Teaching a New Dog New Tricks
Here are some pictures of Ashleigh in her standing frame playing with her dog Sophie. In the first two pictures Ashleigh is getting Sophie to stand on her hind legs and dance. She spins around a couple of times for the treat. Very cute.
In the following pictures Ashleigh is getting ready to throw the ball for Sophie to fetch.
www.tbirecovery.org
Neurosurgeon Check-Up
Ashleigh just had a check-up with her Neurosurgeon Dr. Zuccarello. The good news is that her CT shows everything is stable after her brain injury. In fact, Dr. Zuccarello said that her ventricles even look a little smaller. Here is a picture with Ashleigh and Dr. Zuccarello.
Getting a good report from the neurosurgeon is such good news as we really worry that her shunt may malfunction again. Ashleigh has had to have her VP Shunt replaced three times and it sets her back dramatically each time.
Dr. Zuccarello took over for Ashleigh's previous doctor, Dr. van Loveren, who took a new position in Florida. Dr. Zuccarello had big shoes to fill as Dr. van Loveren was one of our favorite doctors ever. Dr. Zuccarello has not disappointed and it is easy to see how much he really cares for Ashleigh.
www.tbirecovery.org
Wii Brain Injury Rehab Therapy
You may have seen articles in the paper recently where rehab centers have been using Nintendo Wii's as part of their brain injury rehab program. Thanks to our PT, Julian, Ashleigh has been doing her own Wii therapy since last year. Here are a couple of photos showing Ashleigh playing her favorite "cow-racing" game.
Ashleigh's Physical Therapist, Julian suggested that there may be some games that Ashleigh should be able to play with the Nintendo Wii. He got his kids one and thought it might help Ashleigh as well as bring more fun into the therapy sessions.
The Wii can interpret movements made by the controller as input into the games. This is much more advanced than the previous game systems where you had to push buttons to send a signal. With Ashleigh's hemiplegia she can only use one hand and that one with limited movement. There are however a few of the games that she can use and she seems to enjoy it.
Ashleigh's little niece and nephew also love to play and they will get up in Ashleigh's bed and play with her. Some games they take turns on and a couple they play at the same time. For example, the boxing game uses one controller for the right hand and the other for the left. Ashleigh will be one hand and one of the kids will be the other. It can get a little hectic but Ashleigh enjoys the kids.
www.tbirecovery.org
A New Addition
Ashleigh recently bought the cutest puppy! The dog is a mix between a toy poodle and a Bichon Frise. Ashleigh named her Sophie.
We have had an English Mastiff for a number of years now. The problem is he is too big to really be with Ashleigh that much plus he has become very protective of Ashleigh since her accident. So, we have been keeping him in the kitchen away from the doctors and therapists and others who come to the house.
Sophie should stay pretty small and will be a good lap dog for Ashleigh whether in her bed or in her wheelchair. She has gone to soccer games with us and rides along in Ashleigh's lap. Very cute.
We are hoping she hurries and grows out of the biting stage but other than that she is a good dog.
Therapy - Standing Frame
Ashleigh got an Evolv Standing Frame from EasyStand that she has been using in therapy. This stander has a lot more support for her when standing. She has been able to increase the time she is able to stand.
The biggest difference in the stander is the support for her back and laterally. The other stander she used had a strap across the bottom. This stander gives full support for her back and has adjustable lateral supports on the sides.
Pap's Passing
We recently had a death in the family as we lost our patriarch, Dave, who all the grandkids and great-grandkids simply called "Pap". He was a wonderful man, very intelligent, caring, and soft-spoken. Dave is my wife's father and his death was unexpected and is still devastating to our very tight-knit family.
Dave was hospitalized for one problem and while in the hospital tests found he had terminal cancer. He was at first given a few months and then the next day the doctors reduced that prediction down to days. He went from the hospital to Hospice for two days and then came here to our house with a Hospice nurse until he passed away a few days later.
We really weren't sure how to deal with it in regards to Ashleigh because we were getting conflicting and confusing information from the doctors. We ended up just telling her everything we were told along the way. Ashleigh visited Pap in the hospital and stayed with me at home while I converted her therapy room into a bedroom for her Pap and Grandma. This allowed my wife to spend as much time as she could at the hospital.
Having Pap come to our house with Hospice made it nice for Ashleigh so she was able to be with him but have her bed and equipment available. We had lots of family visiting both while Pap was in the hospital and for the funeral and again having our home as the meeting place was helpful for Ash to participate.
A sad but interesting note is that Ashleigh has not been able to cry since her accident. She gets upset and tries to cry but had not cried any tears. While we were at the funeral and our cousin was singing two beautiful songs Ashleigh did cry with tears for her Pap.
It is a loss that will never be overcome but we are glad that so many of the kids and grandkids got to know Pap and feel his love for them.
Moving Her Left Hand
Ashleigh gave me a great birthday present yesterday. When I got home from a job my wife said Ashleigh had a surprise for me and she was able to purposefully move the pointer finger on her left hand. This is really the first time she has been able to do that since her accident in 1999. This was the hand that she had to have tendon lengthening surgery on just so the hand was not drawn up.
My wife said she had actually done more movement earlier in the day. She was able to move her hand up on her chest and then move it back down to touch my wife's hand. She was also able to move the fingers on command. She duplicated some of the movements today for her OT. It wasn't huge movements but it is progress and we will be happy to take it.
New Bed
If any of you have had a medical bed at home you know what the beds are like. They look like they are from WWII with the clunky metal frames and fake woodgrain panels. The motors are slow and squeaky and always sounds like the hamster needs to be changed. Sometimes you don't even qualify for a motorized version and you have to use a hand crank. The mattress was very uncomfortable.
The siderails are one of the biggest problems. They lock onto the frame and there is a gap between the mattress and the rails. The thumb springs broke on our siderails and we ended up using mouth swab sticks to hold them up.
We found the real potential danger with the siderails when we woke up one night and found Ashleigh lodged in the gap between the bed and the rail. She was able to hold herself up with her right arm otherwise it could have hung her. She was not able to call out because of her inability to speak.
Since that time we have been trying to get a better bed. We finally were able to replace her bed with a fantastic Hill Rom bed. This is one like you would have in the hospital and it even has a low air loss mattress with it. It is like going from a Model T to a brand new car. The motors are so much faster and it has a number of features we have found very helpful such as the "chair" feature and the built-in scale. The side rails are fit to the mattress and is much safer. The Hill Rom folks were just great and I have attached a pictures of them below delivering the new bed.
The Hill Rom folks have a Home Care Division although you could never prove it by our insurance company or our home health equipment provider. When we complained about our old bed we asked why we couldn't get a bed like they have in the hospital and we were told basically that it just wasn't done and the WWII style beds are the only things available. Obviously that is not the case...
Ashleigh is now so much more comfortable and she is sleeping better at night and so are we knowing she is also safer.
Mother's Day
We had a very nice surprise right before Mother's Day. We got a call from a reporter, Rick McCrabb, who asked if they could talk with us regarding a profile for Mother's Day. The attached is the article that appeared in the Middletown Journal this past Mother's Day. Very deserved praise for a very good mother.The text of the article: CELEBRATING%20MOM.htm
Order to Go - More Voicing
I was coming home from doing some measurements at a house where I will be building a wheelchair ramp. My phone cell phone rang but at first I did not hear anyone on the other end.
Then, I heard a whispery voice say "Hi Dad". It was Ashleigh on the other end. I asked if she felt OK and she said she had a headache. Her Mom then came on the phone and said Ashleigh wanted to ask me something. Ashleigh asked me for a cheeseburger and fries. After I got done laughing I told her of course and made a turn to head to McDonalds. We exchanged "I love you's" and then I headed to get her to-go order.
Ashleigh's voicing has continued to follow a pattern where she might speak for a few minutes at a time for a period of a week or so. Then we may go a couple of weeks where there is very little voicing. The voicing mainly occurs after she has been asleep.
Ashleigh has been able to voice more lately without being asleep first. The other night she talked for a very long period, probably 20-30 minutes. As she got tired it got much more breathy or whisperery but we could still understand her. A few days before Ashleigh was awake after midnight and my wife came into the room and Ashleigh was saying her prayers out loud.
That was the same night she told my wife she wanted peach cobbler. My wife said she did not have all of the ingredients but was there anything else she wanted. Ashleigh said "Yes, peach cobbler". My wife asked if she wanted her to wake me up and have me go buy the ingredients. Luckily, Ashleigh said no since it was two o'clock in the morning. Needless to say, the next day we got the stuff and Ashleigh enjoyed her cobbler.
We are just so thrilled every time she talks that we would get her anything she wants since she can so rarely voice her needs. As long as it is cheeseburgers or cobblers we are OK, if she starts asking for new cars I could be in trouble.
We are no closer to understanding this phenomenon but we sure do enjoy it every time it happens. Her mother and I believe things would be so much better for her if she could just speak to us all of the time.
Lokomat Gait Trainer
People have asked for more on the Lokomat Gait Trainer. We were able to use the computerized Lokomat Gait Training system while at The Rehab Institute of Chicago. While Ashleigh was only on it twice, it was very cool. The robotics combined with the computer system puts the user in perfect position to walk even if they are not able to help.
Ashleigh tried the Lokomat and we thought she was doing pretty good. But, the therapist thought Ashleigh's ankle was turned in in such a way as to risk getting a broken ankle if we contintued. Now, you have to remember Ashleigh can't speak but she gave this therapist a look that would kill. We saw an orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern a few days later and he recommended tendon lengthening surgery followed by casting to relieve the contractures. The surgery went better than the doctor hoped and he did not even do one procedure because the others worked so well.
The successful surgery was the good news, but being in a cast for the next five or six weeks was the bad news. Ashleigh stood in the stander the day after surgery and kept it up even in the casts. She got to try the Lokomat one more time after the casts came off and the therapists were amazed she did so well.
Ashleigh walked for about fifteen minutes and kept her effort up above the machine level the whole time. Fifteen minutes may not sound like a lot but there is probably twenty minutes beforehand standing getting the equipment on and then getting everything adjusted. All in all, she did great. Maybe when we hit the lottery, we will buy one of the Lokomats so she could really see the benefits.
For more: www.ric.org or http://www.hocoma.ch/
Continuing to Vocalize
People calling our support line (1-877-810-2100) have asked whether Ashleigh has spoken again. See bottom of blog for audio files.
Ashleigh has continued to speak aithough it is usually a week or so more frequent followed by a week or more of less frequent. Again, mainly after she has been asleep. The speech is appropriate, she initiates conversation, and she always answers correctly.
Here is a cute one.
Right before Christmas we asked what she wanted as a gift. She said she wanted a puppy. As background, Ollie was a basset hound puppy we got her a few years before her accident. Sadly, he got out into the street and got hit by a car. Ashleigh gave the dog mouth-to-snout recesitation all the way to the vet but he did not make it.
So, when we asked Ashleigh what kind of a puppy she wanted she said "I want a basset hound like Ollie. Only alive..."
Rehab- - We Love the Drake...
Ashleigh spent about six weeks in in-patient rehab that The Drake Center in Cincinnati. Our Phsyiatrist recommended it and one of the main reasons was that he wanted to try to work on her vocalization.
We were very happy with Ashleigh's progress in rehab and the therapists were some of the best we have had anywhere. They really cared for Ashleigh and she made some nice gains in strength and endurance. She also worked with a Speech therapist who has a background in computer aided speech technology and they worked with Ashleigh on her computer access.
Probably the most fun Ashleigh had was in the therapy pool. The Drake Center has a very large warm water pool for the patients to use. The most amazing part is that half of the pool floor raises up to the level of the pool deck so that patients can stay in a shower wheelchair and roll in to the pool. The floor is then lowered to the appropriate height for the patient. Very cool.
Ashleigh was able to move her body much more while in the pool. She was able to walk across the pool, with help. She was able to initiate movement even with the leg on her left side which is much weaker.
The best part of the pool is that Ashleigh really enjoys it. My wife worked with Ashleigh to come up with a few new signs so Ashleigh could sign to the doctor that she wanted to swim more. Dr. Watanabe then asked for Ashleigh to vocalize her request. It took a while but Ashleigh was able to say with her voice that she wanted to swim more. One of the only handful of times she has been able to speak without being asleep first. I have attached some pictures from the pool.
If you are not a Seinfeld aficionado then the title might not make sense. If you recognize the Seinfeld reference then you may be as big of a dork as Ashleigh says I am.
Jewel / Rob Thomas Concert
We surprised Ashleigh with a trip to see her favorite singer Jewel in Columbus. We did not tell her about the concert until the morning of the show because she doesn't sleep very well if she gets excited and anxious about things.
We had another huge surprise that did not come together until minutes before we left for the concert. My wife had been trying for weeks and weeks to contact someone with Jewel's staff to see if there was a way to meet Jewel. We got a call confirming things right before we walked out of the door. We did not tell Ashleigh in case it did not work out.
When we got to Columbus there was a line all the way down the street of people waiting to get in. One of the security staff then came and got us and escorted us to the front of the line. We were asked to wait by a gate and told they would come and get us.
No one came and the warm up band started and we were beginning to get worried. Even though we were told that Jewel upon hearing about Ashleigh said she wanted to meet her, we were worried that maybe the timing was not going to work out. Just then, someone came and got us and took us back among the buses. Jewel came out and talked with Ashleigh and Ash was in heaven. We then got the above picture with Jewel. It was almost bittersweet for her Mom and I as I remember her playing Jewel's CD's in her bedroom and singing right along. Now we just wish she could speak again to at least tell us when something is wrong.
We stayed for Jewel's concert and figured Ashleigh would be tired but she said she wanted to stay so we stayed for Rob Thomas' concert as well. Jewel even came back out and joined him for a few songs. I know Ashleigh was exhausted by the time we got home but she said it was worth it. We really thank Jewel and her staff for being so kind and taking time out to make Ashleigh's day.
Bernardo's Wedding
Bernardo was Ashleigh's PT for a number of years. He became much more than a therapist and is a close family friend. We traveled to Canton this weekend for the wedding. It was quite a trip but Ashleigh had a great time. Here are the first pics, I will add more to this post later.
Unique Table Manners
Ashleigh has continued to talk on an intermittent basis. Again, it is typically in the evening after she has dozed off for a while. She did it again the other night after I went to bed and unfortunately my wife did not get it recorded. Turns out Ashleigh was having an interesting dream.
My wife noticed that Ashleigh was waking up and that she had a smile on her face. My wife asked her if she was having a good dream. Ashleigh said yes and my wife asked what it was. Ashleigh said that my wife and Ashleigh were at a McDonalds. But while they were at the McDonalds Ashleigh was eating with her feet. My wife asked if people were looking at them and Ash said "Not really".
Any dream interpreters out there? I have heard of the classic dreams like falling or in front of people in your underwear but I have never heard of eating with your feet. Email me if this makes sense. This does shoot down one theory from a doctor that Ashleigh was just repeating random words and not really conversing. Anyway, we don't care what she says as long as she keeps talking.
Ernie - The Brain Injury Recovery Network
help@tbirecovery.org
Vanessa Visit
A long time family friend stopped by when she was back in town from Chicago. Vanessa is a very smart and funny woman who now works and lives in Chicago.
Vanessa was a fantastic host for us when we were in Chicago last year for Ashleigh's stay at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC). When we were scheduled to go to RIC we went up a couple days ahead of our Evaluation appointment at RIC so that Ashleigh could have a full day to rest and hopefully be very impressive in her evaluation.
Vanessa arranged an apartment for us in her building which was really nice and much better than a hotel room. It was pretty unusual for someone to be accepted at RIC so long after their injury but luckily after Ashleigh's evaluation, the doctor recommended a two week stay, that was extended to about eight weeks. The only problem was the evaluation was on a Thursday and they would not have an open bed until the next Tuesday. We decided to stay in Chicago rather than drive home and back again.
Part of the decision to stay was that Ashleigh had developed the start of a skin breakdown on the initial six hour drive to Chicago. So, we extended the stay in the apartment and did some sightseeing while we waited for the room at RIC.
While we were in RIC, Vanessa would stop by to visit and she alwas seemed to have a Chicago delicacy of some kind for us to enjoy. We really appreciate her friendship and I know Ashleigh appreciates her love and support.
Celebrity Encounter
People often get very excited when they have a celebrity encounter. Well, get ready to be jealous. Ashleigh had an encounter with a highly recognizable celebrity at the Dayton Dragon's minor league baseball game.
You guessed it, the San Diego Chicken. Ashleigh's lawyers from Dyer, Garafolo, Mann & Schultz, gave us some tickets to the game and we had a good time. Ashleigh did tire out so we left after the first few innings of the second game of a double header but not before she got to meet the San Diego Chicken.
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The Chicken did some really funny stuff on the field with his crew of little chicks behind him. It is not quite a Tom Cruise sighting but at least the Chicken did not give us any grief about any medications we may be taking...
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Care Flight Celebration
Miami Valley Hospital held a celebration for their Care Flight helicopter transport. All of the patients transported by Care Flight were invited and the hospital had a picnic lunch for everyone. We took Ashleigh and had a good time. It was the first time she got to see the helicopter since her accident.
We have to credit the nurses and pilot of Care Flight with saving Ashleigh's life. The local paramedics called for Care Flight very quickly after arriving on the scene. The Care Flight nurses were able to stabilize Ashleigh enough for transport. She was intubated at the scene. Without their skill and experience, I don't think she would have made it.
Donna Young, the Careflight nurse in the picture below, continued to follow Ashleigh's care for her brain injury while she was in the hospital. She really helped my wife cope with things by coming to Ashleigh's room in the middle of the night and talking with my wife. They would sometimes go for coffee and give my wife a little bit of a break. Whenever she was on duty she would stop by Ashleigh's room to check on her and lend support.
I don't want to sound real ethereal here but we have seen Ashleigh have such an impact on people through this ordeal. I think the care and concern that Donna showed that was above and beyond the norm is another example. She took one of Ashleigh's senior pictures and laminated it to the clipboard she carries with her at work. So many times people have been just extraordinary when dealing with Ashleigh.
We ran in to Donna at a high school football game our sons were playing in. Sorry to say her team won but it was good to see her. She just stood and held Ashleigh's hand the whole time she was talking with us.
Five Year Class Reunion
Ashleigh attended her Five Year Class Reunion. She seemed to have a good time and saw a number of friends she had not seen in a while. Below are a few photos.
Quite frankly, my wife and I had a lot of trepidation about the reunion. We were worried she would feel out of place, or depressed, or left out.
Some of that fear was based on the fact that when some of Ashleigh's friends have visited her, they really don't know how to handle the fact that she can't speak. We have tried to tell them to just talk about things they would normally talk about. My wife or I usually stay in the room for a while to start things off and then we leave the room to let them continue talking. With most people, the room soon turns quiet. We come back in but the conversation often is with ourselves and the visitor.
So not knowing if Ashleigh would be ignored or if she would become upset seeing the others we made the trip. At first, we felt a little ignored but then a couple of girls came over and started talking with her. It is interesting that both of the girls are in nursing. As the night wore on it got better and it ended up being pretty comfortable.
Near the end of the party one of Ashleigh's favorite teachers dropped in to say hello. Mr. Fogle has been battling problems of his own as he has successfully survived a life threatening battle with cancer. He came over and spoke with Ashleigh and she really appreciated it.
For me, I kept thinking that it was right after Mr. Fogle's English final exam that Ashleigh and Celeste went to lunch and then had the accident that has changed all of our lives.
Here is Ashleigh with a couple of her girlfriends. Don't email, the beer in Ashleigh's hand was just a prop. She couldn't drink even if she wanted to with her seizure meds.
Jennifer Visit
There are a few pictures below from a visit we had from Jennifer and her mother, Bev and father, Randy. We knew Jennifer for weeks before she ever knew us.
You see Jennifer was injured in an auto accident the same day as Ashleigh was and was in an ICU room down the hall from us in a coma. Ashleigh and Jennifer both suffered brain injuries and their recovery was following a similar path.
Jennifer's car hit a tree in the early morning as she was headed back home. She suffered a severe brain injury. Ashleigh's brain injury brought us to the hospital some eight hours later.
We bonded with Jennifer's family as both of our families were living in the ICU worrying if our daughters were going to live or die. Jennifer's constant companions were her parents, her brother, and her boyfriend. We all became friends and tried to help each other.
It was very helpful for us to compare notes and learn from each other as we struggled with coping with this terrible situation. To show you how fickle brain injuries are, Jennifer seemed more seriously injured in the early phases. Ashleigh was showing more early movements and had less severe side effects such as the neuro storms and foot drop. However, Jennifer has since recovered many more of her abilities and is doing fantastic. She is still working hard on her recovery and is trying to overcome some continuing issues. We are so happy for her and her family. She is the sweetest girl you could ever meet.
An example of their kindness was when we had to attend our niece Celeste's graduation and Jennifer's family was kind of enough to care for our son while we spent a couple of hours away from the hospital. When we got back, our son jokingly gave us grief and said that Jennifer's parents even brought in pizza while we always make him eat in the hospital cafeteria.
Jennifer and her family continue to pray for Ashleigh and still call and come to visit her. They live over an hour away but still make the trip to see us. We appreciate their concern and commitment so much.
Arboretum Visit
Below are some pictures from the Cox Arboretum. We went ot visit the arboretum the weekend before Celeste's wedding to check the place out and see how accessible it was. This place was going to be the site of Celeste's reception.
This kind of points out some of the challenges when caring for a disabled person. First, you need to make sure the building is accessible for wheelchairs. Not usually a problem for public spaces but almost always a problem for homes. Secondly, there are extra considerations to think about. In our situation, Ashleigh's aunt and uncle arranged a space at the reception hall where we had a hospital bed delivered so she could lie down when she was tired or needed to change.
You often need to bring equipment, like a suction machine or other things like medications, blankets, etc. Some things are easy to forget until you find yourself away from home and realize you need a straw for a drink. Many of the simpler things we take for granted prove to be difficult when you are disabled. It's up to the family to try and anticipate those needs to make things as comfortable as possible for your loved one. More fun facts of having to deal with brain injuries.
ENT Visit
Ashleigh had an appointment with an Ear Nose & Throat specialist. Her doctor wanted the ENT to do a videoscope of her throat just to make sure there were no problems with her vocal cords that could be preventing her from speaking more.
Ashleigh has not been able to speak since her brain injury. See the post below "Ashleigh's Voice" to hear Ashleigh speak.
Our visit to the ENT was actually the second trip in the last few weeks. The first visit the doctor took the history and said come back later for the videscope. Very frustrating since we thought we were there then for the scope.
They squeezed us in with an 8 AM appointment for the videoscope. That meant my wife and I got up about 5 AM to start getting ready. I am not an early riser. Then of course when we got to the doctor's office, the doctor who was going to do the procedure wasn't even there yet.
After the procedure which is fairly quick and no too difficult for Ashleigh we went back to the other doctor's treatment room for him to read the results. He said that there does not seem to be any problems or any areas where Botox injections would help.
The doctor basically said that Ashleigh's vocal cords seem to be working fine as her recordings show. The bump that is visible in the pictures below is a cyst but he said not to worry about it. He said it could make her voice a little raspy but given all of the other issues we should just continue to watch it over the next few months.
He did say one thing that drove my wife nuts. He said when Ashleigh talks to just encourage her. I took that as the doctor really not having much to say and was just kind of saying something to wrap things up. My wife took it more literally like the doctor really thought he was giving us some new direction. Did he think that when she started talking for a few minutes after not talking for six years that we were not trying to encourage her? That was why we were in his office in the first place trying to learn if there was anything else we could do to get her talk more.
We joked that here, after six years of no voicing, that without the doctor's wonderful insight we would have kept telling Ashleigh to keep quiet every time she tried to talk.
Rehab Institute of Chicago
Oprah Show Taping
Ashleigh is a huge Oprah fan. She watches her every day. We really admire Oprah's compassion and the way she uses her celebrity to help others. So, when we were in Chicago at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago my wife decided to try to get tickets for an Oprah show. Let me just say, that getting tickets is easier said than done.
Somehow my wife got tickets lined up for us. The next step was the hospital staff. We were very worried that with insurance or hospital policies it was going to be a big hassle. As you may have run into, some of the folks in the medical world are real sticklers for policies and rules.
It turned out fine. The doctors said they were okay with it as long as each of the therapist signed off on the idea. The therapists were great. When it came time to leave RIC for the taping we had every therapist and nurse offering Ashleigh their service as her personal medical staff as long as they could come along to the show.
So we made the trip to Harpo Studios and Ashleigh was probably the only hospital patient to attend an Oprah taping. The Oprah staff was just fantastic. We did not even get all the way across the street from the parking lot before we were met by a staffer.
Ashleigh was escorted inside out of the cold immediately and we got right through to the head of the line and then to the waiting area. A ramp was set up in the studio and Ashleigh and another lady in a wheelchair were seated. The other audience members then came in and the show began. Oprah was very personable and we thought she looked even more attractive in person. Ashleigh really enjoyed herself.
The only negative was that the show topic was about cheating husbands. Maybe not the best day to be one of the few guys in the audience. If you can go by the schedule of when the shows aired then we just missed the Tom Cruise "jump on the couch" show. Ashleigh would have really enjoyed that show.
After the taping my wife asked if there was any way for Ashleigh to meet Oprah. They checked but Oprah was already changing for the second taping. Instead, Oprah signed a copy of her magazine that I scanned in below. Ashleigh really treasures that magazine and the whole Oprah experience. My wife is still hoping for Ashleigh to be on Oprah as a guest one day. She thinks Asleigh's story and her spirit and determination she has displayed sincer her acident is the kind of story Oprah's audience would enjoy.
One last note, when we saw the show air on TV we were never shown in any of the audience shots. The show featured a number of taped segments where Oprah had interviewed the guests elsewhere so there were fewer opportunities to get on TV, but, we were hoping Ashleigh would have been on TV at least once. Maybe next time...
Little Jake Pays a Visit
Jake is Ashleigh's cousin Jason and his wife Tina's little boy. They came down from Columbus and paid a visit. Ashleigh enjoyed holding him and Jacob seemed pretty content. Jason is Celeste's older brother.
My wife's parents Maxine and Dave also were over for a visit. I have included some pictures below.
Ashleigh and Jacob
Great Grandma Maxine and Jacob
Great Grandpa Dave (Pap) and Jacob
A New Arrival - Evan
Celeste and her husband Chris had a beautiful baby boy. Ashleigh 
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