Safe at Home
November 28, 2008 11:00 AM

Still no pictures for you! Juliana returned from Miami yesterday (Thanksgiving Day) with the black surgical dressing removed from around her mouth. However, it was replaced by a sutured-on white dressing, which looks like a pile of cotton balls stuck to her mouth. This will come off in about a week—then we'll see what her new skin graft looks like. Dr. Wolf has been working on the left side of her mouth. He'll start working on the right side on December 17. It seems like a slow process, but she has come a very long way from where she started.

Last night Juliana had a new DVD to watch as she went to sleep, a Barney Christmas DVD. She couldn't go to sleep, though, until she had danced along to all the little dances. Barney and the characters in the video use a lot of arm movements in their dances, and she quickily learns all the moves, which she does while sitting up in her bed! Not only that, but she wants me to do them too. She'll be watching the screen while at the same time keeping an eye on me to make sure I'm doing it right.

Usually on her first night back from the hospital it takes her quite a while to relax, and then she'll sleep lightly, pushing away my hands when I try to work on her. Last night she watched Barney and two Signing Time DVD's before she fell asleep, but she slept well and I was able to clean her suture lines without waking her up. When she sleeps well like that I know she's feeling safe, back in her home.

—Jeanne ("Party")