Hi.

It has been a great couple of days! We had a pretty laid-back weekend. Lots of rest so that was nice. And now we're onto a whole new fun filled and exciting week.

Monday was a HUGE day for me at work! I pretty much confirmed that I can still do my job. I sampled tanks, fed them, and even added glucose! I sampled for the first time since the accident and it went really well! Then I found a new way to feed the tanks and it worked pretty well too. I used a feed bottle and just balanced it on top of the tank next to the one I was feeding and then let gravity do all the work. Lucky for me it was a feed day when all the tanks needed glucose along with their nutrient feed. I then devised a workaround so I could feed glucose to the tanks with a syringe. It worked really well too! This was a pretty nice surprise since I had previously been pretty worried about no longer being an asset at my job. Pretty worried, who am I lying to, I think it's more accurate to say I was exceptionally worried! But not anymore! Aaaaahhhhh!

And yesterday I got some really good news - I'm actually finally going to get a Bioness system for my left hand. It's supposed to come in the mail sometime tomorrow. I can't wait! The Bioness hand unit is pretty much an e-stim device where you don't have to figure out where to place the pads in order to make it work. It will help me with opening and closing my hand and it will help teach me how to fight the muscle tone. I'm really excited!

Not too much else. So far working six hour days is going okay. I'm supposed to finally get to see my brother today so that should be nice.

Talk at ya later,

Ang

Hi.

Wow! Today was a great day! I'm up to working five hours M, W, F so today was a work day. I went to a great yoga class, as usual, and then headed into work. I had a really good meeting with my boss today wherein he assured me that even with a reduced speed on my lab work I am still a valuable employee. That is so nice to hear because I used to totally find my worth at my job through the insane amount of lab work I did. Now I know that it is not so much volume of work completed but also quality of work done. And it was GREAT today in the lab. Jimmy let me try sampling some of his tanks and I could totally do it! Hooray! It wasn't even all that hard. I'm not as quick as I used to be but I am 100% capable! I was pretty freaked about that. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to handle tanks any more. But now that I know I can run them I am much more at ease in general. Now I know that I can still be a worker bee in the lab. I was pretty afraid that I wouldn't be able to run tanks any more and then I was worried that I would no longer be an asset at work. But now I know that I can still do it, just less of it. Which really means just a more reasonable amount of it. WOO HOO!!! If that is not success, I don't know what is!

And it has been really nice getting to see my niece and nephew too. They are visiting from Alaska and I've gotten to spend a little time with them. We played Wii yesterday and we're making jam tomorrow and hopefully going swimming. And my niece was so nice today and went to the doctor with me and held my hand when I had to get a shot. What a gem!

I guess there's just one other piece of news that hits today out of the park - SoBo is on the way! Go Rach!

And yesterday went well too. Yesterday I had my qEEG. It was okay. Lots of goo on my head, but the lady said she got a good reading. In about three weeks I'll get a report about what was discovered. We'll see. But at least the groundwork has been laid for the neurofeedback. I'm really excited to start that!

And I finally got my butt in gear and went to gym at home yesterday too. It was really good. I was on the assmaster for 30 minutes at level 3. Pretty good for me! I have to say it was a pretty good feeling to be working hard enough that you can actually tell that you're not only sweating but you can feel drips of sweat running down your back. That is just solid confirmation that you're having a good workout. You are not wasting your time at the gym.

That's about all I've got.

I start 6 hours a day at work on Monday so that should be interesting. And I'm up for sampling all of Jimmy's tanks since he doesn't work Mondays. That should be really good. Now that I know that it's possible I'm not freaked out about it at all.

Talk at ya soon.

Ang

Hola.

How you doing?

I'm great. Been a weird couple days the past few days. Yesterday was my first 5 hour day back at work. It was SHOCKING how much it took out of me! It's only one additional hour. But, wow, was I beat! I think my new way to try it is to skip cardio at the gym at work and just try to get in to actually working sooner. I definitely still want to go to the gym at work for my arm exercises with weights and yoga, but I think I might just try getting cardio in on the off days at the gym at home. We'll see.

And I spent a long time in the lab yesterday too. I was setting up more tanks and I tried some new stuff too. I tried blowing the PBS out of a tank for Jimmy. That used to be so easy but it is anything but any more! For those of you who don't know what that means, tanks have PBS put in them to keep the probes wet when they're prepped and then before you put cell culture in them you have to pressurize the tank and blow the PBS out so the tank is empty. Anyways, not easy anymore! At all! And the hardest part was trying to get the filter off the end of the tube. I'm going to take a similar setup into my OT appointment next week and see if they can help me come up with a work around. We'll see.

And all that difficulty was met gleefully by the general down in the dumps that was my attitude yesterday. I just kept feeling that I am already as better as I'm going to get. This is it so I shouldn't hope for anything more. And then it all got worked in (by the enemy) while I was praying for further healing and restoration that I am obviously ungrateful for how far God has brought me already. He really tried to get me feeling bad and like I haven't been grateful enough and due to that I really shouldn't get any more healing.

But I got to talk and pray through all of that with the ladies at my group last night. So take that, Satan!

Been a pretty good darn day thus far today! Josh worked from home and took me to my therapy appointments today so that's been nice. Even if I don't get to hang with him it really is just so nice and calming and comforting to know that he's here. Had PT and OT this morning. PT was ridiculously hard! I went forward and backwards on the balance beam today both regular walk and heel to toe! And then even once down standing sideways crossing one leg over the other! Holy you know what! Josh made a very good point when he said that he was VERY impressed since balance wasn't my strong suit even before the accident. :)

And I picked up the paperwork from the DOL about getting back to driving that my doc had to sign when I was in for therapy too. And I went to the DMV right by my house this afternoon and turned it in and they said I'm good to go! No requirement for me taking the driving test or written test over again! Yeah!!! So look out, I'll be back on the roads now!

And I learned a most valuable lesson this past weekend too. We saw Clay and Yvonne at Randy and Angela's baby shower and Clay and Yvonne had their daughter, Elise, with them. Elise is brilliant! She told me about making funfetti cookies. You make them out of the cake mix (which is my favorite). I just tried them and are they good!!! Ooooh, yum! Dangerous! I should probably get that whole cardio thing figured out before I get too into the funfetti cookies! :)

That's what I've got.

Talk at ya later.

Please, if you have any questions, ask away.

Bye.

Ang

Hi.

Things are well here. Kind of nice getting back in the grind of working. And work is going REALLY well! I've been doing lab work the past few work days and it has been surprising. It is definitely harder than it used to be but doable. That's all I can really ask for. I've been setting up more tanks and it's going a pretty good darn deal faster already. That new base bottle strategy works like a charm! I just attached 10 base bottles to tanks yesterday. And I think it was A LOT faster than last week!

Got to see some fam visiting from Italy last night. Big dinner at Epulo with lots of great company! It was really nice.

The other big mentionable from yesterday was a FANTASTIC yoga class in the morning. In general my left side has been feeling tighter lately and this yoga class hit the spot! It was awesome - I felt my left quadricep stretch in one of the poses for the first time since the accident. And I forgot to mention it last post but I had an additional little victory in yoga on Wednesday. I was able to do a halfway decent tree pose with my left leg. Before Wednesday it had been a pathetic excuse for a tree pose-wanna be.

And speaking of victories - I am (as of Wednesday) off all prescription drugs! Woo hoo! My spasticity seems to be acting up a smidge more but my plan is to try to remedy that by reinstating daily stretching. We'll see.

That's about all I've got.

Talk at ya soon.

Ang

Hey.


Sorry I've been absent for so long. My bad. Life is just getting busier. Another step back towards "normal".


Last post was Tuesday morning last week. The dawning of what turned out to be a GREAT day with Nate, Rebecca, Elliott, and Elizabeth. Nate, Rebecca, Josh, and I went to Coeur d'Alene for the day. What fun! We wandered through a bunch of shops, got a lemonade, and then we even got to take a sea plane ride over Lake Coeur d'Alene! It was really neat! And Rebecca got a really cute picture of me and Josh in the plane. Then in the afternoon we picked up the kiddos and went swimming at the hotel. Elliott has the best life jacket I've ever seen. It is such a pattern so that he can move around all he wants and isn't impeded by it at all. Cool! After swimming the adults headed out to dinner and Josh ate so much he made himself a little sick. He ordered ribs, baked beans, and cornbread and it was all fantastic! In my opinion the cornbread was most notable. It had about 1/4 inch thick topping on it that was some sort of brown sugar goodness. Delectable, for sure!


Then on Wednesday we drove home and I drove pretty much all the way from Moses Lake to Ellensburg! And it was really comfortable! Not sketchy at all!


Thursday and Friday were nice days of rest.


Then Saturday was freakin' awesome! We got to spend the day out at Snoqualmie Casino for Rumble on the Ridge. This was our first exposure to live cage fights and I certainly anticipate that it won't be our last. Most importantly, Demico pummeled his opponent and won by TKO at the tail end of the first round! Heck yeah! And I got to meet Demico and his wife after the fights. They had so much love for me when I first got hurt that it was nice to be able to say thanks and give a little love back.


And speaking of giving a little love back, I have a most super fun request of any and all of you keeping up on the blog - come celebrate life with me on August 28th at Feedback Lounge in West Seattle for my 1 year party. I can hardly believe I've almost it a whole year. Sometimes it seems like I've been recovering FOREVER and sometimes it feels like my accident was just yesterday. Check out this website to see the invite and RSVP: http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=PGFWXELWAKIHDFPRNABQ&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei2


And other good news - I started working in the lab this week! I set up tanks for about 3 hours on Monday and about 1 and a half hours today. And the SUPER hard part that I found when I came and visited work in May I found a work-around for! I could not for the life of me figure out how to get a base bottle on in May and now I can. I totally developed a compensatory strategy on Monday and it continued to work today. Yesssss!


And I got my driving assessment final report in the mail the other day too. Now I just have to get the form from the DMV and get a doctor's signature before I am officially cool to drive. Look out - here I come!


And my last tidbit of fantastic news actually came about yesterday. I got to meet with a lady who is part of the big TBI study going on right now. They are funded by the NIH so it is a big one. Pretty cool if you ask me. Anywho, so I met with this lady as a recommendation of my primary TBI doc to become a candidate for the TBI Advisory Board. Awesome! And this lady told me that the advisory board listens to what's new with the study and helps direct the study twice a year. She also told me about community outreach stuff that's done to give information to the general public about TBI. I'm really hoping to get involved with that too. Should know more in a little more than a month. I get to meet with the PI for the study in late August. Freakin' SWEET!

Okey doke, that's what I got. Promise to be back sooner this time.

Bye,

Ang

Hey there.

How ya doing? I'm great. Spokane has been fabulous so far! And the freeway driving on the way over here was good to. Josh had me drive for about half an hour between Vantage and Moses Lake. Boy, was it windy! But I made it! And I even got to drive over the bridge that crosses the Columbia River. Success? I think so.

Anyway, we got here early Sunday evening and went out to the river to hang with Uncle Victor and fam. It was great! And we had some tasty Italian Sausage and pasta too! Yessssss! We got to see Aunt Suzette and a few cousins too. Then we went over to Annette and Rob's place on the river for a little visit. Awesome! Got to see more cousins, some of their kids, and Auntie Annette and Rob. Fantastic!

Then yesterday we went and visited with Gram and had a very nice lunch with her. And we got to go see Gramps after that. That was really nice too. They both look great!

And we got to have dinner with our friends over here last night and they're coming to hang to today too. Takes about a nanosecond to be reminded why we love them so much. You guys are the best!

Sort of funny because Josh keeps mentioning how he could live over here. That makes one of us. Hee hee hee. :)

Hope you all had a great and safe 4th. Talk at ya soon.

Ang

Hi.

Just have little day-to-day stuff for you this time.

Wednesday:
Good day. Went to work and got to go down in the lab and make plans for after 4th of July break. In case you don't know what 4th of July break is - Amgen gives us the whole week after the 4th of July off. It's our little summer shutdown. Anyways, made plans with Jimmy to help him with some lab work when I get back from break. I'm going to try to set up tanks for a few experiments he's got going up. Still don't really feel comfortable trying to run my own tanks since everyone I work with is pretty busy and it would just be adding stuff for them to do since I'm only there 3 days a week. Had a great yoga class and pushed it HARD doing cardio too. I actually felt my heart pounding in my throat. Whoo - that's some serious stuff!

Thursday:
Had a nice day. Went to OT and got a new splint for my left arm. This one serves the same purpose as my last splint by taking my extensor maximus for my thumb out of commission. Forces me to use my extensor minimus which really needs some help. If left to my own devices I hyper extend using the maximus when I want to straighten my thumb. This just makes that no longer possible to train me to go a different route. This new splint also goes up my forearm and keeps my wrist in neutral. My wrist likes to try bending in before I use it so this just takes that out of commission.

Friday:
Sort of like a ghost town at work the day before break. But another great yoga class. And then had a dentist appointment. Just a cleaning. Although it was sort of like time travelling to actually be nervous about going to the dentist. Haven't had that feeling in years. Going to the dentist has been just going to see my friend Lucy since I became friends with her. Lucy's been my dentist since I moved to West Seattle. Another great thing from Friday was getting a ride to work. A friend pulled over and picked me up at the bus stop on her way to work. Had a great visit with Erin and we talked about how life is, current struggles we're both having, etc. Got to pray for her and get prayed for by her too. What a great way to start a day!

And on to today - Saturday:
Just trying to prep for our Spokane trip mostly. Get to do some freeway driving on the way over. And Josh and I blitzed the house today. Just in time since we're hosting a little get-together to watch the UFC fights tonight. Hope Brock Lesnar gets knocked out! And I'm making corned beef for dinner too. Yum! Ooh, and I started a new adventure today too - new therapy stuff. I started tracing patterns I got from my OT with a marker using my left hand. Not too shabby. Definitely feels weird. So much wiggling! Who knew it would ever be this hard to just use my left hand?!?! It feels so out-of-control at times that it's almost like someone else's hand is doing the tracing. Kind of weird to actually see your own body parts moving around and not really feel like their yours at all. Here's how I did:

That's all I've got. Have a good 4th of July!

Ang