No room in a "regular" room....

Hi there! (the above picture is from a friend that sent me some very inspirational quotes/slides...I'll post more on other days...)

Well it was very hard to leave dad and mom, but we had to get back to our homes for a little bit to finish taking care of jobs and other business.....we'll be in touch w/ dad many times throughout the day/week and we'll probably be going back every weekend until needed. There's plenty for dad to go do at MD, but he's staying close by mom's side. :) He's made a few new friends of other families and husband's....some have even had similar experiences with brain tumors and I think he has enjoyed talking with them about things.

Grandma (gigi), Virgil (gramps), Hillary, Ryan, Breck and I all made it home safely late last night. Hill and Ryan went the OKC way and picked up their dog, Chip. GiGi and Gramps made it back to Stigler after following Breck and I up until Eufaula area on HWY 69 after some stops along the way. Even though we were down in Houston for some a difficult reason and some scary moments...we couldn't help but have some laughs along the way and during our stay. When mom was giggling about things, we knew all was better and she was going to continue to improve. She says, "It'll be slow, but I'll get there." What wonderful words to hear coming out of her mouth! :) She has been eating real food now and doing great with that! Dad said she ate a great dinner last night and had a good breakfast this morning. She's been wanting to sit up in a rocking chair to eat as well, so she's getting up more. They haven't tried to walk her around just yet.

Dr. Rao came by already this a.m. and told dad that there are no "regular" rooms available so mom will be in ICU still until one comes available. They're keeping a wonderuful watch on her anyway in ICU. She also got her bandages off today and he said that looked good. Mom's a miracle already and we'll continue to keep praying that the fluid/swelling is absorbed and that a room comes available for her. Thank you all for staying posted with this blog. We all have enjoyed writing it and sharing mom's success! Keep in touch and thank you all again for everything. We'll keep you updated later.....The Forrester Family

Here is a picture of Claire in her "cowgirl" outfit that mimi and poppy just HAD to go get her from Country Boy in Warner, OK right before they left for Houston. It's so adorable and Claire is always running around playing dress up. She yells "yee haw"!!!

UPDATE around 3:45 p.m.--dad called and said that mom was doing good today. He said that a speech therapist came to work with her for about an hour today. Also, she was off her oxygen most of the day! :)