Deanna Babcock - Thoughts and Prayers (Page 16)

Very inspiring; the spirit of brotherhood displayed by BT members here. I am reminded why I liked this site and this sport so much.  It's good to be back.

I wish you all the best Deanna.

Hey, Deanna again. 

 Today was my first whole day in rehab.  I did well.  I had 1.5 hours of speech therapy, during which a lady assessed my cognitive functioning.  Ha.  Not to brag or anything, but I can name T words, alphabetize four-letter words, AND pick out the big yellow squares from the other confusing shapes (by that I mean red circles and blue triangles).  I'm also not fooled when my therapist tries to hide objects and make me remember where she put them (I got to look and she told me for heavens sake).  Anyway, she said that there's nothing she can do for me, so I don't need to go to speech therapy again.  Apparently its not unusual for people that had traumatic brain injuries to experience problems with cognitive functioning when they "wake up," but again, I think the prayer came in handy here.  So thanks for that.

 On the physical front, well, I may not be quite up for the long swims, bikes, and runs I was doing 9 weeks ago, but my strength, balance, and endurance are improving continuously.  Currently my primary forms of mobility are scooting and wheelchairing, but give it, mmm, three days and I'll get walkering on my own.

I also get a green dot to replace the red dot on my wheelchair.  I'm not really sure what this means, but it's a good thing.

 Deanna
 

AWESOME DEANNA!!!! Girl, you are so sassy and funny- keep it up and you will show up everyone in rehab....

I'm sure the green dot means you can go wherever you want in the wheelchair, at least that's the excuse you should give them the next time they catch you escaping!!!

I'm telling everyone I know about your amazing progress! 

Aloha Deanna,

You are doing awesome, keep your therapist on their toes!

I was just thinking and wondering if you knew that in your blog you can add links to your website. 

http://www.dollarsfordeanna.org/

we all love to leave inspires and it is an easy way for someone to drop a donation, I noticed you already have a few! FYI this site is addicting!

A Hui ho,                                                                                                                            Nancy

my goodness... I think you are probably my first witness to a miracle.  Your typing is suberb, which means your mind must be as well... however, I somehow knew you were smart from the very beginning

Hmmmm... it's really amazing to read your post straight from you.  It is probably the best gift you can give any stranger.. and I guess that your gift would be that good things do happen.... you are a testament to that.

and about that leg... OMG, girl... you are going to be one sexy woman with a prosthetic.  You're probably going to change the world when it comes to prosthetic's... you watch.  It takes people like you, people with courage and strength and commitment to change the worlds view when it comes to these's kinds of challenges.

You are great... I'm so happy you are better.  I'm so happy you are posting.  I'm so happy for your family!   You did great, and I know you will do great from here on out.

You really made my day by reading your very own post... that so rocks

Your friend Kat
Chicago, IL!

Keep up the good work woman!!!

Well, today is the day I've been waiting for ever since I woke up and realized that I hated being in the hospital: I get to go home. Since we're all athletes and we log progress in hours, minutes, and seconds, I thought a quantitative summary of my hospital stay would be appropriate.

1,324,498: times nurses ripped tape/tegaderm/electrodes off my body

1,759: times my oxygen saturation, pulse, and blood pressure were taken

400: approximate distance in feet I can cover on crutches without falling/becoming fatigued

55: length in days of my total hospital stay

35: pounds of weight I lost, including a missing leg

14: holes in my body that were not meant to be holes

10: doctors I had throughout my stay

7: number of surgeries I had

5: weeks I was in a coma

4: times I was cognitively evaluated and found to be completely normal

3: good meals consisting of hospital food, or approximately 5% rate of edibility

2: times I went missing and caused my nurses to make phone calls to find me

1: time I was called a smart a$$ by my therapist, random 3:30am Jamaican sponge bath, leg I

now have

Right. So I leave with a pretty sweet gold prosthetic leg; I've yet to figure out how to use it. My primary form of mobility will be wheelchairing, supplemented with crutching as my balance improves. I intend to go back to school this semester on research and independent study credits. I told one of my co-workers that I would race him (and beat him) at the White Lake half ironman in early May, so I better figure out how to run and bike ride by February or so. We'll see how that goes. I'll probably start small with a plain 5k race and go from there.

Again, thanks for the support and encouragement.

Deanna