Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Fw: [chicago-aneinu] Update Chana Miriam bat Shoshana





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From: myysbyy@aol.com
Date: Jun 28, 2011 12:31 PM
Subject: [chicago-aneinu] Update Chana Miriam bat Shoshana
To: Myysbyy@aol.com
This is Chana Miriam bat Shoshana, the girl who had an accident in Chile. Please continue to daven for her.
 

My Story

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We've created it to keep friends and family updated about our daughter, Hannah, who sustained a serious head injury on June 11 while studying and traveling in Chile.  She fell from the second story of a hostel in the town of Valparaiso in a freak accident. 
Visit often to read the latest journal entries, visit the photo gallery, and write us a note in our guestbook.

Journal

Sunday, June 26, 2011 3:18 PM, CLT

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written by Cheryl Kaplan
Thank you for your continuing support, kind words, and sharing of personal stories.  We are moved and strengthened by your many warm gestures.

Hannah continues to show progress in her condition.  Although she is still connected to the ventilator, she is breathing on her own.  The ventilator remains in place to help out if she needs it, but her breathing is strong.  She is fever-free, her color is good, and her bruised eye is almost healed.  One of the neurologists here has done research that indicates improved recovery from brain injury in patients who listen to classical music, so he gave us the CD he uses in his research. With the magic of iTunes, Hannah's iPod, and her friend Isaiah's docking station, she now has a loop of Beethoven piano sonatas playing in her room (Grammy Judy will be proud).  The neurologist said this is good for the staff, too!  

We are continuing to work with the neurologist whose specialty is seizure management. Hannah is now on a continuous EEG to get a bigger picture of her seizure activity, which is currently her biggest challenge.  Though there is some seizure activity, the doctor feels that she´s responding well to medication, which is being tweaked to determine what will work the best.  She has been taken off of sedation meds and is beginning to stir. However, the anti-seizure meds have somewhat of a sedative effect, so they may increase the time it takes for her to become more alert.      

Hannah has strong movement in her legs and the arm that isn't braced from the clavicle injury, and she can move her head. Many times she works her legs into a frog position (rana in Spanish) so we've been calling her Hannita Ranita.  She opens her eyes for a few seconds at a time, and the neurologist observed her open her eyes and turn her head in response to her name being called.  We haven't had the pleasure of observing this milestone yet. She had responses to pain and other stimuli, with no corresponding seizure activity.   

My sister Pam arrived this morning to provide support and company. After a quick stop at the house for a lovingly prepared breakfast with our Chilean family, we arrived at the clinic and Pam dove right in to Hannah's case with a meeting with the neurologist.  With her fluency in Spanish, Pam helped interpret during the meeting.  I should mention that while almost all of the doctors here speak English, they are sometimes more comfortable speaking Spanish, so Pam will be a big help in this regard.  In addition, her expertise as a speech-language pathologist may come in handy.  

Rabbi Jaim from Ruaj Ami, our adopted synagogue during our time here, stopped by before departing for a two week trip to the U.S. for the specific purpose of meeting Pam and saying goodbye before leaving town.  He's been an amazing source of support to us during these last two weeks, and we'll miss him and his family.  

It's a cold, crisp, clear day in Santiago.  Tomorrow/Monday is a national holiday, but we're lucky that our neurologist is coming in each day of the long weekend to monitor Hannah.  We're also excited that our Chilean family gets an extra day off of work and school so that we can be together.  

Our niece, Julia, had her bat mitzvah in California yesterday, and we were very sad to have missed this special occasion and family gathering, but Charlie and Sophie were there to represent us. Mazel Tov Julia!  

Hi, Phyl,

Thanks so much.  This is the latest news from her Caringbridge website.  As you can see, she is doing a little better.  Unfortunately, her condition can't really be assessed because she's still in a coma.  Cheryl and Mark (Hannah's parents) send these wonderful, articulate updates about her condition.  I am continually amazed by their grace and yes, even humor, under these incredibly trying conditions.

Thank you and your friends for your continued prayers and good thoughts.  It's really the only thing we can offer.

Avis


  

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