Dear Family, neighbors, co-workers and friends…where do I begin?

It feels strange being in such a good place, only 3 months after my October 6th accident. Thank you to Patrick for taking such a good and fast recovery when I fell.

I got the “gift” to leave the Hospitals and come home the day before Thanksgiving. I, of course, thought I was “all fixed and ready to resume life”. In truth my husband, family and Doctor knew better and provided me with a lot of therapy at Spalding Rehab in Boston through till the end of 2007. Thank you to those who got me in and out. The Therapy enabled me to strengthen my physical body, challenge my thought process and work through math and other cognitive skills. Additionally I had my eye and teeth fixed. My “shaved” hair/head is going to take some time!

Last Wednesday I had an appointment with my brain trauma Doctor who gave me the go-ahead to drive and work part time at my jobs. I have made an appointment for a road test this Friday and I hope I can get to work soon.

Monday, I met with my MGH surgeon. I got an appointment for next Tuesday (15th) to have my gallbladder removed, hopefully lapra scopically.

So here I am, closer than many thought possible, in a very short period of time.
Daily I say Thank You to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. I am truly a blessed miracle. Because I do not make the time to call each of you, please know how thankful I am and that I hope that the Grace which I have felt is or becomes a part of your life.

My Love and Thanks to each and all of you,
Ginger/Regina

PS. Special Thanks to my sister Terry for making this blog a reality….

My Farewell

Happy New Year to All! We have been celebrating the holidays, birthdays and anything else that we can think of - Patriots, Celtics, warm weather...each party is full of laughs, love and thanks. This weekend we celebrate January birthdays for Ginger, Tom and Liam - mostly Ginger!! Her courage, spirit and acceptance are a miracle and gift I will try to never forget.

Apparently Ginger has not looked at this site yet - I was hoping to retire by now. C'est la vie! Ginger went to Spaulding yesterday and learned that she will have therapy twice a week for 4 weeks - she likes her therapists and promises to work hard to complete her course on time - no doubt she will! She seems more relaxed at home - less anxious - I bet they miss her at MGH and Spaulding!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE - WE HAD A GREAT DAY, FULL OF LAUGHS AND BLESSINGS. AMEN

Ginger is working very hard at Spaulding to prepare herself to go home on Wednesday -I could barely keep up with her yesterday!
We have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving - especially family and friends that have given us the courage, strength and blessings to be together to celebrate.
Our love, gratitude and prayers to all. Happy Thanksgiving.

Great news today - Ginger is going home to Southborogh next Wednesday - in time for Thanksgiving! She is nervous, anxious and excited - she will have PT, OT and ST at home for a while and then outpatient if necessary. She made brownies today - burned them - but she says she was not the timer!!
She is enjoying your cards, prayers and good wishes - Thank you and good night.

Ginger has completed her first day of rehab - physical, occupational and speech therapy. She is in much better spirits - happy with Dr. Chae and Dr. Yang - what a difference a day makes!
Patrick is the ultimate care taker - reminding us to disinfect our hands every minute, wearing gloves, calling the nurse without hesitation for critical issues such as the location of Ginger's wheelchair despite the fact that she can walk on her own [with assistance] - filling our water glasses until we are ready to explode -the service is overwhelming!
We are so blessed - there are so many others that have not made such great progress -thank you God and everyone else - your prayers and encouragement continue to sustain us.

Cards - Ginger is at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Romm 322, 125 Nashua Street, Boston, MA 02114

Ginger is back at Spaulding and ready to start her rehab first thing tomorrow morning - they promise a rigorous schedule - we met her nurse, Diane and Dr. Yang and they are very encouraging and supportive.
I went to the kitchen to find some tea bags - Diane asked me if there was anything else she should know about Ginger - I told Diane that Ginger is tough - Diane seemed to brush it off - I will check in with Diane on Wednesday and see if she has a different opinion!!
Tom and Patrick brought dinner - Ginger was very happy and Patrick is anxious to take Ginger on another wheelchair ride... we all hope and pray for a week full of patience, energy and progress at Spaulding

Sorry for the delay - the past 3 days have been filled with conflicting reports from many sources - I assure you this update is accurate - hopefully you will hold off on any claims against the administrator!! If not, you can have this job...

Ginger has spent a long week at MGH but she has improved significantly - they are removing the 2 extra drains placed outside her gallbladder last Monday and she is waiting impatiently for a bed at Spaulding so she can get back to physical therapy. In the mean time, Liam and I are going to giver her a workout tomorrow!!

Once Ginger is re-settled at Spaulding, I think she will be ready to have visitors so she can talk with someone other than her family - as soon as she has a schedule, I will let you know her availability!!

P.S. Don't mention the word schedule to her!!

The doctors are more pleased with Ginger's progress than she - they are on a conservative course to avoid surgery while her gallbladder is inflamed - she is slowly getting better - not fast enough for her...
She has mentioned quitting a few extra-curricular activities - a good sign - and worrying about Tom & Patrick - we laugh more than we cry - God willing, we will keep the focus on the bright side of the road.

NY is complaining about me and contemplating termination - they must still be mad about the Sox winning the world series!
This past weekend has been crazy - watching Ginger writhing in pain and trying to get something done to relieve her of her nightmare - our persistence has paid off. Ginger was sent to the emergency room at Mass. General Hospital on Sunday for acute inflammation of her gallbladder caused by infectious fluids leaking out of the tube placed in her gallbladder at U.Mass Med Hospital. Today, the doctors replaced the original tube and put in 2 additional tubes to drain out the infection. Ginger is feeling better and her elevated white blood cell counts are down. If she continues to progress over the next 2 days, she will return to Spaulding to continue her rehab - if not, and/or she has gallstones, they will perform laproscopic surgery to remove her gallbladder. Thank God and all of you.

The good news of Ginger's progress has been uplifting for us, but this has been a difficult week for her - adjusting to Spaulding, sorting through her fears, anxiety and emotions. I feel helpless - but this too shall pass...
Today she has been in a lot of pain and we are told that she has to go back to the hospital to have her gallbladder removed...a set back she is not taking gracefully.
I never dreamed I would spend a Friday night watching Ginger sleep in peace..
Please keep Ginger in your prayers.

Ginger did well on her first day of speech and occupational therapy - we continue to see daily progress - she has acknowledged that she can't do everything yet because she gets tired and thus has extended her stay at Spaulding until Sunday!!

She makes us laugh and cry - your cards and messages are comforting and prompt many questions and memories for her - until she is ready to go to sleep and orders lights out, curtains drawn and everyone out of her room...

Mailing address: Spaulding Hospital, 8th Floor, 125 Nashua Street, Boston, MA 02114

Ginger is at Spaulding and anxious to get on with her "Program" so she can go home on Friday - no chance per Dr. Crandell! Patrick visited today with Tom - watching Patrick and Ginger cuddle was a miraculous and joyous occasion.

She is not very patient - she is surrounded by too much "BS" - real important things like the number of pillows on her bed, the lousy job they did washing her hair and the disgusting food - other than that she is happy!! God help the Spaulding staff if there are too many more lapses...

Ginger is able to eat solid foods and has expressed interest in getting dressed and having her hair washed so that she can go "off to work". She has not been transferred to Spaulding, but hopefully will be tomorrow once her gallbladder drain is removed. She is still very restless to get out of the confines of the hospital.
As promised, here are some recent photos from a walk with Patrick to collect acorns that Ginger's niece, Sarah has taken for her art class.

The UMASS Memorial Hospital Staff are preparing Ginger for a transfer to Spaulding Hospital -- maybe as soon as tomorrow. If ever you need caring and competent care for a loved one, every one of us would highly recommend UMASS Memorial. Having said that, we are delighted she is continuing on her journey of recovery. Although not able to remember her accident, she is exhibiting emotion and tears up when one of us tells her we are leaving. Sarah promises new pictures of Patrick for tomorrow's post. Once Ginger is settled at Spaulding, I recommend that we move to less frequent posts. I will take it up with the Blog Master Terry when she returns home from Hawaii on Tuesday. Peace.

Aloha - We are so happy that Ginger continues to progress daily - the pacific ocean, the flowers and the weather are beautiful - we have great pictures. Keeping everyone in our thoughts and prayers. Love, Liam & Terry

At different times throughout the day, during visits with family and Fr. Thurb, Ginger was conversant and begging each and every one to assist her in leaving the hospital to go home. When Fr. Thurb began prayers she made the sign of the cross. She has made it through a day without removing her feeding tube -- hooray! She read names and the date from a white board hanging in her room and ate some grahm crackers. Next two benchmarks are to ensure she can swallow to take in table food and to stay calm. She seems to be well on her way! All of your love and prayers are making such a difference.

Though random, Ginger continues to make connections with people and events from before the accident. Tom and his Dad toured two rehabilitation facilities today -- Fairlawn and Spaulding. They concur that Spaulding is the best fit for her needs at this time. They were very impressed with the staff they met with. Jack is coming to visit from NY. Looks like once all of Ginger's medical records and gathered and reviewed by Spaulding, she will be transferred -- could be as soon as next week. Moving in the right direction. Keep the thoughts and prayers going.

Ginger, as will come as no surprise to all of you, continues to amaze those of us in the family and her caregivers who are able to spend time with her. She had a very difficult night requiring one on one attendance to protect her from dismantling her vital feeding tude without much sleep for either she or the attendant, and then rose to the occasion with Kate, Marge and Tom this morning. She asked about Tom's and Patrick's whereabouts -- work an school-- and was able to identify by name upon close examination of a picture, "Tommy, Patrick and Mommy". She also seemingly remembered about her last convesation with Kate to ask what is going on with her job search. While Tom was visting today, she was able to sit in a chair for a while. Regina/Ginger is really exhibiting aweosme progress along the contiunuum for a patient of TBI -- Traumatic Brain Injury -- we need to be careful that she is not overstimulated, which could cause her confusion in her recovery. She did pull out her feeding tube while sitting up in a chair -- not a easy situation for anybody involved. We are so well aware of your need to see and be with her. Please understand that we will let you know of this possibility as soon as possible. In the interim, please know that your thoughts and prayers sustain us and Ginger, we count on them being a reserve that we so need now and forever long it takes to have Ginger/Regina holding us accountable and joyous in our lives.