Regarding Jessica...

...an update on my friend Jessica DeMilo

Sigh. She's much better in a lot of ways, but she still has such a long way to go. Theoretically, there is this window in which they need to get a certain amount of therapy in - a window in which she has the best chance of recovery. Of course, God is above and beyond all theory and chance, but it seems He often works through the wisdom of doctors, nurses, etc., so we take their advice seriously.

Anyway, specifics: For about a month now, Jessica has been at the Rehabilitation Institute of Montana here in Missoula. They work her hard. Some results? She is eating a bit, but all food must be pureed to a pudding/yogurt consistency. Nothing more or less solid, because she has been silently aspirating. This is scary because it usually causes pneumonia or a bronchial infection. Related to that, she has two conditions (dysarthria and dysphasia) that also severely affect her ability to speak. Still, she is saying a few words, and every once in a while these are quite clear. She is spelling out other words sloooowly on a magnetic board with therapists and her mom.

Jessica has been able to put her full weight on her feet for up to 30 minutes while strapped into a table/chair type thing. She gets outside now in a wheelchair, pushed by her mom or nurses or friends. Her long-term memory is good - she remembers me! :) - but her short-term memory is touch and go. This makes her very frustrated, as you can imagine. A few weeks ago she really got her sense of humor back, or at least the ability to express it, and there were lots of smiles and laughs. One of my favorite things about her, one of the things made her such a fun roommate, was that I could always make her laugh. So it was great to hear her laughter, and see that she seemed to still got my odd/dry/nerdy sense of humor. This past week, though, she has been really depressed. At times, she refuses to participate in therapies, and this lack of participation hinders her progress. It's like she's finally well enough to realize just how bad things are.

Her mom asked her a few days ago, "Are you talking to God?"
"Yes."
"Is He talking to you?"
She shook her head, No.

So my main prayer request (besides, of course, "Please heal her, God!") is that Jessica would hear from Him, feel His presence, and know that He has not abandoned her. I think that is the only way I could hope to get through this if I were in her place.

Thanks again for your prayers. I want to hope and believe that God will use all this for His glory someday. Most of the time I really do believe it. I''m thankful that God is working in me to make it an all-of-the-time-faith sort of thing!