Gabrielle is slowly improving bit by bit. She is growing more interactive and has been blowing kisses, waving bye-bye, and giving out high-fives. Her fever seems to be gone and the diarrhea has improved tremendously. She has been sleeping very poorly at night and is quite irritable in the wee hours of the morning. We’re not sure if her sleep cycles are just off or if it’s something else.

We were planning to come home to NC to begin rehab but what we learned yesterday is that once a person is discharged from the hospital it is almost impossible to get them readmitted for inpatient rehab. Therefore we have decided to have Gabrielle transferred to the rehab floor here at NYU for the next week while we work on lining up inpatient rehab somewhere closer to home. As of now, we know that ECU and Charlotte offer peds rehab for little people like Gabrielle. We are also looking into the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore which provides rehab for children recovering from hemispherectomies performed at Johns Hopkins. Once we settle on a facility we will then have Gabby “transferred” to avoid insurance glitches.

It will be difficult to move right into rehab without any break from the hospital way of life but I think it is definitely the best thing for Gabby. She needs at least 4 weeks of intensive rehab so she can begin to recover from one of the most aggressive brain surgeries performed. We continue to pray that God will lay out a plan for this next stage of recovery. We pray that Gabrielle will continue to move forward and make daily progress in the rehabilitation of her motor skills. We pray that God would continue to watch over our family as we work out the logistics of inpatient rehab, income, and the care of our 4 other children. God has already provided in so many amazing ways. Our families have been taking the very best care of Maddie, Gavin, Keagan, and Luke. They sound like they are happy and having so much fun we often wonder if they miss us.:) The apartment has been the perfect sanctuary to get a good night’s sleep and a refreshing shower. The doctors and nurses have been wonderful. Our friends and family have been so supportive. It really just amazes me how God has worked things out thus far.

For anyone wanting to learn more about hemispherectomy I came across the following blog http://jessiekelley.blogspot.com/ about a girl named Jessie who recently had the same surgery as Gabby. Her parents just started the Hemispherectomy Foundation which has been in the news. There are also links to several other blogs that share the amazing stories of other children who have undergone hemispherectomy.

I hope to post some pictures of Ms. Gabby soon!
Love,
Kelly