I saw it for myself!!!

She was awake again!!! It was truly her....and we got a smile!!! A few smiles, really!! It was amazing!!

She is in there, just needs some rest!

I've been here all afternoon, and she was awake and smiling for about 10 minutes....the BEST 10 minutes of my life!!!!!

Keep praying, it's working!!!!

Aunt B

HER EYES ARE OPEN!!!

She JUST opened her eyes!!! Not the little slits we've seen but ALL THE WAY OPEN!!!!!!!!! I JUST got the phone call.

I have NO MORE details, but when I do....I'll post them!!!

THANK YOU GOD!!!! HER EYES ARE OPEN!!!!!!!

I am so happy, I can hardly sit still!!!!!! =)

KEEP PRAYING!!!! THANK HIM RIGHT NOW!!!!

UPDATE: My mom just called. She seems to be officially awake. She was looking around, answering questions with her hands with no hesitation. Was signing for yes, no and kinda.

That wore her out, because she is asleep now. She is not talking, yet. She has an oxygen mask on and a small feeding tube. They are going to work on getting those out next so it will be easier for her to talk soon.

Please continue to respect our wishes on not coming up yet. We still don't know a lot of things about her injuries....but we sure are getting closer to the days when we CAN have you come up!!!!

Aunt B

GREAT NEWS!!!

She had a peaceful rest last night, aside from the nurses waking her every 2 hours or so for her breathing treatment.

During one of the treatments, she rasped the word HOT. My sister JUMPED out of the recliner and asked her to say it again....HOT!!! Sherry said she was jumping up and down and was so happy. I asked her in all the excitement, did anyone tend to the poor child being hot, she said yes =) No fever, they just took the blanket off of her.

But little baby steps of progress, she said the word HOT!!!!

...keep praying!!!!!

...moved AGAIN....

She is back in Pediatric ICU. She needs a little more attention then the Neurology Ward can give her right now. She is still struggling with her breathing a little and needs breathing treatments every two hours for a while. She is in better hand right now in the ICU.



Other then that not much has changed. She yawned today and the family thought that was amazing!! I have to chuckle at that, but it is good news!!

Aunt B

Quarantined...

My first grader has Strep Throat...joy. I'm not allowing myself back up to the hospital until next week. I don't want to get anyone sick....ESPECIALLY Cassidy, and she always gets strep real easy too. I just feel awful I can't be there right now =(

I did talk to my sister this morning. Cassidy had a rough night last night. She is having trouble breathing and getting the mucus up off her lungs. They are going back to doing breathing treatments every 2 hours again.

Other then that, nothing else has changed yet. She is still responsive to all commands, but nothing more then yesterday.

They met with the doctors and everyone is very positive. They and I fully believe she will come out of this and be the same old Cass we know and love, it is just going to take a lot longer then we'd like. A LOT longer then we'd like.

We need to practice our patience....and I don't have any...

Talk to Cassidy

Wow! There are a ton of people following this blog! This does not surprise me one bit. Is Cassidy not one of the most amazing people you ever met! This is uncle Greggster (Cassidy picked that name for me by the way). I went to see Cass today, I had all these things to tell her and when I got there I drew a blank.... yep, I forgot almost everything. I was thinking to myself, you need to write down what you want to talk to her about and take some notes with you. Then I got to thinking some more and thought, if I can take my thoughts why can't I take YOUR thoughts (bloggers, friends, and such) with me to read to Cassidy. Things are still too chaotic up there for everyone to come visit with her. I feel bad, I truly do, we all do. I wish I could personally take everyone up there to visit her, it just can't be done right now and I'm sorry. Trust me, she knows you are out there praying for her.

Speaking of praying; well... for those of you who don't know me I am kind of an outdoor's guy. Anyway, I haven't seen a praying mantis all summer, I came home from the hospital today and there was one on my front door. This just proved to me that everyone including the bugs at my house are praying for Cassidy. I looked that bug in it's big eye's and said "Thanks".

Anyway, to make a short story long... (that's usually how I do it) I wanted to let everyone know that Aunt B and myself want to help you deliver your love, thoughts, and prayer's to Cassidy. I set up a e-mail for Cassidy that we can access. I promise your e-mails will be kept as private as possible. Aunt B and I will print them off and take them to the hospital to read to Cassidy.

I could write about Cassidy all night but it is almost midnight and I have to go to bed, so here is the e-mail address, send Cass your e-mail and we will read it to her.

starcassidy@live.com

Later,

Uncle Greggster

They moved her..

She has been moved to the Nerological Floor that deals with only head trama patients. This is a good thing, her lungs are good, her breathing is good, and her pelvis is healing well. They didn't see a reason for her to be in ICU any longer.

She continues to respond to the requests of the doctors and nurses, and I heard her right eye is open a little now.

Keep praying for her brain to heal and heal properly so she can sit up and talk to us soon....

Aunt B

More of the same

Sorry so late. I had to go get my first grader from school....he has a fever. No hospital visit for me today.

She continues to give everyone the peace sign and thumbs up and only looking at you with her left eye.

I should be hearing from my mom or sister this afternoon and I'll let you all know of any change.

...keep praying for a full recovery and the strength to give us even more signs.......

Great Progress...

What a great day...painful to watch, but great!!

She is awake. I saw her eye, she focused on me, she listened, she tried to smile, she cried, she squeezed my hand, she gave me the peace sign...she's in there.

I thought, she would have the surgery, recover, wake up, sit up and then we would deal with the therapy of learning to walk again after the surgery. It is SO not going to happen that way.

There was 3 different therapist in today, meeting Cassidy and explaining what was to come. She had some boots on her legs to help strengthen her muscles so they will be ready for her to walk again. She has a speech therapist, we don't know yet, but she may have to learn how to talk again.

She only opens one eye, her left, about half way. I don't know if it is the drugs, or from the trauma of it all, but she just doesn't have the strength to open both and look at you yet.

It makes me happy to see her respond to me, but it make me SOOO sad to see her in so much pain. She is trying so hard...and that is so hard to watch.

I would do ANYTHING to take the pain away.....a time machine to go back and BEG her to go get ice cream with us after the game so she wouldn't be in SO MUCH PAIN...

...keep praying....

Aunt B

Another Day

I don't know how she did last night yet, but I am assuming it is more of the same. If there was something different, I would of heard by now.

I am headed to the Apple Orchard with my preschooler and his class this morning....then headed for the hospital all afternoon. I can't wait to see the peace sign and the thumbs up for myself.

I will update later....

...keep praying....

Aunt B

Many, Many Thank yous!

I managed to stay away today, but you can't keep me from going tomorrow. I hope I get to see my baby girls eyes tomorrow!!!

I want to send out many, many thank yous tonight. First off, to all of her friends, good friends and best friends that have stayed away from the hospital. It means a lot to us that you have respected the doctors and the families wishes. She is not near ready for visitors yet, but as soon as she is, I WILL be letting you know, I promise. I know it is hard to stay away, but trust me there is nothing you can do at the hospital right now. When she gets out of ICU (we hope in a few days) I will post where you can start sending decorations for her room!

To all you prayer warriors, it is working, keep it up!! I can't thank all of you enough. There are lots of you that don't even know Cassidy and are praying for her healthy recovery....it means the world to us, and to her. She needs it, and it's working. Big thanks to my friend, Angie. She has a HUGE prayer chain and she started it for Cassidy today. You can check out her awesome blog HERE.

Thank you to all the nurses and doctors at the hospital. We have been told she is in the best possible ICU with some of the best doctors in the country! Thank you for all your wonderful care!

By no means think that this is over, but it is the first glimmer of hope that we are on our way to recovery....

...keep praying....

Aunt B

PEACE SIGN

SHE IS GIVING THE PEACE SIGN!! And if you KNOW Cassidy, that is trademark!!!!

She has not opened her eyes, but she is responding to EVERYTHING!! Squeezing hands, wiggle toes, everything!!

I am SO EXCITED!!!!!

More Good News

Sorry for the late update. It is unfortunate that my life doesn't stop when my family needs me. Nothing is cleaning, delivering,washing, feeding or cooking itself while I am trying to be there every possible moment for my sister and my niece. I am trying to get some things done today and stay away from the one place I can't stop thinking about and where I think I should be.

My sister meet with the Neurologist this morning. Everything is looking better. She is getting even more responsive, and more determined to open her eyes. The neurologist seemed to have a good outlook.

We have not got the results for the EEG, but it's taken this long, we are assuming that there is not much to tell or we would of heard by now.

It is still family members only. She needs her rest, and the doctors are still monitoring her stimulation so we are careful not to over stimulate her.

Keep praying her pain goes away and she has the strength to open those beautiful eyes and talk.

Glimmers of hope....

She keeps squeezing hands, moving her legs, wiggling toes, and crying at the sound of some of our voices....

....she's still in there....just can't wake up yet. Too many drugs, too much pain....

...I can't wait to see her smiling face again....

Sunday Night...

Home from the hospital...nothing has changed. I got to see her for a moment, and she looked peaceful sleeping.

MRI doctor said the bruising on her brain is at the worst peak right now, and we just need to let her rest. Kind of like when your bruise starts turning dark colors because it's healing...she is trying to heal.

Until tomorrow....

It's all just a waiting game right now

She has been taken off the breathing machine, and she is breathing on her own. She is coughing up some stuff, which is a good sign.

I want you all to understand just what we are waiting for.

Due to the impact/damage/bruising on her brain, we don't know when or how she will be when she wakes up. We need her to rest so her brain can heal and heal properly.

We are waiting for EEG results, so we will know if she have been enduring seizures or not.

We are waiting for her pelvis from her surgery to heal, so if she is TRYING to come to, she won't be in excruciating pain.

We are waiting for the neurologist to give us their assessment of the MRI. What extent of nerve damage she may have , etc.

Based on her blood pressure, they believe she is still in a lot of pain. She is not going back on sedation medicine, but they are going to give her more pain medicine to manage her pain and keep her rested.

Doctors orders, no visitation no stimulation....she needs to heal.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.....that's all we are doing........

Aunt B