Random Photos: Synchronized Swimming. Then and Now.

"Sister to sister we will always be,
A couple of nuts off the family tree."
~Author Unknown

I love that girl!
Twenty years may come and go,
but some things never change.

Summer 1990

Summer 2010

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Home Sweet Home for Amber.

"Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest."
~Henry Van Dyke


Guess who came home on Saturday?!?!

Amazing. Simply amazing.
What an incredible experience we have witnessed -- a true miracle.
The doctors worked diligently and Amber is determined,
but even they (the doctors and Amber)
have said that what has happened is beyond their capabilities.

We have been blessed!

Welcome home, Amber!

As mentioned in an earlier post, Amber plans to write to you all... so keep checking her blog.
I'll let her tell you all about coming home...
After all, this is her story and... she's back.

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Just a New England teaser.

"If you come home as happy as you leave, you have had a good vacation."
~Unknown

Happy Day.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."
~Unknown

The feeding tube is gone!
The trach is gone!
Just a small bandage in its place.
Her voice is back and sounding great.
Oh, and she made cookies today!
Yes, cookies in the hospital.
The physical therapist asked her what she wanted to work on today.
This girl, as thoughtful as ever, said she wanted to try her hand at a batch of chocolate chip cookies... so she would have treats to offer her visitors!
Seriously, that woman... my goodness.
Well, my friends, Amber's back in business!

... and her cookies were delicious!
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Isn't life sweet?

Amber is Wonder Woman. Read my latest update here.

Amber is no longer our Sleeping Beauty...

I hope she doesn't mind me saying, but she is now more akin to Wonder Woman!

Seriously, what an amazing woman! She is up and walking, virtually all by herself. No kidding. Still a tiny bit shaky, but she is doing it on her own! She climbed up and down three flights of stairs today. She is just charging forward taking every opportunity to get stronger, so that she can get home. It's incredible. This is truly a miracle.

Her voice is getting much stronger, and tomorrow the full tracheostomy will be removed! Hallelujah! She is more than a little excited about that. She has become a professional annunciator, but she is gladly giving up this newfound talent so she doesn't have to rely on our woefully lacking lip-reading skills.

Life is good. God is good. Amber is healing. We have witnessed a miracle. There is no doubt about that. Thank you for your faith and for joining your prayers with ours and calling down the healing powers of heaven. The strength we felt as we all united in prayer and fasting will not be soon forgotten. We have been reminded that our Father in Heaven hears every one of our prayers. He loves us and wants to bless our lives. Let us not forget to give thanks. We are eternally grateful that He saw fit to grant us the blessing of Amber's full recovery. She's well on her way there, sprinting actually. Just itching to get home. Home to that beautiful family of hers. Isn't life sweet?

Amber with JP and the kids... outside!

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Amber is Doing Amazing!

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since they have asked me to update the blog for them.

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Good evening all!

What an amazing week this has been! Amber continues to improve with remarkable speed. She walked 500 feet on Friday, with a walker. She just gets stronger every day. Simply, amazing! She is breathing mostly on her own except for at night, so the doctors are hoping to be able to take the trach out fairly soon. They continue to have her use the speaking valve (the greenish blue valve on her trach), allowing her to talk and exercise her voice.

The kids have been able to come and see her several times. They've played and watched movies together. Having family time has been really wonderful for all of them.

JP, Amber, and kids on Sunday afternoon

Amber would like everyone to know how grateful she is to you all. She is grateful to be alive and told her mom today that she believes she is alive today because of all of you, all those who prayed for her, and she knows there were many. She is alive because her Father in Heaven heard and answered our prayers. Amber has such amazing faith, but has relied on your faith and prayers and she is so grateful. We are too. Thank you!
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Wish List: It's It.

"Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself."
~Swami Sivananda

Remember how I love It's Its? I wrote about here. Ah yes, now you remember. You'll remember how I calculated the cost of getting them shipped to me and how it was too expensive, so I decided to just ignore the craving. Yeah, well, the craving hasn't gone away... a year and a half later.

Off to eat my salad, instead.
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Amber is Out of the ICU!

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since they have asked me to update the blog for them.

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Amber has been transferred from the ICU to Rehabilitation! This is such a huge step for her. The doctors felt she was doing so well with the recovery process, that she could skip the in-between step of acute long-term care, and go straight to rehab. What a blessing!

Watching Amber's progress is truly amazing and humbling at the same time. Though she tires very easily, her mind is quick and she’s definitely "all there." We are so grateful to Heavenly Father, that her mind has been protected through all of this. She is doing remarkably well both physically and emotionally, considering all she has been through over the last six weeks. Admittedly, this is incredibly hard for her, but it is clear that she is strong and will do what she needs to do to get through this. "I'm alive," she said gratefully, "and Heavenly Father is blessing me. I know I can do this." With that kind of resolve, coupled with the support of her family, the doctors, and all of you, she is taking giant steps forward every day!

In talking with Amber about all the people (you) who love her and are praying for her, she said, "Tell them that I love them. I can hardly wait to write on the blog, myself." Amber wants to be able to talk so badly. She mouths everything and is so patient with our weakness in lip-reading. Talking with the speaking valve in her trach is very difficult, although she works at it. The removal of the trach will come in time, as her body is able to master breathing 100% on its own. Her diaphragm and other muscles involved in breathing continue to get stronger and stronger and she is close enough that they have removed the ventilator machine (at least for periods of time) and allowed her to work at it all on her own.

Now that Amber is in the rehab stage, she is able to have visitors. She spends the daytime hours working (exercising), but is able to have visitors after 4pm. She would love to see you! So that we can ensure that she isn't overwhelmed at any given time, if you're interested in visiting with her, please call JP, Greg, or Julie to make arrangements. Also, please keep in mind that shorter visits (15-20 minutes) are best, so that we don’t exhaust our patient. Amber's workouts, combined with the continued effects of her medication, still tire her more quickly than normal, so we just want to ensure that we don't add to that.

Amber's recent (incredible!) progress includes lots of hand/arm movement, lifting both legs one at a time on her own, shifting her head back and forth (neck muscles kicking in!), taking several assisted steps in the physical therapy room, standing up and sitting down three times (with help) from her wheelchair, and much more smiling!

Truly, she is just amazing us (and her whole medical team) with her rapid progress! We're so proud of her and know that she can do it!

Once again, thank you for all your love and support. Please continue to remember her in your prayers. We love you all!
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Amber Gets the Chance to Talk.

"Friendship is a treasured gift, and every time I talk with you I feel as though I'm getting richer and richer."
~Author Unknown

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since they have asked me to update the blog for them.

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Over the last few days, the respiratory therapist has been working with Amber in the ICU, allowing her a few short periods of time when they adjust the tracheostomy so that she is able to talk. The small balloon-like part of the tracheostomy is deflated for a short time, causing air to pass up through her throat and voicebox into her mouth, allowing her to speak. Her voice is quite soft, since her vocal cords are still healing, but she has been able to speak a little to JP, her parents, and her children.

Today, she told us that she wanted to say a little to you:

"I have so much I want to say... Thank you very much for all your love, support, and fasting. I'm so grateful for your friendship and faith. Heavenly Father loves us and is creating miracles so that I can be here for my children and JP. Thank you so much for your love and your friendship. I love you all."

We are so proud of Amber and her efforts to get well. She's working very hard and we often hear the request, "exercise me." Her determination to recover is apparent and she gets a little stronger each day thanks to that determination. We know she has a strong spirit and that spirit is strengthened by your hope, optimism, faith, and prayers. She needs all the positive encouragement we have to offer. We love her so much, and know that you do too! Thank you for sharing your positive thoughts with her!
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Amber Brings us Joy.

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
~Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Amber continues to do a little better each day. She still has the trach, which means she can't speak yet, but she mouths a lot of things. We're getting better and better at reading lips, but praying that she remains patient with us!

On Friday, she was able to slowly lift her arm all by herself as a natural reflex to scratch an itch on her cheek. We were stunned! Natural reflexes and muscle strength are such a good sign. She also was able to lift her head off the bed slightly for a few seconds, at the nurse's request, and amazed us all with her strength and control. She continues to work with the physical therapist daily, which is certainly helping her to regain muscle control, little by little.

Although Amber cannot yet talk and still sleeps a good portion of the day, she is all "Amber" with her sweet smiles, her laughs, and her mouthed "I love yous." This is still a slow-going process and it's certainly a challenge, as you can imagine recovery is after being virtually immobile for five weeks now, but we are incredibly overjoyed with her progress and the miracle that is taking place. Our Father in Heaven has blessed her and our family beyond measure. The wonderful doctors and dedicated and loving nursing staff are so good to Amber. They love her and have been so excited to "meet" her this week. "Just wait until we bring her back, up walking and talking. You'll love her even more," we tell them.

Amber is such a strong woman, a woman of faith and dedication. We know that she is pushing herself each day to "exercise" so that she can recover and regain her strength quickly and return home to her family. Her strength and determination inspire us and bring us such joy.
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Just a quick update on Amber.

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since they have asked me to update the blog for them.

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"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable."
~David Tyson Gentry

I know it's been a couple of days since I posted, so I just wanted to give you a quick update tonight to let you know that Amber had a very good day today. She continues to progress a little each day and gain a little bit more strength. More hand squeezes, slight head nods or shakes (answering yes or no, since she still can't talk with the trach), toe-wiggling, and lots of mouthed I love yous. We love you too, Amber! We couldn't be more thrilled! We stand in amazement at the miracle that is occurring right before our eyes. It's truly exhilarating!

Amber is loving listening to us read your notes, the words of encouragement, the stories and memories, the I love yous you have shared. Thank you so much for lending your faith, support, and encouragement. Keep them coming, if you'd like. She loves hearing from you.

More tomorrow.
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MLK's last words moved me.

"And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!"
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The other night, we watched a video remix of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s last speech and I was pretty moved by it. The music and manipulation of his voice to seem as though he is singing certainly struck a chord with me. But also, I guess I didn't recall the last speech he gave on the eve of his death, included the words, "I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you." I wonder somehow if his soul knew he was going to die. Certainly, he knew of the threats made on his life. I just wonder if he knew it, somehow, that it was imminent. What an amazing man, a man purposefully put on this earth by God at a well-chosen time. He had a mission to fulfill.



You can read the full transcript of his speech here.

Random Photo: Norton to the Rescue?

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
~Albert Einstein

This made me laugh this morning, as I waited for the update to be complete. Wouldn't it be interesting if Norton could fix ALL my problems?! I'm home sick today... wish that Norton could fix that! :)
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Lots of little BIG improvements... and another request.

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since they have asked me to update the blog for them.

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Hi everyone!

Amber is still making slow and steady progress each day. Sunday brought a little bit of toe wiggling and a few more squeezes of the hands. Monday morning she was wide awake, which meant that by Monday afternoon, she was completely zonked. She still spends much of the day resting, which is what her body needs. Her brain waves continue to look a little better each day.

Today, she is moving her hands and feet a little better, although still not able to lift them. She moves her head only to nod ever so slightly. She continues to breathe mostly on her own, but talking is out of the question, even though she tries every once in awhile, until the tracheotomy is capped.

Early this morning, the physical therapist sat Amber up on the side of her bed, where she remained (with a lot of help) for thirteen minutes! This is an excellent start to really getting her core muscles to begin working again.

We are so thrilled with each step she makes on this road to full recovery. She still has quite a daunting road to travel, but we know she's such a strong woman. She is a walking miracle.

Your prayers on behalf of and words of encouragement to our family have been so uplifting and inspiring. We have read every comment and gained strength from each one of you. We feel your love and are so grateful.

Now that Amber is more aware and awake, we invite you to leave your thoughts and words of encouragement for her (rather than for us), as she makes her way through this. We have been reading many of your previous comments to her and she has been so happy to hear your words. Remember those smiles I told you about? Well, she has had some for you. She would love to hear from you, whether it's a few words of encouragement to lift her spirits, maybe something new that's happened in your life, or a fun, funny, or uplifting memory you share with her. She'll love it!

Thank you all so much! We love you all!
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Labor Day morning walk.

"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer."
~William S. Burroughs

Today is Labor Day, a much needed holiday from labor, for me. I started the morning with a vigorous, yet leisurely and relaxing (is that possible?) walk around the neighborhood. I love walking the neighborhood. Why? Because I love: being alone with my thoughts, getting the blood running through my body, inviting endorphins into my day, breathing in the crisp cool morning air, watching the clouds paint me a breathtaking canvas of evening sunset colors, people-watching, admiring and smelling the roses in my neighbors' front yards. It's often the thing that gets my day started just right or releases the tension at the end of my day. So many interesting sights. New things each time. And also, a lot of the same.

All the neighborhood dogs jumped up this morning from their lazy spots in the yard, anxiously awaiting my impending arrival, although they typically can't wait until I'm at their property line to start barking at me. Why can't dogs just know that this is a relaxing morning walk? No barking allowed.

One neighbor's house has fake(!) Christmas trees planted in their front yard along their icky chain link fence. PLANTED. FAKE. And my apologies, Neighbor, but I think all chain link is icky. But seriously, fake trees? And I'm not talking large Christmas trees that one would have in their house during the regular season. I'm talking about those funky tall and skinny trees that you might see in a retail store's window display. They're not really all that tall, maybe only three or four feet, but their overall shape is tall and skinny. And the funniest part is that all the dark green skinny branches (if you can call them that--each branch consists of one wire coming out of the main tree trunk), all of them were bent in all sorts of directions. Hilarious. I may not have even noticed them if it weren't for that. Thank you Neighbor, for providing a really good Labor Day morning smile.

Then I made my way over to the park, walked passed twenty-five or thirty ducks gathered on the banks of the creek. Most were enjoying the lazy morning with their heads tucked into their feathers. I kind of wish I had brought some bread with me. Maybe that's for tonight's walk.

Then I walked past Brian's grass. That's what I call it. Not this Brian, but his cousin Brian. It was his Eagle Scout project. Cause that's what scouts do, you know. They pretty up the world. And this time it was in the form of new sod--something of which I am very appreciative, especially on my morning walks.

Good start to my day. Next time I need to bring a camera on my walk. I think you'll smile, just like I did, when you see the trees.
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Good Day for Amber.

Today was a good day.

No seizures! We are overjoyed! She remains on phenobarbarbital and one other seizure medication, which seem to be working really well today. The doctors have taken her off the antibiotic, since they feel they have taken care of the infection. They will still monitor her white blood cells and other inflammatory markers to ensure that nothing else flares up. One of the doctors mentioned yesterday that sometimes when a patient is on an antibiotic, an infection might be masked and show favorable results. So they are cautious, but really do feel they have gotten it under control.

Today marks one month to the day that Amber went into the hospital. She is much more alert today, and was even awake for nearly four hours this afternoon without going back to sleep. What incredible strength! The pento is working itself out of her system, allowing her to wake up. Although it is still a slow process, she seems to be making progress each day.

She is responding to voices and questions with her eyes and eyebrows. We have wondered if she has been able to see, but today her eyes are now tracking movement! When you speak to her, her eyes will slowly track toward you and it even seems like she is trying to move her head ever so slightly. Greg asked her if she wanted to see a picture of Corbin and Kayla. She responded "yes" with her eyes, but began to cry with a quivering lower lip before he even returned back to her bedside from retrieving the picture from her bulletin board. It seemed clear that she could see that picture and even more clear how much she loves her children.

When the physical therapist came in to work with her, which he has been twice a day every day for the last month, he held her hand and asked her to squeeze. No response. Then Greg encouraged Amber, telling her, “Amber, this is your exercise,” and told her how important it is for her to work hard with the physical therapist. Amber, the determined one, then mustered all her strength and squeezed his hand. I can only imagine how difficult this was for her and am once again amazed by the strength and determination Amber has. She is such a hard worker, always has been.

Throughout the afternoon after the PT's visit, when JP slipped his hand in hers, she squeezed back with both hands and repeated again with her dad. This is clearly a workout for her because she is only squeezing when prompted, but what an amazing achievement today!

Greg and JP introduced her to a few different nurses today, letting Amber know that each has been helping her and taking care of her. Sweet Amber responded, as if to say "thank you" with a smile! Her smiles have increased, but are still a huge effort on her part, as not all the muscles in her face have started working again. But when have you ever known Amber to shy away from something that is hard?

Amber likes to have her feet rubbed, which is no surprise to those who know her well. JP and Greg were taking turns giving her foot massages today and they began to joke back and forth about who gave a better massage. Amber smiled and looked as if she was laughing inside. How wonderful to add humor to the list of emotions she is expressing to us, as she's waking up. Such a wonderful sign.

She is still sleeping a good portion of the day, which is to be expected during this waking up process, especially since she is on the phenobarbital. The doctors are maintaining her temperature at a normal 37°C. She still gets chills and visibly shivers every once in awhile, but they have a warming blanket on her to help keep that under control.

We know that Amber is not yet out of the woods. We still have a long road ahead and a lot still has to happen on that road to recovery, but she seems to be responding and showing some good improvement. The doctors are very pleased with her progress, but are still monitoring her closely. They are still concerned with the possibility of her seizing again and are now focused on seeing gradual improvement in her motor functions, but they remain optimistic and feel that she is doing very well.

She IS doing well. Today was such a good day. For that we are so grateful. Every achievement she makes is a reason to give thanks to our Father in Heaven. He is mindful of Amber and mindful of all of us. We feel His blessings pouring down upon us and hope that you, too, can feel that as you have grown closer to Him in your thoughts and prayers over the last month. He has been with us every step of the way.

As Latter-day Saints, we use the first Sunday of each month as an opportunity to fast. As we have mentioned before, we believe that fasting combined with sincere prayer can strengthen us spiritually, bring us closer to God, and help us prepare ourselves and others to receive His blessings. Tomorrow, we will be fasting for Amber's full recovery, but with a special focus on our gratitude to our Father in Heaven, who has heard every one of our prayers. We invite you to join us. Amber is in His hands and what better hands than His to take care of her. We continue to pray in faith for her full recovery and are so grateful for the progress she is making, undoubtedly, with the constant help from God.

Please know we have been so touched and inspired by you, the many people who are following Amber's situation right now, and supporting her and our family in prayer and thought. We have felt loved and strengthened by those near and far: family, friends, neighbors, and those we have never met. Not one comment on this blog has gone unread. You are an inspiration and strength to us. Thank you so much.
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Smile.

"It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring to the most important muscle of the body... the heart. The shortest distance between two people is a smile."

~Author Unknown

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since they have asked me to update the blog for them.

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Hello! I know you are all eager to hear about how Amber is doing. As I mentioned before, Amber has been having ups and downs each day, but overall making progress, little by little. Overall, she's doing quite well and we just wanted to share with you an update and some of the “ups” of the last couple of days.

We are so grateful for the miracle we've witnessed with the cessation of the continuous seizures. This is such a blessing. However, since Wednesday's update, she has had a couple of really intense, though non-convulsive, seizures that manifest themselves clearly on the EEG machine. Yesterday, they were unable to control one that came in the middle of the night with the medications she's been getting, so they began her on phenobarbital.

Phenobarbital is an anti-seizure medication from the same family as pentobarbital, which is the medication that induced the coma when she was having continuous seizures. Phenobarbital does not have as strong effects as the pento (thank goodness!), but it does have a sedative effect. It allows her brain to be calm without sinking her into a coma. Since the pheno makes her tired, it's definitely slowing the waking up process, but she is still doing very well, showing great signs of waking up.

Yesterday, they were able to remove the ventilator and give Amber a tracheostomy, which means the breathing tube is now hooked up at the tracheotomy site. The doctors said that they typically would have done this earlier, but they did not anticipate her being in the hospital this long. Amber is successfully breathing mostly on her own, but the tracheostomy machine kicks in when she needs a little help.

Last night, Amber showed us one of the greatest signs of “waking up” when she responded to the voices of JP and her parents with a quivering lip and tears streaming down her face. Amber is not yet able to focus her eyes on anyone or track movement with her eyes, but we do believe she is listening. Julie and Greg were able to calm her, but I'm sure she's pretty scared and confused, as she is starting to take in everything that is going on around her.

This morning, when Greg called in to the hospital early, the nurse who cared for Amber during the night said she blinked her eyes and nodded ever so slightly when spoken to. She had no seizures during the night.

Today, she showed similar signs of recognition and emotion when JP was talking to her and then also when her mom and sister were talking to her. One of the medical team told us that these signs of emotion were very positive signs, as emotion points directly to Amber's personality, which is a good sign that she is doing well waking up.

But best of all so far?

This afternoon, JP and I were talking to her telling her how much we loved her and were so happy to see her. She was wide-eyed, still not tracking yet, but listening. Then JP asked her to take a long blink if she could hear him. She very deliberately opened and closed her eyes slowly. Good job, Amber! Her eyebrows even arched up a bit.

Elated and encouraged, JP then asked, "Can you smile for me?" With every ounce of energy she had, she slowly pulled her cheeks and the corners of her lips up and mustered one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen! She can hear us! She is responding as well as her body will allow right now, and we are overjoyed with every effort she makes. About thirty seconds after the huge achievement of smiling, she was back to sleep.

Amber spends most of her time sleeping. The phenobarbital makes her drowsy, but this is okay because we all know (thanks to our moms) that sleep is often the best medicine. That's right, just rest Amber. Rest and heal.

Our hearts are filled with the wonder of life. Thank you everyone for your faith and prayers. Great miracles do still happen, as has been witnessed in Amber's critical situation. Amber still has a long recovery ahead of her. We are full of faith and trust in our Heavenly Father and know he is watching over Amber and blessing us at every turn. She will pull through this.

“I, for one, have never known a woman with more strength and courage than Amber once she decides to do something,” Julie said. It will take time, but we can be patient and put our trust in our Father in Heaven. “We have truly been blessed.”

We love you all and are so grateful that you have joined with us in supporting Amber! We love her, and we know that you do too. Thank you. We love you all!
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Ups and Downs.

*This post is an update in a series of posts on my friend Amber, who is currently in the hospital. You can read the earlier posts here.

**Also, the family has set up a blog to keep friends and family abreast of what's going on and also to help reduce the feeling of obligation to update everyone individually. Most of the posts will be duplicates of my posts on this blog, since the family has asked me to update the blog for them.

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Amber has had some ups and downs over the last few days since our last update on Sunday evening, but overall, she is doing pretty well.

She has been experiencing several little seizures, which have been successfully controlled with the anti-seizure medication. However, this morning, she had a fairly severe seizure and her brain could not be calmed down with that same medication, so they tried a couple others until it worked. The doctors are doing all they can to avoid, if possible, inducing a coma with the pentobarbital, so they are managing all of the seizure activity with other medications. It is promising that the seizure activity is no longer “continuous” as it was each other time they attempted to wake her up, but this additional medication does slow the “waking up” process. Obviously, the goal is no seizures, so this is what we're continuing to pray for.

The doctors believe that the severe seizure Amber experienced this morning may have been caused by a fever she has, and that the blood clot they found early this afternoon in Amber's right arm caused the fever. The fever is hanging on, so they have hooked her up to some cooling devices to keep her temperature at 35°C (95°F) to help calm her brain. They will probably keep this up for 24-48 hours, depending on how her brain responds.

Amber's recovery will be slow. Her days are a mixture of ups and downs, but we continue to keep our hopes up and have faith that she will make a full recovery. Amber is alive, and for this we are all very grateful. She had a better day yesterday. We hope that we continue to see progress each day, no matter how little.

Please keep praying, and when you do, please ask for Amber's brain to be healed. We believe that our continued prayers do make a difference. As Julie said, “Why this has to happen, I'll never know, but we stand united in prayer and faith to help Amber fight the greatest battle she has ever fought. Thank you one and all for your love and concern.”

Love you all.
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