment will help her make some progress.

Tomorrow is the day Ashley and I were supposed to be moving into our new apartment together. Instead of moving there we have moved all of our things into the bathroom in Ashley's room. There is a cutain that separates it from the rest of the room, so I have named it our "magic" curtain and I am just pretending that there is not a toilet in there. This "magic" curtain is hiding all of our suitcases and it is also hiding all of Blake and Allie's Christmas presents. Please don't tell them that their gifts are sitting next to a toilet! Al would just die! Honestly they are packed neatly in a box and completely protected, and the toilet isn't even allowed to be in use. Sometimes my life just makes me laugh!

I want to thank you all for your wonderful, encouraging words that have been left in Ashley's guestbook. I appreciate each and every posting. You have all blessed my heart during this very difficult time. I am anxious to see what God has in store to write on the pages of Ashley's story. Somehow I just know the ending to this chapter is going to be great! The beginning wasn't quite what I had imagined, so I am praying for a happy ending. Take care and God bless. Trish