Monday

Hi All,
I talked to Christie's nurse, and she is doing OK. Her right leg is swollen very bad, but they did X-rays Friday and a ultrasound today, and all is normal. No fractures or blood clots. It seems it is swollen because of her lack of use. They did a botox treatment in her feet on the 27th. It is a slow process, but hopefully there will be progress soon. Richard and I are still working on her Birthday Party and will let you know when the arrangements are final.
Becky

YARD SALE

Hello everyone,
Spring has come and summer is here full force, so if you have old things or new things you want to get rid of from your spring cleaning, I will be happy to help you with that. We are having a yard sale, hot dog sale, bake sale, pretty much anything that isn't nailed down. If you have anything you would like to donate or if you can volunteer your time helping us sale the items or make hot dogs, or you could come and buy all the stuff we are having donated.
It will be held at Trinity Community Church , Saturday July 12,2008 from 8:00 A.M until 2:00 P.M.
4018 Old Buncombe Rd
Greenville, S.C 29617
There will be hot dog plates and drinks as well. All money goes for the Bring Christie Home Fund
If you can help please call or email or post a comment.

Thanks Becky & Christie

Paula and Aaron's Visit

Saturday Paula and Aaron went to visit Christie, She was sitting up in her chair when they got there. She was "watching" Cartoons on TV. Christie moved her head and her right arm. She would shake her head yes or no for questions that they asked her. She would even push the button if some of the answers were yes. Paula asked her if she wanted her to pinch Aaron for her, but Christie shook her head "no". Paula then asked if Christie wanted to pinch Aaron, and then Christie smiled and shook her head "yes". Aaron put his finger between her thumb and index finger, and she pinched him. There is a picture below. Paula went to the bathroom, and when she came out she saw Christie smiling as if she was up to something. Aaron was nowhere to be seen. Aaron jumped out from behind the door and scared Paula, so I guess that was what Christie was up to. She was an accomplice! They enjoyed the rest of their visit. I would like to thank Paula and Aaron for going to visit Christie, as she doesn't have many visitors, except for her daddy. He visits her daily.
Shortly after Paula and Aaron left, they removed Christie's catheter out, and she did very well with it. It didn't seem to be too uncomfortable for her, and I bet she's very glad that it's out. One more small step.
Becky

She's a fighter

I talked to Christie's nurse, and she said Christie's therapist said she did well in her therapies today. She finished her antibiotic and the X-ray shows the pneumonia is gone, so they took out her IV. Also tomorrow, they are going to take out her catheter. I can't wait to see her. She is trying really hard. No one has seen her move her left arm or hand yet, but maybe she will soon.
I want to have another hot dog, bake sale and yard sale, if anyone can help coordinate this I would appreciate it. If you have any donations for the yard sale, or if you can help with the hot dogs etc, please let me or my mom know. Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.
It is really hard not getting to see her. I miss her so much. I miss talking to her on the phone. Friends and neighbors, please tell everyone you love them at least once a day, and hug them and tell them how much you love them. You never know when in a split second, a life changing thing can occur.
Becky

Thursday

Hi all,
I just talked to Jose, Christie's case manager, Christie did well in speech therapy, she got 60 % of her questions right today. They are simple questions, so she doesn't get frustrated. She had to sit up on the work out table, like you see in the picture. They increase her time a little more each day. They are trying to get her endurance up. They stretched her arms and legs and feet more. She is really doing well. She has a long way to go. Her ideal situation would be to stay at FINR for the whole 2 years, but after the insurance runs out, she will have to leave. You can stay there and private pay, but it is 1,800.00 dollars a day. Lets hope she continues to do well until that time.
I also asked about her being paralyzed on the left side of her face, she can pucker to give a kiss, so I thought she might not be paralyzed like they said.There are different levels, but she is in fact paralyzed on that side, that is one reason she can't open the left eye completely.
Thanks for reading,
Becky

Not much to tell

I don't have much to update on Christie. I know she went to therapies today, but didn't get un update on how she did. I did however get a job today. I don't know my hours yet, but it is a start. I start Friday.
Becky

Ready again

I have only been home for 1 day, and I already want to go back to see Christie. I miss her so much. Please keep praying for me, this is so hard, there aren't words to try to tell you. It is said God won't put more on you than you can bare, but i don't think I am strong enough for this.Thanks for letting me vent.
Becky

Great Visit

First of all I would like to thank the messenger that allowed God to use them in a very special way. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have gotten to go see Christie. If a picture is worth a 1000 words, you can't imagine how rich I was this weekend with Christie. You will see what I mean when you See the new pictures.
Now for the update. Christie is kinda in a coma, it is a level 3, she is in a "minimal responsive state." That means at times, she can move her head and right hand, but it is non purposeful movement.
The therapist is trying to establish communication. Christie can move her head for yes and no answers. She can push a button to a recorded message. They record yes, they ask her a question, if the answer is yes, she pushes the button, if the answer is no, she moves her hand away.
She does stretching exercises, she don't like them, because it hurts her. She has been still for over 2 months. She is doing great.
Also after I left today, she went to the ENT doctor, and they removed her Track. I wish I could have been there to see her without it.
She has her left eye open, but she can't see out of it. If you are on her left, she has to turn her head to see you. The best part of the weekend, she gave me kisses on my cheek. She puckers, and you can even hear her make the smack sound. I was so happy. I can't wait to go see her again. As soon as I get the money, I'm off again. The therapist say she seems to be more consistent when I am there. Please feel free to look at the pictures. I am adding some, and deleting some to make room.
Thanks for the prayers,
Love,
Becky & Christie

GREAT NEWS

I got to talk to Christie today. The speech therapist called and had Christie on speaker phone so she could hear me. Christie is still in a coma, but there are different levels. Christie at times can hear and respond in her own way, a blink, a thumbs up etc. Other times she doesn't do anything. Anyway, the good news is the therapist have a machine they speak words into. Then they show Christie where the yes and no buttons are. They ask Christie a question, and all by herself she pushed the button. She pushed the button to day that said "Hey Mom" if you were in Church Sunday, in the video of the father and son, it is the same kind of machine the son was using to speak.
Christie said she wanted me to come see her, so I am leaving Thursday around 1:00 P.M. I am stepping out on faith to make the trip, because I really don't have the money and I still don't have a job. I'm not to proud to say" If you can help, please do." The account at BB&T is still active, or you can make donations to the church, just ask if you need to know how.
Thanks,
Becky & Christie

Tuesday June 17

I don't have much to tell you, Christie was transported to the hospital this morning for a CT scan of her right hand and also a CT of her brain. It may take a week for the results, but I will let you know as soon as I hear. Keep praying I can see her soon.
Becky

phone update

I called to check on christie, she has pneumonia again in her right lung. There doesn't seem to be any other change other than that at this time.
Please keep praying. I miss her and really want to go back to see her.
Becky

Looking ahead

I just had a conference call with Doctor V. at FINR. Christie has high liver enzymes and they are trying to find out why. They think her liver may have been damaged in the wreck. She also has an infection somewhere, they are trying to pin point that. It may be a blood clot somewhere.
They will know more in 60 days how Christie is progressing, but as of now they know she is blind in the left eye. The left side of her face is paralyzed, the pictures of her smiling is the best we can get. The left side won't move. With the left temporal lobe gone,she will not be able to speak again. She may be able to communicate in some way, but not talking. She will reach her full potential in 2 years. What that is, we don't know. The doctor said she may never be able to do anything for herself, it depends on how she responds to therapy.
Please keep praying for us. I am so torn ,I want to be with her every minute, but I can't. Gas alone there and back is 300.00, plus lodging is extra. If any one would like to help you may make contributions to BB&T under the name of Christine Martel, or to my church, 4018 Old Buncombe Rd. Greenville S.C. 29617. If you send to the church, please indicate it is for Christie.I also need a job, please pray a door will open up soon.
Thanks,
Becky

weekend with Christie and Richard

Hello everyone,

This may be along blog, if I can remember everything from the weekend. The plane was late, so we didn't get to FINR until 7:00 P.M Friday night. We saw Richard right away, he was at the nurses station. He saw Mom and Me and got very emotional. He said " hey everyone(talking to the nurses.) This is my ex-wife, but always my best friend and my mother-in-law. Now you have met almost all of my family.
We talked with Richard for awhile, he didn't know I have been keeping up with Him and Christie the whole time, so he wanted to warn me, so I would know what to expect when I saw Christie. I told him it was OK, that I have been there, He was just asleep when I was there and didn't see me before.
Richard said he had seen Christie that day and he was upset by it, but by the end of the weekend, I think he is going to be strong for Christie and help her as she starts the progress he has made.
Christie has a throat infection because of the trach, but is normal and being treated with antibiotics. We took Christie outside in her chair(lays down like a bed) for a few minutes Sat and Sun. She is still in the coma, but we believe there are different levels. Christie can hear you when you talk to her. She smiled a lot this weekend. She is trying to communicate, I asked her was she ready to come back inside, I said if you are blink once, she did, then I said, I'm not sure you really meant yes, so if you want to go in, give me a thumbs up, she did. We came in. I accidentally took her to her Dads room, Richard had been outside with us. After I got her settled in the room I realized it was the wrong room. I said Christie, I brought you to your dad;s room by mistake, she smiled all over the place.
Richard seemed to enjoy our visit, while Christie slept, I would go for walks with Richard, Mom and I played BINGO with him in the common room. Richard seems to remember a lot, he brought up people we use to know over 20 years ago. He talked of pleasant memories that he recalled from our past, He remembered the pet names he had for Mama, he called her Mama cheese whiz, Mammaw and I can't remember the other, but he did, he remembered when I was coming to visit from day to day, he was waiting by the door Sat and Sunday when we got there. He said what took you so long, I've been waiting for you. I remember you said you would be here in the morning and if I was still asleep, you would wake me up.
He is determined to take care of Christie, If he is cold, he will go to Christie's room and turn off her fan. I told him I was glad he was there to look after Christie and take care of her, he said that WE would take care of her together and I told him yes we would.
He liked some of Christie's pictures, so I made copies, and he had me rearrange his wall of pictures. He put them where he wanted them and I taped them in place. They had been on his bulletin board, but he said he couldn't see them from his chair, so we moved them.
Christie also raised her head up several times. Paula and Aaron also came to visit Friday and Sunday. Christie seemed to enjoy their visit as well. Richard also joined us. Richard slept really well Saturday night and took 2 naps at least 2 hours each Sunday.
I'm glad Richard knows Christie is there, so now Angie and Phillip can visit her again without fear of Richard following them and finding out about Christie.
also we are looking for them to try and cap her trach this week, I call everyday for updates on Christie, but with Angie there in person, maybe she can put more current updates than I, so keep checking Richard and Christie's blog.
Becky

MY BAD

OK friends and loved ones,
Let me clear somethings up. Christie is still in a coma. There has been no change on that. When I type that I talked to Christie, I talk, she listens(I hope) she doesn't respond. I am just so use to getting to talk to her before the accident, because I would talk to her everyday. Also, what I mean by she is awake, is that her eye is open, sometimes you can tell if she's normally sleeping, or if her eye is open, she may be "awake", but she is still in the coma. Sorry if I misled anyone and got their hopes up.
Sorry,
Becky

Christie's EEG

Hey Everyone,
There hasn't been much change with Christie. She was having what seemed to be seizures, so they did an EEG, nothing showed up on the report, but she continued to show signs of her having seizures, so they started her on seizure medicine, sorry I can't remember the name., but it has stopped what ever she was doing, so she is doing OK. She is resting, but hasn't done anything new.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers,
Becky

New Pictures

Hi everyone,

These are pictures that were taken of Christie May 31, 2008 by Paula. Thank you so much for sending them to me so that we can see our little girl in progress. God bless you.

Dawn