Monday, April 28th

Had a pretty quiet night last night. The nurse aides were consistent, checking diapers and turning her every two hours, like clockwork. Vitals stayed steady through the night, although between 3:00 am and 6:30 am, her respiration alarm went off a handful of times (it’s set at 12). I noticed that when I repositioned her — getting her a little more aligned and comfortable — the alarms settled down.

During rounding this morning, we talked with the team about wanting to start doing as much as we safely can for her neuroplasticity, even while she’s still in this early recovery phase. We’re looking for every controlled opportunity to stimulate and encourage her brain to start rebuilding pathways.

Originally, PLEX wasn’t scheduled until tomorrow, but we were happy to hear they had an opening today and moved her up. The session itself had a few bumps — the machine seemed a little finicky, and Dallas might’ve been agitated through it. She started running a bit of a temp during the treatment. We got her some Tylenol, and thankfully, by afternoon, everything had settled back down.

The Neuro team came by later in the day. They mentioned they’re actively speaking with Dr. Dujmovic about next steps for IVIG and Tocilizumab. Because Dallas is currently on an antibiotic for her ear, there’s some discussion on timing — whether it’s wise to layer another immune suppressant while she might still be carrying some lingering infection. We’ll wait and see what they decide, but we appreciate them being cautious and thorough.

PT/OT were back in with her today. They moved her off the bench and spent more time working with her down on the mat. They said being on her belly is a good position to help her lungs expand more naturally — better than what’s possible just lying in bed. We also asked them to pass along to Speech that her mouth and jaw muscles seem pretty tight — understandable, considering if you haven’t chewed or moved much for a month, things are bound to stiffen up.

Big thanks to the PT/OT crew, because Kim Sellinger from Speech came by to check it out shortly after. She showed us how to work with Dallas’ mouth and cheeks gently — light side-to-side and up-and-down movements to start waking up those muscles again. We were encouraged to hear that Speech will start seeing Dallas two to three times a week now!

Before the day ended, we managed to get Dallas outside again — even if just for a little while — to enjoy some fresh air, the soft breeze, and the sound of birds chirping. Moments like that feel so small, but so important.

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” – From Les Misérables

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