Dakota has been back to school now for about 3 weeks, she has missed some days for doctor follow ups and physical therapy but she is full steam ahead. We tried to get her to NOT take some test she had when she got back but little “Miss Determined” studied and pass them anyway!  

 

She still has outpatient PT once a week, when we went for the first OT session the therapist didn’t feel as though she needed a lot of OT time. She feels like if Dakota keeps doing the things she is already doing, like writing and typing for school she will continue to strengthen the left hand and making her way around school will continue to strengthen the left leg and foot. So those session are not weekly. She was given some exercises to do at home but ultimately the Occupational Therapist feels like she is doing well. 

 

She had PT today and it went well. They did an initial evaluation so they know where she is. Afterwards, they stated that once a week would be good for her. She was not released to participate in P.E. at school or any sports which sucks but we obviously understand. We have encouraged her to use PE class to do her “at home” PT exercises instead of just sitting. She thinks that is a good idea also. Dakota wants to work at getting back to sports and we obviously agree with this and are excited about it! 

 

At home, things are moving along smoothly. She still has some medicines she has to take. At her follow up visits next week we may be given permission to stop them all so be in prayer for that because normal is normal and prior to this ordeal, we didn’t take regular meds! We want normal! We want full restoration! 100% and have believed God for this since day one! We’re not stopping now! 

 

The foundation paperwork continues to roll. We are all still pretty excited about getting The DakotaStrong Foundation out of the blocks so we can begin building and helping others in need. Lots of planning, lots of gathering but all for a really good cause! We found out today that the hospital where she was treated has an entire department that deals with assisting start up foundations that stem from medical issues and we have been put in contact with them. Thats pretty exciting! They will obviously know some of the obstacles we will face and how to navigate around them. We are really looking forward to collaborating with them. We will continue to keep you all posted periodically as we move forward towards 100% restoration!

 

One other l thing I would like to share:

 

The doctor that did Dakota’s surgeries is one of the best, if not THE best in the Metro DC area. We had no idea at the time the quality of care she would receive but God had a plan. This guy was very confident from the first time we spoke to him. His confidence was calming. Never once did we worry about him in surgery with our girl- as we always expect, God had blessed us with the best! Anyway, we clearly had no idea exactly what Dakota was facing. We had no idea the severity of her situation. We hurt, we cried, we prayed and we cried and we hurt and we prayed and that cycle went on for weeks! Hasn’t stopped. We are a praying family so seeking God during a difficult time was not new to us-but I have to say that the level of difficulty was something we had never experienced. Still, we had no clue. NONE! 

Dakota’s neurosurgeon has since shared with us that he was in fact concerned. We thanked him for not letting us know that at the time! Haha. He has excellent bedside manners. Even after he shared with us that he had concerns we STILL didn’t know, we still had no clue exactly what God had brought us out of from a medical point of view. We have since found out that Dakota’s case had the entire medical community in this area on the edge of their seats! Her story has been passed around as “The Case at INOVA”! We had a family member recently go to a doctor’s appointment and through conversation she shared Dakota’s story with her doctor and the doctor’s response was “Thats your niece!? I heard about her! We all have! I’m so glad to hear she is doing much better!” Then our family member commented that we were all really concerned during the roughest parts that Dakota’s personality would change because of the stress to her brain. The concern was rooted in her behaviors and the way she spoke a few days after the 2nd procedure. She was clearly not herself and we didn’t know if this would be her “new normal”. Well the doctor responded to that with “thats all you guys were worried about!? We were all worried about her rebounding intellectually, if she would have intellectual deficits” when the doctor said “we” she was referring to the medical community. 

 

Ultimately what we have found out is that the medical community had leaned on their wisdom and their books and science as much as they could have and just had to wait the same way we waited. Well we waited a little differently! They waited to see what would happen after they had done all they could do, we waited for God’s promise to answer our prayers to show up! Dakota has no delays, no deficits mentally! That personality is 100% back! In fact, Jackie texted me last night from upstairs saying “tell Dakota to be quiet with that singing, she getting on my nerves!” 12 year old girl getting on her mom’s nerves? That sounds normal to me! 

At an appointment today the doctor asked could they begin to discuss Dakota’s case in more detail to share around the medical community. Up until now, it was just “the case at INOVA”. Now that she is doing better they wanted permission to be more specific. We granted that permission because of 3 things: 1.  they have confirmed that this started from an infection on her #2 tooth. Thats a molar on the top right side of the mouth! Although not unheard of, it is rare how this infection travelled the way that it did and the affects that it had on her. The 2nd reason we granted this permission, if Dakota’s story can help the next kid, adult or whomever, then we want to help! God has blessed us tremendously through this ordeal and we dare not keep it to ourselves! The 3rd and final reason, We are going to get into the resources the hospital has so that we can grow the DakotaStrong Foundation and help as many people as we possibly can! The foundation will grow, and it will help people! Thats what its for and we will see it through! Thanks for reading and taking the time. As I’ve said before I will continue periodic updates as things progress and our girl gets back to softball, volleyball, golf and basketball! Those academics are rolling! She is on top of it! She asked the other day if it was too early to start applying for college scholarships! 

Thank you for continuing to agree with us in prayer over this situation! God is Good! 

 

#DakotaStrongl #Turquoise #FlamingoRosa #GodsGirl #StepsCloser #NormalUpNext #Softball #Volleyball #Basketball #Golf