To Katlyn’s many supporters: We are all still attempting to get a routine down here at home and FINALLY receiving some outside help. Katlyn continues to progress slowly but consistently and appears to be making progress despite the diagnosis of hydrocephalus. She continues to push forward in spite of consistent headaches and increasing drowsiness. She is doing very well and answers questions appropriately with her “yes” ‘no” buttons. Her speech therapist has been working on picture and word identification. She absolutely LOVES anything involving having to show what a bad a$& she is (ie. arm wrestling, thumb wrestling and sparring with her step-dad, Jimmy). Hugs are her specialty and BOY do they feel good and most recently telling people “I love you” with her hand via sign language. Katlyn will be undergoing, what we hope will be her last surgery on Thursday for a VP shunt to drain the extra fluid in her brain. It is our hope and belief from her doctors and therapists that relieving this pressure will speed her therapy along further.
We also want to wish Taylor Farewell and GOOD LUCK in the next few months as you embark on a new chapter of your life, may this last year have given you the strength to get through it. Make us proud and I stand by my promise to Kate if you ever make your way to NYC for “fleet week” we’ll be there. 
No, we have not stopped giving updates! I am trying my best to get a routine down and just when I think I got one, something changes and throws everything out of whack. Kate will have been home a month tomorrow and we have yet to have shift nursing in the home, but I think there is an end in sight.
Katlyn made some great gains in the first two weeks of being home but complained of a lot of headaches, it turns out she has some added pressure on the brain due to increased fluid in the ventricles. Katlyn will be undergoing another surgery within the next couple of weeks to permanently drain this fluid. The neurosurgeon seemed to think if she was doing well then relieving the fluid would only help in her recovery and maybe speed things up a bit. She just loves to see if she can accomplish new tasks. Today I was brushing her teeth and she took the toothbrush out of my hand, smiled and put it in her mouth. Later, she did the same with my drink. I asked if she wanted a “sip” of my soda she grabbed my glass sooo fast and drank the rest of my drink. We laughed about it when I told her I wasn’t thirty anyhow.
On a different note: I need to ask all my Kate followers for a little help. All your thoughts and prayers have helped her so much, that I need to ask if you can add her cousin Joe to your daily prayer for her. Katlyn and Joe were very close growing up and last weekend on his 16th birthday he injured himself in a snowboarding accident. We are hoping for a full recovery.
Well, I think we can all agree that it is great to finally have Kate home, the only thing I miss is SLEEP and all the extra hands at the hospital. It has only been a week but it feels like two. Kate, appears to be adjusting really well, the evenings have always been a little hairy but with the help of her two little sisters and story time in Kate’s bed, it certainly helps. I am pleased to see that all of Kate’s new “terrorists” (therapists) seem to see great potential, I think their going to be really good for her.
Last week at our welcome home celebration I asked Kate if she wanted a sip of champagne to toast her welcome home, she smiled and gave me a thumbs up. She nearly took the glass right out of my hand and took a sip….she was all smiles. I so love to see that sense of humor of hers from the fake sleeping that she’s not so good at cuz she smiles when you say “shhh…Kate’s sleeping”, to the plugging her nose if you ask her “Kate, what’s that smell, does something stink” and last but not least to the PRICELESS birthday gift that she gave her dad for his birthday. Hilarious! She is reaching, grabbing and dropping things with her left hand and just this week we have movement on the right side. Lori’s even had her rolling a pin, if she keeps it up she’ll be ready for cookie day in no time. The simplest things to us, are sooo hard for her but she tries so hard and eventually she gets it. Tonight after many attempt these last few months she finally was able to sip out of a straw but tired out after 5 or 6 sips. I’m so proud of how hard she’s working. Kate needs now more than ever to see and hear all her close personal friends. She has communicated to me that she wants to see you. So give dad or I a call and we’ll do our best to arrange it.
Oh the anticipation, as we prepare to FINALLY bring Katlyn home. We are waiting on General Surgery as they are running on “indian time”, they were suppose to be here at 11:oo for a minor procedure before we take her home. It has been exactly 8 months to the day that put her here but maybe now we can associate the date with the day that Kate finally made it home.
One more week on 2N. Plans are in motion for discharge on Wednesday the 20th. Kate had a really great therapy day and I just wanted to share how happy she was when Daphne one of the pet therapy dogs came to visit during her Occupational Therapy session. What a beautiful smile! The tape on her neck is called kineseo tape it is used to help make her more aware of the muscles in her neck and allows for more support and stability, this is used to encourage her to hold her head up.
Kate is making new strides in her therapy as I said in the previous post. She is becoming a pro in communication, pushing a button to say yes and shaking her head no for no. We got her pumping iron this week, curls with the left arm and she bowled a 147 in Wii sports yesterday. Her mouth is becoming less sensitive so she can begin to enjoy all the things that were once so painful like ice cream, great grammas applesauce and Grandma Fleury’s peaches and sweet potatoes. 
Although, Katlyn has made a lot of progress here and the family would love nothing more than to keep her in rehab until she is fully recovered the time has come for them to discharge her to home. We cannot look at this as being defeated but another chance for her to shine. Many families who have gone through this say that coming home was the best thing they could have done to help their loved ones progress further. So with that, plans are in motion for Kate to come home within the next week and here there are no visitor restrictions for the H1N1.
What can I say? 2009 the year that our first African American president was elected, SU beat UConn in a six overtime game in the Big East Tournament, a game to remember for years, the opening of the Golisano Children’s Hospital, New York State DOT places a traffic light to make it safer for future motorists at the intersection of Mudmill Rd and Rt. 11 an intersection that has raised controversy for years, more than a thousand people in and around the community come together to show their support for Katlyn’s Climb to Recovery. 2009 Katlyn suffers from a TBI at the hands of a careless driver and slips into a coma. Katlyn awakens and begins to follow more and more commands, thumbs up, squeeze my hand, fix your leg, fix your head, look at me and more. The doctors here at Upstate are happy with what they see in Katlyn’s progress and have decided to move forward in trying to get approval for more therapy. Although Katlyn has been a bit under the weather in what we believe she is trying to fight off the cold she had a couple weeks ago she continues to fight and make strides in her recovery.
Having Katlyn come home even if for only 4 hours on Christmas was the best thing I think we could have done for her. She laughed and giggled so much in that 4 hours from listening to her sisters, having her dog jump up on the bed and nuzzle and kiss her, Uncle Mike providing comic releif with bathroom trivia, and I think just the shear idea of being home with family and seeing her new bedroom was enough to provide her with some added strength to keep climbing.
May 2010 the beginning of a brand new decade be filled with new hope, peace and forgiveness. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!
Love to all,
Mama Bear
Good evening Katlyn’s Climb fans,
Kate had a wonderful day yesterday going home for a couple hours. I can’t speak for everyone but I know it was gut wrenching for me to see her out of the hospital and in a home setting. It must have been overwhelming for her , she really seemed pooped out last night and today she has had quite a few cat naps. That’s OK everyone seems tired the day after Christmas. I hope every one’s wishes came true, part of mine did!!!
Kate’s Dad
Well here it is 23 hours 33 minutes and 40 seconds away from when Kate makes her first trip home. We are making our list and checking it twice for her first visit home in seven months. She has done some really good nodding her head to let us know she wants to come home and is looking forward to it, which of course made me a little teary eyed. Bringing Kate home for a couple hours is the best Christmas gift Kate and our family could ask for. Kate has had a pretty quiet week, she has been very very sleepy but that hasn’t interfered too much with her sense of humor or how far her therapists will push her. They are working on making her follow more commands, desensitizing her mouth and other treatments and procedures to help with her range of motion and tone (tightness).
Please enjoy yourselves, enjoy your families and drive safe this holiday season. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Katlyn is making some really great gains here and although she cannot walk or talk when asked the right question she can make her needs known. The therapists and doctors all comment on how hard she is trying. She’s a fighter! She is following more commands and her response time is getting so much better when you ask her to do something, be it turn her head, move her leg, and just today the doctor asked Kate to pick her arm up and place it in hers and she did. The therapists are trying some different techniques to assist in her recovery. Thanks to Chels for your help this week, you may think you didn’t do much but just being there to encourage her was great.
Kate caught a cold this week and has been a bit under the weather since Tuesday but I think she’s on the down hill slope. I think she’ll be better for her first trip HOME in 7 months. Yup, I said she’s comin HOME. Keith and Jimmy will be picking Kate up around 10:30 on Christmas morning so that she can experience all those familiar sounds and smells, Cocoa’s nails on the kitchen floor, her tail wagging frantically when someone walks through the door, the girls laughing and saying silly things, sitting on the couch, the smell of Christmas dinner in the air. This can only help in her recovery, I pray this will only make her stronger.
