December 02, 2007
The saga of the doves continued... Yesterday Skye and I went home to Green Creek to spend the afternoon. It's been at least a month since Skye's last visit home and two months since the doves last visited us there. While I was in the shed getting out Christmas decorations, Neil and Skye were in the house drinking hot chocolate. They came outside hand in hand and started down the walk as I was coming back from the shed. Less than a minute passed before one of the doves showed up, landing on the hood of the truck in front of us. Neil and I were speechless! It sat there a few minutes before heading straight for Neil and Skye, who were no more than a foot apart. It flew right between them, hovered between their heads for a few seconds, then flew over to land on the porch step. It stayed close to us for about five more minutes before taking off. When Skye and I got ready to leave about fifteen minutes later, there it was, sitting in the driveway right beside the passenger door of my car, as if just waiting for us and watching over us. If someone told me this story, I would have a hard time believing it actually happened. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around it even having been there when it happened. It was such an amazing and powerful experience! I have to believe the dove was bringing us a message of faith and hope- to remind us to continue to believe and to think in possibilities.

December 01, 2007
We've been told all along that recovery would involve a continuing series of ups and downs and we were reminded of that again this past week. Last weekend was absolutely stellar and we were excited with what seemed to be some cognitive breakthroughs. Skye's voice was louder, her memory came more easily, and she seemed more energized. On Saturday, we went to see the movie, “Enchanted”. Sunday morning I asked her if she could tell me the name of the chipmunk, a pretty obscure fact when remembering the name of the movie or the lead characters can be challenging. She came right back with “Pip”. After the movie, I gave her a choice of going back to the house or going to the Y to walk the track. She chose going to the track where we walked a full mile. As we made our rounds on the inside lane, she pointed to the outside “runner's” track and told me, “Before long I'm going to be RUNNING in that lane.” On Sunday, I asked her if she recognized a difference and right away she responded, “I'm more with it.” It was as if something had clicked and we were seeing a breakthrough. We were riding high! Monday morning she did well in her three hours of therapy. In the early afternoon Matt was at the house with Skye when she grabbed the door, her eyes training left and fluttering. He recognized that she was having a seizure and helped her down to the floor. It was brief and she was lucid immediately afterward, but the event was still pretty frightening. She got into bed to rest and spent the remainder of the afternoon either napping or resting quietly. She seemed okay, just very tired. In the early evening, as Ben was getting her out of the bath, she told him she felt like she was going to faint. As he got her into a safe position, she experienced another seizure. We took her to the hospital where they examined her, immediately put her on anti-seizure medicine and referred us to a neurologist. One of the side effects of the anti-seizure medicine is sleepiness and fatigue-- the same challenges that we've been trying to help Skye overcome in her recovery. The medicine makes her dizzy and tired, so she's spent most of the past week taking very long naps. We'll try this medicine out for a week or so and if the fatigue and dizziness don't subside, the doctor will prescribe a different medication. It may be a few weeks until we're able to see a neurologist. Meanwhile, it looks like she'll have to take some form of anti-seizure medicine for an extended period of time. Though tired, she's still as witty as ever. This morning as I was making her breakfast, I tossed a scrap of ham to Dakota. When he missed it, I teased him for being a lame catch. Skye laughed and said “He was just dazed by the tasty coming his way.”

November 24, 2007
We're grateful for all of you who have kept Skye and us surrounded in love in prayers. We haven't been able yet to thank each of you personally, but please know how very much your love, friendship and support mean to us! You've been so wonderful and we are humbled by your generosity and kindness. While the last eight months have been the most challenging, painful and difficult time of our lives, we've also been given the gift of watching many miracles unfold before our eyes. We've been reminded just how fragile and precious life is. Every moment we're able to hold Skye, sharing a tender moment or celebrating a small victory feels like a cherished gift and we're reminded never to miss a minute of the blessings. Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you all!

November 21, 2007
With all of her therapies and appointments along with her need for naps, Skye's days fill up quickly. Yesterday I asked her how she would plan her perfect day if she didn't have any appointments. She said, "I'd get up and go out for breakfast. Then I'd go hiking. Then I'd go out for lunch. Then I'd go hiking again. Then I'd go out for dinner. Then I'd go out to a movie." I laughed and asked, "Are you telling me you don't like my cooking?" She paused then eplied, "Mom, I love your cooking. I want to go out because I want to hang out with my friends and talk and I want to feel normal." She desperately wants to get back “in her life”. We're definitely seeing improvement in her memory and that's helped her to engage in longer, more complex conversations. Fatigue is one of the more common issues people with traumatic brain injuries have to deal with and it's a huge challenge for Skye. This weekend we took her to see the Bee Movie (really cute!). Skye stayed engaged throughout 20 minutes of previews before the movie and the entire movie, laughing and giggling throughout. On Sunday we took her on a hike in the Pisgah National Forest. The trail turned out to be rockier and more challenging than we expected, but, no surprise, Skye was persistent and determined. Neil and I supported her on either side as she calculated her steps carefully, testing her footing with each one. It was really tough, but she insisted we keep going. Finally we had to turn back to make it to the car before the sun went down. She was totally exhausted, but had a huge grin on her face. She was so proud of herself!

November 05, 2007
Skye has a subscription to National Geopraphic magazine. On Saturday when the latest issue arrived, I noticed the cover referred to an article titled “Memory: Why We Remember, Why We Forget”. Skye held the magazine on her lap from the mailbox to the house, but didn't take it out of the wrapper. I started reading the article before Skye woke the next morning and when she got out of bed told her, “Skye there's a really interesting article in the new National Geopraphic magazine.” She immediately came back with “ Why We Remember, Why We Forget”. Almost 24 hours had passed, we hadn't spoken about the article and yet she remembered the title. Honestly, I didn't even remember the exact title myself, but she did. I was so excited I started jumping up and down and crying! Skye just grinned. On Halloween, Neil told Skye, “I see you're dressed up for Halloween.” She looked at him quizzically and he said, “ You're going as pretty.” She quipped back, “I should hang tires on me. Then I could go as “pretty tired.”

October 30, 2007
This weekend Skye and I were in the kitchen making breakfast. Well, actually SHE was making her own pancakes, measuring and mixing, pouring them into the skillet, flipping and serving them all on her own. We'd put a Catie Curtis CD on to listen to music while we cooked. At one point Skye stopped and said, “Mama, look at my left hand.” She's had very limited movement with her left hand and arm, but there it was! Her hand was keeping beat to the song! We stopped and danced a little “happy dance” around the kitchen to celebrate! She's been working hard with her therapists and with her chiropractic neurologist and this is just one of the definite improvements we've been seeing. Within the next couple of weeks she'll start using a device called the Saeboflex. It's a mechanical device that will allow her to start using her hand functionally by positioning her wrist and fingers into extension. With the device she should be able to grasp an object by flexing her fingers and the extension spring system will help her to open her hand to release the object. She'll have to work with it 45 minutes every day for a year, but we have hopes that, along with her other therapies, she'll continue to regain movement in her left arm and hand. On Saturday, we went to the grocery store and for the first time she drove one of those motorized carts. She manuevered around the store pretty well, except for the time she ran into the Pepsi display. I'd stop to pick up some groceries and she'd just motor on. When I'd catch up with her and tell her she had to wait for me, she would just give me a big ol' grin. She was having a great time with her new found mobility!

October 11, 2007
Last Wednesday we took Skye to Mission Hospital for a CT scan to check for any changes that may have caused the seizure she experienced the previous Saturday. Today we got the results and the news was good! Skye's CT scan was clear! Her doctor said the scan showed nothing abnormal and he classified the episode as a very mild "absence seizure”. We won't have to put her on any anti-seizure medication at this point, and will just watch her carefully for any future episodes. Since the accident Skye had developed candida issues. This wasn't any surprise considering the level of antibiotics she needed to be on and the length of time she had to take them. To help clear her system, we put her on a candida diet program, which she finished yesterday. For the past three weeks she had no bread, no sugar, no fruit, no dairy, no coffee. Skye would tell you she “barely survived” and teasingly called us “abominable” for making her stick to it. She was feeling pretty grumpy while she was following it (most people do), but her thought processes seem a little clearer, her response time a little quickerr and her skin seems clearer since she's done it. This weekend Neil, Skye and I took a drive to Hot Springs to soak in the natural mineral baths. It was such a beautiful day and a great time for the three of us to hang out, talk and joke with each other. We barely had our toes in the tub before Skye announced, “I'm hungry, let's go eat.” We convinced her, with the help of a handful of nuts, to relax and stay most of the hour. As we were leaving, Neil was helping her with her fleece and having a bit of a time getting it on her. She looked up at him and said, “You think you're having a hard time, think about what it's like for me to try and do it.” After the soak it was back to Asheville for a Mexican dinner at Papa's and Beer and a Sunday siesta. It was a short one for Skye and Neil who before long were up and playing “Wheel of Fortune” on the computer. I joined them after a bit and we ended up playing for an hour and a half with Skye engaged the entire time. It was a great exercise for her and she did a good job of solving the puzzles-- at times before either Neil or I could. Her progress is slow, but steady. She's up to two to three hours of therapy most weekdays now. Today she spent eight minutes on the elliptical trainer in therapy and a couple days ago, her physical therapist said she had her best therapy session ever!

October 11, 2007
Skye has a doctor's appointment in a little more than an hour. At that time we'll get the results and analysis of her CT scan from last week. As soon as we know anything, I'll let you know. Thanks to you all.

October 03, 2007
Please keep Skye in your prayers today! On Saturday evening Skye suffered what we think was a mild seizure. It had already been a pretty full day and we were pulling out of the driveway to go to a Reach for the Skye benefit event when it happened. She didn’t lose consciousness and was lucid immediately afterward, even cracking a joke about her cousin, Matt. The whole event only lasted about 30 seconds, but of course we all were shaken by the experience. This was the first one and hopefully the last, but we’ll be watching her carefully. For the moment we’re holding off on giving her anti-seizure medication, but if she has another episode we’ll have to go that route. Her doctor thinks it’s imperative that she have a CT scan, to rule out any underlying problems, so she is scheduled for that procedure today at 1pm. Since Skye is allergic to the Comtrast dye used with CT scans so she had to be pre-medicated. I’m sure everything will be fine, but just going back to the hospital for another procedure makes her, and us, a little nervous. Please say a prayer and keep her surrounded in your love as she goes through this procedure this afternoon. Thank you, kind hearts!

October 01, 2007
God's Messengers? This past Wednesday, Neil and I were out on the front porch of our house talking before he went to work when an amazingly incredible thing happened! A Mourning Dove swooped down and landed on Neil’s right shoulder. We just kind of looked at each other with a “is this really happening” look. Even though we feed them and have many birds in our front yard, we rarely have doves visit and, certainly, nothing like this has ever happened. We’ve never had a bird come close to the house let alone interact with us this way. As we stood there, still totally amazed, a second dove flew in, landing on my right shoulder! These are wild birds! Now we looked at each other, saying, “Okay, this is some kind of powerful sign!” The doves hung around for a few minutes, sitting quietly on our shoulders and pecking gently at our hair, before flying off. What made the experience even more emotional was when we later realized it happened on the 26th, exactly six months after the accident and in the 7pm hour, the very same hour as the accident. The next evening about the same time they sought Neil out, finding him behind the house and lighting on his shoulders and head. They even followed him out front to the shed and waited for him, walking on the driveway behind him back to the house. Since then either one or both of the doves show up nightly, hanging out close to Neil, whether he’s doing laundry, working on the tractor or sitting on the porch. They stick around anywhere from twenty minutes to two hours. The typical sounds and actions, like starting a diesel tractor ten feet away, don’t seem to phase them. In researching the symbolism we’ve found the dove is a powerful sign in many belief systems. It’s a symbol of the soul and of the Holy Ghost, who appeared at Christ's baptism under that form. It signifies peace, gentleness and purity as well as the power of God at work in man. It’s been an incredibly moving experience for us and we’re still trying to sort through it. What is the message they’re delivering? Is it a message for Skye or about Skye? We’re praying for insight to the meaning. If any of you have had this kind of experience or have thoughts or ideas of what it may mean, please, we’d love for you to share with us. You can post it here on CarePages or if you’d rather, you can write to us neilkate@alltel.net.

September 27, 2007
Today marks the sixth month anniversary of the accident. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, yet at the same time it seems like an eternity. Nothing could prepare us for the instant, life-altering effect the accident would have on our lives. We thank God for you, our family and friends, who have rallied round us in support as we move forward through the next minute, then the next hour, then the next day. Why this happened might always be beyond our understanding, but we wake every morning so grateful to have Skye with us, grinning, talking and walking. It must be incredibly difficult for someone like Skye, used to being so fiercely independent and high achieving, to deal with such forced limitations in her world. Her strength and attitude inspire me daily!

Today Skye worked on word associations with her speech therapist. When she was prompted with “states” Skye began naming the states. Her therapist expected her to come up with about twelve in one minute, but Skye came up with fourteen. Most amazing though was that she named them alphabetically! Her surprised therapist then asked, “What about the state where you live?” Skye responded, “North Carolina”. She then named “South Carolina” before returning to Indiana (the 14th state) and continuing to name the states alphabetically!

I want to express thanks and acknowledge the vital role Skye’s therapists, doctors, nurses, CNA's and case worker have played in her recovery so far. They have cared for her with such compassion and nurtured and lovingly encouraged her to push through to each new level. They are skilled, brilliant and just plain wonderful and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.

September 24, 2007
Yesterday Skye came home to Green Creek for the first time since the accident. It was one of those poignant moments we'd been anticipating--her first trip home. We wondered what kind of memories it might trigger and how she would react. By the time we were turning off Highway 9, she was calling out all that turns I should make. It was a last minute decision to make the trip, so Neil, who was home sleeping before working third shift, didn’t know we were coming. We thought it would be fun to surprise him and spend a few hours together before he had to leave. It turned out to be our surprise because Neil had to go to work early and was gone by the time we arrived! Skye nestled into the living room recliner, grabbed the remote control, had me tuck her in with a comforter, and asked me to cook a snack for her. Just enjoying the comforts of home! It didn't matter that we'd stopped for dinner on the way down the mountain, just 30 minutes earlier. Since Skye's started on a special Candida diet, she's absolutely ravenous, literally all the time! She wanted to spend the night at home, but she had therapy scheduled early on Monday morning. We stayed home long enough for her to take a long, hot, soaking bath before we headed back up the mountain to Asheville.

Today Ben took Skye to Target for a shopping trip. As they walked through the store, a woman approached Ben to say “hello”. It turned out to be one of Skye’s nurses from the NeuroTrauma Intensive Care Unit at Mission. Her eyes got wide and filled with tears as she realized who was with Ben. She asked incredulously, “Is this Skye? Then, excitedly she said, “I can’t believe it! You HAVE to bring her by the unit for a visit! You don’t understand…this just doesn’t happen! ” The three of them chatted for a minute after which the nurse remarked to Ben, “She’s got a wicked sense of humor!!” Ben replied, “You have no idea!”

September 14, 2007
" A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
Lao-tzu

Skye's progress shows up in subtle ways like how her eyes shine just a little brighter, the fact that she's remembered her therapists' name today, or that she turned the water off after brushing her teeth. Each time I notice a change, I get a catch in my throat and my eyes well with tears, and I'm reminded of the miracle that’s unfolding before us.
In some ways it feels like a lifetime ago we found ourselves on this journey, thrust into the nightmare in that split-second, life-changing moment. In other ways, it still feels raw, like it just happened yesterday. Nearly six months have passed since the accident. We're incredibly heartened at the amazing progress Skye has made in that time and the grace and courage she's demonstrated. Taking a look back at some of the significant steps along the way really put it in perspective for me, so I thought I’d share those with you.

March 26- the night of the accident and first surgery
March 29- Skye has survived the initial 72 hour window
March 31- Skye starts breathing on her own over her respirator.
April 2- The first movement! Skye moves her fingers, leg, and mouth
April 7- Skye is rushed into surgery with a brain hemorrhage (surgery #2)
April 8- Skye squeezes Kate's hand.
April 13- Skye undergoes surgery for an infection in her cerebral spinal fluid. (surgery #3)
April 18- Skye undergoes surgery #4 for infection.
April 25 –Skye keeps her left eye open for most of the day. We put paper under her pen and she writes down several numbers and the word "bring".
April 28 Skye lifts her head to meet her fingers to scratch her itchy nose.
May 2- Skye's therapists are able to get her into a wheelchair. She starts making new sounds that sounded like mumbled talking.
May 11 On occasion, Skye starts communicating with a thumbs up or a thumbs down to indicate yes or no. For the first time since the accident, she smiles and our hearts melt.
May 14- Skye haltingly but audibly says "Hello, daddy" and really melts Neil's heart.
May 16- Kate encourages Skye, telling her “You can do it”, Skye responds back clearly, "I can do it".
May 22- Skye's CT scan shows that her blood clot is completely gone,
May 29 Skye reaches a major milestone when she passes her swallow test! For the first time in two months she can drink and eat! Up to this point she's received all her nourishment including water directly through her feeding tube into her stomach.
June 4 She takes her first few assisted steps on the parallel bars.
June 18- Skye greets her surprised neurosurgeon with “Good morning” and is able to tell him her name.
June 26- Skye undergoes surgery to replace her bone flap (surgery #5)
July 6- She walks around the rehab gym using a cane while her therapist holds onto her hips behind her.
July 21-Skye walks out of the hospital unassisted and comes home!!

Since Skye came home she is walking without help, visiting with friends, going to church, “hiking”, shopping and out to dinner. She loves to go out in public where she feels like she’s in a “normal” setting. She can sit through most of a movie (if it’s a good one), has an incredibly intact sense of humor and a very healthy appetite. She is an amazing inspiration showing so much heart, spunk and determination.
Her therapists tell us that those who have a strong support system around them tend to experience better and faster recoveries. There is absolutely no doubt that the support system you all are providing for Skye is one of the most critical elements in her recovery. You are the Skye family and you are a very important part of this miracle. Please know we are humbly and eternally grateful to you for creating the support fabric that has cradled her and us. We love you all!

September 11, 2007
What a special birthday! Thank you all for the wonderful greetings, cards and well wishes for Skye! I read all the CarePages posts to her and opened the cards and packages with her. She was truly touched by your love, and so am I.

Her birthday kicked off a day early with a visit from the Sasdelli’s from New Jersey. (the whole family!) As we chatted on the porch, Mike and Debbie dropped by to say “hello”. When everyone learned Skye’s birthday was Friday, they broke into the “Happy Birthday” song. Mike topped it off with a rousing finale complete with air guitar and antics. Skye got a real giggle out of it all. To my surprise, she remembered “her favorite race car driver”, Jeff Burton, and “his number”, 31, as prompted by Mike during his visit nearly a month ago!
Mike really connects with Skye and he took her hands and asked her what she wanted. She said “I want my left hand to open.” He replied, “Okay, what else do you want?” She said, “I want my left arm to work.” He said, “Skye, my arm didn’t work either, but I worked hard with my therapists, and look at it now! Work hard with your therapists and you’ll get there! And when you do, I’ll sing my birthday song again for you.” Skye, grinned, and in her quiet little voice came back with, “in your Speedos” which got a big laugh from everyone.
Ben took Skye out for a romantic dinner at her favorite restaurant, Limones, early Friday evening. Saturday, I took Skye downtown for a facial,a birthday gift from Neil and me. She was absolutely glowing when she emerged from the therapy room. Saturday afternoon some friends dropped by and we had an impromptu cookout and a fun visit. Skye tuckered out before we made it to the cake, so we called it an early night. On Sunday, Skye, her friend, Jenn and I attended church where the whole congregation sang “Happy Birthday” to a smiling Skye!

September 07, 2007
HAPPY, HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL SKYE!

What a joyous, blessed day it is!

September 02, 2007
All that pizza and ice cream helped Skye finally break through the 100 pound mark. She just weighed in at a whopping 102!
There's no doubt her appetite is back and healthy. This morning I made her a two-egg omelet and a piece of toast for breakfast. Skye looked at her plate, then up at me and asked with a grin, "Am I on a diet?" I say "no" and asked why she thought that. She said, "there's so little food on my plate!"

September 01, 2007
Ben, Neil, Kate and Matt met with each of Skye's therapists this week for an update on her progress. Skye's continuing to improve, making the most dramatic changes in her endurance and her tolerance for more activity. In the past two weeks they say she follows directions better, is more alert and focused and overall shows more interest in therapy. That means they can increase both the number and length of her therapies in the upcoming weeks.
Part of the focus of their work is on fine-tuning her movement patterns. Skye can rise up and stand from a seated position, but relies more on her right leg to compensate for weakness in her left one. They are training her to put more weight on her left leg to strengthen it and create more balance. Though she's still wobbly, she walks unassisted now and they're working with her to help smooth out her gait.

Her speech therapist says she may be ready for very short sessions listening to books on tape. Right now it's hard for her to focus her attention for long and easy for her to get overwhelmed. As her therapist explained it, all the information comes in to Skye at the same level, so she can't distinguish what she should be focusing on. Imagine everything surrounding you, all the sights, sounds, smells, holding the same importance. Because of this, outside stimuli has to be limited as much as possible when Skye's trying to relax or focus.

They seldom see a sense of humor in people who sustain an injury like Skye's, so all the therapists are delighted that her sense of humor is very much intact! At times she is very, very funny and can be a real prankster. Her physical therapist shared a conversation between him and Skye. They were discussing Beckham, the soccer phenom who's also a real looker. Her therapist apologized to Skye telling her, "I'm sorry I don't look more like Beckham." Without hesitation she quipped back, "Yeah, so am I!"


August 22, 2007
Yesterday, Skye paused before lowering herself to a squatting position to give Dakota a treat. It’s a move that required more balance and leg strength than she could muster just a few days ago. What a joy to watch her progress! Her daily triumphs might be small, the kind you’d miss if you weren’t paying close attention, but each one feels like a minor miracle! It’s the same sort of feeling you get watching your child take his first wobbly steps or speak her first words.
Ben used a bicycle handlebar to create a therapy tool for Skye’s left arm. She still has very limited mobility in her left arm and hand, but by wrapping her fingers around the bar, she can use her right arm and the bar to lift her left arm above her head and from side to side. When she lifts it above her head, she grins from ear to ear! She desperately wants to regain use of her arm. Each morning as she opens her eyes, the first thing she asks is when her arm is going to “start working again". It’s also the same question she asks just before she falls asleep every night.
In typical Skye fashion, she pushes herself hard. After working out with a medicine ball during one of her therapy sessions, she came home and told Ben she wasn’t ready to stop. He pulled a medicine ball out for her and she worked out for another 45 minutes.
Of course working so hard wears her out, but it’s hard to slow Skye down! One of her therapists remarked that Skye told her she was very tired. The therapist laughed as she added, “That’s progress! She usually says she’s very, very tired!
Kate had Skye choose what she wanted for dinner and come up with the list of ingredients they needed for the meal. They went grocery shopping and Skye completed the transaction at the debit card machine to make the payment. When they got back to the house, Skye helped bread the chicken, wash the potatoes and make the salad. Afterwards she loaded her dishes into the dishwasher. She poured the dishwashing powder into the dispenser, closed the door, latched it and turned the knob to “start” Then she turned to Kate and remarked, “I can get this homemaker stuff.”

August 14, 2007
Here is a glimpse at a typical “Skye” day. She’s up around 7:30-8am to get dressed. She picks out her own clothes and helps quite a bit in dressing herself. Matt or Ben usually fixes her a fresh smoothie to help her medications go down easily along with a hot breakfast of eggs or pancakes or both. At times she helps pour and flip her own pancakes. Most of her therapies are in the morning, three or four days each week and wrap up by about noon. Currently she receives Physical, Speech, Occupational and Psychological Therapies. Her sessions rotate, so that one day she may have 30 minutes of one type followed by 60 minutes of another. The next day she may only have a 30 minute session.
She has her therapy at the South Asheville Y, just a few miles down the road from the house. After her morning sessions, she eats lunch and rests for a short while. Usually it’s not long before she’s asking to go again—either out for a walk, stretching, or back to the gym for laps around the track. Her afternoons are spent on outings, visiting with friends, doing therapies, writing or spending time on the computer. All this activity is balanced by periods of quiet time alone. She sits down at the table for dinner each night usually followed by another walk, a shower and then bedtime by 9-9:30.
Her appetite is definitely back! She devoured 4 pieces of Marco's pizza at one meal on Friday and within an hour was asking for a banana split! Yesterday just two hours after eating a hearty Mexican meal she was asking for ribs and corn.
She is showing more signs of short term memory improvement. With all the walking she’s doing, she’s been wearing out her shoes. Kate found some adorable Keen shoes in a catalog and showed them to Skye on Thursday night. Friday evening Skye said she wanted to go shopping. When asked what she wanted to shop for she responded "shoes" then added "Keen Calistogas". On Saturday she again asked to go shopping for "Keen Calistogas". Needless to say, Skye's wearing her new Keen Calistogas today!
They've also started working on the new word of the day, choosing an unfamiliar word from the dictionary, learning the meaning and trying to recall it throughout the day. Yesterday's word was piassava, meaning either of two South American palm trees. With a little prompting, Skye was able to recall the word and/or the meaning about 70% of the time.
She also recalled going to church on Sunday morning and she remembered the yellow zinnia Reverand Chad gave her during the service.
These are all encouraging improvements since just last week she rarely could remember many very recent details like what she had for lunch or her therapists’ names.
On Saturday she had a visit from friends, Mike and Debbie. Mike and Skye have a special connection because he suffered a similar traumatic brain injury several years ago. Today Mike is not just surviving, but he’s thriving and with so many parallels between Skye’s and Mike’s recoveries, he provides incredible inspiration! Skye really enjoyed the visit as she and Mike joked and kidded with each other and she donned Mike’s sunglasses to do a great Stevie Wonder impression! Skye speaks very softly since getting more volume behind her voice requires a great deal of effort, but at one point, she and Mike were trying to see who could yell “Mom” the loudest! Mike won, but Skye gave him a run for his money! Mike asked her who her favorite race car driver was. Since Skye’s not a race car fan, she didn’t have one. Mike said, “Your favorite is Jeff Burton, Number 31”. They laughed as she repeated it to him several times. Yesterday, she recalled that her favorite driver was Jeff Burton, Number 31.

August 06, 2007
Skye is settling well into being at home! She gets up about 7 or 8 each morning and starts her day with a smoothie and a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs or French toast. Her appetite has improved some and at times she’s ravenous! At one sitting she ate four pieces of Side Street pizza and another time devoured a huge plate of stir fry her cousin Matt made for her. She goes to the South Asheville Y three or four mornings each week for physical, occupational, and speech therapy and psychological treatments. The therapies can be challenging for her, but Skye rarely wants to rest! She’s not home long before she’s asking to go out walking or back to the Y. One day she walked with Neil and her Aunt Judy for two hours straight!
She’s starting to use her computer to write poetry, set up email, and surf the web. She googles topics like “rehabilitation for the hand and arm” “handicapped marathon” and “how to tell if it’s a dream”. She rarely uses her wheelchair and walks, usually with minor assistance, all around the house and property and when she takes outings into public! She generally sleeps through the night although there are times she gets confused about whether she’s awake or dreaming.
Yesterday she went to church with Neil, Kate, Matt & Ben. The minister who visited Skye several times at Mission & Care Partners was visibly moved to see her walk into church! At the end of the service, he spoke about Skye and her journey. He advised the congregation that when things get tough and they’re facing challenges, they should just stop and say “Skye” to remind them of the courage and strength she has exhibited to pull her through her trials.
Skye’s progress has been truly remarkable, even more so when you realize just how excruciatingly difficult the process is. It requires an incredible amount of energy and strength to do the things we all take for granted like holding her head up, walking, and eating. Because of the nature of the injury, she’s also dealing with short term memory loss. Consequently, she doesn’t remember or realize just how far she’s come and the progress she’s made. Each day she’s reminded of what she’s accomplished. Still she pushes herself forward only with the realization of what her condition is right now and how much farther she has to go.
She still exhibits her great sense of humor. Yesterday as she was getting dressed, she glanced at her deodorant and read, “Glides on clear.” She quipped with a little laugh, “That’s the least of my worries!”

August 04, 2007
The Skye Ball was a spectacular and memorable event raising an amazing $30,000 for the Reach for the Skye Foundation!
To the delight of everyone, Skye was able to attend! She was radiant and beautiful as she arrived around 5:30 to the Orange Peel transformed by twinkle lights, tea candles and sparkling stars into a “Skye” wonderland. She was able to enjoy the event for a few hours, taking breaks as needed to go backstage to the quiet green room, before she had to retire for the night.
Thanks to each of you who came out to celebrate the progress Skye has made in her recovery! We said from the beginning, if anyone could do it, she could. And she’s doing it. She’s defying the odds. Just a few days short of the four month anniversary of her accident, Skye walked out the door of CarePartners unassisted!
There are so many folks to be recognized for the part they played in the Skye Ball, but at the very top of the list is Sean O’Connell. From the time of the accident he was there with such incredible support. He was the one delivering the Sugar Mama cookies, Chocolate Fetish and bagels to the doctors and nurses who were taking care of Skye. He took such care of us and while we were still holding vigil in Fullerton Waiting Room told us when the time was right, he would spearhead a big fundraiser. The Skye Ball was Sean’s vision and what an amazing vision it was!! We are profoundly grateful and we love you Sean!
A big thanks to Sefton & Kim, Susan, Heath & Megan, Jodi, Corrie, Lela, Alex, Paul & Robin, Tavis and the many friends who spent countless hours planning the Skye Ball and transforming the Orange Peel into a place of enchantment. It was gorgeous! A friend expressed it well when he said, “It was the most amazing event I’ve ever attended at the Orange Peel. You could just feel all the love that went into creating this night.”
Thanks to all the generous sponsors and the businesses that provided items for a spectacular auction, the caterers who provided all the yummy food, and thank you Pat and Liz for so graciously opening the Orange Peel to us. Thanks to the members of Toubab Krewe and Uncle Earl for providing the perfect music for the night, to Scott for the tender and touching slide show and to Low-Fi Break Down for the great end of night jam.
We want to express our heartfelt appreciation to all of Skye’s doctors, and nurses, therapists, CNAs and case worker who so lovingly attended to her over the last four months, caring for her as if she were their own child. It was so wonderful to see so many of you at the Skye Ball! You have been like family to us. You’ve shared so intimately in our joys, and guided us so gently through our fears and disappointments. We were comforted knowing that whether Skye was going through surgery, in therapy or resting in her bed she was always in the best and most loving of hands. We're deeply, deeply grateful for the role you played and continue to play in Skye's recovery.
Thanks so much to all our family and friends for all the love and prayers for Skye through this journey. From the moment the accident happened, you’ve created a safety net for us and we can’t imagine how difficult, if not impossible this would have been without you. Please know how incredibly and deeply moved we are by your kindness. We love you dearly.
Finally, we want to thank you Skye-- for inspiring us all with your remarkable courage, heart, strength and tenacity. You’ve taught us to think in possibilities. Thank you for showing us that miracles really do happen. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.
Love,
Kate, Neil & Ben

July 31, 2007
Kate and Matt took Skye to her follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon this afternoon. The wheelchair stayed in the trunk of the car and Skye walked into the building, onto the elevator and into the doctor’s office! Everyone in the office was shocked to see her walking and talking!
Skye’s neurosurgeon couldn’t contain his delight upon seeing her. When he asked how she was doing, she replied, “I’m doing more than well!” He agreed, saying, “You’re doing absolutely phenomenally well!” He scheduled a follow up appointment six months from now and if all looks good, will schedule a follow up twelve months out from that visit.
Skye, Matt and Kate were grinning grins as wide as Texas as they all walked out of the office!

July 22, 2007
WELCOME HOME SKYE
It was such a joyful and emotional day yesterday as Ben, Neil and Kate brought Skye home from Care Partners! It was late morning by the time all the paperwork was signed and photos, mementos, clothes and blankets were loaded into her wheelchair. Skye held Ben’s hand to stabilize her as she walked down the hall and through the lobby. She paused only as nurses and CNA’s came up to wish her well. Then, as she arrived at the front door, she made a powerful statement by walking through the doorway unassisted! Tears flowed freely for everyone as she continued walking down the steps and got into Kate’s car again, without assistance!!! Watching Skye walk out of the hospital after she had been given so little hope was incredibly moving! Once again she’s demonstrating her courage, strength and faith to us all!

The ride home was a bit overwhelming for her, but she grinned and gave a big thumbs up as she toured her new home. She began settling in, napping in her own bed, watching a Harry Potter DVD and taking a walk outside. Dinner was delivered by Chef in Motion and Kate, Neil, Cecily, Ben and Skye sat down and enjoyed their first family dinner in a very long time. The meal was so delicious and Skye completely cleaned her plate. No problems with her appetite when Chef Mo cooks!

There is no doubt that choosing Care Partners for Skye’s rehabilitation was the right decision. The level of care and concern Skye’s doctor, therapists, case worker, nurses and CNA ‘s showed for her was tremendous. Even those who weren’t assigned to her would stop in to say hello and check on her progress. As she was leaving yesterday, her case worker presented a journal signed by her therapists, nursing staff and administration. They wrote poignant messages of caring, hope and gratitude to Skye for the inspiration she’s provided and the teacher she’s been. Kate, Neil and Ben want to express their deepest gratitude and appreciation for the love and care shown to Skye by the staff at Care Partners. There is no doubt of the impact you have all had on her recovery!

So, one chapter ends and a new one begins. Next Tuesday Skye will start her outpatient therapy three times a week at the South Asheville Care Partners facility. She still has a very long road to recovery ahead of her, but she continues to amaze the health professionals with her progress! Keep it up Skye! Keep wowing us all! You are a true miracle!

July 21, 2007
Today is a banner day as Skye comes home, taking the next steps on her path to recovery!
The past few days she’s continued to push herself, taking longer and more frequent walks with minimal assistance. Yesterday Skye, her cousin Hallie, Aunt Lisa, and Ben walked the long hall to go outside and watch the sun setting. According to Hallie, Skye was walking so quickly, she was almost running.
Skye has been practicing “car transfers”, getting in and out of the car, an act she’s able to accomplish now with little assistance. When it came time to get back out of the car, Skye buckled her seatbelt, laid the seat back and grinned as if to say, “It’s time to go!”
Thursday night just before bed, Skye, Hallie, Aunt Lisa, Matt and Kate walked the halls of the rehab center singing some of Skye’s favorite tunes. Kate asked Skye to recall an Old Crow Medicine Show song and Skye broke into the chorus, remembering all the words. It was the first visit since early May for Hallie and Aunt Lisa who were amazed by Skye’s progress. They were impressed by how well she walked and communicated, but were especially delighted by her sense of humor.
Cecily brought her wedding album to Skye’s speech therapy session. As they turned the pages, Skye remembered and correctly identified all the people she knew in the pictures—Cecily’s parents, grandparents, her brother,Jake, and their friend, Winston.
Skye also recalled seeing a friend at a Saint Patrick’s Day party she and Ben attended on March 17th. That incident is the most recent memory she’s recalled and related from right before the accident.

July 16, 2007
GALA AND AUCTION FOR SKYE
Please mark your calendars and join us at the Orange Peel in Asheville next Wednesday, July 25th for The Skye Ball Gala and Auction!
The Skye Ball starts at 7pm and will include an open bar from 7-8pm with complimentary food. Guests will be treated to a special jam featuring members of Toubab Krewe and Uncle Earl and other guests.
In addition to great live music, the night will feature a live and a silent auction. Highlights include incredible vacation packages, access to backstage at the 2008 Bonaroo Music Festival, artwork and crafts, autographed memorabilia from Van Morrison, Ben Harper and more, spa packages, golf packages, a day fly fishing with an Orvis Guide, a home make over package featuring goods and services from area carpenters, landscapers, and designers and much, much more. Tickets for the Skye Ball and Auction are just $45 each and are available at the Orange Peel Box Office or through the website at www.reachfortheskye.org. Dress is business casual. All monies raised will go to the Reach for the Skye Foundation to help fund Skye’s recovery. You can make a financial contribution or donate an item for the auction by contacting organizers through the website or at (828) 252 6300.
Thanks so very much to these sponsors who are helping to make this night possible. Liberty Bikes, The Colorful Palate, WNCW, Blue Skye Catering, The Orange Peel, Green Man Ale, Asheville Citizen Times Take 5, Image 420, Mountain Xpress.
This promises to be a wonderful and memorable night and we hope you’ll be part of it! Please help spread us the word about this benefit event for Skye!

July 15, 2007
Today in one of her sessions, the therapist asked Skye a series of questions. She decided to skip the one asking “Who is the mayor of Asheville?” but Ben suggested that Skye should take a stab at it. Without missing a beat, Skye correctly identified Terry Bellamy as Asheville’s mayor! These weren’t multiple choice questions, but Skye knew the answer without any prompting.
Skye continues to improve in her walking skills. Though she still drags her left leg slightly, she no longer needs the Ace bandage wrapped to hold her toes up on her left foot. She still needs help with balance, but her gait is smoother and she’s walking at a more normal pace. She generally needs minimal assistance, often just “spotting” from one person.
Skye, Cecily, Val, Kate and Tavis enjoyed a vanilla chai ice cream and carrot cake picnic yesterday on the hospital grounds. Skye read aloud several pages of a book, even correctly pronouncing difficult names. She seemed to read the entire page easily enough, but when turning to a new page had to be prompted to read the left page. This is connected to the “left neglect” issue. When asked if she’d like to be pushed back to her room in her chair or walk, she said, “I’d like to walk to inside CarePartners”. Though tired, she pushed herself to walk a couple hundred feet across the parking lot with minimal assistance before exhaustedly collapsing in her chair. Tavis pretended to be Skye, sporting Skye’s floppy brown hat and sitting in her wheelchair and Skye grinned widely as she watched Val groaning and pushing Tavis uphill across the parking lot.

It takes tremendous effort to make the kind of progress that Skye has and she often speaks of how hard the process is. She is tired, speaks in a quieter voice and hasn’t had as good of an appetite since the last surgery. She often asks to go back to bed during the day and even tries to broker deals like “if I eat a couple more bites, can I go to bed?” All this isn’t surprising when you realize she is recovering from her fifth surgery in three months, but the fact that she continues to push herself as hard as she does and progressing at the pace she is once again attests to her incredibly strong spirit and tenacity. Go Skye!!

July 12, 2007
Check out the YouTube video of the "Feet of a Dancer" finale at the Tryon Fine Arts Center benefit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv0JuILLVl4

July 10, 2007
It was a magical night of love and support and an emotional reunion on Saturday, June 30th as our friends and neighbors raised more than $9,000 for Skye at the Tryon Fine Arts Center! Words seem so inadequate to express our appreciation for your outpouring of love and caring for our sweet girl. I still remember the very first time I met Billie Jordan at one of the many Green Creek gatherings at Maureen and Rick Pratt’s house. Our beautiful girls were just infants and all the little Green Creekers were lined up asleep in the bedroom.Aleishia started to fuss and before I made it upstairs, Billie had scooped her up and cradled her in her arms. I think of that story so often because it’s symbolic of a community that was so nurturing of each other and of our little ones. We can’t thank you enough for being there for Skye now, as you were then. No matter how old they are, they’ll always be our babies and it’s so comforting to know our community will always be there for them. The music brought back wonderful memories of so many potlucks and late night pickin’ sessions.It was such an important part of our lives and what our kids came to know growing up. It was heartwarming to see so many of the babies we all watched over and nurtured now grown up, some with beautiful babies of their own, and reaching out so lovingly to Skye. Kelly, you are such a dear heart! Thank you for designing the flyer and the bracelets and for you unshakable positive attitude and beaming smile! Erin and Sarah, you are Skye’s big and little sisters and we love you girls! Thank you for holding her so close to your hearts and Erin thank for arranging to have such yummy food for the performers! Callen, what a gorgeous voice you have! Reach out and go for it, girl! You are a songbird! Larsen, the necklace you designed is so incredibly beautiful and so “Skye”! Thank you so much for sharing your love and your talent.
Thank you, Billie and Russ for creating such an amazingly memorable night and for your love and caring. Neil and I are so grateful to be reconnected to with you! Karen, and Doug, you are both so full of heart and spirit! Thank you for sharing that with us and for organizing such an exquisite auction. The wealth of artistic and musical talent, among our friends and neighbors is pretty remarkable. Thank you to all the artists and businesses for sharing your gifts and donating so generously to help raise funds for Skye. Thanks to all the extraordinarily talented musicians for being a part of the celebration of Skye and to all the beautiful voices and happy feet joining us on stage for the “Feet of a Dancer” finale. It was wonderful to hear those sweet harmonies all under one roof again! Thanks so much Eric for making the Fine Arts Center available for us and thanks to Jimm for the lighting and sound. The stars on the walls were perfect! Scott, even though I was the one who provided the pictures, I wasn’t ready for the flood of emotions I felt seeing them put together in such a tender slideshow. Thank you for giving us such a wonderful and lasting treasure. Corrie, you have been such a rock for us through this whole experience. Thank you for being there at every turn to sustain and guide us through the darkness and share in the joys. Thank you, Chuck, for capturing the night on video, so that Skye and so many others who couldn’t be there will be able to share in the experience. Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed the music and who gave so very generously to make this an extraordinarily successful fundraiser. Thanks to all of you for your love and prayers and for supporting Skye and us through this journey. Please know that Neil and I are incredibly and deeply moved by your compassion and we love you dearly.

Kate and Neil

July 09, 2007
Skye will be discharged to go home next Friday or Saturday, July 20 or 21! This past Friday, Kate, Neil and Ben met with Skye’s doctor, therapists and case worker to discuss the progress she’s making and the goals for her next two weeks at CarePartners. Everyone is thrilled with her progress and all her therapists laugh as they share their stories of Skye’s wit and humor.
Right now she is consistently walking with moderate assistance and the goal is for her to walk with minimal assistance in two weeks. She’s well on her way! This morning, for the first time, she walked up, and then back down, four steps in the rehab gym. This afternoon, she walked with assistance up the flight of steps from the gym and down the hall to her room. She still drags her left foot slightly and is a little wobbly, but she is making amazing progress! While she still only moves her left arm slightly, she has good tone and is feeling stimulation and touch, so there is much hope for her to regain use of it. They have been able to run tests to determine that she doesn’t have vision problems. She has no double vision and her peripheral vision is fine. She does have a condition referred to as “left neglect”, meaning that she doesn’t pay attention or notice objects as readily on her left. Through therapy Skye will be able to learn ways to adapt and bring more of her attention to her left side.
She is becoming much more aware, and while she doesn’t always remember where she is or that she was on a bicycle, she realizes she is recovering from a serious accident. Sometimes she gets very quiet and pensive and one day when Kate asked her how she was doing, she replied, “I’m feeling sad because my world isn’t what it used to be.”
She talks a lot about going home and sleeping in her own bed and growing a garden. Ben spent most of yesterday tilling, fencing and planting a beautiful garden space at the new house so that it will be ready for Skye to enjoy when she comes home.

July 06, 2007
Skye was transferred back to Room 111 (dubbed “The Miracle Room”) at CarePartners on Monday afternoon. After spending Tuesday in evaluations and resting and visiting with friends on the Fourth of July, she resumed her regular therapy yesterday. While she is still very weak and tired, she is healing well from the surgery and everyone is happy to have her back at CarePartners and back on the road to recovery! On Monday night the doctor removed the feeding tube from her stomach, so she is officially free from all tubes and wires! On Tuesday she walked around the rehab gym using a cane while her therapist held onto her hips behind her. Later this morning Neil, Kate and Ben will meet with all of Skye’s therapists, her case worker and her doctor to discuss her progress and to set a firm discharge date for her to go home.

Hi Everyone! The Tryon Daily Bulletin ran an article about Skye on their front page.
Click here for the article.

June 29, 2007
Tomorrow night, Saturday, June 30, friends and neighbors of Skye, Kate and Neil will host a benefit concert at the Tryon Fine Arts Theatre in Tryon. The night promises a full night of music by very talented area musicians, wonderful artwork from local artists, and caring people combined to do what they can to raise funds for Reach for the Skye, Inc.
Performers at the event will include Straight From the Heart (Pam and Don McMahon), Members of Windshear (Carol and Eddie Ramsey), Jan Daugherty, Phil and Gaye Johnson, Lone Derangers, Hickory Grove, Gingerthistle and Callan Dacey. The silent auction will include pieces by Stoney Lamar, Buzz Coren, Doug Dacey, Jim Cornell, Dale McEntire, Andy Costine, Chuck Hearon, Elaine Pearson, Claude Greaves and Mara and Ford Smith.
Doors will open at 6 p.m., music starts at 7p.m. and admission is by donation. All proceeds from the concert and silent auction will go to Reach for the Skye, Inc. for Skye’s medical needs. We hope you’ll come out tomorrow to enjoy the art and music and to support Skye! It promises to be a wonderful and memorable night and we greatly appreciate all the hard work and love going into making it happen!

View the concert flyer:
http://www.reachfortheskye.org/images/concert_flyer.jpg

View the article on the front page of today’s Tryon Daily Bulletin: http://www.tryondailybulletin.com/news/21195.asp

Contact: Russ Jordan at russ52@alltel.net

June 29, 2007
Skye has been moved out of the NeuroTrauma ICU unit and up to the 6th floor! (with an beautiful view overlooking Asheville). Her doctor thinks she'll be ready to move back to CarePartners on Monday or Tuesday. When asked if she wanted to send a message to her physical therapist at CarePartners, Skye's response was "tell her to get ready". Her vitals are excellent and they've removed all the monitors and the drainage tubes. All that remain are one iv in her left arm and her feeding tube, and plans are to remove both of those in the near future. Her right eye is swollen shut and she's extremely tired and dealing with pain and nausea, but nurses tell us she should start feeling much better over the next few days. They didn't have to shave her head again for the operation, so she's still sporting the cute little "crew" she's been growing out the past 3 months.

June 27, 2007
Skye is weak and very tired, but is recovering from surgery beautifully! The nurse removed the ventilator about 4 this morning and Skye is talking, moving and aware of her surroundings. She’s even brushing her own teeth! Her intercranial pressure remained within the target range overnight, so they clamped off the tube draining the cranial sacral fluid. If the pressures remain stable through this evening, they expect to remove the tube tomorrow. They performed a CT scan this morning and everything looked great. If she continues on this track, the doctor plans to do another CT scan tomorrow morning then move her from the Neurotrauma ICU to the 6th floor to continue her recovery.

June 26, 2007
According to her neurosurgeon Skye's surgery went "fairly well". There was some brain swelling and fluid had to be drained from the ventricles so that the bone flap could be replaced. They will keep her in the neurotrauma ICU to monitor for swelling and infection over the next week and she is currently sedated and back on a ventilator. They've inserted a drain to remove the excess fluid. If she begins absorbing the fluid and pressure doesn't build too much, they'll remove the drain. If it doesn't drain sufficiently, they will perform another surgery to insert a permanent shunt which will drain the fluid into her abdomen. They brought her out of sedation after surgery to monitor her neurological responses and she had the same level of responsiveness she did prior to the surgery--she knew her name and could move her left & right legs and right arm. They did a CT scan immediately after surgeon and everything looked normal. They will do a follow up scan tomorrow to assess. We will keep you posted as we know more. Thank you for continuing to pray for Skye.

June 26, 2007
Skye is still in surgery, but we're told that everything is going well. We'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

June 26, 2007
Skye was taken into surgery about 10:15 this morning. Neil, Kate and Ben were able to stay with her through the pre-op hours and Kate stayed by her side until moments before surgery started. The nurse promised updates every hour so as we hear anything, we'll post it for you. Please keep the love and prayers coming her way! Thank you all for caring.

June 25, 2007
A big, big thanks go out to Tom, David, Lee, Felecia, Don, and all the organizers, performers, donor businesses and volunteers for pulling together a most outstanding fundraiser for Skye this past Saturday at the Flat Rock Wine Shoppe Back Room. The music, auction, food and company were all exceptional! We greatly appreciate all the hard work and love that went into making it happen and we’re grateful to every one of you who came out in support of Skye. On Sunday, Skye’s eyes were wide as we recounted stories of the day to her.

Thanks also to all of you who shared housing leads with us. We’re thrilled to have found what feels like the perfect place for Skye to heal. Ben just signed the lease on an three bedroom house in South Asheville. It’s within the city limits, but nestled on a 3 acre wooded lot with ivy, huge oaks, a spacious sunroom, a breezy side porch and lots of garden space. It’s also conveniently located minutes from the South Asheville CarePartners Outpatient facility. While it’s just off Sweeten Creek Road, it feels like it’s way off the beaten path.

Skye grinned and joked throughout the day today displaying that typical Skye humor. This evening she did lifts with her left leg, repeatedly raising it a foot or more off the bed. Just before bed she was playing rhyming games with Neil and her cousin, Matt.
We’ll leave CarePartners around 6:30 tomorrow morning for Mission Hospital. Skye’s surgery is scheduled for around 10 and should last about 2-1/2 hours. If all goes well, she’ll stay at Mission until Friday or next Monday and then return to CarePartners. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

June 24, 2007
Kate watched Skye record this in her journal as they waited for a speech therapy session. It is transcribed here as she composed it, using capital letters where she did. Skye wrote it as one unbroken thought without any outside input.

“The recovery process is really long. It’s okay. We should look at it as war, with its’ stages and battles within.
WAKE UP SKYE!
WAKE UP SKYE!
WAKE UP SLEEPING BEAST WALL!
KNOW THAT YOU SNORE. I CAN HEAR YOU!
I’ve been winning the battles?
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Celebrate the little victories.”

© Skye Barkschat 2007

June 23, 2007
Skye’s surgery to replace her bone flap has been scheduled for this coming Tuesday, June 26th. She’ll arrive at Mission Hospital about 7 am to prepare for surgery that should last about 2-1/2 hours. Barring any complications, she will return to CarePartners by Friday, June 29th or Monday, July 2nd. Please continue to pray for Skye as she faces this crucial surgery.
We are having technical difficulties updating our www.reachfortheskye.org website. Please accept our apologies and know we are working to resolve those as quickly as possible. Once we do, all current updates will be posted to the site. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to post information about today’s benefit for Skye at The Flat Rock Wine Shoppe Back Room in Flat Rock, NC. The all day concert features a host of talented regional musicians and runs from noon to 9. Silent auctions will take place throughout the day. Admission is by donation and all proceeds will go to Reach for the Skye, Inc., the nonprofit created to help fund Skye’s medical and rehabilitation needs. Click this link for more information about the event, directions, etc: http://flatrockfundraiser.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Event
We hope you’ll be able to come out to join us and support Skye!
We really appreciate Tom Sims for taking the lead with such heart in organizing this event. We want to thank David Brannock who is graciously hosting today’s event , Don Talley who created this awesome website, all the talented performers donating their time, the generous businesses providing items for the silent auction, and the hardworking volunteers doing the legwork to make this event a reality. We humbly thank you all.
Here are links to articles that appeared in the Mountain Xpress and the Asheville Citizen Times this week:
http://www.mountainx.com/news/consciousparty.php
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770620095

June 22, 2007
The Flat Rock Wine Shoppe will host an all day benefit for Skye tomorrow, Saturday, June 23 from noon to 9 p.m.. The event features silent auctions throughout the day and performances by a host of great regional musicians including Lonesome Road Band, Big Road Blues, Aaron Price, Shannon Whitworth, Galen Kipar, Cosmic Creek, Barnacle, Paco Shipp, Stacy Moore and Voodoo Tavern. Admission is by donation. All proceeds from the concert and silent auction will go to Reach for the Skye, Inc. for Skye’s medical needs
We are extremely grateful to Tom Sims for organizing this wonderful benefit . We also want to give a very big thanks to David Brannock for hosting the event, to all the musicians donating their time and talents, to those businesses who donated items for the auction, and to all the volunteers! Your kindness and generosity are deeply appreciated!
We hope you’ll come out tomorrow to be part of the fun and support Skye!
More details and directions: http://flatrockfundraiser.blogspot.com/search/label/Event%20Flyer/Poster
Contact: Tom Sims, 828-280-8753

June 21, 2007
Skye had a pretty incredible weekend! “The Girls” (Kim, Jesse & Jamie) were back in town for Cecily and Tate’s wedding and spent Thursday evening with Skye. According to Jesse they did the things they normally do together- talking, singing, joking and just hanging out together. Singing “You Are My Sunshine”, one of the songs they’d frequently sung on car trips, seemed to spark memories and Skye began talking about their travels to Charleston and New Zealand. Quite a few folks, in town for the wedding, came to see Skye. She was engaged and chatty and really seemed to enjoy the stream of visitors. Her room is now filled with the most beautiful stargazer lilies from the wedding. She excitedly talked about Cecily and Tate, the beautiful couple they are and what a wonderful life they have ahead of them. She’s already talking about what great parents they’ll be! (no pressure, guys!)

Saturday night some of the Green Creek folks came to visit with a delicious dinner in tow and Skye munched hungrily on a burrito. She threw kisses to baby Adeline and couldn’t quit talking about weddings and babies.

Sunday morning Skye and the gang took a walk on the trail, enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful day. Neil got to spend what he describes as his best Father’s Day ever because he has Skye here to hold. They hugged and kissed as they gently argued about who was luckier to have the other in their life. She wrote him a card with the message, “Dear Daddy, You mean the world to me. I love you so much dad. Lots of love, your daughter.”

June 18, 2007
Skye, Kate and Ben just met with Skye’s neurosurgeon to discuss the results of Friday’s CT scan. Skye greeted her doctor with a “Good morning” and was able to tell him her name. She knew what year it was, but thought it might be March. When he asked her if she knew where she was she replied she wasn’t sure what hospital it was. He was clearly pleased with the progress she’s made! At the time of the first surgery, Skye’s bone flap on the right side of her skull was removed to allow her brain room to swell. It was surgically frozen and has been stored since then at Mission Hospital. During the last visit three weeks ago her neurosurgeon discussed the possibility of replacing the flap in 3 to 6 months. Today he suggested that, considering her progress, surgery could happen as early as next week. There are possible complications to consider such as hemorrhage and infection, but hopefully the operation will go smoothly and Skye will remain in Mission Hospital for just 2 to 3 days post-op. No date has been set yet for the surgery, but the likelihood is that it will happen sooner rather than later. The neurosurgeon gave his full assessment, including all the risks, in front of Skye, who leaned over to Kate to ask, “Will you remember all this?”

June 15, 2007
Skye has an appointment at 10:30 this morning for a follow up CT scan at St. Jos's. Her neurosurgeon scheduled this scan at her last appointment with the intent of monitoring her progress and watching for any potential problems. We'll keep you posted as we know more.

June 12, 2007
Skye has already completed 6 weeks of the scheduled 8 week program at CarePartners. We would love to have her remain in the program longer and benefit from additional therapy, but we have no guarantee that will happen. She could be released in less than two weeks.
That means we need to find a rental property in the immediate Asheville area pretty quickly. We are looking for a place with 2-3 bedrooms. It should be a fairly open floor plan with one of the bedrooms and a bath on the ground floor. We will need a place that is already accessible for a small wheelchair (about 30” wide minimum clearance on doors) or can be modified. The bathroom has to be big enough for two people to turn around easily. We’d prefer a quiet neighborhood with a porch and/or yard and we have a medium-small, well behaved dog. If possible, we’d like to sign a six month or shorter lease. If you know of any leads or have a place available please call Kate at 828.817.0050 or Ben at 828.606.0211 or send an email to skyesrents@hotmail.com. Thanks so much for any help you can give us!

June 12, 2007
Skye continues to make great progress! In the last week she’s done several 100 foot walks with the assistance of her therapists, is working on pulling herself up to a standing position, started eating regular food (no more pureed fish!), filled her legal tablets with page after page of writing, much of it in Spanish, and begun talking more clearly, more often and to more people. She even greeted her speech therapist this morning with a “Jan, Jan, bo, ban. Bonana fanna fo fan, fee fy mo man, Jan!” When I asked her if she’d rather rest in bed or go outside in between therapy sessions last week, she asked “What are my other options?”
She holds her head up regally straight at times and both eyes are open most of the time now. When Sean came to visit the other day and reminded her of the prank he pulled on her at Bonnaroo a couple years ago, she “laughed” a shoulder shaking chuckle with a big lopsided grin. In her writing frenzy, she jotted notes to Sean on his knees and arms. When he teased her that she was writing upside down and he couldn’t read it, she proceeded to write “Hi Amy” on his hand, backwards AND upside down so that he could easily read it.
Yesterday Neil, Ben and I took her outside, spread out a blanket and had a little “picnic” on the grass. Neil propped her in a sitting position on the blanket and she picked up chopsticks to deftly eat tofu cubes and munch happily on vegetable chips. We asked what she’d like for breakfast and she answered “huevos rancheros” and even gave me the list of ingredients. At 6am this morning we whipped up a skillet full, wrapped them in a blanket and headed to the center with regular dinner plates and silverware to share a homecooked breakfast with her.

June 04, 2007
Last week Skye continued to become more aware of herself and her situation. Those with her said that she had became quiet and dispirited. When Kate asked her what was wrong she said, "I want to stand and walk." Kate told her that was the plan we all had for her. On Thursday and Friday everyone was trying to help her work through the sadness and fear, and let her know that she has a huge support team! As the weekend began her mood became more upbeat as she took her first few assisted steps on the parallel bars. With the assistance of her therapist she "walked" 72 feet down a hallway! Her therapist pointed out what a huge accomplishment that was considering that the week before her goal was to sit unassisted on the edge of a platform for 15 seconds. Skye now has a new wheelchair that puts her closer to the floor. Once she gets the hang of it, she will be able to move herself around on it. Kate says that she's already unbuckling her seat belt, so the rest is certainly not far behind. Some of Skye's closest girlfriends are starting to come into town. Skye's spirits lifted even higher last night, when her friend Cecily arrived from Arizona. Skye wrote "I'm feeling much better with all the girls in Asheville." As everyone stood around her bed last night talking with Skye and cracking jokes, Skye started laughing. It was a wonderful moment as everyone could see the personality that we all love so much, shining through.

The following is a link to the trail that was built at CarePartners last week in honor of Skye. The trail is roughly three-quarters of a mile and will be accessible to people at CarePartners who have physical and cognitive impairments.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007705310302

The in residence rehabilitation program lasts for only a finite amount of time. In the near future, Skye will be discharged from CarePartners. Neil and Kate are looking to rent an affordable home in Asheville so Skye can be close to her friends, family and therapists for any extended treatment she may need. If any of you have homes for rent or know of any good resources for a good deal, as well as a place that can be modified for things like wheelchair accessibility, please let us know.

May 29, 2007
Skye reached a major milestone on Friday when she passed her swallow test! For the first time in two months she can drink and eat! Up to this point everything, including water, has gone directly through her feeding tube into her stomach. Kate says that Skye always was a big fan of hydration, so she has to be a happy camper! She can now have juices and anything pureed, so vegetables and even pureed fish seem to taste pretty good to her! As long as she eats 50% or more of her meals they won't have to supplement with the feeding tube. So far, so good.

A few nights back, Skye's cousin, Megan was visiting from Pennsylvania. Megan was giving Skye a facial and Kate was talking to her like she does every night. Kate said, "Remember when you called me to come to Asheville to get a facial at Beauty Parade with you?" Skye responded, "I loved those facials." Kate said, "And remember, we met Ben and went to Burgermeister's afterwards?" and Skye replied, "We had fried pickles. They were outstanding!"

Kate, Neil, and Ben recently had a full "Team Skye" meeting with Skye's doctor, all of her therapists, and her case manager in one room. They were all very pleased with her progress. As they move forward, they are working towards the common goal of helping Skye respond and communicate more clearly and consistently. They are also working to help strengthen muscles and increase endurance. Skye has now strengthened her neck muscles to the point where she is able to hold her head up much straighter. She is opening her left eye more often and her right eye at times. There are moments when she communicates very clearly, and everyone is working hard to draw more of that out of her. While most of the time she talks with just Kate, Neil and Ben, she's now begun to occasionally talk to her therapists, nurses and doctor. She even said a few words to her doctor in Spanish. One day she shocked her therapists by saying "I'm concerned my left leg is atrophying."

May 25, 2007
The following article was in this week's Mountain Xpress. Here is a link to the online version for all of you to read: A biker’s incredible journey

May 23, 2007
Neil, Kate and Ben met with the Neuro-Surgeon yesterday to discuss the results of Skye's CT scan. He said that Skye's blood clot is completely gone, her swelling is the best that he had seen, and neurologically she is doing very well. He reminded them of the grim prognosis he had made right after the accident, and how he told them that he wanted to be wrong, but it was highly unlikely. He said that based on what he saw yesterday, Skye is well on the way to proving him wrong. He said that he even foresees her coming to visit him at some point in the future. He said she still has a long road ahead of her, but she is certainly on the right path. Skye is scheduled for a follow up scan on June 18th.

May 21, 2007
Skye had another remarkable weekend of improvements. She continued to write, but this weekend especially, was speaking quite a bit more. Kate was talking to her about being strong through all of this and that she needs to always remind herself that she is strong and powerful. Many times this weekend Skye said "I am strong, I am powerful". Her therapists say that she is assisting quite a bit more during her therapy sessions. She drew a picture of two bicycles yesterday, and later asked what had happened to her. Ben explained the accident, and talked about how she was now in rehabilitation and working to recover. Kate said it was intense for awhile as Skye seemed to be processing what Ben was saying. Kate says that she didn't know how much sunk in, but they will continue to answer her questions as she has them, and will help her understand the situation. Kate said that Skye was very lucid on Sunday evening, and all of a sudden said, "I love you mama. I really really love you. I need you and I depend on you". Kate told her that she didn't know it was possible to love someone as much as she loved her, and continued to say that whatever they had to do to bring her through this, she would not have to travel this journey alone, and if they had to they would move mountains. Skye looked at her mom and said, "You're a mountain mover". Kate said that she couldn't imagine a sound that was sweeter to her ears. This morning Skye is heading back over to Mission hospital for a follow up CT scan. This is intended to be a preventative measure, as it will give an updated view of her injury/healing, and give doctors a view of any potential issues that need to be addressed.

May 16, 2007
Skye made several incredible vocalizations in the last 48 hours. Ben was standing next to her and she said the word "pain". He asked her to repeat what she just said, and she replied "pain medicine". Needless to say, pain medicine was quickly brought to her. Also, Skye's physical therapist was with her and said "hi Skye", Skye said "hi" back to her. There is a checklist of tasks that therapists say she must do consistently in order to start eating regular food: She needs to be able to hold her head up, pass a swallow test, and follow several specific verbal commands. If she does this, she will be able to start with liquid foods first, and then move on to solids. Kate has been encouraging her by telling her she can do it, and tells her to always remind herself that she can. After Kate said this to her, Skye said clearly, "I can do it". Skye's therapists say she is exhibiting better head control, and is showing more improvements in her therapy sessions. Recently she responded very well to a "lemon swab test" that determines her natural response to taste.

May 14, 2007
Although there were several small speed bumps, Skye continued to see improvements over the weekend. Kate shared that she had a very special Mother's Days yesterday. She said that she was not only blessed, but also grateful that Skye was here with us, and that she was so honored to be her mama. Unfortunately, Skye was in a lot of pain yesterday morning, and had to be given several medications to help make her more comfortable. The side effects of the medicine is drowsiness, so she slept for most of the day. The doctor gave her a botox injection in her left pectoral muscle to try to relax her left arm, as it had become very stiff over the weekend. If the effects of the injection are what doctors expect, they will likely be able to start doing some stimulation and motion exercises to help her regain use of her left arm.

Skye has started vocalizing more often. She hasn't done much of it in front of her therapists or doctor, but Kate and Ben both heard her quite a bit. Kate continues to encourage Skye as she tries to speak, and asks her to be patient as they work to understand what she is saying. She seems to try to talk most often when she is handed a cell phone. When Neil called on Friday night after work, she listened silently on the other end of the line for a minute, then haltingly but audibly said "Hello, daddy". On Saturday night after talking with him again, she said very clearly "Papa Goose". No one knows what that means, but she had written the words "Papa Goose" on paper earlier that day. Kate, Neil, and Ben say that it has been such an incredible gift to hear her beautiful voice again. One of Skye's nurses was teasing her yesterday, and said "I hear you're giving thumbs up, but only to your mom. So you wont give a thumbs up to me will you?". Skye put her thumb up in the air.

May 11, 2007
Skye's improvement's have continued steadily over the last several days. Her therapists have been trying to keep all extra stimulation to a minimum, as the therapy sessions themselves have tended to push her quite a bit. Skye is more consistently responding to verbal cues, and on occasion, has even started to communicate with thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate yes or no. Her eyes are fully open more often, and when they are open, she will lock on and track others who are in the room with her. Kate shared that she and Neil had a pretty powerful experience when they were with her last night. Neil was sitting next to her, and Skye started running her fingers through his hair. She was looking directly at him with little emotion in her face, when all of a sudden, for the first time since the accident, she smiled.

May 07, 2007
This weekend, Skye continued to show substantial improvements. Her therapists gave the ok for her first wheelchair trip outside, so she was able to breathe a little mountain fresh air in between several therapy sessions. On Friday evening Skye started to pull on the IV line running into her arm. Kate told her that she needed to be patient and that she only had 11 more days to wait, and it would be taken out. Skye started moving her hand like she wanted to write something, so Kate gave her a pen and paper. She wrote "She has 10 days left until comfortable". Kate checked the schedule for when the IV was going to be taken out, and sure enough it was 10 days instead of 11! Also, Kate has regularly been giving Skye some lip balm to put on her lips. After she handed her some over the weekend, Skye wrote the words "Burt's Bees", which was the brand that Kate had been giving her. In one of Skye's Saturday therapy sessions, she was able to stand with assistance for about 20 seconds, and on Saturday evening she wrote the words "Read my favorite books to me". Kate, Neil, and Ben have been reading excerpts from "Opal" and the "Poisonwood Bible", as well as Skye's favorite Nelson Mandela quote. Skye continues to do self stimulation on her left arm by moving and stretching it with her right, and for the first time has started to move her left index finger on her own. Kate and Neil thought that you would all like to see some of Skye's writing, so we've posted the two links below: 10 days till comfortable and Burts Bees.

May 04, 2007
Yesterday, Skye's therapists were able to get her into her wheelchair for a longer period of time. Unlike the day before when they felt she needed more recovery time, her blood pressure remained steady, and now they feel she will likely be able to be in it more often. One of Skye's therapy sessions consists of verbal commands with physical responses. The therapists for this session shared that Skye's physical responses, while not yet classified as "consistent" are certainly well on their way. Kate said that last night Skye rested soundly from her busy day. Wednesday night was Neil's first night back at work. When he called Kate to check up on Skye, Kate handed her the phone. When she heard her dad on the other end of the line, she started to make new sounds that Kate described as mumbled talking. Although she couldn't make out any of the words Skye was saying, Skye would consistently make the sounds in response to something Neil would say to her. This "conversation" lasted for several minutes, and when she was through talking, she shut the phone, and handed it back to her mom.

May 02, 2007
Today was a great day for Skye's rehabilitation. Her therapists were able to fit her for a wheelchair this morning, however they felt that she needed to recover a bit more before she was able to be in the chair for any significant length of time. Later this afternoon, Skye was able to take a shower. The shower room at the center is equipped with a special harness that holds Skye as she bathes. She reached for the hand held shower nozzle several times and proceeded to wash herself. When she was finished she took the towel that her nurses gave her and partially dried herself off. Squeaky clean Skye is now resting up from her busy day, and will be refreshed and ready to go full speed again tomorrow.

May 01, 2007
Yesterday afternoon Skye's doctor signed the release forms, and Skye made the move out of Mission and into Care Partners rehabilitation center. As expected, everything related to the move went smoothly. Skye is now in her new, larger room and is preparing for her first day of rehabilitation. Today her therapists have planned to fit her with a special wheelchair that will allow them to take her to different places in the facility, and perhaps outside for some fresh air. On the improvement front, Kate said that Skye held up her leg for an extended period yesterday, and stuck her tongue out when she asked her to. Also, she said that Skye is reaching over quite a bit to lift her left arm with her right hand, almost as if she's giving herself some physical therapy on that arm.

April 29, 2007
Over the weekend Skye continued to see improvements. When Neil and Kate gave her a toothbrush she put it in her mouth and brushed her teeth. She is keeping her eyes open longer, and is continuing to write when given a pen. She wrote the words "checklists", "bring", and "hamsters", as well as several iterations of the capital letters "UN". She is becoming more responsive to visual cues in her surroundings, and last night she lifted her head for the first time to meet her fingers when she had an itch on her nose. Neil showed her the Care Pages on his laptop yesterday, and said that she appeared to be very engaged as they looked through the different sections together. Doctors say that Skye is almost ready to be discharged from the hospital. As early as tomorrow, she will be making the move out of Mission and into the CarePartners rehabilitation center. Kate, Neil, and Ben feel that this is the best location for her recovery not only for its strong reputation, but also because of its close proximity to her support network of family and friends. Thank you, as always, for your love and prayers as she makes this next major step on her road to recovery!

April 26, 2007
Skye continued to write on her paper yesterday. In addition to the word "bring", she also wrote the words "Kim" and "just" as well as other letters and numbers. Although she could have stopped there for the day with these incredible feats, Skye, of course, had something else up her sleeve. Last night, when Kate, Neil, and Skye's Midwife were in Skye's room, Kate asked Skye if she wanted to write anything else. Skye started to write 3 digits, a dot, and 4 more digits. As they looked at what she had written, they recognized that it could be a phone number. In fact, it looked a lot like a Mission hospital number. They all looked up at the whiteboard in front of Skye's bed and saw that the number matched the room phone number that Skye's nurse had written for Kate and Neil! Skye had visually recognized, processed, and recorded the number to her paper. Everyone continues to be in awe of the seemingly exponential progress that Skye is making, and if yesterday's progress is any indicator of what is to come, there's no telling what she will do today! Skye, you're amazing!

April 25, 2007
Skye’s improvements over the last 24 hours have been substantial. Her movements are now the most frequent they have been since the accident. Yesterday, Kate gave her some ChapStick and she put it on her lips. Today she put it on again, but this time, applied it by touching her finger to the ChapStick and then her finger to her lips (the way she always did before the accident). Kate says that she had her left eye open for most of the day and both eyes open during today’s physical therapy session, which lasted about 15 minutes. She looked directly at Ben several times and ran her fingers through his hair, and has even started to write on the paper they put under her pen. Earlier today she wrote several numbers and the word "bring". Also, when one of her visitors was leaving her room this afternoon Ben asked her if she was going to tell him bye. She raised her hand high in the air, wiggled her fingers and held two up like a peace sign. Everyone around her, including her doctors and nurses are truly amazed by what is happening.

April 24, 2007
Ever since Skye’s last tracheotomy procedure, air has been allowed to travel over her vocal cords. She has been making sounds for the last two days, especially when people come to visit. Also, she is becoming more aware of her face as she is starting to take objects that are in her hand and bring them to her mouth. Ben said that when they were in with her yesterday, she even started to lightly bite the pen he had given her. Skye’s vitals are the strongest they have been since the accident. In fact her doctors say that she is almost ready to make the move out of Mission and into a rehabilitation center. Neil, Kate, and Ben had their first interview with Care Partners of Asheville yesterday, and have two more this week with Carolina in Charlotte, and the Shepard Center in Atlanta. They will be talking to representatives of all three, as well as visiting their facilities in order to decide on the best place for Skye’s rehabilitation. Many of you have expressed an interest in visiting Skye once she became well enough to receive visitors. Neil, Kate, and Ben feel that she is at that point, and would like to invite those who are interested to send a note to Ben at redriderbb@hotmail.com to set up an appropriate time.

April 22, 2007
You have all touched our hearts so very deeply with your love, support and prayers for Skye. While Neil and I haven’t had the chance yet to talk with each of you personally, please know how very much we appreciate you. Your network of support has been our safety net. We are so moved by the outpouring of love from near and far. It has been incredible to witness the kind of impact Skye has on her friends and family and even on those who haven’t met her yet. If she could, she would be humbly and tearfully thanking each of you for reaching out to her.

We want you all to know that every day we are reading your messages to Skye and we know, on some level, she is hearing and finding great comfort and strength in your thoughts, love and prayers. We can’t even begin to thank Sefton for maintaining these Carepages so beautifully and keeping all of you who care about Skye connected. Sefton, your love of Skye shines through so brightly. You are an incredible and wonderful soul and we love you so very dearly. We are deeply honored that Skye holds such an important place in your heart. Thank you from the very bottom of ours.

Skye is facing this challenge in typical Skye-fashion, with incredible strength, grace and bravery. I’ve always told Skye she’s my hero because she’s so brave. It’s not that she’s fearless. She has more than her share of fears. It’s that she recognizes those fears and instead of shrinking from them, challenges and moves through them. That’s what being brave is all about. She feared heights, so she took up rock-climbing. She feared water, yet she went paddling in an ocean kayak in New Zealand with dolphins swimming around her boat. She’s uncomfortable in confined spaces, but she went caving in Costa Rica with Spanish speaking guides when she didn’t even speak the language. Now, as we watch her face her greatest challenge I mean it more than ever. Skye, you truly are my hero.

Thank you all once again and please continue to keep Skye in your hearts and prayers as she continues on her road to recovery. We understand it will be a long one, but your outpouring of love and support make it an easier path to travel.

We love you,
Kate and Neil

April 21, 2007
Skye is recovering beautifully from her surgery. Yesterday, doctors took out her large plastic tracheotomy tube and replaced it with a small metal one. The new one has a breathing valve, which helps reroute much of Skye's breathing through her nose and mouth. Skye's movements are seeming much more pronounced. She reached up to scratch her face, and across her body to scratch a scab on her arm. The physical therapy team, who has been working to step up Skye's therapy level, sat her up in her bed during their last session. They say that this is great not only for Skye's blood circulation, but also her stabilizing muscles. Kate, Neil, and Ben have also been working to introduce familiar objects, smells, sounds, etc. that appeal to her senses, in hopes of producing a cognitive response. Kate shared that she gave Skye a pen yesterday, and while at first Skye's finger movements on the pen were erratic, she soon had the pen in a standard grip and moved it as if she was writing.

Since the accident, especially during some of the darker times, there have been several inspirational stories that have brought comfort and hope to Neil, Kate, and Ben. One of which was the story of Saul Raisin (http://www.saulraisin.com/). Saul, who was a pro cyclist at 23 fell from his bike during a race and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma, and much like Skye was not expected to survive, and if he did survive, was supposed to be paralyzed for life. Saul however, much like Skye beat the odds and survived, but he didn't stop there. He is now back on his bike, engaged to be married, and living a happy and restored life. Kate and Neil were discussing this story yesterday, and how nice it would be to try to track down a number and get in touch with Saul. Within minutes of this conversation the phone rang. The person on the other end told Kate that someone wanted to talk to her, she then heard the voice of Saul Raisin on the other end of the line. He had called because he had heard Skye's story and wanted to send his love and support for her recovery. Skye's story touched Saul, much like it has touched all of us. She is continuing to beat the odds, and like Saul we know she can heal from this injury and come back to us fully restored.

April 18, 2007
This evening doctors decided to take Skye in for another CT scan. The results showed that there was an abscess at the site of the drainage tube on the back right side of her head. They knew that this condition existed from her last surgery, but felt that it wasn't an issue at the time. This evening however, doctors decided to take her into surgery to clean up the infection. The surgery was over quickly, and according to the surgeons, was very successful. Some good post-surgery news that the surgeons shared was that they noticed Skye's blood clot had reduced in size, and that her swelling had significantly decreased. Skye is back in the Neuro Care unit resting from the proceedure.

April 18, 2007
Skye has been moved out of the ICU! Although we heard that it could be another 48 hours or more, doctors decided that she was ready for the step down. Her new room is on the 5th floor of Mission, in the Neuro Trauma Care unit. Kate, Neil, and Ben will be getting her situated in her new room this morning, and are preparing to re-start physical therapy later this afternoon. This is such great news as it looks like the intensive care that Skye required is behind her. She now has the opportunity to focus on coming out of her coma and starting her rehabilitation. Neil, Kate, and Ben met with the attorney yesterday and have set the ball in motion to create the appropriate organization to fund Skye's recovery process. Thank you for all of your resource suggestions and fundraising ideas! The paperwork should be processed in the next few days, and as soon as everything is in place we will start working on putting those ideas into action! So keep them coming, and thanks as always for your continued love and prayers as Skye makes this next major step in her recovery.


April 16, 2007
This morning Skye responded several times to Kate and Neil's requests for her to lift her fingers. Other than her feeding tube and the remaining antibiotics for her infection, she is entirely off of all medication, and is continuing to breathe successfully on her own. Skye's cranial pressure, swelling, and temperature is down, and she is physically responding to touch, especially to the bottom of her feet. Doctors are saying that if she stays stable for the next 48-72 hours, she will likely be moved out of the ICU and into a step down unit. Ben has a meeting tomorrow morning with a lawyer to start figuring out the best type of organization or entity to fund Skye's rehabilitation. There are now close to 700 of you who have signed up for Skye's care page, and the profound effect of your love and prayers is evident every day in and around the ICU. Since the accident, Skye has continued to defy the odds, and as she makes this next critical step in her recovery, we ask that you hold her ever closer in your thoughts and prayers, so that she can defy them once again.

April 14, 2007
Neil and Kate are so honored by the outpouring of love and support for their daughter, Skye. This evening's update is a special note they would like to send to all of you:

I’m not sure how to even begin to say THANK YOU. At this moment in our lives words can’t even begin to express the deep level of appreciation that Kate and I feel for all of your support. Every expression of love, concern and support that we receive by phone, in person and through these wonderful Carepages helps us to face each new day and each challenge with strength and hope. I am surprised at the tremendous outpouring of love, we are witnessing, for my daughter. It is obvious that she has touched many more hearts than I ever imagined. We are truly honored and feel so blessed to be Skye’s parents. As Skye fights the infection that now is in her body we are preparing for the next phase in her road to recovery. We are looking at various skilled care nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers that she may be moved to after her discharge from Mission Hospital.

Please keep Skye in your thoughts and prayers as she moves into this next phase of recovery, she will continue to need all of the support and prayers that has been so generously offered by family, friends and even strangers. Again, with tremendous gratitude, we thank each and every one of you. It is a much easier road to travel knowing that so many folks are holding Skye so close to their hearts.

April 13, 2007
Last night Skye was taken into surgery for the infection in her cerebral spinal fluid. Her doctors became concerned after her temperature held steady above 100 and her cranial swelling increased. They said that the antibiotics were becoming less effective and the best option would be to remove the infection manually. This procedure took about 30 minutes and the surgeon was able to successfully remove the infection. Fortunately, no surgery had to be performed directly to her brain, because the infection was isolated between her scalp and the artificial layer they had implanted in a previous surgery. Skye is recovering back in the ICU, and is being treated with more effective antibiotics. The surgeon says that there is still an isolated infection in one of Skye's cerebral drainage tubes that will eventually have to be addressed. However, he thinks it would be better for her to rest before further procedures. Skye's Surgeon also told Neil and Kate that prior to surgery he had asked her to lift two fingers. She crossed her middle finger over her index and lifted it up. This is one of the strongest verbal cue responses to date.

April 12, 2007
Skye is continuing to heal from her surgery and her infection. Yesterday afternoon her temperature got up to 103, but by last night had dropped down to around 100. This is just part of dealing with any infection, but the antibiotics are continuing to prove effective and she is showing more signs of improvement. Ben said that her cough has subsided and her breathing is sounding much better. Neil, Kate, and Ben are starting to research good rehabilitation centers that Skye can go to once she comes out of her coma. The next critical step for her as she awakens is responsiveness to voice commands. Once she is able to consistently respond to verbal cues, she will be well on the road to rehabilitation. Neil, Kate, and Ben are also looking into establishing a nonprofit or other similar type of entity that will help with funding Skye's long term care during recovery. If anyone has experience or knows someone who is an expert on establishing these sorts of entities, please let us know, as any direction or advice will be extremely helpful!

April 10, 2007
Yesterday doctors gathered several culture samples from Skye to test for bacterial growth. The results indicated that Skye has an infection in both her cerebral spinal fluid and lungs. Although this is something doctors hoped wouldn't happen, they acknowledged that it was a possibility and that they were prepared to respond if it did. Skye is currently being treated with antibiotics, and because Neil and Kate "were such good hippie parents", and never gave Skye antibiotics, the treatments are proving to be very effective. Additionally, to be sure that there was no contamination in the samples, more cultures have been taken and the results should be available in 24-48 hours.

Skye is becoming more responsive to pain stimulus and doctors have indicated that because her movement is consistently crossing her mid line, her awareness level has increased several points on the Glasgow coma scale. Skye is continuing to recover from her surgery. She has been taken off of the respirator and is once again breathing on her own.

April 08, 2007
Earlier today Skye went in for a post surgery ct scan. The results showed that there was some very slight hemorrhaging in her brain, but nothing that was cause for immediate concern. Every surgery is extremely stressful on Skye's body, and the surgeons say the reason she was able to get through the last surgery so successfully, was because she had time to heal and have the swelling in her brain go down. Kate and Neil had the option to once again undergo surgery to stop the bleeding, but because there was no immanent danger, they felt it was the best decision to wait and allow Skye to rest and heal as much as possible.

After yesterday's surgery, doctors said that Skye's natural ability to stop bleeding had diminished, so they had to inject plasma to help assist her in this function. The plasma injections appear to be helping, as several areas of her body that were bleeding have now stopped. Also, as of this afternoon, her natural ability to stop bleeding has once again improved. Skye's cranial pressure is hovering around 15 and she is currently breathing with the assistance of the respirator. She is continuing to recover in ICU. In fact, earlier this afternoon, Kate put her hand in Skye's and asked her to squeeze her hand to let her know she was there. No sooner did the words leave her mouth than Skye's fingers tightened around her mom's. This is such a beautiful image of the awareness that Skye still has, the fight that is still in her, and the love that she has for her family and friends. Happy Easter everyone!

So what does this mean? This is essentially a lateral move for Skye with both Pro's and Con's. Skye's body will once again have to deal with the stress and healing related to surgery, as well as the unknown results of removing parts of her brain tissue during the surgery. Fortunately, she no longer has to worry about the clot in her frontal lobe. Also, Skye's first ct scan showed several positive elements that are still very significant. At one point surgeons were worried about damage to the left hemisphere of Skye's brain because of the swelling and shifting that took place after the injury to her right side. The scan showed that the swelling had decreased, and that the shifting had realigned itself with the proper mid line. Surgeons say that because of the improvement, there is likely little if any damage to the left hemisphere, which is good for Skye since she is naturally dominant in that hemisphere. All in all, Skye's surgery is a positive thing, and the Surgeons agree that they cannot make any accurate assessment of the accident's or surgery's effect on Skye's cognitive function or abilities. They say it is just something that we will all have to wait and see, after she wakes up.

April 05, 2007
Skye started physical therapy earlier today. Therapy at this level consists of simple assisted movements of joints and limbs with the intent of preventing joint stiffening and muscle atrophy. The nurses taught Kate to perform the same therapy, and Kate has shared this information with others who visit Skye regularly. Skye has a new ct scan scheduled for tomorrow. It will give surgeons an updated picture of the damage to her brain, as well as the status of the blood clot. Also, Skye's cranial pressure dropped to 8 today which is the lowest that it has been since the accident!

And now for a story (from: Sefton Patton):
Just before Skye left work last week we were talking about an instructional video she had created for our software. She humbly accepted my compliments as I told her what a great job she did on it. I find that I have listened to it several times just to hear her voice, and although the content is not relevant, I thought it would be nice to share this video with all of you, so you could hear her as well. We all know that Skye puts in 200% in everything that she does, and this video was no exception. Her drive, passion, and energy shines through on every word. (Special Note: There are now over 500 amazing people like you, who have signed up for Skye's care page, if you experience any sluggishness in loading the video, keep checking back as many will likely load it as soon as this update goes out)

http://www.castlekeeponline.com/videos/CK2min/CK2min.html
or click here Skye Video

Story #2:
Brett McCall, one of Skye's coworkers is currently in Italy competing in the international Ultimate Frisbee tournament. To help fund his trip, he auctioned off space on his hat, that he would wear during the games. His younger brother got the winning bid on the auction, and though it was the perfect opportunity for any younger brother to put whatever he wanted on his brother's head, Brett shared the story of Skye and his brother felt it was only right to give the space in honor of her. Brett just sent in a link to a video he posted on youTube. Copy the link below to see his tribute to Skye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoifLlbMspw
or click here Skye Tribute

As Skye goes into her ct scan tomorrow please pray that doctors continue to be amazed at the miraculous improvements they see. Feel free to put a link to your own youTube video tributes on the message board, and of course continue to lift Skye up with your amazing love and prayer posts!

April 04, 2007
Skye's movements have started to become more frequent, and last night, while Kate was in visiting with her, she opened one eye for a brief moment and then closed it. The nurses are continuing to see more signs of improvement, and today her surgeon said, "It looks like she is out of the woods as far as survival is concerned". Skye will likely move out of the ICU by this weekend, but in order to do so, they will need to wean her off of her blood pressure medication and remove her cranial pressure monitor, which should take at least 3 days. Skye's surgeon says that her road to recovery has begun, and the question that remains is how far, and how fast. We have truly seen a miracle happen this week, and believe another can happen with her recovery!

April 03, 2007
Yesterday's tracheotomy procedure was a success. Skye is now breathing entirely on her own. She continues to move her arm at the elbow, and her doctors say that they have never seen any patient with the severity of Skye's head injury show improvement like they're seeing. In fact, they say if she continues to improve at the same rate over the next three days, they will likely step down her care level from Intensive to Critical. There are many issues that Skye still needs to overcome, including the clot in her frontal lobe, but this news is HUGE! This is the same person who 3 days ago had an almost 0% chance of survival, and yet the rules of this game appear to be breaking. Thank you ALL for your continued love and prayers!

April 02, 2007
Skye's reflexive movements have continued over the last 24 hours. She moved her fingers, legs, and mouth, and got goose bumps when the nurses ran their finger across her arm. There is a particular movement that nurses noted (bending of the arm at the elbow) that indicates a slightly higher level of cognitive function. Although no one has physically seen her do it, the nurses say that it has happened several times. Additionally, Skye's breathing is almost entirely unassisted, and last night Neil and Kate had to make a big decision related to removing Skye's respirator. They could either remove it completely and allow her to try to breathe through her mouth on her own, or do a tracheotomy that would almost ensure her breathing. Doctors have said that there are ways to keep Skye alive, but there is also a danger that in that life, her mind could be lost. This is a place they have referred to as "no mans land". However, because of Skye's recent and unexpected improvements, Neil and Kate decided to have the tracheotomy. They are always cognizant of these decisions in relation to the quality of Skye's life, and doctors admit that this could give her just the time that she needs to heal. The Tracheotomy was scheduled for 8:30 this morning, we will bring you more updates as soon as they come in.