More of the same

As Pheobe mentioned, Shannon has had a rough time the past few days. That seems to have continued today. Kate spent the night with her last night and all day today. We had hoped that since Shannon and Kate have such a great time together that Shannon might perk up with her sister being there. She only had morning therapies since it was Saturday and she struggled through them. The attending rehab doctor came by around noon and decided to send Shannon down for a CT Scan just to make sure that we weren't missing anything. She also had her tube pulled back to an NG, meaning that it is now in the stomach instead of the intestines. I had a chance to speak with the doctor who felt like Shannon was just not bouncing back from her bone replacement surgery as quickly as we would like. She reminded us that the size of the area of bone removed was so large with Shannon that it was like having two bone flaps replaced. And Pheobe reminded us that in addition to that the surgeon had repaired the fractured sinus cavity during the surgery as well. I recalled a conversation with Nephi Moon where he said that the most difficult part of his recovery was the days following his bone replacement surgery--his head just hurt all the time.
Shannon did perk up a little more in the afternoon, enough that we decided to go on another excursion. Tonya made it home from Girls' Camp and so Pheobe, Tonya and I went to the hospital late in the afternoon with the intent that we would take
Shannon and Kate on a picnic for her outing and celebrate Father's Day in the process. Shannon wanted to go to Wendy's so we thought we would go and get something from there and then head over to a park to eat and enjoy some cake that Pheobe had made. Things went Ok at the start but Shannon quickly got tired--probably was over-stimulated from all of the noise and activity. She didn't want to go to the park and so we tried to just eat there. I ended up taking Shannon out to the car to get her out of the hubbub while the rest finished their dinner. Then we went straight back to the hospital at Shannon's request. We had cake there, and then Shannon wanted me to give her another blessing--both for health and also for encouragement. So you can tell that she is at the point where she is very aware of where she is and what has happened to her. She has a difficult time realizing how much progress she has made--she just sees what she is currently capable of and compares it to what she remembers she was able to do before, and it is discouraging. Pheobe and Kate cried during the blessing I gave, and Shannon immediately told them she was sorry for making them cry. She is such a sweet kid. We just need to keep reinforcing to her that she is amazing and that her progress is incredible. Our current prayers are focused on helping her feel a peace and satisfaction for the marvelous things she has done, and retain a hope for greater things yet to come. We know they will, it is the patience required in the here and now that presents a challenge for all of us. Thank you for your continued support of us and Shannon. We look forward to a restful Sunday in preparation for a week that will get Shannon's progress back on the path that we would like it to be.