So Emily talked today. Her speech therapist has been working with her on mouthing words for a couple of days. When they came out of ST today, Katie was excited and said Emily had been able to whisper words to her pretty consistently. Emily looked uncomfortable and I asked her if she needed something. She whispered "spray" for her Chloraseptic throat spray (which she hates but also realizes helps with her sore throat). I intentionally didn't call Ken. When he got to the hospital tonight I asked him to listen closely, and I asked Emily to say Dad. It was still soft, but this time you could really hear her voice. While Ken was composing himself, I told Emily that we needed to practice saying Hannah so she could say hi to her sister when she visited this weekend. She immediately said "Hannah" softly but clear as day. Soft, whispery, but no slurring or hesitation. It was a very good day.

In PT this afternoon I again had to lead the transfer from the chair to the mat table. I remembered everything except the brake extendor, and the transfer went very smoothly. Her homework was exercises to help her use her left leg to move her right leg. The PT's have started showing her how to hook her right leg with the toe of her left foot to move it. She also spent about 1/2 hour in the standing chair. While she was standing, she and I played Boggle. From the very first word she had no problem reading the word and spelling it with the letter dice. By the third word she'd figured out that the letter dice were grouped by proximity in the alphabet and her spelling got that much quicker. When she got bored she started trying to launch the dice at my head.

Today was the 100th anniversary celebration of Craig Hospital. In 1907 Craig started as a tent hospital for TB patients regardless of their ability to pay. It later evolved to treat polio patients and is now one of the few rehabilitation hospitals in the United States that specializes in just spinal cord and brain injuries. Ken and I didn't realize until recently that unlike most hospitals today, Craig is a nonprofit. In this era of health-care uncertainty, Craig has announced a goal of increasing its endowment to ensure it can provide care to the people that need it regardless of their ability to pay. Ken, Emily, Hannah and I are so blessed in so many ways - the incredible insurance coverage we have through the Federal Reserve System, Metro's leave policy that has allowed me to be with Emily from day one, and the fact that we live 15 minutes from Craig as opposed to the families we've met from all over the country. When we get through this, we really hope that all of us that love Emily can do something in her name that will benefit Craig patients in the future.