Dear CCAM Partners and Friends,

Step by step, Buntheep is slowly on the road to recovery. After practicing for a few days of gradually raising and lowering the head of her bed several times a day, Buntheep was finally able to sit up unsupported in bed three days ago.

Day before yesterday, she practiced sitting on the side of the bed, then standing on the floor, and then sitting in a chair next to the bed. The changes in level had to be gradual, or she got headaches, dizziness, or nausea. After accomplishing the above, she was very ready to get back in bed, exhausted.

Yesterday, she began walking a few steps to the bathroom to use the toilet and even walked out in the hall to choose a video off the rack. She also sat up in bed to play a keyboard and paint some pictures. Again, these activities thoroughly exhausted her, and she often had to stop to rest. She spends rest times watching videos or napping. Today, Buntheep rode in a wheelchair to a bathroom down the hall for a real bath. This was exciting for her, but also an exhausting experience.

Of course, when I said above that she "walked," I mean she moved her feet slowly while being supported on both sides by nurses. The right leg from which the tissue was harvested to reconstruct inside her head is still very weak. So far she is walking with a limp. Please pray that her muscles in that leg will fully recover so that she can walk (and dance) normally. Physical therapists come daily to exercise her legs.

Another problem is her left hand. She has complained for a couple of weeks about the two smallest fingers being numb, probably as a result of one of the many IVs that stopped working properly, possibly damaging her nerves. When she tried to play the keyboard, those fingers were nearly paralyzed and did not respond to her efforts to press the keys. This is very distressing to her, because she loves to play and is quite gifted in doing so.

Please pray that the feeling and strength will come back to those fingers soon. Occupational therapists come once in a while to exercise her arms and hands.

Well, times up. Praise our Lord Jesus Christ for His complete healing--some already accomplished and some yet to come.

In His Hands,
Gioia and Buntheep

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