The Kleinlein Family

Back to Spaulding Rehab, again. The headache is gone, so the oxygen therapy did it's job but we are still fighting against sporadic low grade fevers. The neurosurgeon thinks that trauma is causing the brain to be unable to regulate the body's temperature. All her cultures have come back "negative", so it's probably not a virus/bacteria that is causing this: She just needs time to heal.
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Perhaps the most difficult part of this journey, is still the loss of her short term memory. I have never considered how difficult life is when you can't remember the present. Meghan's doesn't remember foods eaten, TV shows watched, people who are new, conversations with new topics and the list goes on. The only coping mechanism that we have found to be helpful is to write down what to anticipate. If we have to leave her, we put a note where she can read it and so she knows what to expect. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of short term memory loss is that after 48 hours, she has some recall of situations. For example, after my parents left the hospital, she couldn't remember their visit, nor the presents that they brought her. Yet by Tuesday, she could remember quite a few significant details about their visit. It is almost as if the memory is in the brain, but it is not accessible until it moves to "long term storage".
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So we are modifying our prayer request to include the tumor not repairing/growing and for Meghan to regain retention of short term experiences, responses and stimuli. We will keep this prayer at the foremost of our requests as it really seems to be the most vital of all her deficits.
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Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. We feel so lifted up by the numerous people who love Meghan personally, and those who have come to love her through this blog. We read your comments daily, and we find great strength in them. Please keep commenting, it gets us through the day.