At Steph and Dennis' wedding ceremony, Dennis played and sang an original song that had the catchiest beat and cutest lyrics, adding an extra sweetness to what was an already perfect day on Madeline Island. The refrain went something like this, "I can't stand, not being around you, love to hold your hand, I'm so glad I found you."  We too, are so glad they found each other and feel lucky to have Dennis as part of the family.  [...]

Steph has a tattoo of 3 little birds, inspired by Bob Marley's song "Three Little Birds" (as I understand). I heard the song today and thought of Steph.  The refrain of the song includes the lyrics "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be alright".  These days, it's starting to really feel like things ARE gonna be ok.  Steph has ditched her respirator and is breathing on her own.  The speech therapist did a swallow test, and she passed with flying colors, which means they might be able to take out her feeding tube and let her eat normally.  (She really hates that feeding tube.  It's up her nose.  And when no one's looking, she's yanking on that tube to try to get rid of it.) They've given her ice to try sucking/chewing, which she likes to do.  She tries to speak all day, and so far she's been able to say a few things in a clear and understandable manner, including "Where's my husband?" She is able to express emotion, answer yes/no to several questions, and is slowly able to communicate basic things.  She knows her first name.  She knows the year.  She's super strong and with the help of her physical therapists is able to sit up, stand, and move her limbs.  And, in true Steph fashion, she's waving to everyone in the ICU and giving hugs to family.  [...]

Steph has always been able to light up a room and blow people away.  Now is no different.  Steph’s progress continues to amaze all of us, including her doctors.  She is nearly off her sedation medication, has gotten rid of the neck brace (MRI confirmed no neck or spinal injury!), and is waking more and more.  She has opened her eyes and is tracking people in her room.  She is following simple commands (e.g., squeeze left hand, wiggle toes, blink your eyes, etc…).  She is nodding yes/no.  She is even smiling appropriately and showing facial expressions.  She’s started a number of different therapies including music and physical therapy.  [...]

We’ve had several sparks of hope and clear reminders of Stephanie’s strength, courage, and determination in the past day. The doctors started weaning Stephanie off her sedation medication on Monday, and she is slowly waking. This process will be very slow as her medical teams monitor how she responds. But, she has moved her hands and feet. Dennis felt her squeeze his hand. She clamped down on the respirator mouthpiece when the nurse tried to change it out. And she opened her eyes for a brief while. After being so still for so long (quite the opposite of how Steph normally lives), this has been so great.[...]

The sun & moon are literally aligning for you today, Stephanie​, & sending magical healing vibes!

On a related note, I can’t believe the outpouring of generosity and kindness everyone has shown Stephanie & our family. Thank you![...]

Today was a good day for Stephanie.  She is still stable.  Her intracranial pressure (ICP: the metric the doctors are watching very closely as they monitor her brain) has been steady most of the week. And her other systems continue to be strong.  [...]

Stephanie had another stable day and night.  She's still fighting and staying strong.  We'll know more about her condition as she starts waking, which is still planned for this coming week.  Please keep your positive thoughts, prayers, healing energy and vibes coming! They are the most important thing. [...]

The wait continues. No news is good news but she's been fluttering her eyes. Keep still, Steph. Stephanie remains stable and is "sticking to the plan."  The doctors are hoping to start taking her off some medications on Sunday and let her slowly start waking up. We will keep you posted. GoStephGo![...]

A few thoughts from Dennis this morning:

Thank you very much to every person that has said a prayer for Stephanie, dedicated a thought to her, or sent positive energy our group's way. It is working!! PLEASE CONTINUE TO DO SO. I'm so grateful to have just spent another night with my sweet beautiful wife here on earth. The love and support we're experiencing from family, friends, friends-of-friends, colleagues and others is deeply felt. Steph and I also seem to have angels all around us 24 hours a day...it's been somewhat of a blur but they all appear to be wearing hospital employee badges. Thank you God for providing us with this amazing network. With all that we've been blessed with, I'm 100% confident that Stephanie will pull through, dominate physical therapy and love life and all of those in it, to the fullest, once again. Stephanie, I love you very much and I can't wait to go back to getting lost in your eyes each day for the rest of my life.[...]

A quick update about Steph from Alexis.  We came to the hospital this morning and saw Steph looking 1000x better.  Much of the swelling that was present around her eyes has gone down and there's an air of optimism around her and us.  A neurosurgeon came in and spoke to us and said that her latest scans showed that the shifting of her brain was gone but there still remained some swelling, which was movement towards recovery.  The doctor also said that they are going to hold off on any more scans for a few days if things continue in this direction to give her body time to rest.[...]