Tuesday, February 28th, 2006: ~ Coming into the final stretch... then retirement, and then Palm Beach! "Miracles From Mary" is a heartwarming story about Tracy's uncle, who is a simple priest at St. Mary's Church in Pahokee, Florida and the miracles that occur through faith, hard work and prayer to a 16th century Russian Icon of Mary created by a monk. (Please click on the link above to view.) We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the United States Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Please email Deb for directions or if you have any questions. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Miami Medical Director for American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Tracy had another good night's sleep last night. She wore her night resting hand splints for 8 hours during the night. This morning Mom and Linda got Tracy bathed and ready for the day. Tracy had a 10:30 AM appointment with Dr. Tornatore at Georgetown University to get her Baclofen pump refilled. This was her last appointment with Dr. Tornatore. He has been instrumental in getting Tracy's spasticity under control through Baclofen management. We are very thankful for his expertise and continued support. Mom told the doctor that Tracy has been having more reflux lately, has been having more difficulty with head control and swallowing, and has been more sleepy. Dad thinks we may have to decrease her Baclofen. Dr. Tornatore did not feel comfortable changing her Baclofen dose with us moving Saturday. He said to monitor Tracy and wait until we get to Palm Beach to make any adjustments. He wanted us to take Tracy to the Lab to get some blood drawn, since it has been several months since we have had any tests done. When we returned home, Duncan came by to work with Tracy. During PT, Duncan ranged and stretched all of Tracy's extremities and then Linda and Duncan got Tracy prone for thirty minutes. Duncan was able to stretch Tracy's hip while in this position. Tracy tolerated about 30 minutes in this position. Today was Tracy's last Physical Therapy session with Duncan. We are all going to miss him and wish him luck in his final classes. He should graduate this summer with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy! He is going to make an excellent PT! This evening, Mom and Dad are working on packing and organizing while Tracy rests on her mat. Luna has been keeping us all entertained. She is getting so big and is such a good puppy! Tomorrow, Tracy has PT with Jen at around noon, and then the service technician is coming from Chesapeake Rehab to place the last few components on her wheel chair. Finally, we are going to get Tracy's wheel chair project finished. Good news: Tiffany got her new job at the American Red Cross' National Headquarters! She will be working as a media associate for the Disaster Response Team. She is very excited about her new job, her new apartment and her new puppy! We are looking forward to our out of town family and friends who will be coming to Dad's retirement. Uncle Johnny arrives Wednesday evening and Uncle Mike will be here Thursday morning. Other out of towners who will be participating in the ceremony as side boys are Marcia Lemon, Al Abuan, and Dave Parrish. Local side boys include Mike Mittelman and Jerry Cox. Dad is really looking forward to his retirement from the Navy and starting his new job with American Airlines. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: An Exploration Of Music : Daily CD!

Monday, February 27th, 2006 ~ Coming into the final stretch... then retirement, and then Palm Beach! "Miracles From Mary" is a heartwarming story about Tracy's uncle, who is a simple priest at St. Mary's Church in Pahokee, Florida and the miracles that occur through faith, hard work and prayer to a 16th century Russian Icon of Mary created by a monk. (Please click on the link above to view.) We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the United States Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Please email Deb for directions or if you have any questions. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Miami Medical Director for American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Current Events: Monday, February 27th, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. She wore her night resting hand splints for 8 hours during the night.. This morning Mom and Linda got Tracy bathed and ready for the day. Tracy has her last Speech Therapy session at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic in Foggy Bottom. Melissa and Nikki have been great and we are really going to miss them. Before we left for Speech Therapy, Linda gave Tracy a facial while she ranged and stretched her. Then Mom and Linda walked with Tracy to Hair Cuttery to get her hair cut. They did a really good job and she looks very chic. She has a shoulder length layered cut and her curls returned in full force! It felt like 20 degrees with the wind chill. It was so cold that it made everyone's eyes tear. The wind made everyone walk a lot faster! During Speech Therapy, Tracy seemed either tired or a little bored or both. She just was not interested in looking at colors and shapes. We think she feels that doing these things day after day is a little silly, although repetition is so important for acquired brain injury rehabilitation. Linda was called in to help with keeping Tracy awake during the session. She closed her eyes a lot which makes it difficult to respond Yes because two eye blinks are needed. Tracy did take some deep breaths and made some really good sounds. It seems as though she really is trying to talk. After Speech Therapy, Duncan came to do Physical Therapy. He spent his usual thirty minutes stretching and ranging all of Tracy's joints. He commented that her left ankle seems much looser. Then Mom and Duncan rolled Tracy on her left side so that Duncan could range Tracy's right hip. Mom helped stabilize Tracy's torso in a sidelying position. She looked so comfortable on her side that they let her stay in that position for an hour or so. This evening, Dad and Tiffany are busy moving more of her stuff to her new apartment while Mom stayed with Tracy. Little by little, they are getting Tiff moved in. Tomorrow, Tracy has a 10:30 appointment with Dr. Tornatore to get her Baclofen pump refilled. This is her last appointment with Dr. Tornatore. He has been instrumental in getting Tracy's spasticity under control through Baclofen management. We are very thankful for his expertise and continued support. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the American Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the American Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She should be hearing something this week! We are looking forward to our out of town family and friends who will be coming to Dad's retirement. Uncle Johnny arrives Wednesday evening and Uncle Mike will be here Thursday morning. Other out of towners who will be participating in the ceremony as side boys are Marcia Lemon, Al Abuan, and Dave Parrish. Local side boys include Mike Mittelman and Terry Puckett. Dad is really looking forward to his retirement from the Navy and starting his new job with American Airlines. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: A Life Of Passion : Getting Back To What You Love!

Sunday, February 26th, 2006 ~ Tracy's 24th Birthday! Happy Birthday Tracy! "Miracles From Mary" is a heartwarming story about Tracy's uncle, who is a simple priest at St. Mary's Church in Pahokee, Florida and the miracles that occur through faith, hard work and prayer to a 16th century Russian Icon of Mary created by a monk. (Please click on the link above to view.) We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the United States Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Please email Deb for directions or if you have any questions. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Miami Medical Director for American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Current Events: Sunday, February 26th, 2006: Tracy enjoyed another good night's sleep last night. She wore her night resting hand splints for 8 hours during the night.. This morning Mom and Janneth got Tracy showered and ready for the day. Tracy has the day off from therapy. We are not planning on going to 12 noon Mass today, because we are helping Tiffany move into her new apartment across the street at the Crystal House II. It is phase I of the big move. I know she is happy to have her own apartment and be on her own! She and Vanessa's apartment is really nice! Tracy rested in her bed for a while this morning while everyone did their much needed chores. Today is Janneth's last day working with Tracy. We are really going to miss her. She is truly one of God's angels! This afternoon Tracy rested on the mat while Tiffany moved more stuff to her new apartment. Jose' and Dad helped move the big stuff. We miss Rick! He is in Chicago at his annual convention for the National Association for Orthotists and Prosthetists. This evening, we plan to have a little birthday party for Tracy! Liz is making orzo and a spinach and blood organge salad and Dave is making snap beans with blue cheese. Mom and Dad will make a big pot of red beans and rice. We are expecting Emil, Kathryn, Liz, Steve, Gloria, Dave, Kat, Sam, Ashley, and Jose'. We miss Rick alot. He returns Saturday evening. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the American Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the American Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She should be hearing something this week! We are looking forward to our out of town family and friends who will be coming to Dad's retirement. Uncle Johnny arrives Wednesday evening and Uncle Mike will be here Thursday morning. Other out of towners who will be participating in the ceremony as side boys are Marcia Lemon, Al Abuan, and Dave Parrish. Local side boys include Mike Mittelman and Terry Puckett. Dad is really looking forward to his retirement from the Navy and starting his new job with American Airlines. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Walking Your Path : Living A Spiritual Life!

Saturday, February 25th, 2006 ~ Tracy's 24th Birthday Is Sunday, February 26th! Happy Birthday Tracy! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the United States Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Please email Deb for directions or if you have any questions. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Miami Medical Director for American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Saturday, February 25th, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. Dad decided to give her a well-deserved break from her wearing her night resting hand splints. This morning Mom and Dad got Tracy ready for 12:30 PM Physical Therapy with Duncan. During Physical Therapy, Duncan ranged and stretched Tracy. Her ankle sores are healing well. The left one still needs to heal, but the right one is completely healed. Duncan and Mom got Tracy seated on the peanut in a straddle position. She tolerated 30 minutes in this position. Although she is sitting better, Tracy still needs to work on getting her shoulders back and holding her head up. We will continue to practice, practice, practice. This evening, Mom, Dad, and Tracy will watch the last few events of the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino. It is hard to believe that the closing ceremonies are tomorrow evening! It sure did go by fast! What are we going to do when they are over? Oh, yes, retire and move to Florida!#%* Dad and Tiffany went out to dinner while Mom stayed home with Tracy and Luna, Tiffany and Rick's puppy! She is growing so fast. Rick is in Chicago at the annual conference for Orthotists and Prosthetists! Late this evening, Tracy laughed again. It was like magic! We heard her laughing very late while she was in her bed. Mom and Dad ran into Tracy's room to hear her. Tomorrow is Tracy's 24th Birthday! Thank you to Uncle Johnny, Nana, and cousins Chip and Eileen for your presents. We plan to have a little birthday party for Tracy tomorrow evening! Tomorrow is also Janneth's last day working with Tracy and our family. We will truly miss her and hope that she comes to visit us in Florida! Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the American Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the American Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She should be hearing something very soon. She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in this weekend. We are looking forward to our out of town family and friends who will be coming to Dad's retirement. Uncle Johnny arrives Wednesday evening and Uncle Mike will be here Thursday morning. Other out of towners who will be participating in the ceremony as side boys are Marcia Lemon, Al Abuan, and Dave Parrish. Local side boys include Mike Mittelman and Terry Puckett. Dad is really looking forward to his retirement from the Navy and starting his new job with American Airlines. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Joy of Being : Celebrating The In-Between Times!

Friday, February 24th, 2006 ~ Tracy's 24th Birthday Is Sunday, February 26th! Happy Birthday Tracy! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the United States Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Please email Deb for directions or if you have any questions. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Miami Medical Director for American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Friday, February 24th, 2006: Tracy was up quite a bit last night, or so Dad says. Tiffany and Mom never heard a peep! Either Dad is pulling our leg or Tiffany and Mom were out like a light! We may never know for sure! Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for 1:30 PM Physical Therapy with Jen. During Physical Therapy, Jen ranged and stretched Tracy. Then Linda and Jen got Tracy prone over the peanut ball on her knees so that she could weight bear through her hips. Tracy tolerated 30 minutes in this position. This afternoon, Mom took an hour off to go to the gym. She spent the time stretching in the sauna and whirlpool. She is getting a little R and R while she can. Next week ought to be insane, with all the excitement getting ready to move and Dad's retirement. This evening, Mom, Dad, Tracy, Tiffany and Rick watched the last few events of the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino. What are we going to do when they are over? Oh, yes, retire and move to Florida!#%* Dad cooked his famous telapia and steamed fresh veggies. Jose' and Dolores joined us too. Dolores brought some delicious red wine from Texas (yes they do make wine in Texas!) and a really good almond raspberry tort (I am sure that she left out all of the calories too!) Mom sure is enjoying playing with Tiffany and Rick's puppy, Luna! This evening, Tracy laughed while sitting in her chair. It was so wonderful to hear her laughter again! Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the American Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the American Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She should be hearing something very soon. She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in this weekend. Tomorrow, Tracy has Physical Therapy with Duncan. We are looking forward to our out of town family and friends who will be coming to Dad's retirement. Uncle Johnny arrives Wednesday evening and Uncle Mike will be here Thursday morning. Other out of towners who will be participating in the ceremony as side boys are Marcia Lemon, Al Abuan, and Dave Parrish. Local side boys include Mike Mittelman and Terry Puckett. Dad is really looking forward to his retirement from the Navy and starting his new job with American Airlines. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Spiritual Imprints : Aboriginal Dreamtime!

Thursday, February 23rd, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. Mom and Linda showered Tracy and got her ready for her 12 noon Speech Therapy session with Nikki. Mom misses Luna, Tiffany's and Rick's Aussie Shepherd puppy. She is so cute! She will be back Friday! During Speech Therapy, Tracy made a lot of really good vocalizations. She must have been showing off for Dad! It was the first time that Dad was able to go to Tracy's Speech Therapy in a while. Mom had a dental appointment, so he and Linda brought Tracy for her session. Tracy got a little sleepy in the middle of the 50-minute session, so Linda went in to help stimulate Tracy. Sometimes the soft lights and warm room puts Tracy right to sleep. Linda helps wake Tracy up by stretching her arms up over her head and encouraging Tracy to take deep breaths. After Speech, Jen came to do Physical Therapy with Tracy. She spent the first part of the session going through stretching exercises with Tracy. Then Mom and Jen got Tracy prone on the mat and worked with stretching her hip and hamstrings. Tracy tolerated 25 minutes before she started grinding her teeth. This evening, Mom, Dad, and Tracy will watch the Olympics. What are we going to do when they are over? Oh, yes, retire and move to Florida!#%* Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She should be hearing something very soon. She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in on Saturday, February 25th. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Evolution Through Exploration : Purpose!

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006: Tracy's 24th Birthday Is Sunday, February 26th! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the United States Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Please email Deb for directions or if you have any questions. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Miami Medical Director for American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Tracy enjoyed another good night's sleep last night. Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for her 1 PM Physical Therapy session with Jen. Today, Mom is puppy sitting for Luna, Tiffany's and Rick's Aussie Shepherd puppy. She is so cute! During PT, Jen stretched and ranged Tracy's extremities and then Linda and Jen got Tracy straddled on the peanut ball. Tracy's flexibility has improved with the combination of phenol blocks and BoTox injections. She is sitting much better on the peanut ball. However, Tracy needs to strengthen her head control so that she is able to sit up and interact with her environment. We will need to work on this some more. This afternoon, while Mom went to her appointment in Falls Church, Linda gave Tracy a facial, a pedicure and a manicure. It was definitely spa day around the Anzalone household. Tracy's complexion is clearing up since we started her on the antibiotic face foam. Once we get to Palm Beach and in the sun, she will have her awesome tan back. We all know that our girl is solar powered. This evening, Mom, Dad, and Tracy will watch the Olympics. What are we going to do when they are over? Oh, yes, retire and move to Florida!#%* Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in on Saturday, February 25th. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Ways We Love : Choosing To Have A Mate or Being Single!

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006: Tracy slept well last night. Mom and Linda showered Tracy and got her ready for a 1 PM appointment with Dr. Barbara Sonies at George Washington University Speech and Hearing Clinic. During the consult with Dr. Sonies, a Speech Therapist and researcher from the National Institutes of Health, some very pertinent recommendations were made for Mom and Linda to incorporate in feeding Tracy. She is going to provide Mom and Linda with a feeding protocol to follow which will allow some variety in the types of food that Tracy can eat. She recommended only feeding Tracy 1 cc at a time, using a syringe, with a total of 10 ccs per day of a given food. The goal is to retrain Tracy's oral motor function, and not to focus on the quantity of intake. Mom and Linda will start this protocol right away. Next, Tracy had an appointment with Dr. Pagan at Georgetown University Hospital to get BoTox injections to her lower extremities. He injected 600 units of BoTox into Tracy's right hamstrings, gastrocnemius, soleus, and tibialis anterior. He also injected her plantar surface of her feet to help with dorsiflexion. On her left side, he injected everything but her hamstrings. The plan is to continue with serial casting in south Florida and to work towards AFOs so that Tracy can stand with the help of a tilt table. Because Tracy's BoTox injections kept us to almost 5:30 PM at Georgetown University Hospital, we decided to forego Physical Therapy this evening. Tracy was exhausted and slept on her mat when we returned home. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in on Saturday, February 25th. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Weight Of Objects : Clearing Your Space For Change!

Monday, February 20th, 2006: Tracy woke up several times last night. We are not sure what was bothering her. Mom gave her some Tylenol at around 7 AM. Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for the day. She has Physical Therapy with Duncan at 3:30 PM. Tracy does not have any Speech Therapy today. Gloria and Katherine came by to visit Tracy today and bring her a birthday present. They were able to meet Luna and Kat got to play with her for a while. Everyone loves the puppy. It is going to be very hard to leave Tiffany, Rick and the puppy (not in that order!) Linda fed Tracy some nectar consistency apple juice today and Tracy had a few good swallows. Tracy has an appointment with Dr. Barbara Sonies, a speech and swallowing expert from NIH tomorrow at 1 PM at George Washington University Speech and Hearing Clinic. Mom is really looking forward to this consult, and is hopeful that she will provide some feeding recommendations for Tracy. Following this appointment, Tracy has a 3:30 PM appointment at Georgetown Hospital with Dr. Pagan to get her Botox. This afternoon, Tracy had Physical Therapy with Duncan. He spent about 30 minutes stretching and ranging Tracy's extremities, paying specific attention to her hands and wrists. We are hoping that Dr. Pagan injects some Botox into Tracy's right finger and wrist flexors. This will help to keep any contractures from forming. Duncan sat Tracy up on the edge of the mat so that she could practice head and trunk control. He also spent some time stretching Tracy's neck since she tends to carry a lot of tension in this area. Tomorrow evening, after Tracy's two appointments at GWU and Georgetown, Tracy has Physical Therapy with Duncan at 5:30 PM. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in on Saturday, February 25th. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Making Fun : Finding Joy In Meaningless Tasks!

Sunday, February 19th, 2006: Tracy enjoyed another good night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Janneth showered Tracy and got her ready for 12 noon Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Unfortunately, we were unable to go to Mass. We were on our way to Mass when we got sidetracked in the parking garage at Crystal Plaza! Our van had been broken into during the night and we found shattered glass everywhere and our GPS was stolen.  The thieves smashed the driver's door window and stole the GPS off the dashboard. Needless to say, we did not make it to Mass! This is the third incident we have experienced with our van. The first was when our license plates were stolen on Dec 29th. The second was when our handicap parking placard and owner's manual was stolen in early January. We are not going to miss these experiences when we move to Miami! Tracy rested on the mat for most of the day. Tiffany and Rick came by and brought their new puppy. It is the cutest female puppy Mom has ever seen (Snow was the cutest male puppy!)! It is an Aussie Shepherd and they named it Luna, because she has half ice blue, half brown eyes, resembling half moon. She has white, brown, black, and gray markings, all which are Mom's favorite colors! She is the sweetest puppy! Tracy really seems to respond to all of the puppy kisses she gives her! This evening, Tiffany and Rick stayed with Tracy and Luna while Mom and Dad grabbed a quick bite to eat at Ted's Montana Steak House in Crystal City. Emil came by and gave Tracy a well deserved massage. Later in the evening, Mom and Dad puppy sat and watched the Olympics with Tracy! Tomorrow, Tracy has Physical Therapy with Duncan at 3:30 PM. The weatherman is forecasting bitter cold weather, with temperatures predicted in the single digits. We plan to stay in and catch up on getting ready for our move to Florida in 12 days. We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! She and Vanessa found an apartment at the Crystal House, and will move in on Saturday, February 25th. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Health Through Balance : Everything In Moderation!

Saturday, February 18th, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Dad bathed Tracy and got her ready for the day. At around noon, they drove to the United States Navy Memorial to visit the venue where Dad will retirement from the Navy on March 3rd at 10:00 AM after 25 years of service to our country. It is a beautiful memorial and museum and it is an honor to be able to hold this memorable in such a beautiful venue. We met with Ezelle Wooden Jr., the Deputy Director of the United States Navy Memorial. He was very gracious and helpful. This afternoon, Duncan came to do Physical Therapy with Tracy. He stretched and ranged her extremities for about thirty minutes or so, and then sat Tracy up on the edge of the mat to practice head and trunk control. He then leaned Tracy on her elbows, side to side, so that she could bear weight through her shoulders. Tracy did a good job tolerating over 30 minutes in this position. After PT, Tracy rested on the mat while Mom went to the gym to work out. Dad caught up on his Stargate I episodes while he did some work on the computer. This evening, Mom, Dad and Tracy will watch the Olympics. Tomorrow, Tracy does not have any official therapy. The weatherman is forecasting bitter cold weather, with temperatures predicted in the single digits. We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Health Through Balance : Everything In Moderation!

Friday, February 17th, 2006: Tracy woke up several times during the night. We are not sure what was bothering her. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Linda showered Tracy and got her ready for the day. Nicole visited with Tracy before she had to leave. We all enjoyed her visit and hated to see her go! She is such a sweet friend. Tracy manages to have the nicest friends! We are so blessed! This afternoon, Mom ran some errands while Linda and Jen worked with Tracy on her Physical Therapy. Jen spent some time ranging and stretching Tracy and then they got her prone over the peanut ball. Tracy is able to weight bear through her knees in this position. She did a great job tolerating 35 minutes in this position! After PT, Linda gave Tracy a facial and she relaxed on the mat while wearing her new wrist cock up splints. They are really nice and fit her well. This evening, Mom, Dad and Tracy will watch the women's Olympic Figure Skating Competition. Tomorrow, Tracy has Physical Therapy with Duncan around 3 PM. We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany's interview for the full time position at the Red Cross went very well. Please say a prayer that she gets the job! We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Sound Of Stillness : Noise As A Distraction! Ongoing Events: February 16th, 2006: During Speech, Nikki tried some game ideas with Tracy by pairing the written words with the pictures. For example, she held up the word Mom and asked Tracy if the picture matched the word. Tracy did a really good job with this game. She closed her eyes and appeared sleepy during the initial part of the session, but she was not asleep. The Speech supervisor went in and tried different lighting settings, which Tracy responded to. It appeared that she did not like the fluorescent lights, and opened her eyes once they were turned off. Our girl tries so hard and gets A for effort! February 14th, 2006: This evening, Dad and Mom removed Tracy's serial casts. She had several pressure sores on her right big toe joint and her left ankle. The skin was broken on her left ankle and there is a large blackened blistered area over her right big toe. The pressure sore on her right ankle appears to have healed. The blister on the medial side of her left big toe is still intact. Dad took pictures and we emailed them to Marisa at Children's National Medical Center to save Tracy from having to make the trip. February 13th, 2006: During Speech Therapy, Tracy did a good job staying awake and responding to Melissa's questions with two quick eye blinks for Yes and head shakes for No. She also seemed to be focusing on the pictures, shapes, and colors that Melissa held up for Tracy to see. She was trying very hard to look at the various items, and answered most of the questions correctly. For example, when asked if the shape which Melissa was holding up was a heart (and it was), Tracy blinked twice for Yes. When Melissa asked Tracy if the heart was orange (it was red), Tracy blinked Yes. She seemed to get many of the pictures correct when Melissa asked questions about them. Tracy also made a very audible "aha" when Melissa asked her a question. Melissa and Nikki were very pleased with Tracy's participation. Nikki plans to incorporate some short games such as Memory or Matching on Thursday. February 8th, 2006: Around 10:30 AM, we left for Tracy's appointment to get her casts back on at Children's National Medical Center in DC. Marisa and Katherine looked at Tracy's big toes, and thought that it would be OK to cast her again. This time, they left her toes out! Tracy did a good job in prone position while they casted her. It seems as though the casts are working, because they were able to get her feet a little closer to neutral this time. We are not sure how many more times they will cast her. Please continue to pray for no skin breakdown so that we can get through the casting quickly and on to AFOs. January 25th, 2006: Marisa was all ready to cast Tracy until she saw her pressure sores near her ankle which Tracy sustained during her first week of serial casting. Although they are healing well, Marisa and Katie decided against casting her today. We will return next week for another try at serial casting, once her wounds are completely healed. Erin, Tracy's Occupational Therapist who made her purple neoprene wrist splints, checked out all three pairs of Tracy's splints and the plan is to make some new ones next Wednesday after her casting. January 23rd, 2006: Mom got the green light to begin feeding Tracy at home, after her Speech Therapist at Georgetown Hospital reviewed Tracy's Modified Barium Swallow test results from Friday. It appeared that although Tracy is still at risk for aspirating, she did not show any signs of aspiration during the study. Whenever Tracy has a bolus of liquid in her mouth (such as nectar consistency juices or lemon water), it is difficult for her to get it to the back of her mouth. Therefore, Tracy's Speech Therapist is planning on working with Tracy's tongue to get it stronger to move the bolus back. Once it is moved back to the middle of her tongue, she is able to swallow it. Sometimes it takes two swallows to clear it, but she is able to clear the bolus without showing signs of aspiration (going down into her lungs instead of or in addition to her esophagus). This is good news. The key is to help Tracy get the bolus by placing the spoon in the middle of her tongue so that she can feel it and swallow it down. Mom and Linda will continue to work on this every day! January 20th, 2006: Tracy had her Modified Barium Swallow study in Radiology. This is the fourth MBS Tracy has had since July, 2005. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep Tracy in her wheel chair for the study as we had hoped. Instead, we had to transfer Tracy to the radiology procedure chair for her test. Tracy did a really good job holding her head up with Dad's help. During the study, her Speech Therapist used an oral syringe to give Tracy a large enough bolus of barium mixed with lemon water (nectar consistency) for her to swallow. This allowed for the therapist to get the liquid in the middle of Tracy's tongue to assist with getting it back so that she could swallow. It appeared that Tracy had about 7 or 8 good swallows during the study. The therapists will spend some time reviewing the videotape and get back with us next week with the results. Keep your fingers crossed and those prayers coming! January 17th, 2006: Tracy swallowed 12 times during her Vital Stim session. Her Physical Therapist was also present to adjust her head rest in order to make certain that Tracy is in the best position to optimize her swallowing. This will be very important for her Modified Barium Swallow test on Friday at 2:30 PM. January 16th, 2006: Dad spent some time reviewing the muscles with Linda as they stretched and ranged Tracy this morning. Mom printed some educational information from an excellent web site on motion disorders: We Move . This morning, around 6 AM, Tracy woke up Mom and Dad laughing very loudly! She was wide awake and very alert and it seemed as though she was day dreaming. It was music to their ears! She has a beautiful huge smile, and it was wonderful to see her smiling again! Tracy had her last Vital Stim session on January 17th, resulting in 12 swallows. Her repeat Modified Barium Swallow is scheduled for January 20th at 2:30 PM. Please pray for a successful test. Wednesday, January 11th, 2006: This afternoon, Mom, Linda and Liz took Tracy to her 2:00 PM appointment at Georgetown to get her new wheel chair components. Tracy's PT and OT at Georgetown and the wheel chair technician from Chesapeake durable medical equipment company spent four hours putting together Tracy's new seating system. With a few minor adjustments to work out the bugs, we are hoping that Tracy will be able to sit up better with her new seating system. This will allow Tracy to interact more optimally with her environment and participate better during Speech and Vital Stim therapies. We are hopeful that the new seating system will also help to minimize Tracy's spasticity. So far, we are pleased with the modifications. It will take a few weeks for Tracy to get used to all the changes and to work out all of the kinks. Tuesday, January 10th, 2006: Melissa came by at noon to work on Speech Therapy with Tracy. She seemed very alert and eager to work with Melissa, Tracy's aide. Melissa held up short words such as DOG and CAT for Tracy to see. She first held up DOG and asked Tracy if she could see it. Tracy responded with a head nod for YES, which was really good. Then Melissa asked Tracy to read the word and that she was going to ask questions about the word. Tracy looked at the word Melissa was holding up. Then Melissa asked Tracy if Snow (Tracy's dog) was one of these. Tracy again nodded Yes. Melissa then asked Tracy if Polo (Tracy's cat) was one of these and Tracy shook her head No. Mom, Liz and Linda cheered! Melissa then held up the word CAT for Tracy to see. She asked Tracy is Polo was one of these and Tracy nodded her head Yes. She asked Tracy if Snow was one of these and Tracy shook her head No. Tracy did such a good job recognizing the words and answering the questions. She seemed to really enjoy this exercise. Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to look at numbers. Tracy nodded her head Yes. She seemed to recognize the numbers that Melissa held up. One time she seemed to confuse the 9 for the 6 but then she got it correct when Melissa asked her again. There were several times when Tracy got dizzy when she nodded Yes. Melissa asked Tracy if she rather blink her eyes twice instead of nodding but Tracy insisted on nodding. We are all very proud of her effort and perseverance. At one point, Tracy seemed uncomfortable. Melissa asked Tracy if she was uncomfortable. Tracy nodded Yes. After several questions to assess the cause of her discomfort, Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to get out of her wheel chair. Tracy nodded Yes. Then Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to get on the mat. Tracy shook her head No. Then Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to sit in the massage chair, Tracy nodded Yes. She seemed very comfortable when we moved her to the massage chair. Thursday, January 5th: Tracy had Speech Therapy today with Melissa, her ST Aide. She was very awake and alert and had her best session yet. She did a great job answering Melissa's questions about the various scents she had her smell: cinnamon, peppermint, orange, lavender, etc. Tracy shook her head pretty consistently for No and blinked her eyes twice or nodded her head at times for Yes. She did a good job identifying various colors and shakes too. She even made some sounds on command. Bottom line: she was trying really hard. Her eyes seemed to focus better today too. Melissa asked Tracy to look at her and Tracy looked right at her. When Melissa asked Tracy if she could see her, Tracy blinked twice for yes. Then Melissa asked Tracy if she was wearing glasses (Melissa), and Tracy blinked twice No, which was correct. Melissa was very pleased with Tracy's participation today. Wednesday, January 4th, 2006: Tracy had an appointment at 10 AM with Katie and Marissa at Children's National Medical Center Department of Physical Therapy Department for her first serial casting. It has a year since Tracy was last casted. A lot has changed since then. She does not have the aggravating and painful wound on her right hip any more which caused her much discomfort last time and her spasticity has improved due to better Baclofen management. She also has a very large dose of Botox and Alcohol Block on board which is helping to minimize Tracy's spasticity. Bottom line: she is in much better shape this time around for a successful serial casting experience. Tracy will return next Wednesday at 11:00 AM for a cast change. Tuesday, January 3rd at 2 PM: Tracy had an appointment with Dr. Gisolfi, Tracy's physiatrist at Inova Mt. Vernon Rehab Hospital. Dr. Gisolfi reevaluated Tracy to see if she needed another alcohol block to her obturator nerves which helps to relax her adductors. This is important to optimize the success of Tracy's serial casting which begins tomorrow at Children's National Medical Center. The Botox seems to be having some effect on Tracy's tone in her lower extremities, and with the additional assistance of the alcohol blocks, Tracy should be in optimal form for serial casting. The plan is for Tracy to get serial casted from right above her toes to her mid calf on both feet. The cast is well padded to minimize pressure sores and skin breakdown under the cast. The casts are left on for about 5 or 6 days, and then removed. Tracy is then able to shower and get a massage which will help her skin to rest and get ready for the next set of casts. This is repeated until the desired effect is reached, which is straight feet on which she can stand and bear weight via the tilt table. Please say a prayer that this process is effective and that Tracy does not need surgical intervention. Tuesday, December 13th: Tracy had a 1 PM appointment at Georgetown Hospital for Vital Stim. During Vital Stim, Tracy swallowed fifteen times. Mom brought a bottle of Starbucks frappacino to let Tracy smell and she started swallowing immediately. This is definitely more in line with her average swallows, which range between 9 and 12 swallows per session. We really think Tracy is averse to the subfreezing temperatures we are experiencing. There is a reason why Tracy chose to go to college in Miami for heaven's sake. She does not do well in cold weather. We will continue to practice swallowing over the holidays and resume her Vital Stim in the New Year! There are lots of good aromas in Mamaw's kitchen and plenty of motivation to SWALLOW! Friday, December 9th: Tracy had a 1 PM appointment with Dr. Pagan at Georgetown Hospital. Dr. Pagan injected a total of 600 units of Botox into Tracy's right medial and lateral hamstring, both her right and left anterior and posterior tibialis, soleus, and gastrocnemius muscles. Tracy was so relaxed and tolerated the injections very well. We are hopeful that in two or so weeks, we will see a significant improvement in Tracy's lower body tone. The plan is to begin serial casting once the Botox has taken effect. Tracy has an appointment at Children's National Medical Center on Wednesday, January 4th at 10:00 AM. This will include casting Tracy's feet each week, correcting her positioning incrementally until Tracy is able to put her foot in a plantar position. This will enable us to finally get Tracy into some AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) to hold her feet in a normal position. This is a long-term goal which will take time and patience to attain. If the combination of Botox, serial casting, Baclofen adjustment, and physical therapy (tilt table) does not prove to be successful, the option of surgical intervention is still a possibility. Tuesday, December 6th: Tracy, Tiffany, Mom, Linda and Liz went to tour the White House. The theme for this year's tour: All Things Bright & Beautiful, was chosen to highlight the beauty to be found in nature. The White House Residence staff and floral designers from across the country did a magnificent job incorporating the natural beauty found in the many plants, trees, fruit and flowers created by our Designer In Chief: God! Tracy really seemed to enjoy the outing, especially the areas that are typically off limits to most guests (but on the way to the elevator) such as the kitchen, the President's doctor's office, and the private reception room. She seemed very interested in all the hustle and bustle going on in the kitchen with the many White House chefs preparing for a special party. Dad brought a very special gift to Tracy from his hometown parish pastor, Fr. McDuffy: rosaries personally given to him when he had a private audience at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II. These rosaries are very special because they are considered a secondary relic, something that the prospective saint has personally touched. Thank you cousin Frank Arthur for the beautiful St. Theresa medal. She is Tracy's patron saint. Pope Benedict XVI has approved an expedited process for Beatification and ultimate Sanctification of Pope John Paul II. Please pray to Pope John Paul II specifically requesting that he make Tracy one of the two miracles needed for his Sainthood! Here is his prayer: "Prayer for John Paul II's Intercession". We found Tracy's old files and want to share her last AP English Essay and a paper for her Biology Class from Gulf Breeze High School. This will give you some insight into how special she is and why she will come back to us. Here they are: BLESSED and Euthanasia: Filling God's Shoes. Tiffany graduated from LSU's Manship School of Mass Communications on December 19th. Mom, Dad, Tracy, Mamaw, Papaw, Uncle Mike, Aunt Cheryl, Kathryn Jean, Rick, and Tamar were there to cheer her on! She now has a Master's in Mass Communication (MMC) with a concentration in public relations. She started at the Red Cross on January 12th in the Human Relations Department where she will be working on special projects. We are very proud of her.

Thursday, February 16th, 2006: Tracy had another good night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom had to go with Dad for his colonoscopy at NNMC in Bethesda bright and early at 6 AM. Liz came over very early to help Linda get Tracy bathed and ready for 12 noon Speech Therapy at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic. Nicole was feeling a little queasy from her long bus trip yesterday from NYC, so she decided to stay home and rest. This morning, Linda gave Tracy about four or five teaspoons of lime jello, and she had several good swallows. Then it was off to Speech Therapy. During Speech, Nikki tried some game ideas with Tracy by pairing the written words with the pictures. For example, she held up the word Mom and asked Tracy if the picture matched the word. Tracy did a really good job with this game. She closed her eyes and appeared sleepy during the initial part of the session, but she was not asleep. The Speech supervisor went in and tried different lighting settings, which Tracy responded to. It appeared that she did not like the fluorescent lights, and opened her eyes once they were turned off. Our girl tries so hard and gets A for effort! When Tracy returned home from Speech, Jenn was ready to do Physical Therapy. No rest for this girl. It is all about the workout! During PT, Jenn ranged and stretched Tracy and then sat her up on the edge of the mat to practice head and trunk control. She is sitting so much better these days! She still needs to practice her head control and using her neck muscles to sit up taller and look around. Tracy tolerated 30 minutes in this position. After PT, Linda fed Tracy a little bit of raspberry sorbet from Cold Stone Creamery. She did not seem to like the cold feeling in her mouth. Then Linda tried a little strawberry banana yogurt smoothie. Tracy did not seem interested in eating any of it at the time. This evening, Sasha came by to visit with Nicole and Tracy and they caught up on all of the UM gossip! Dad cooked his specialty: grilled salmon and rib eyes. It was really good. Everyone sat around and watched the Olympics Figure Skating Competition. It was a fun night. Tomorrow, Tracy has Physical Therapy with Jenn at 1 PM or so. Mom has an appointment at 12:30 PM in Falls Church. We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Please keep your fingers crossed! Tiffany has an interview tomorrow for a full time position at the Red Cross. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: One Foot Forward: Finding Your Next Step In Life!

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006: Announcement!!! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Southeast Regional Medical Director of American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Tracy slept well again last night. She even laughed a few minutes before she went to sleep. It is always music to our ears to hear our girl chuckle! She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Linda showered and shampooed Tracy and got her ready for the day. She really enjoyed her shower and having her casts off! Because of Tracy's skin breakdown on her feet and ankles, we will leave the casts off until she heals. This may take several weeks, so we will wait until we get to Palm Beach before we resume casting. Linda gave Tracy about four or five teaspoons of yogurt smoothie, and she had several good swallows. Linda stretched and ranged Tracy and got her ready for Physical Therapy with Jenn around 12:30 PM. During PT, Jenn and Linda got Tracy prone to stretch her hips and hamstrings. Tracy seemed to relax in this position, and only grinded her teeth a few times. Tracy's friend Nicole from the Bronx (really Brooklyn, but the Bronx sounds much more JLo glamour girl!) arrived on the China Town Bus! It is so good to have her here visiting with us! She was pleased with Tracy's progress since her last visit 7 months ago! This afternoon, Nicole visited with Tracy, Linda and Mom and enjoyed the unseasonal 50 degree weather. The sun was shining and it did not feel very wintery! This evening, Mom met Tiffany and Vanessa to look at another apartment. They all liked the apartment at Crystal House. Keep your fingers crossed that they get it! Then, Tiffany, Vanessa, Nicole, and Mom went to Oyamel for Tapas while Dad stayed with Tracy. Tomorrow, Tracy has Speech Therapy at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic. Liz and Nicole will accompany Linda and Tracy while Mom goes with Dad for his colonoscopy. Mom is very glad that she got hers last week, and will not need another one for nine more years! We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Going Deep: Self-Examination At Depth!

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006: Happy Valentines Day!~ Announcement!!! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Southeast Regional Medical Director of American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Tracy had another good night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for the day. Tracy does not have any official therapy today, but will get her casts removed and receive a massage from Emil this evening. We let Tracy rest in her bed for most of the day today while Mom caught up on her chores. Linda stretched and ranged Tracy in her bed this morning. Then, she gave her a manicure and a facial while she relaxed and listened to Bob Marley. Later in the day, Linda fed Tracy some Nouriche peach flavored smoothie. Tracy had a few good swallows. This evening, Dad and Mom removed Tracy's serial casts. She had several pressure sores on her right big toe joint and her left ankle. The skin was broken on her left ankle and there is a large blackened blistered area over her right big toe. The pressure sore on her right ankle appears to have healed. The blister on the medial side of her left big toe is still intact. We plan to go to Children's National Medical Center tomorrow so that Marissa can take a look at her sores. We will not cast her tomorrow, but will need to take a few weeks off to let her sores heal. This evening, Emil came to give Tracy a much needed massage. She really seemed to relax and enjoy it. We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. Tomorrow, Tracy will get a shower and a shampoo! Nicole (from the Bronx!), Tracy's friend from University of Miami is coming to visit Tracy tomorrow! We are so excited and can't wait to see her! Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany has been busy looking for an apartment in the Arlington/Rosslyn area with her friend and colleague from the Red Cross, Vanessa. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Eye Of The Beholder: Beauty!

Monday, February 13th, 2006: Announcement!!! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Southeast Regional Medical Director of American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Tracy had another good night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for the day. Tracy has Speech Therapy at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic at 2 PM this afternoon and then Physical Therapy with Duncan at 5 PM this evening. Tracy sat up in her wheel chair for several hours this morning and listened to her guided visualization CD that Linda gave her. She seems to really like it and it helps her to relax. Gloria and the girls took advantage of the "snow day" and came over to see Tracy this morning. Sam and Kat decorated Tracy's cast with ying and yang, butterflies, lady bugs, and roses. Tracy will get her cast cut off tomorrow and will get a massage and shower. She will get new casts put on this Wednesday. They seem to be working because her heels are getting loser and are much easier to get into midline. We hope to get her casted several more times before we move to south Florida. We are scheduled to take Tracy to the Intensive Program at the Upledger Institute in Palm Beach Gardens March 13th to the 17th. This is a 6 hour a day program which will include Cranial Sacral Therapy, intense massage, and Physical Therapy. We have been planning to take Tracy to the Upledger Institute, and it seems as though she is strong enough to fully benefit from the program. Linda and Liz are looking forward to joining us in the one week program. During Speech Therapy, Tracy did a good job staying awake and responding to Melissa's questions with two quick eye blinks for Yes and head shakes for No. She also seemed to be focusing on the pictures, shapes, and colors that Melissa held up for Tracy to see. She was trying very hard to look at the various items, and answered most of the questions correctly. For example, when asked if the shape which Melissa was holding up was a heart (and it was), Tracy blinked twice for Yes. When Melissa asked Tracy if the heart was orange (it was red), Tracy blinked Yes. She seemed to get many of the pictures correct when Melissa asked questions about them. Tracy also made a very audible "aha" when Melissa asked her a question. Melissa and Nikki were very pleased with Tracy's participation. Nikki plans to incorporate some short games such as Memory or Matching on Thursday. After Speech Therapy, Duncan came to do Physical Therapy with Tracy. He spent some time ranging and stretching Tracy, paying attention to Tracy's hands and wrists. Tracy's right hand seems to be getting a little tight, so he wanted to really work on stretching her fingers. Next week, Tracy has an appointment with Dr. Pagan to get BoTox. We will ask him to put some in her right finger and wrist flexors to help to stretch them out and prevent any contractures. After stretching, Duncan and Mom sat Tracy on the peanut to practice head and trunk control. Duncan also worked on stretching Tracy's neck in this position. Tracy tolerated 30 minutes sitting on the peanut. This evening, Tracy rested on the mat and then Dad and Mom got her in her chair to watch the Figure Skating Competition on the Olympics. Tomorrow, Tracy will get her cast removed, and will get a shower and a massage. She will have not official therapy since it is Valentine's Day. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany has been busy looking for an apartment in the Arlington/Rosslyn area with her friend and colleague from the Red Cross, Vanessa. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Gathering For Truth: Satsang!

Sunday, February 12th, 2006: ~ Announcement!!! We are moving to South Florida in March!!! Dad is retiring from the US Navy after 25 years of service and his ceremony will be at 10 AM, Friday, March 3rd at the Navy Memorial in DC. If you are in the area and would like to attend the retirement ceremony, RSVP at drdebanz@aol.com. Dad will be starting his 2nd career as the Southeast Regional Medical Director of American Airlines and will have his new office at the Miami International Airport. Welcome to Tracy's web site! We update this site as frequently as possible in hopes to keep you all posted on Tracy's continued progress. Please let me know if you find an error. Thank you for visiting us and feel free to write Tracy a note in her Guest Book! Your emails mean so much to Tracy and the entire Anzalone family.Current Events:Tracy slept well again last night. Everyone slept in this morning with the new fallen 8 to 9 inches of SNOW! She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours again during the night. This morning, Mom and Dad bathed Tracy and got her ready for the day. They decided to take a snow day and not venture out with Tracy to Mass. Janneth was unable to come due to being snowed in as well. Tracy sat up in her wheel chair for several hours to watch the Olympics with Mom and Dad. Her new chair components are coming along, and she seems to sit much taller with minimal spasms. We are still waiting for the other components which were needed to be reordered due to problems with fit. These should come in and be placed within the next two weeks. Tracy wore her new wrist splints that Erin made her again today for four hours. She seems to be tolerating them well. They are made out of fiber glass and are a University of Miami green with Palm Beach pink trim. Erin did a really good job with them. Tracy rested on the mat this afternoon while Mom and Dad did some much needed chores. This evening, Mom, Dad, Tiffany, Tracy and Rick plan to watch Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy and eat a light dinner. Tomorrow, Tracy has Speech Therapy at 2 PM at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic with Melissa and then Physical Therapy with Duncan at 5:30 PM. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany has been busy looking for an apartment in the Arlington/Rosslyn area with her friend and colleague from the Red Cross, Vanessa. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Time To Play: Taking A Snow Day!

Saturday, February 11th, 2006: Tracy enjoyed another great night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours during the night. This morning, Mom and Dad bathed Tracy and got her ready for 12:30 PM Physical Therapy with Duncan. During PT, Duncan performed Tracy's range of motion exercises and then it was time to get her prone on the mat. Dad and Duncan got Tracy on her tummy and propped her up on her elbows so that she could bear some weight through her shoulders. Her spine looked really straight in this position and her shoulders looked great. Duncan worked on stretching her right hip and hamstirng while Dad worked on her shoulders. Tracy tolerated 30 minutes in this position. Tracy rested on the mat after PT while Mom and Dad did some much needed chores. Sasha came over this evening to stay with Tracy while Mom, Dad, Tiffany and Rick went out to dinner at Portofino's Italian Restaurant with Rick's Mom, Godmother, and Aunt who are visiting from Texas. Our good friends Dolores and Joanna joined us too. Everyone had a really good time. Tracy and Sasha had a good visit and watched the Olympics! She is such a great friend and we truly appreciate her! This evening, it started snowing and it is supposed to continue throughout the night with a projected accumulation of 4 to 6 inches. Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany has been busy looking for an apartment in the Arlington/Rosslyn area with her friend and colleague from the Red Cross, Vanessa. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Needless Fear: Worry!

Friday, February 10th, 2006: Tracy slept well last nightt. She wore her resting hand splints for 6 hours during the night. Mom is feeling much better today after her routine colonoscopy yesterday. She is glad it is over. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for 8:30 AM Physical Therapy with Jen. During PT, Jen stretched and ranged Tracy and then Linda and Jen sat her up on the edge of the mat. They positioned the big yellow ball behind Tracy so that she can stretch back over the ball. This is a good stretch for Tracy's shoulders and chest which tends to round forward from her pectoral muscles being so tight. After a few minutes, Tracy relaxed and took several deep breaths. She tolerated this position for 30 minutes. Linda is doing a good job feeding Tracy each day. This morning, after PT, she gave Tracy some sips of Hydrolyte, nectar thickened consistency lemon-flavored water. Tracy had a few good swallows, then decided she did not want any more and closed her mouth. Practice. Practice. Practice. Mom and Linda took Tracy to her 1 PM appointment with Dr. Liston at National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda. He is Tracy's general surgeon who did her stomach surgery over a year ago. He reviewed all of Tracy's medications and updated them. After that, Mom and Linda met Dad and they went to renew Tracy's military ID. When they returned home, Liz and Steve came over to visit and have pizza with us. Tiffany, her friend Vanessa, Rick and their friend Jose came over to have pizza with us! We spent the evening watching the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics in Torino, Italy and missing the fun times we had while living in Naples! Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany has been busy looking for an apartment in the Arlington/Rosslyn area with her friend and colleague from the Red Cross, Vanessa. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Needless Fear: Worry!

Thursday, February 9th, 2006: Tracy had another good night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 6 hours during the night. Liz came over bright and early so that Dad could take Mom at 6:00 AM to her colonoscopy appointment at NNMC in Bethesda. Dad has his next Thursday. It is the fun part of turning 50 years old! Everything came out (no pun intended) fine with all results Normal. This morning, Liz and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for 12 noon Speech Therapy with Nikki at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic. During the session, Tracy did not seem very interested in all of the routine things that Nikki and Melissa have been doing with Tracy. She may not have been in the mood to look at colors, shapes, and the like. Her favorite response was shaking her head No! It may be time for Nikki and Melissa to try some New things. Mom will make the recommendation and we'll see how things go next Monday. When Tracy returned from Speech Therapy, Jen came by to do Physical Therapy with Tracy. She ranged and stretched everything and then got her sitting in a straddle position on the peanut ball. She tolerated more than 30 minutes on the ball. Her flexibility has really improved in a straddle position and she is getting close to being able to sit on a horse! Maybe we will get her to therapeutic horse back riding soon! Linda is doing a good job feeding Tracy each day. This afternoon, she gave Tracy some sips of Hydrolyte, nectar thickened consistency lemon-flavored water. Tracy had a few good swallows. Practice. Practice. Practice. When Mom returned from her test, she was pretty wiped out and slept off and on all day. Liz stayed with Mom and Tracy until 7:30 PM when Dad returned home from work. She is such a great friend and Mom and all the Anzalones are very blessed to have her! Tiffany has been busy working on her resume and also working at the Red Cross at their National Headquarters in DC. She is still working in Human Resources as a recruiter with the goal of becoming a full time employee. Tiffany has been busy looking for an apartment in the Arlington/Rosslyn area with her friend and colleague from the Red Cross, Vanessa. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: An Empty Vessel Can Be Filled: The Power Of Not Knowing!

Wednesday, February 8th, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 8 hours during the night. At almost 6 AM, Tracy woke us up LAUGHING! It had been about three weeks since she last laughed, so it was good to hear her. This morning, Mom and Linda showered and shampooed Tracy. It had to feel good to have her casts off! Around 10:30 AM, we left for Tracy's appontment to get her casts back on at Children's National Medical Center in DC. Marisa and Katherine looked at Tracy's big toes, and thought that it would be OK to cast her again. This time, they left her toes out! Tracy did a good job in prone position while they casted her. It seems as though the casts are working, because they were able to get her feet a little closer to neutral this time. We are not sure how many more times they will cast her. Please continue to pray for no skin breakdown so that we can get through the casting quickly and on to AFOs. When we returned home, Linda fed Tracy some nectar consistency cranberry juice. She seems to be swallowing quicker and had several good swallows. Over the past three days, she has swallowed about 2.5 ounces. We will continue to practice this daily. Linda gave Tracy a pedicure today while she rested on the mat. She did not have Physical Therapy today because Jen had a lot of work to do for school. She will have PT tomorrow with Jen after Speech Therapy with Nikki at noon. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Music Of This World: Natural Sounds Meditation!

Tuesday, February 7th, 2006: Happy Birthday Linda!~ Tracy slept well again last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 6 hours during the night. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and then Linda fed her some nectar consistency cranberry juice. She had several good swallows and, over the last two days, she has swallowed about 1.5 ounces. Mom and Linda took Tracy to her baclofen pump refill appointment with Dr. Tornatore at Georgetown Hospital. Tracy almost jumped out of her chair on the first stick and she gave the doctor a mean look. The second try worked without any other problems. When we returned home, Dad and Duncan took Tracy's casts off and her legs look OK except for her big toes. The medial side of both big toes are red and one looks like it might eventually blister. The areas near her ankles where she had the pressure sores last time looked good. Marissa had padded them real well, using special donuts (no, not the Tastee Cream kind!) Hopefully, we will be able to put the casts back on again tomorrow. Next, Tracy had Physical Therapy with Duncan. He spent his usual thirty minutes or so stretching and ranging Tracy and then it was time to sit on the edge of the mat while Mom soaked Tracy's feet and rubbed lotion on them. Tracy let out a big "Ah!" It must have felt really good! After PT, Emil came and gave Tracy a massage. She really relaxed and seemed to enjoy it. She fell asleep right in the middle of it. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Music Of This World: Natural Sounds Meditation!

Monday, February 6th, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. Dad gave her a break from the hand splints last night. So far, Tracy seems to be tolerating her bilateral leg casts well. We will remove the casts on Tuesday afternoon, so that she can have a shower and a massage. Please keep praying for no skin breakdown underneath the casts. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and shampooed her hair using the No Rinse shampoo, the same stuff used by the astronauts on the Space Station. It does the trick, although we know that there's nothing like the real thing. We are looking forward to giving Tracy a shower and shampoo for real Wednesday morning after her casts come off Tuesday evening. This morning, Linda gave Tracy some nectar consistency cranberry juice. She had about five good swallows and seemed to like it. She was pretty sleepy today, so, after about five teaspoons full, Tracy closed her eyes and took a nap. Mom and Linda let Tracy rest in her bed so that she would be not be tired during Speech Therapy. Around 1:30 PM, Mom and Linda took Tracy to her Speech Therapy appointment with Melissa and Nikki at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic. Tracy spent the majority of the session asleep, and no matter what Nikki and Melissa did, she could not keep her eyes open. Linda even went into the therapy room to see if she could work her magic. Dad stopped Tracy's melatonin several days ago. We think that made a difference in her sleep wake cycle. Mom will talk to Dad about adding the melatonin back into Tracy's medication schedule. During the portion of the session that Tracy was awake, she did make several good sounds. Tracy has another appointment on Thursday at noon. We will let you know how that goes. When we returned home, Tracy had Physical Therapy with Duncan. He spent his usual thirty minutes or so stretching and ranging Tracy and then it was time to sit on the edge of the mat. Mom helped Duncan set up Tracy's laptop and they put it on her therapy table. Duncan sat Tracy up at the table and Mom read Tracy her guest book entries from her webpage. Tracy tried very hard to hold up her head, but seemed a little fatigued. We will continue to practice this. This evening, Tracy sat up in her chair for a while with Dad while he watched 24. She dozed off and on. Tomorrow Tracy has a 2:30 PM appointment with Dr. Tornatore at Georgetown to refill her Baclofen pump. Then she will have PT with Duncan. The plan is for Dad and Duncan to remove Tracy's cast in time for Emil to give her a massage. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Great Transformer : Loving What You Hate!

Sunday, February 5th, 2006: Tracy had another good night's sleep last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 4 hours during the night. So far, Tracy seems to be tolerating her bilateral leg casts well. We will remove the casts on Tuesday afternoon, so that she can have a shower and a massage. Please keep praying for no skin breakdown underneath the casts. This morning, Mom and Janneth bathed Tracy and got her ready for Sunday Mass at 12 noon at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. We let Dad catch up on his sleep since he was burning the candle at both ends all week, even Saturday! He definitely deserved it. During Mass, Tracy was relaxed and slept. After Mass, we all made our traditional stop at Starbuck's for lattes and scones. This afternoon, Tracy rested while Dad caught up on paper work and Mom headed to the gym for a quick workout before the Super Bowl. Then our good friends Liz, Steve, and their daughter Mary came over to watch the Super Bowl with us. Liz made a delicious Pasta dish, rigatoni with turkey sausage and Vodka sauce and a big salad. Mom got a Cold Stone Cookie Dough ice cream cake and they all surprised Liz with Happy Birthday. (Her birthday was January 29th!) Tiffany and Rick joined us and everyone enjoyed the game. Tomorrow, Tracy has Speech Therapy at GWU at 2 PM and then Physical Therapy with Duncan at 5:30 PM. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: The Great Transformer : Loving What You Hate! Ongoing Events: January 25th, 2006: Marisa was all ready to cast Tracy until she saw her pressure sores near her ankle which Tracy sustained during her first week of serial casting. Although they are healing well, Marisa and Katie decided against casting her today. We will return next week for another try at serial casting, once her wounds are completely healed. Erin, Tracy's Occupational Therapist who made her purple neoprene wrist splints, checked out all three pairs of Tracy's splints and the plan is to make some new ones next Wednesday after her casting. January 23rd, 2006: Mom got the green light to begin feeding Tracy at home, after her Speech Therapist at Georgetown Hospital reviewed Tracy's Modified Barium Swallow test results from Friday. It appeared that although Tracy is still at risk for aspirating, she did not show any signs of aspiration during the study. Whenever Tracy has a bolus of liquid in her mouth (such as nectar consistency juices or lemon water), it is difficult for her to get it to the back of her mouth. Therefore, Tracy's Speech Therapist is planning on working with Tracy's tongue to get it stronger to move the bolus back. Once it is moved back to the middle of her tongue, she is able to swallow it. Sometimes it takes two swallows to clear it, but she is able to clear the bolus without showing signs of aspiration (going down into her lungs instead of or in addition to her esophagus). This is good news. The key is to help Tracy get the bolus by placing the spoon in the middle of her tongue so that she can feel it and swallow it down. Mom and Linda will continue to work on this every day! January 20th, 2006: Tracy had her Modified Barium Swallow study in Radiology. This is the fourth MBS Tracy has had since July, 2005. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep Tracy in her wheel chair for the study as we had hoped. Instead, we had to transfer Tracy to the radiology procedure chair for her test. Tracy did a really good job holding her head up with Dad's help. During the study, her Speech Therapist used an oral syringe to give Tracy a large enought bolus of barium mixed with lemon water (nectar consistency) for her to swallow. This allowed for the therapist to get the liquid in the middle of Tracy's tongue to assist with getting it back so that she could swallow. It appeared that Tracy had about 7 or 8 good swallows during the study. The therapists will spend some time reviewing the videotape and get back with us next week with the results. Keep your fingers crossed and those prayers coming! January 17th, 2006: Tracy swallowed 12 times during her Vital Stim session. Her Physical Therapist was also present to adjust her head rest in order to make certain that Tracy is in the best position to optimize her swallowing. This will be very important for her Modified Barium Swallow test on Friday at 2:30 PM. January 16th, 2006: Dad spent some time reviewing the muscles with Linda as they stretched and ranged Tracy this morning. Mom printed some educational information from an excellent website on motion disorders: We Move . This morning, around 6 AM, Tracy woke up Mom and Dad laughing very loudly! She was wide awake and very alert and it seemed as though she was day dreaming. It was music to their ears! She has a beautiful huge smile, and it was wonderful to see her smiling again! Tracy had her last Vital Stim session on January 17th, resulting in 12 swallows. Her repeat Modified Barium Swallow is scheduled for January 20th at 2:30 PM. Please pray for a successful test. Wednesday, January 11th, 2006: This afternoon, Mom, Linda and Liz took Tracy to her 2:00 PM appointment at Georgetown to get her new wheel chair components. Tracy's PT and OT at Georgetown and the wheel chair technician from Chesapeake durable medical equipment company spent four hours putting together Tracy's new seating system. With a few minor adjustments to work out the bugs, we are hoping that Tracy will be able to sit up better with her new seating system. This will allow Tracy to interact more optimally with her environment and participate better during Speech and Vital Stim therapies. We are hopeful that the new seating system will also help to minimize Tracy's spasticity. So far, we are pleased with the modifications. It will take a few weeks for Tracy to get used to all the changes and to work out all of the kinks. Tuesday, January 10th, 2006: Melissa came by at noon to work on Speech Therapy with Tracy. She seemed very alert and eager to work with Melissa, Tracy's aide. Melissa held up short words such as DOG and CAT for Tracy to see. She first held up DOG and asked Tracy if she could see it. Tracy responded with a head nod for YES, which was really good. Then Melissa asked Tracy to read the word and that she was going to ask questions about the word. Tracy looked at the word Melissa was holding up. Then Melissa asked Tracy if Snow (Tracy's dog) was one of these. Tracy again nodded Yes. Melissa then asked Tracy if Polo (Tracy's cat) was one of these and Tracy shook her head No. Mom, Liz and Linda cheered! Melissa then held up the word CAT for Tracy to see. She asked Tracy is Polo was one of these and Tracy nodded her head Yes. She asked Tracy if Snow was one of these and Tracy shook her head No. Tracy did such a good job recognizing the words and answering the questions. She seemed to really enjoy this exercise. Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to look at numbers. Tracy nodded her head Yes. She seemed to recognize the numbers that Melissa held up. One time she seemed to confuse the 9 for the 6 but then she got it correct when Melissa asked her again. There were several times when Tracy got dizzy when she nodded Yes. Melissa asked Tracy if she rather blink her eyes twice instead of nodding but Tracy insisted on nodding. We are all very proud of her effort and perseverance. At one point, Tracy seemed uncomfortable. Melissa asked Tracy if she was uncomfortable. Tracy nodded Yes. After several questions to assess the cause of her discomfort, Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to get out of her wheel chair. Tracy nodded Yes. Then Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to get on the mat. Tracy shook her head No. Then Melissa asked Tracy if she wanted to sit in the massage chair, Tracy nodded Yes. She seemed very comfortable when we moved her to the massage chair. Thursday, January 5th: Tracy had Speech Therapy today with Melissa, her ST Aide. She was very awake and alert and had her best session yet. She did a great job answering Melissa's questions about the various scents she had her smell: cinnamon, peppermint, orange, lavender, etc. Tracy shook her head pretty consistently for No and blinked her eyes twice or nodded her head at times for Yes. She did a good job identifying various colors and shakes too. She even made some sounds on command. Bottom line: she was trying really hard. Her eyes seemed to focus better today too. Melissa asked Tracy to look at her and Tracy looked right at her. When Melissa asked Tracy if she could see her, Tracy blinked twice for yes. Then Melissa asked Tracy if she was wearing glasses (Melissa), and Tracy blinked twice No, which was correct. Melissa was very pleased with Tracy's participation today. Wednesday, January 4th, 2006: Tracy had an appointment at 10 AM with Katie and Marissa at Children's National Medical Center Department of Physical Therapy Department for her first serial casting. It has a year since Tracy was last casted. A lot has changed since then. She does not have the aggravating and painful wound on her right hip any more which caused her much discomfort last time and her spasticity has improved due to better Baclofen management. She also has a very large dose of Botox and Alcohol Block on board which is helping to minimize Tracy's spasticity. Bottom line: she is in much better shape this time around for a successful serial casting experience. Tracy will return next Wednesday at 11:00 AM for a cast change. Tuesday, January 3rd at 2 PM: Tracy had an appointment with Dr. Gisolfi, Tracy's physiatrist at Inova Mt. Vernon Rehab Hospital. Dr. Gisolfi reevaluated Tracy to see if she needed another alcohol block to her obturator nerves which helps to relax her adductors. This is important to optimize the success of Tracy's serial casting which begins tomorrow at Children's National Medical Center. The Botox seems to be having some effect on Tracy's tone in her lower extremities, and with the additional assistance of the alcohol blocks, Tracy should be in optimal form for serial casting. The plan is for Tracy to get serial casted from right above her toes to her mid calf on both feet. The cast is well padded to minimize pressure sores and skin breakdown under the cast. The casts are left on for about 5 or 6 days, and then removed. Tracy is then able to shower and get a massage which will help her skin to rest and get ready for the next set of casts. This is repeated until the desired effect is reached, which is straight feet on which she can stand and bear weight via the tilt table. Please say a prayer that this process is effective and that Tracy does not need surgical intervention. Tuesday, December 13th: Tracy had a 1 PM appointment at Georgetown Hospital for Vital Stim. During Vital Stim, Tracy swallowed fifteen times. Mom brought a bottle of Starbucks frappacino to let Tracy smell and she started swallowing immediately. This is definitely more in line with her average swallows, which range between 9 and 12 swallows per session. We really think Tracy is averse to the subfreezing temperatures we are experiencing. There is a reason why Tracy chose to go to college in Miami for heaven's sake. She does not do well in cold weather. We will continue to practice swallowing over the holidays and resume her Vital Stim in the New Year! There are lots of good aromas in Mamaw's kitchen and plenty of motivation to SWALLOW! Friday, December 9th: Tracy had a 1 PM appointment with Dr. Pagan at Georgetown Hospital. Dr. Pagan injected a total of 600 units of Botox into Tracy's right medial and lateral hamstring, both her right and left anterior and posterior tibialis, soleus, and gastrocnemius muscles. Tracy was so relaxed and tolerated the injections very well. We are hopeful that in two or so weeks, we will see a significant improvement in Tracy's lower body tone. The plan is to begin serial casting once the Botox has taken effect. Tracy has an appointment at Children's National Medical Center on Wednesday, January 4th at 10:00 AM. This will include casting Tracy's feet each week, correcting her positioning incrementally until Tracy is able to put her foot in a plantar position. This will enable us to finally get Tracy into some AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) to hold her feet in a normal position. This is a long-term goal which will take time and patience to attain. If the combination of Botox, serial casting, Baclofen adjustment, and physical therapy (tilt table) does not prove to be successful, the option of surgical intervention is still a possibility. Tuesday, December 6th: Tracy, Tiffany, Mom, Linda and Liz went to tour the White House. The theme for this year's tour: All Things Bright & Beautiful, was chosen to highlight the beauty to be found in nature. The White House Residence staff and floral designers from across the country did a magnificent job incorporating the natural beauty found in the many plants, trees, fruit and flowers created by our Designer In Chief: God! Tracy really seemed to enjoy the outing, especially the areas that are typically off limits to most guests (but on the way to the elevator) such as the kitchen, the President's doctor's office, and the private reception room. She seemed very interested in all the hustle and bustle going on in the kitchen with the many White House chefs preparing for a special party. Dad brought a very special gift to Tracy from his hometown parish pastor, Fr. McDuffy: rosaries personally given to him when he had a private audience at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II. These rosaries are very special because they are considered a secondary relic, something that the prospective saint has personally touched. Thank you cousin Frank Arthur for the beautiful St. Theresa medal. She is Tracy's patron saint. Pope Benedict XVI has approved an expedited process for Beatification and ultimate Sanctification of Pope John Paul II. Please pray to Pope John Paul II specifically requesting that he make Tracy one of the two miracles needed for his Sainthood! Here is his prayer: "Prayer for John Paul II's Intercession". We found Tracy's old files and want to share her last AP English Essay and a paper for her Biology Class from Gulf Breeze High School. This will give you some insight into how special she is and why she will come back to us. Here they are: BLESSED and Euthanasia: Filling God's Shoes. Tiffany graduated from LSU's Manship School of Mass Communications on December 19th. Mom, Dad, Tracy, Mamaw, Papaw, Uncle Mike, Aunt Cheryl, Kathryn Jean, Rick, and Tamar were there to cheer her on! She now has a Master's in Mass Communication (MMC) with a concentration in public relations. She started at the Red Cross on January 12th in the Human Relations Department where she will be working on special projects. We are very proud of her.

Saturday, February 4th, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. She wore her resting hand splints for 6 hours during the night. So far, Tracy seems to be tolerating her bilateral leg casts well. Please keep praying for no skin breakdown underneath the casts. This morning, Mom bathed Tracy and got her ready for the day. Dad left a 6:30 AM to attend the Surgeon General's conference. Mom let Tracy rest in her bed for most of the day until Dad returned home at 4:30 PM, at which time they moved Tracy out to her exercise mat. This evening, Sasha came over to visit Tracy. She read Tracy her Guest Book entries from her webpage, while Mom and Dad went next door to a little thai restaurant for a quick dinner. It was a rainy, dreary evening, with temperatures in the low 40's. When Mom and Dad returned home, Tiffany and Rick joined Sasha and Tracy and everyone watched last week's Grey's Anatomy. Tomorrow, Tracy has off from any scheduled therapy. We will all go to noon Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church and most likely stop off at Starbucks for stome lattes. Tomorrow afternoon, we will get together and watch the Superbowl with Liz and Steve. Tiffany, Rick, and Sasha may also join us! We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Elegant Blessings : Living A Life Of Grace!

Friday, February 3rd, 2006: Tracy enjoyed another good night's sleep last night. She wore her splints for a few hours during the night. She seems to be tolerating her bilateral leg casts well. Please keep praying for no skin breakdown underneath the casts. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for a DAY OF FUN! YES, FUN! Mom, Tracy and Linda met Liz and Mary at the National Gallery of Art to see the Cezanne in Provence Exhibit. It was a gorgeous day, temperatures ranging in the mid to upper 60's. Not bad for February 3rd. Whether it is global warming or not, we are all very happy that the weather has been mild and there has been no snow! The weather man is predicting snow next week! At the National Gallery of Art, Mom, Tracy and Linda found Liz and Mary and off they went on a tour. Mom ran into a friend named Laverne who used to work with Dad in Jacksonville many years ago. She suggested that Mom buy the guided tour complete with head phones for Tracy. Tracy started out with her eyes closed but perked up once she had her head phones on. What a great idea! She blinked twice very quickly when Mom asked Tracy if she enjoyed going to the art exhibit. She blinked twice again for Yes when Mom asked Tracy if she wants to go on some more field trips like this one. Mom made several new friends who are going to look Tracy up on the website. The Cezanne exhibit was really breathtaking. Tracy seemed to take it all in. Mom and Linda really liked the Van Gogh exhibit better. He is definitely more their style. Everyone really seemed to have a great time. Iit was just what everyone needed, to get out and see the local sights. When we returned home, Tracy had Physical Therapy with Jen. Jen started out ranging and stretching Tracy and then Mom, Linda and Jen got Tracy prone (on her tummy) so that Jen could stretch Tracy's hips and hamstrings. Jen propped Tracy on her elbows so that she could weight bear through her shoulders. Tracy did a good job with this, and tolerated nearly 20 minutes before she started grinding her teeth. Mom and Linda stretched Tracy's arms over her head, and she tolerated another 15 minutes more. This is such a great stretch for Tracy! This evening, Tania came by to give Mom and Tiffany massages. They were way overdue. It was just what the doctor ordered! Tomorrow, Dad has a conference and will be gone all day. Tracy has off Saturday and Sunday from scheduled therapy. We will get together and watch the Superbowl with Liz and Steve. Tiffany, Rick, and Sasha may also join us! We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Reflections Of Self : We Are All Mirrors For Each Other!

Thursday, February 2nd, 2006: Tracy had a good night's sleep last night with her new casts. She also was relaxed enough to wear her night resting hand splints for eight hours. This morning, Mom and Linda bathed Tracy and got her ready for her 12:00 noon Speech Therapy session with Nikki at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic. During her session, Nikki continued with the same multi-sensory approach that Melissa was using. She started by holding up pictures of the family for Tracy to identify. Tracy did a good job responding, using two eye blinks for Yes and head shakes for No. Then, Nikki held up shapes of various colors, such as a red heart, an orange square, and a blue circle. Tracy did not seem to like working with shapes, even though she has demonstrated her knowledge and understanding of them in the past. Then Nikki played some country music which Tracy seemed to respond to. It sounded like Alan Jackson. Nikiki thought that Tracy did not like country music and told her that she would turn it off if Tracy would make a noise. Tracy did make some good noises today, even though she seemed to like the country music! Nikki did a really good job keeping Tracy engaged and awake during the session. We will return on Monday at 2 PM with Melissa and Nikki for another session. After Speech, Tracy had Physical Therapy with Jen. During PT, Jen stretched and ranged Tracy and then sat her up on the edge of the mat to practice head and trunk control. Mom, Linda and Jen worked on helping Tracy stretch back over a round ball to open up her chest and stretch her shoulders back. Tracy tends to round her shoulders forward due to very tight pecs. Once they were able to get Tracy to relax on the ball, she seemed to enjoy the stretch and demonstrated good deep breathing. She even made some noises! She tolerated about 30 minutes in this position. Tomorrow, Tracy only has Physical Therapy at 1 PM with Jen . She will have Saturday and Sunday off with no scheduled therapy. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Rays Of Life : The Sun!

Wednesday, February 1st, 2006: Tracy slept well again last night. Dad decided to give her a break from her casts and splints last night, since she is getting her serial leg casts on today. This morning, Mom and Linda showered Tracy and got her ready for her 11:00 AM appointment at Children's National Medical Center with Katherine and Marissa. During her casting appointment, Mom, Dad and Linda got Tracy on her tummy on the table so that Marissa and Katherine could apply her casts. Her pressure sores have healed sufficiently and Marissa and Katherine made sure that they padded all of Tracy's boney prominences where she could break down again. They paid particular attention to her healing wounds and padded them with donuts and extra cushioning. Please say a prayer that Tracy does not break down again during her casting and that we are able to cast her successfully each week until her feet are straight. After casting, Erin, Tracy's Occupational Therapist, worked on making new wrist cock up splints for Tracy's hands. She worked with a new type of splint that is custon made like a cast. It is made out of colored fiberglass and seems to be more structured where she needs the support, yet more flexible where she needs the flexibility. They are Miami Hurricane Green too! We pick them up next week when we return for new casts. When we returned from CNMC, Jen was waiting to work with Tracy on her Physical Therapy. She spent some time going through Tracy's range of motion exercises and then Mom, Jen and Linda got Tracy seated on the edge of the mat to work on head and trunk control. They used the therapy table and Tracy was able to lean on her forearms to weight bear through her shoulders. She did a good job with her head control and tolerated 30 minutes in this position. After PT, Linda spent some time feeding Tracy some more strawberry banana yogurt smoothie. Tracy had several good swallows and did a good job moving her mouth and tongue. Faith, our good friend visiting from Whidbey Island, Washington, came by to visit Tracy. She was very pleased with Tracy's progress since she last saw her over a year ago. Tomorrow, Tracy has Speech Therapy at GWU Speech and Hearing Clinic with Nikki at 12 noon. Then she has Physical Therapy with Jen at 1:30. Friday Tracy only has Physical Therapy at 1 PM with Jen . She will have Saturday and Sunday off with no scheduled therapy. We are all very hopeful that 2006 will bring great improvements and many miracles to Tracy and our family. Many thanks to all of you who continue to pray for Tracy's recovery! Please keep those prayers and powerful wishes coming Tracy's way! Lesson of the Day: Time To Play : Taking A Snow Day!