An Amazing Day in Macon

Shea slept very little through the night. She worked all night at trying to sit up or get out of bed. She might have had a few 5 minute times of sleep, but not many. Surely, she would sleep in the morning.

Susan arrived at 8:00 this morning and it didn't take long for out day to be underway. First, Allison, her speech therapist arrived and worked with Shea on pointing to numbers and letters and a "Yes" and "No" sheet to answer questions. We have worked with Shea in the past with a pen and a marker but she didn't seem to be able to hold it properly or quite understand what to do. Well, today, as tired as she was, she pointed to all the right letters and numbers, pointed to her eyes, mouth, nose and ears and her mom on command. She answered correctly the Yes and No questions, such as, "Do you have a sister?, Do you have one brother?, Do you have two brothers?"

While the nurses gave Shea a bath, Susan and I went for breakfast. When we returned, Aimie told us that she walked by Shea's room and saw her propped up on one arm and motioning Aimie to come to her with the other hand. She tried to tell Aimie something over and over. Aimie gave her the board and thought she could make out an 'h' in Shea's writing. Aimie gave her the alphabet board and Shea pointed to an H, an O, and a T. She repeated the pointing to the same letters. Aimie asked her, "Are you hot, Shea?" Shea nodded her head. So, the communiation is improving.


A little later in the morning, the nurses moved her to a special wheel chair.
It lays flat like a bed so they can easily move her. Once in place, the nurses strap her in and then lower the chair to a sitting position. To the cheers of all the nurses standing inside and outside her room. Shea was wheeled down the hall weakly waving back to them. We took her to the sunroom to let her get some sunshine and see the blue sky. It was wonderful to see her sitting and in a new environment. One would think that this would do wonders for Shea and that is what we hoped. She cried through most of the experience but we were not upset; the drugs withdrawal has now become ICU Psychosis. This results from the many drugs she has been on for over three weeks and from being in a confined area.

This afternoon I arrived back to the hospital from a nap and wondered where everyone was. There were 7 nurses in Shea's room, and with their help, Shea was standing at last. The rest of the nurses were cheering and clapping outside her room and soon she began walking, with their assistance, to the door of her room. She had the motions down-- right, left, right. Very tired by the time she got to the door, the nurses moved a chair behind her and she sat down. But not for long. She pushed herself up and they helped her walk back to the bed. We were all exhausted. Surely Shea would sleep now. She struggled to get up again and has been so agitated that the doctor has prescribed Theraquil, a drug that is non-addicitve and helps with ICU Psychosis. He said that it doesn't really kick in for a couple of days and we can expect a couple more intense days like today. We feel like she is going at a pace that is almost humanly impossible. Non-stop struggling and activity with no sleep for nearly three days.

Even though she is in this state, she amazes us with her ability to do what we ask. Susan showed her a blown-up picture of Shea and her friends, Kelly and Amy from Scotsdale, AZ. "Shea, can you point to Kelly?" Susan asked her. Shea pointed to herself in the middle of the picture. She mouthed the word, "ME." Then on command she pointed to Kelly and then to Amy as if to say, "What's so hard about that?"

There have been times when we have needed at least 3 people to keep Shea in bed. Please pray that this period of struggling and sleeplessness soon ends.

We can certainly praise God as we have seen Shea moved to a chair and then walk. We can pray for her continued strength so she can soon do these things on her own. She so desperately wants to. She is fighting hard--and that's an understatement!

Susan's sisters, Kathleen and Karen arrive tomorrow. Karen is flying in from Dallas and Kathleen is returning with her husband Charley to help us out during this difficult period. Please pray for their safe travels.

Once again, we had excellent care today. Tracey and Aimie are probably home exhuasted right now. They had a long 12-hour day working with Shea. I have to say that when I arrived at the hospital today and saw Shea standing and all the nurses cheering, I thought to myself that if the nurses were not in uniform you might have a hard time telling which one was her mother. That is how invested they are in our Sweet Shea.

Jeanne Burch