Katlyn's Climb

Katlyn has had so many changes and many firsts this year.

She was asked to attend the P.V. Moore 2011 Commencement Ceremonies with her class.  She was given a standing ovation after being presented with flowers by the principal, Mr. Furletti.  Although she needed to be excused shortly after the ceremony started, I was very proud of how she handled it all.

After having to say good-bye to in-home therapists that she’d had for many months we enrolled her into a part-time summer program.  Depressing as it was, she completed the program and as they got to know her they advanced her to the next class for the next school year.  And just like the “old” Katlyn, she makes friends no matter where she goes.

We took our first family vacation to Niagara Falls this summer.  Katlyn was very willing and excited to stay up and go to a casino with me well past her bedtime.  We attended a 9/11 tribute air show which included the US Air Force Thunderbirds.  She also boarded her first boat since her injury and had a great time.

She completed outpatient PT and OT.  Although Katlyn made a lot of progress in Speech therapy (sticking her tongue out, opening and closing her mouth on command, and puckering, just to name a few), we put it on hold for the winter and will pick it back up in the spring.

Katlyn started going back to P.V. Moore in the fall.  Although I don’t believe she is being challenged to her full potential, she really enjoys going.  The school assigned a really good teacher’s aide to work with her and Katlyn seems to work well with her and that’s half the battle. Working with her Dynavox (communication device) continues to be a challenge when communicating with friends and family.  She does, however, use it on a daily basis at school without much prompting.

Her sometimes impulsive behavior,  lack of social graces and lack of motivation are just a few of the new characteristics that remind us daily of her brain injury.  However, there are still so many of Katlyn’s old characteristics that are still very present and may be even enhanced by her injury…like her great sense of humor, thoughtfulness of others, ample displays of affection to others and, of course, her great sense of style.

Thank you to all who have supported the Annual Katlyn’s Climb in the past.   As many of you know, we did not hold a formal event in 2011.  We did, however, honor Kate in a private climb with close family and friends at Letchworth State Park in the fall.  We hope to continue the formal climb in the future.

I hope this all finds you well.  We continue to hope for the best and have not given up in our support of Katlyn’s continued climb to recovery.  Happy New Year!

1.  My facebook  page has over 1000 fans! Thank you for your support!
2. I am going to graduation on friday because i am going to graduate from high school!
3. I am going to have a graduation party on saturday to celebrate!
4. I am going to niagara falls for my first vacation in a long time!
5. I can finally stick out my tongue!

i am still on vacation at dads house while mom lives it up in Florida. i still have therapies here but it is a little different than things at moms house. i get way more ice-cream here! i miss you mom. love katlyn

this is a special message for  mom in Florida. i hope you are having fun. laura is going to make me an email address so I can write to you. i will email you tomorrow. love katlyn

“all your life you are told the things you cannot do. all your life they will say you’re not good enough or talented enough; they will say you are the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. they will tell you no, a thousand times no, until all those no’s become meaningless. all your life they will tell you no, and you will tell them yes.”

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

What did everybody think of the crazy weather yesterday? I liked hearing the rain. I sat outside today but I don’t think I got a tan. I would like to say thank you to John Walter for the bracelet made of parachute cords and the bible from Iraq. John is in the Army. I hope you all had a good Easter. – Kat

hi everybody it is me again. thank you for all the comments and likes on face book. i worked hard this week in my therapies. it isn’t easy but it will be worth it. -katlyn   PS Uncle Mike: talk is cheap. in 1915 a call from new york to san francisco cost $20.70 for three minutes.

hi everybody its me katlyn. I am typing with my own computer. thank you for caring about how I am doing. I am tired but I will post more later. -katlyn

We’re back from hiatus and our first update in the new year.

The speech therapist that has been working with Kate for 7 months left for another job opportunity.  Kathryn, one of the three speech therapist’s that Kate has working with her, has been brought in to try a new technique.  A lot like the electrical stim they do on Katlyn’s right arm and leg to try to strengthen it.  They are using the same concept on her face in hopes that Katlyn will be able to eat food in its natural form and it is my hope that she will enjoy eating again.  It has been almost two months since they’ve started this new treatment and up to a week and a half ago I would have had to report no noted progress.  However, just last week they moved on to soft foods she has eaten raspberries, pieces of strawberries, a pancake, and 3/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich.  Although, she says she doesn’t like it, you can see the excitement in her face when she bites into a crunchy piece of bread or chews and swallows a raspberry.

We have noticed a lot of changes in Katlyn’s awareness since the first of the year.  It’s hard to express exactly what we see.  She has become more emotional.  Books that we were able to read to her over the summer about others stories of traumatic brain injury, now send her into 20 minute crying spells.  Mentioning the word “rehab” could do the same.  After working months on an activity of daily living and making a lot of progress she suddenly became to emotional and frustrated to continue.  That goal has had to be put on hold.

Katlyn continues to learn to use her Dynavox (computer used to communicate) but finds it much easier to just sign yes and no with her hands.  Most hours of the day you can find Katlyn’s hand stuck in the NO position but we still encourage her to use her dynavox on a daily basis.  She’s most successful when she is going to get a laugh out of you or is going to get an immediate response, like telling her sisters to get out of her room or telling me to please get my butt upstairs and put her to bed.  Last but not least after Jim and I took Katlyn sledding she was asked by her teacher during one of her sessions what she liked about going sledding she typed “For a minute I was normal”.

Stay tuned for the very next post may very well be from Katlyn herself.  Let the progress continue!