One more post

Alright Hannah, you asked for it you got it. One more post. Today Hannah went in for surgery to have the little filter that was preventing clots from going to her heart, removed. The procedure took most of the day but it went well and Hannah is home and healing up nicely.

Hannah has been walking all over without even her crutches for a while now. She only wears her neck and back brace occasionally and is looking forward to being able to drive again soon. We'll keep our fingers crossed for ya sis!

A wedding!

Yep Thats Hannah walking down the isle at her sister Rebecca's wedding. I think its safe to say that there were tears all around as we watched this miracle sister of ours that we all thought we had lost there for a time, smiling and walking down the isle on Jake's arm.

And who knew that a person could look that beautiful all trussed up in braces like that!

She even danced!

Way to go Hannah Jo we are all so proud of you. Keep up the good work! You are amazing

Oh yeah and I think it might be about time for you to take over your own blog. People dont want to hear from me. You have plenty to say if you will just find the words.

Hannah is Home!

Just a quick FYI. Hannah came home yesterday. So dont go visit her at the hospital. She still loves visitors though as she still cant do much and gets bored easily. So drop by the house when you can and visit awhile. I will post more pics soon.

You've heard of wife swap...introducing sibling swap!

It seems almost every day there are firsts. Today Hannah practiced her first car transfer. Its amazing how things that we never even really think about needing to practice are a major deal when you have to learn to move all over again. Hannah was a little uneasy doing the transfer without Alex, I'm quite sure she is convinced that he could walk on water and she wasn't sure that she could do it without him there. She did great though!

Today Hannah decided that she was tired of spending her life in her bed and that it was time that I got a taste of how she felt. So... we swapped places. I put on her sticky socks that she uses to walk and with her brace cushions on my neck and her blanket tucked up to my chin she deemed me ready to fool the nurse.

Everyone is always telling us that we look like twins anyway so we figured we might as well have a good laugh.

Pressing the button that calls the nurse, she mumbled something about needing a stool softener and then hobbled on her walker to hide in the bathroom.

She stood there peeking through the door to see the nurses reaction and we all tried to keep a straight face. She was giggling so hard she almost couldn't stand and I was so scared I almost couldn't do it but we waited until that moment that the nurse came in. After doing a double take and looking a little confused she laughed at our little joke and helped Hannah back to bed.

Meanwhile, Esther, our camera man... er woman, stood by snapping pictures to document for future reference when we will laughingly tell the story of how we traded places in the hospital. Hannah wishes we could trade places for real when the nurses come to take blood in the middle of the night!

Really I was just tired of her getting all the attention!

Today was a fun day though as Father came and we took Hannah to the cafeteria for a real lunch and then we took her to the ICU and the trauma floors to visit her nurses and show off her new abilities to walk.

Bring on the Sunshine

Today Hannah went outside for the first time in 25 days! The sunshine and fresh air felt good; although she said it felt a little strange after being cooped up inside for so long.

Her sisters Ruth and Miriam came to visit and we took her for a walk around the hospital in her wheelchair. We took her to see the helicopter sitting on the landing pad where she first came into the hospital.

Later that afternoon her Physical Therapists came and we played soccer with her. As miriam kicked the ball to her she took out her anger and frustration by kicking it back. It took a few tries to figure it out but she proved she still had it in her as she sent that ball flying down the hallway! Ruth's little boy Eli looked on shouting encouragingly in his little voice, "Good Job Hannah!"


LAter that afternoon, Alex and Brandie, her physical Therapists took her outside as well, but this time she was doing the walking!
The more uneven surfaces outside present a new challenge for her.

She walked about 100 feet from the door of the hospital, down the sidewalk. Alex is going to have to really work if he is going to continue to find things to challenge her.
She has been really blessed to have been assigned an incredible physical therapist. Alex is super with Hannah and she loves getting to work with him. She told me that he makes her feel like she can do this. He is so positive and funny, we are grateful for all his hard work. The challenge tomorrow? Stairs!

The Kindness of Strangers

Hannah's cousin Heather saw her fall and even though she didn't really know Hannah she has been wanting to help in whatever way she could. She decided to set up a little display in her chocolate shop (The Chocolate Cottage at 720 E 10600 S in sandy) telling a little about Hannah, her accident and her CD. A women came into the store to buy some chocolate and saw the display, she asked more about what happened and Heather told her. The woman explained that she had a daughter who also had been in a bad accident so she understood a little about that kind of thing. She returned to the store several hours later with a card and asked Heather to deliver it to Hannah. She did and inside the card, that wasnt even signed was a sweet note and $100! Hannah was close to tears as she was reading the note and seemed overwhelmed at the kindness of a stranger who didn't know her or the pain that she was suffering yet who had shown such love. From the display Heather had set up in her store she had sold some of Hannah's CD's and she took the money and incorporated it into a gift of chocolate covered strawberries, beautifully arranged to look like long stemmed roses, with the cash as bows.

So many people have shown so much love and support, that Thank you hardly seems enough. Anne Wilde has been to the hospital everyday taking Hannah's mother to dinner, checking up on Hannah and selling her CD's.

Marie has coordinated making sure someone is scheduled to spend the night with her every night and others have graciously been willing to give of their time to spend the night, help with physical therapy or just visit.

If she didn't know she was loved before she does now!