Ashly Status

So spring is officially here and Easter is around the corner. Ashly has been on a steady road to recovery with no big set backs. Ashly continues to live at home with my parents. She keeps herself busy during the day by having therapy and now she is volunteering at the local hospital. I believe Ashly is a perfect person to have as a volunteer because if anyone can sympathize with you… it’d be Ashly. She has had her share of days and nights at a hospital and she knows how boring and mentally draining it can be. I laugh at the thought of what patients must think when they see a bubbly, cute, blond girl walk in their room. I bet she brings a very much needed bright light to a lot of the patients.

Ashly continues to amaze me with her determination to get back to the way she was. Ashly still has a limp from her foot drop and still does not have much use of the fingers in her right hand. She continues to do exercises with physical therapy and occupational therapy. When she is not at therapy, she does her own exercises at home. Our neighbor still comes and works out with Ashly as well. They now go to the gym together and have become really great friends. It is admirable that Ashly has truly given all she has got to getting better. It’s been 9 months and Ashly’s motivation to keep working hard towards recovery has not diminished one bit.

Last night I was talking to Ashly about how right after her brain hemorrhage she could not move her arm so we would stretch it and move it for her. She stopped and said ‘its crazy to think that I couldnt even move my arm’. Words can’t express how nice it is to have a moment like that where we both sit there and think ‘wow, look how far you have come’. Ashly still hates to acknowledge her progress because she believes she still has lots of progress to make, but I think it’s good for her to stop every now and then and be proud of all she has accomplished since July.

Ashly went to Pittsburgh for a round of Botox shots in her legs and arms. Apparently she has spasticity in her muscles and that may be one of the reasons her fingers are having a hard time moving and her foot drop has not gone away. It was about 15 shots and hopefully she’ll be seeing results from them in the upcoming days.

Ashly continues to need prayers and support. What she has gone through has been  life changing. How far she has come has been nothing short of a miracle and I believe that we have the good Lord to thank for all our blessings.

I pray that we continue to see progress and that Ashly will be leading an independent life in Baltimore again here shortly.

Love you Ash

Anja

WOW!! THANK U 4 ALL UR SUPPORT.
I WOULD LIKE TO TELL EVERYONE I HAVEN’T READ MUCH…MAYBE 5 COMMENTS. I STARTED CRYING EVERY TIME MY FAMILY TRIED TO READ THEM TO ME.

I GOT THROUGH EACH CARD AND READ THEM ALL…CRYING ALONG THE WAY…NOT SURE IM READY TO READ THE BLOGS YET.
MY GOAL IN LIFE IS TO BE BACK IN BALTIMORE AND WELL… TO START RUNNING AGAIN. HIGH EXPECTATIONS.
THANK YOU FOR UR LOVE, PRAYERS AND SUPPORT. I NEED IT.

-ASHLY
PS. MY FAMILY, PT,OT, ST, DONNA AND CASEY HAVE BEEN GREAT/ AMAZING SUPPORT!

It’s a new year and no one was more excited to say goodbye to a terrible 2010 than Ashly. Ashly and I celebrated the end of that chapter and the beginning of another in the college town where we met nearly 5 years ago, Columbus Ohio.

2011 arrives with hope and the promise of more normal activities ahead. That normalcy began with this trip to Columbus. Finally we are going somewhere without medical purposes. Finally Ashly could taste some independence; a defining characteristic of her personality.

In Columbus, Ashly’s college roommates are perfect in behaving like nothing is wrong, like nothing has changed. That is the way it should be because Ashly’s physical limitations have not changed that beautiful person inside. It’s the same Ashly who (I believe) felt even more like Ashly on this important road trip.

Of course her journey to a full recovery continues. The difficult road ahead in 2011 doesn’t seem as daunting as it once did. Her unwillingness to celebrate her progress is annoying for us outsiders but it might be what’s driving her to succeed. She wants to get back to Baltimore and the full range of independence that comes with it. I anticipate that epic return to happen in this exciting new year. Like anxious little kids, that day will be like Christmas for all of us.

- CASEY

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Ashly is in Boston with Mom, Dad, and Caleb. I am in Florida visiting my fiance. Yesterday was an emotional day for me, and I am sure the rest of my family. Everyday we thank the Lord that Ashly has made it through all the obstacles that this year has thrown her and Thanksgiving just highlights all our feelings of being blessed.

To begin, the obvious- we still have Ashly around. I know that there are a lot of families celebrating holidays for the first time without a loved one this year. I know that my family came so close to having our lives changed and holidays never be the same without Ashly being here to celebrate. So I am BEYOND thankful that we still have Ashly and that my family remains a whole unit of strength and love.

Also, Ashly told me that she talked to her boss, Al, from ALKS. I have been meaning to say a thank you to Al for a long time. We have never met or talked but I speak for my whole family when I say thank you for all that you have done for us. You have been a wonderful boss during a difficult time in Ashly’s life.

Although my whole family would agree that this past year has been a nightmare… we would also all agree that we have been blessed in so many ways. We have such great neighbors, friends and family that dropped everything to help us out. Put food on our table when eating was our last thought, walked our dogs when we just had to leave on a moments notice, came and just cleaned our house because we didnt have the time. We never worried about anything other than getting Ashly back on her feet.

We watch Ashly continue to push herself everyday just to get back to the way she was before. We went to the rehab center she was at for several weeks and visited the staff. Seeing the people that helped us through such a difficult time and helped Ashly get better is a time for us to reflect on how far Ashly has come. She couldnt even sit up or turn her head and now she is a walking/talking miracle.

I am learning that you have a choice everyday… your choice is how you choose to look at a situation. We (my family) choose to be thankful that we still have each other alive and healthy and that our faith in the Lord made it possible to get through this past year.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Anja

On November 1st Ashly went to Pittsburgh to try and get her filter out. They tried a few times; once through her carotid (neck) and once through her femoral (groin) and could not get it out. Sounds as though the filter is just stuck. The next move is to see if there is another way to go in and get it out, but on a good note, the vascular doctor said that the filter in Ashly is NOT the one that was recalled by the FDA.

Ashly is walking around on her own these days but still with an obvious limp. She makes everyone nervous because she fumbles her steps up every now and then and we’re just all afraid of her falling. Ashly is VERY determined though, and its showing. She has evaluations at therapy once a month (i think) and this past month she doubled her strength in her right hand and has greatly improved with the movement in her leg. She still battles a ‘drop foot’ so picking up her foot to walk ‘normally’ (heal first then toes down) is still hard for her. She has a brace to wear on her right foot and ankle but she is determined to get walking better without it.

Ashly is staying is better spirits these days. I believe it’s because she is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. She gets herself ready in the morning, she can tie her own shoes, she can do almost everything just with a little assistance. So, Ashly is shooting to be living on her own again in February and we are all saying that we dont think its an unrealistic goal. I dont think in February she will be back to the way she was (honestly, Im not sure that will ever happen) but she will hopefully be able to live independently.

We had a Halloween party in October and had a blast. Ashly made everyone dress up as toy story characters and we had people over to the house. We ended up going to the bar and having a great time. I think things like going to the bar and having a little party and things that make Ashly feel less trapped in her body and less angry with her life. She’s getting able to do the things she used to love to do.

Ashly is at therapy now, she still goes Mon-Wed-Fri every week and she still has our neighbor coming over on Tu-Thr to do different therapy with her. Also, dad got a family membership to the YMCA so we can go to walk on the treadmill and get in the pool with Ashly. Shes always on the go so shes really excited about getting the membership.

Hopefully we will continue to see improvements in the days to come. Ashly still has significant deficits in her right hand. Her walking is getting better but definitely not where she wants it to be. Her spirit is great, shes constantly laughing and I am truly amazed at how she has chosen to focus on beating what happened to her and not on the sadness in why it has happened to her. We all love her dearly and are just so thankful she is still in our lives. There’s definitely a reason God has given her this chance to fight back.

Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Anja

It’s crazy how time is flying. Its almost the end of October and Ashly has been home for about a month and a half.  Ashly continues to improve daily. She now is able to walk around on her own (still makes us all a little nervous)and is able to take walks around the block with the family. God love her, because I know it takes Ashly so much energy to do these little things but she will walk whenever someone is willing to walk with her.

Ashly’s hand sees the smallest amount of improvement but we are told that it will take the longest amount of time to get movement to come back… if it ever does. Ashly gets pretty frustrated with the lack of movement in her right hand and is trying to learn how to write with her left hand just in case her right hand never fully returns. Ashly has elementary school writing books that she practices writing in daily. We can already see improvements with her left hand but her right hand still looks like scribbles. She can hardly hold a pencil in her right hand long enough to write one letter. Never the less Ashly does it daily and struggles through her frustration with the right hand.

We have been blessed with great friends and family. Recently a neighbor has come over on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the days Ashly doesnt have outpatient therapy) and does different things with Ashly. She works on her balance, does yoga and lifts weights. This time that our neighbor is giving to help Ashly get better means the world to us. Ashly hated just sitting around on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Every day is an opportunity for Ashly to keep getting better and she doesnt want to waste any time. Ashly loves the time with our neighbor and we think that any help we can get, we will take. Mom claims she already sees an improvement in Ashly’s balance and I think that is due to the exercises Ashly’s doing with our neighbor.

We had family from South Dakota fly in, visit and help out around the house. It was great to have family around and I know mom was just in heaven. Dad and I joke that our house has never been so clean and it was great to have someone make meals and just be here to help out. We truly appreciate the time they took out of their busy work schedules to come help us out and its always great to see our family!

Ashly continues to have friends visiting her and we are so thankful for that. She seems to always have a few people here everyday on the weekends and we just are so glad she has such great friends. Our house is big, thankfully, and so if anyone from out of town wants to come visit Ashly please feel free… we have plenty of beds and clean sheets for all! You can contact me on facebook if you want to arrange something!

This past week Ashly went to go see her vascular doctor in pittsburgh to look at her clot and the filter. The appointment went well. The doctor believes that Ashly will have no problems with the clot in the future   He didnt think the filter should be taken out because the ‘struts’ in the filter have penetrated through her vena cava and into surrounding muscles.

This past Saturday my mom got a call from the vascular doctor we had just met with, saying that the FDA had put out warnings about Ashly’s filter and that the struts can actually break off. He thinks the best decision is to try and take the filter out, but if there is still clot up to the filter he will leave it in. Obviously Ashly was upset because she is tired of all these procedures and wants to be left alone. As a family we decided to take the doctors advice and have him look at the filter and attempt to take it out if he could. We are all worried about making the right decisions but we are just trusting that these doctors know what they are talking about. Like Ashly said to me… it’s good to know that he still is keeping her situation in his mind and continuously trying to figure out what the best move is for her. It isnt often you get a call from a doctor on a Saturday and they call you back on their personal phone to talk about what he has learned. We hope that there will not be any complications if this filter does come out or even if it has to stay in. It feels like we’re between a rock and a hard place. Anyway, the date to get the filter out, or at least looked at again, is not official yet. Probably within a few weeks.

Please keep Ashly in your prayers… she has a long way to go. We continue to be thankful for all the progress she has made and know that the good Lord has helped her get through this with such a great spirit. I said to mom today that its incredible that with everything Ashly has been through, she still has a great sense of humor (I claim its actually gotten funnier since the brain hemorrhage).  We all still get sad when we think about how quickly Ashly’s whole day to day reality was taken from her but then we stop and think about how far she has come since her hemorrhage and we can’t help but thank the Lord.

Ashly continues to need our prayers and support because this struggle is going to take longer than she would like.

Thank you for all the support, love and prayers.

Anja

Ashly is still at home and we have had a smooth transition into the home life. My family was with Ashly all the time in the rehab center so coming home did not change much of our daily routines. Anyway, its great to have her home.

Ashly loves to cook and is either teaching me or Caleb how to cook or just trying to do as much as possible her own. Ashly is very insistent about how everything goes because she is so used to doing these things her own way. She even gave Caleb a hard time because the plates he served the food on was not pretty enough…. oo you artsy people

Casey bought a Wii so all the family has been playing and Ashly is still working with trying to figure out the games she needs two hands for. Shes got a good attitude about everything but still wants this all to be over as soon as possible. I pray that God has a plan for her and I believe that he will not leave Ashly this way. I believe Ashly has a lot of improving left to do and we will all continue to be amazed by her.

Please pray that Ashly finds peace with her life and new struggles. Ashly still struggles to with figuring out why this had to happen to her and it breaks our hearts to think about the internal struggle she must go through just to find happiness with her new life every day. I want her to continue to fight her hardest but I pray that she will  find a sense of calm in her heart and know that God is with her through all of this.

Anja

Today has been a busy day. Aunt Lori, Uncle Jim, and Britteny (cousin) from South Dakota flew in and right now they are with mom and dad in Maryland moving Ashly’s stuff out of her apartment. Ashly’s lease is up at the end of October and so mom and dad are utilizing the extra hands.

Today Casey, Ashly, Caleb and I went out to eat and then went to the mall just to keep busy while the parents are gone we try our best to keep the mood light and a smile on Ashly’s face

Thursday Ashly had a follow up appointment with her neurosurgeon. Ashly was able to walk without anyone helping her for about 10 feet in front of her neurosurgeon and the other residents. Everyone started clapping for her and it brought tears to the nurse’s eyes. Ashly has come a long way and no one will argue that. On the other hand, Ashly just keeps repeating that she is not a patient person and the ability to walk and be ‘normal’ could not come fast enough. Ashly still has to have help walking and has a cane to walk. She still has minimal movement in her fingers but at least there is movement. Dad continues to do rehab with Ashly when he comes home. Everyone here is determined to get Ashly better as soon as possible.

Ashly still gets upset with the fear of never getting back to where she was before this brain hemorrhage. She is an artist so the loss of movement in her right hand is pretty devastating.

If you can’t laugh at yourself, life’s gonna seem a whole lot longer than you’d like. What do ya do? You laugh, you know. I’m not saying I don’t cry, but in between… I laugh.
-Garden State

Yesterday Ashly was discharged from Crichton and arrived home around noon. It was a very sad farewell to the staff at Crichton. Everyone at Crichton was so good to my family and my sister. I dont think we could have received better care anywhere else. For all the time we spent there, Crichton became our home and the staff was like family to us. Everyone took great care of Ashly and we joke that maybe she was crying about leaving because she knew we probably wouldnt be able to live up to their standard of care (no matter how hard we tried). Not to worry though, Ashly will be going there for outpatient therapy 3 hours a day 3 days a week.

 Anyway, last night we went for a walk (pushing Ash in a wheelchair) and then went to the grocery store. Ashly hasnt been to a grocery store for over two months and if you know her, you know she loves to grocery shop and cook. SOOO Ashly was in heaven and trying to convince my parents to buy everything she could possibly dream of. haha

Anyway, Ashly has been crying often. I think the reality of being home and still not being independent really upsets her. We know this will take some time to transition into, but we all feel that in the end being home is the best thing for her.

I was in my room last night and could hear people talking down stairs in the kitchen while mom cooked dinner and it brought tears to my eyes. For so long we havent had a family meal at home and we havent all been at home at the same time because someone was always at the rehab center with Ashly. It was so nice to feel like our house was home. To be able to tuck Ashly into bed last night and then just go to my room to sleep was an incredible feeling.

Right now Ashly is on a date to the movies with Casey. Mom, Ashly and I walked the dogs this morning and while we were gone Casey went and got Ashly roses. He’s a sweetheart to Ashly and he is emotional support to her in a way that we, as family members, cant be. I put make up on Ashly before they went out because although she said she just doesnt care, I believe it is important for her to feel good about herself and she needs to feel like she is as beautiful as we all tell her she is. Anyway, I hope they are having a great time. Hopefully they are feeling a little bit of normalcy in their relationship that they had lost on July 4th.

Today is September 11 and it would feel unAmerican if I didnt acknowledge the tragic events that occurred on this day. I pray for all the families of loved ones that were lost on this day and that died fighting for our freedom because of this day. We are a land of the free because we are the home of the brave (not my quote & not sure who’s it is but i like it). So keep in your prayers the people the died for, and the people that are still fighting for, our freedom.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments and the numerous prayers for Ashly. She has a long journey ahead of her and I just pray that it is as short and painless as possible for her.

Things have been going very well in rehab. Ashly is able to walk up and down stairs and to walk with a one prong cane. She is so inspiring to watch. Ashly has unrelenting determination and is willing to do whatever it takes to get better.

We have had a minor set back. Ashly’s leg is so swollen from the blood clot and giving her some serious pain.Some doctors say it is because she is getting muscle tone back and nerves are coming back in her leg from all the exercise she is doing, and some say the pain is due to the clot in her leg. My family and I tend to be a pain to doctors now. We dont settle for a simple answer anymore because it seems if somethings is going to go wrong- it does.  I was saying how we have really changed through this whole ordeal. In the beginning we trusted every word doctors would say to us, especially if it was good news. We wanted to believe that they knew best and we would take good news and run with it. Now things have changed; if the answer we get doesnt make total sense to us, or there is not concrete proof of the problem then we dont believe it. We hardly ever believe good news (ie. this leg pain is just from moving her leg so much, we want to make sure nothing is going on with the clot) because we are Ashly’s biggest advocates. She is our daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, and we are with her all day long. We believe everyone cares about Ashly but she  is our only concern where as the nurses and doctors have other patients.

Anyway, today Ashly officially told me that she was glad I am a nurse. She had originally told me that she did not trust me doing anything regardless of my college degree. Then, when I asked why she was happy now, she said because I can help her to the bathroom. haha (4 years of college education just to be able to take my sister to the bathroom… i’ll take what I can get)

Today Ashly got to go outside and go to the candy shop down the street with another person in rehab and a therapist. It was perfect timing because Ashly was able to get dad a birthday present herself. Then, tonight we had cake and gave dad our gifts in the lounge at the rehab center for his birthday.

I’m thankful for the great therapists here and the great care but I cant wait for Ashly to come home so we can do other fun/ ‘normal’ things together.

We thank the good Lord everyday that Ashly keeps improving and is going to be good enough to come home soon. Shes an inspiring women and really has astonished everyone with her incredible attitude during such a horrible time.

Please keep her in your prayers, like I’ve said before, this is going to be a long journey so she still needs all the support in the world.

Anja