Lorna Update: WOO HOO!

From Sheila:

Alison is reading The Washington Post to Lorna. I swear no one else in history has ever had The Washington Post read to them in the ICU.

Lorna is a serial texter now. She has some great lines. This morning she asked me if we could be best friends, and I said we already are. She nodded. She told me to tell Alison and Robin that they could come and hang out with her, but only if they promised not to be annoying. She tried to convince me that it’s easier not to try to sleep. It’s great to see her being really funny. I came to the hospital at 8 with my fair share of stories about my walk there. I told her stories and read her poems and then she decided we needed to have nap time, but then Alison and Robin got here and we let her take a nap and then the neurosurgeon came here. And that’s where the real news is.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Grady is my new favorite person, and here’s why: he decided to give us good news! We left Lorna to take a 40 minute nap while we went and sat in the waiting room. Dr. Grady came out and told us some pretty excellent things. He said that the progress she’s made so far is absolutely amazing, hence he’s putting in the bone flaps Tuesday. The way he talked about her was so encouraging – he was talking about how awesome she is, how impressed he is, etc., and how proud he is of her progress. This coming from the neurosurgeon who has done all her important surgeries so far and will be putting the bone flaps back in. This same neurosurgeon who works at one of the top 10 hospitals in the country. Somehow I feel like he knows what he’s talking about. Which is why we were SO happy when he told us that… (and here I need a serious, major drumroll, no joke.) He said, and I quote, “There is a reasonable probability that she will walk again.” (insert trumpet fanfare here.) He also gave us a much-needed timeline: 6-12 months. That’s manageable. This is full recovery timeline we’re talking about here. She’ll be in rehab soon enough, she’ll learn to walk there and then she’ll be an outpatient just getting the finer points of the things the spinal chord does so well rejuvenated/tweaked. So we’re talking full recovery in as little as 6 months. WHAT.

I don’t know about you, but I’m actually about to pee my pants in excitement. That may have something to do with all the coffee I just drank, but still, this is fantastic news. Of course, Dr. Grady doesn’t want to get our hopes up, but at this point having any hope is pretty terrific. He said we’ll know for sure 6-12 months from now. But getting a doctor to say anything that positive is a work of magic, as we have learned from living in this hospital for the last few weeks.

Keep up the prayers! She still needs them even though she’s being a super star and getting so much better so quickly. We thank you for all the support, and are so proud of our stellar sister/daughter.

Love to all, and I really mean it,
Sheila.

All praise, glory, laud and honor to God our Father through Jesus Christ! Way to go with the prayers, troops! Keep it up! What a stunning Easter gift it would be if she was walking and getting back to normal life by then! Thank you Mama Mary and St. Luke for your intercession!

Let’s continue!