Mama Update: (Day 5) Slowly Winning the Race

Thursday (Day 5) update on Bonnie Spencer Kitchens:

When mama had the stroke on Sunday morning it damaged a large portion of the left side of the brain. That part affects our speech and the motor functions on the right side of the body.

So, currently, she’s not able to move her right side. And she’s not able to speak. We believe her intelligence is still in tact and she might even be able to understand much of what we are saying, her brain just isn’t telling her mouth how to speak/respond (yet).

I’m not sure if I ever made it clear what she’s dealing with. She’s a trooper though, and she’ll keep progressing.

We all know the parable of the tortoise and the hare. We have hare expectations but we’re in a tortoise race.

The updates are minimal today, but many have been praying and we want to update you on the progress:

- She can eat and drink on her own. Not sure puréed peas & mashed mystery meat with gravy are her favorite, but they’ll do in a pinch.

- She can use her left hand and write some letters on paper. She hasn’t been able to write responses or phrases for us yet. But she’s writing, and that’s awesome.

- She put a few puzzles together last night and today. She LOVES puzzles. Also, it’s something that needs no instruction or response. She knew exactly what to do.

Physical therapy seems to be taxing on her physically, but she’s getting better.

Speech therapy and our cognitive games are helpful but seem to frustrate her sometimes. That’s completely understandable, it’s just really hard to watch. You want to help so badly and yet you can feel so helpless. Especially for us three dudes; we’re “fixers”. We want to jump in quickly and save the day. But it’s a tortoise race.

She’s close to ready for long-term rehabilitation. Keeping our finger crossed.

As always, we’re extremely grateful for the thoughts and prayers. We let her know all the time about your comments and well-wishes. She enjoys hearing from y’all. Thank you.

Slowly winning the race.