Jeddah Judy's message on 3/3/11

St. David's Rehab Hospital, Room 401, will be Deanna's home for awhile. They had good flights from Dubai to the States and when we saw them at St. David's Rehab Hospital tonight from 8:30 - 9:30 pm Deanna was sleepy and Rick was hungry.  Bill took him out to pick up something to eat.  I think Deanna was glad to see all of us.  The kids had fun decorating her bulletin board so she'll be reminded of their love for her.  We are so thankful they are safely here!!!

3/1/11 Jeddah Judy's message to Deanna

Deanna, you would be delighted to see the fantastic welcome both Ryan and Wendy have received at their schools. Ryan's homeroom teacher greeted your dad and Ryan with, "Are you two twins?" When she called me yesterday to introduce herself, she told me she enjoys humor. I took Wendy this morning and she was instantly surrounded by girls wanting to know all about her and welcome her. Her orchestra teacher was glad she brought her violin so she can start playing on the first day of class. I know you will be happy to know your sweethearts are so happy today. Rest well, get strong, and I can hardly wait to see you!!!

February 26 @ 2:23 am Message from Rick

St. David's wanted D's complete medical report, as it was Friday here we could not get it put together yesterday, it will be compiled today in Dubai (but of course it is the weekend in Austin) so Tuesday before we have confirmation that she has a bed to go to in Texas.

They have her booked on the flight Thursday Morning, so we will be there late Thursday Afternoon (3 March)

February 25 Message from Jeddah Judy

We still don't know when Deanna will be released to fly to the U.S., but she is going to have another cat scan tomorrow in Dubai.  There is still the problem of poor circulation to the right foot--hoping and praying that complication subsides soon.  She struggles hard to communicate by writing with her left hand or with nods and signals.

Wendy and Ryan were great travelers yesterday.  They enjoyed skipping the lines at Immigration and Customs as the flight attendant whisked them through, and we had a good time together at the hotel where Erica joined us.  It was so good to be together and pizza was a hit.

Today we brought the kids to Austin, they're mostly unpacked and settled, and the day was so beautiful that the kids and I followed the urge to go to the park and then walk down to Lake Austin.  It was the walk up that exhausted us!  We hiked for almost two hours, so jetlag hit their sleepy bodies with a vengeance and they could hardly eat dinner.  They were very happy to go to bed at 6:30 pm.  We can all guess who's going to be chirping with the birds early tomorrow morning.

Thanks for continuing with your well wishes and prayers for Deanna and her family.

Message from Rick on Tuesday 2/22/11 at 11:13 p.m.

I asked Wendy, and now that she has seen her mother and knows that Deanna is going to be alright, she wants to come to Austin.  I have them booked on the same flight that they were on before, but now it is Thursday the 24th.

Update Wednesday 2/23/11 at 3:48 a.m.

Ryan and Wendy arrived last night and once they'd seen their mum became their normal lively selves.  They stayed at ours last night and we've been to visit Deanna this morning.  She was sitting up having speech therapy this morning and seemed so much brighter.  She had a heart scan and it showed that her heart is perfect with nothing wrong, which is excellent, but which still doesn't explain why she had the stroke.    They are still considering that she has vasculitis.

Anyway, she looked so bright this morning and was really pleased to see the children and tried to say 'Ryan' which was fantastic.  And the children were very happy to chat away with her.  I was only there for a couple of hours as Rick is doing his stint at the moment and she was having lots of tests/scans/treatment and didn't want to get in the way.  I'll take the kids back later as they and Rick are going back to Bahrain and then the kids onto the States.  Monique is staying this afternoon and tonight and I'll be back in in the morning, so we'll update you accordingly. But the change in her in a day is great.  And she is now allowed to eat and drink which is also great progress.   Kind regards to you all - Danielle x

Update February 22 at 6:44 a.m.

Danielle is with Deanna and I just came back to Abu Dhabi to check in on my husband and kids. I plan to go back to the hospital tomorrow and will talk to Rick later tonight and ask him what time will suit him. The kids are going to Danielle's tonight and I also offered to bring them to Abu Dhabi so that they can hang out with my two kids at some point, i will ask Rick his thoughts on that idea.

My medical terminology sucks big time so I will write in simple form. Deanna had a good day today. She is able to move her right leg which must be a good sign ! The nurse gave her a shower and she seemed in good spirits. Gosh she has so much willpower she wants to sit in a chair !!!!!!!!!!She's never been one for lying around all day and doing nothing!!!!!!

There is a team of Dr's working on her as they are trying to figure out the source of the problem. We met with the Cardiologist, Neurologist, and also the Chief of ICU. Deanna has many tests this afternoon including another MIR. Danielle tried to download her ct scan from yesterday to e-mail it you but was unable to download it. I will ask the hospital tomorrow if they can send you a copy is that ok with you ?