Ashton’s Road to Recovery (2025)

08/12/2022

It had been a while since we posted an update! Thanks for being patient 😊 Ashton has been working hard at day therapy since coming home. Focus has been endurance and further strengthening of body. She has finished speech therapy and physical therapy! She got a 56/56 on her Berg balance test a few weeks ago, and has also passed her driving test!

She has been following up with many doctors including her P*P, neurosurgery, ENT, and ophthalmology. She is sporting a new cute pair of glasses! it is unknown why she is having so much ear pain still, however, she is utilizing heat to help her with that pain. She saw neurosurgery today and was cleared to drive and return to work! Her P*P is allowing her to go back to work part-time in just another week!!

She still has 3 days of OT per week. They are focusing on her left arm now. It is still much weaker than righty, but continues to make progress.

Ashton is eager to get back to work and get back into her routine! She is most excited to have some independence again with being able to drive.

Huge thank you to everyone who has supported Ashton the last several months! Biggest thank you to her Mema and Papa who have allowed her to live with them to help her get back on her feet and provide her with daily support getting to and from therapy!

I can 100% say that I am glad Ashton is still here to live another day with us and I’m grateful that there are such great people in the world that dedicate their lives to healing others! She has come so far and will only continue to work hard to improve more!

01/11/2022

Ashton had her first day of outpatient therapy today. She liked all the therapists she met today at Ability KC. They are discussing her plan tomorrow and then will let her know how often she will need to attend therapy and for how long.

After therapy she came back to my house and snuggled with Aubrey!

We then went out to celebrate Halloween. We made it through a trunk or treat then went through the neighborhood! We only lost one of the little wheels off the wheel chair and were able to get it back on successfully!

Ashton is now headed to Chipotle and then headed home! What A day!

31/10/2022

Ashton has had a pretty eventful past few days back to “normal life”. She got back to KC on Thursday afternoon. She is now living with her Mema and Papa (her Mom’s parents) while she works to recover more.

Thursday evening I invited her to go to rugby practice to watch and get outside. She excitedly said yes and Mema brought her to the field. She rolled around in her wheelchair doing “PT”! She didn’t bring her shoulder brace or her AFO (foot brace) so I didn’t want her doing much walking so she did “scooter scoots” 😂. See video! I then took her back to my house and made her help me make no bake cookies- she has been asking for these for weeks! She then was pretty tired so I took her back home.

Friday she went to the DMV with her mom to get her handicap stickers. Then she went with Heather and Zeke to take a trip to see her fur babies! Lastly, she made hashbrown casserole with Mema. Thanks to Ashton’ mama Steph who helped by doing some grocery shopping for her! 🙌🏼🥰

Saturday I called Ash at 7:45am to e see if she wanted to go to the girls high school state championship at Liberty North HS. She said yes so I picked her up! She hung out at the field and yelled and cheered on the girls. By 1pm she was tired so when she got back she napped. Once she got up she helped Mema finish dinner which was roast and mashed potatoes.

Sunday her sister Alia came to get her and they went to Walmart. She got to use the electric wheelchair. She felt like she was getting stared at like “why is she on there”. She then went with her friends Mimi and Alex to a birthday party for her friend Marie’s son, Kayden. After this she came home and ate dinner then relaxed.

Tomorrow is her first outpatient rehab appointment. It is scheduled for 8:30am - 4pm. They will be doing her assessment to make a plan for the rest of therapy.

27/10/2022

Wild Wednesday!!

Today started with OT with Jessica. They did some arm tests to see how her arm is doing. one of the tests had her move smaller cubes from one side of a box to the other over a little partition. She did about 52 in 1 minute with her right arm and 23 with the left arm.

She then went to the driving room to do the light up board. She also significantly improved on this from 14 lights to over 50. This is an improvement on her reaction time.

She then went to an appointment for ENT because she has had a lot of pain in her left ear. There was a small cut made to her ear canal during her emergent surgery. Her hearing is good. The pain could be from the incision going through her facial muscles. He also noticed some clicking in her jaw, so they want another CT scan to rule out a jaw fracture or other cause.

After this appointment she went back to Madonna and she was surprised with an award!! 🥇 It’s called the Madonna Spirit Award and they give it to people who really work hard and make an impact on the staff!

Amy then worked with Ashton on speech and cognitive thinking! Amy informed her that she got the dinner clue game correct yesterday!!

She then got to pull Nicole around outside for about 1215 feet and then went and did squats!!! My legs hurt thinking about this!😂

The highlight of today was getting the Madonna Spirit Award and taking pictures with all the therapists that have helped her this past month!

This concludes her rehab at Madonna! I can’t say thank you enough to the staff who have been there kicking her butt to get her closer to where she needs to be! When discussing rehab facilities we had many people say how good they are and what great outcomes they have for their patients. I can now say we have experience with them and it has all been great! They have helped us through one the toughest things Ashton has been through in her life! We are very happy with her progress!

Tomorrow Ashton finishes up with an interview with Klair on her journey through rehab. This will be put on their website in the future in hopes that others can see what Madonna can do for them or their loved one! I can’t wait to see what they come up with! 🎥

26/10/2022

Terrific Tuesday!!

Ashton started today with Vision and Speech. For vision she did an I-spy book and continued working on her near far vision. For speech she filled out a dinner and drinks order for a table of 8. She used clues given to her figure out who ordered what. She will find out tomorrow how she did.

She then went to OT and did the FES bike. She did this for 31 minutes. Half pedaling forward and half backward.

For PT and rec therapy she did Wii Fit. She played a marble game where she has to lean to get a marble into a hole. She also played a snowing skiing game and soccer game. She thought this was really fun!!

Jake with PT did the balance test with her again. She went from 39 last week to 52 this week. Top score is 56. If you remember back when she first got to Madonna she was at a 4. This is amazing progress!!

Lastly, she worked with Nicole again. She had Ashton work on her last two goals. This included getting in and out of the passengers side of a car. Her other goal was being able to get up if she falls to the floor. She slid out of her wheelchair then used couch and table to help get up. Ash found this to be challenging with her shoulder brace on.

Highlight of the day: Walking back from the gym without assistance (again like yesterday) and improving her score on the balance test!! 🥳🙌🏼🏃🏽‍♀️

And for those who are counting… Only two more sleeps until Ash is back in KC!! She finds this exciting and scary!

25/10/2022

Marvelous Monday!

Today started with breakfast. This is Ashton’s least favorite meal. She had cottage cheese, raspberry yogurt and a banana (she likes them super green🤮).

She then worked with Nicole for PT using the resistance band around her knee to strengthen her legs. She also did backward walking. Lastly she walked ALL THE WAY to her room from the gym which was about 600 ft with no help and no cane! 🏃🏽‍♀️

She then went to speech and had to do several tasks within 30 minutes. She was able to do this!! (Reminds me of the break out KC places!)

Then she had vision with Jessica. She played a new card game called blink and then did near/far vision work. 😝

For OT she did the Armeo Power machine. She got down to 50% for most of it for about 45 minutes (If you remember back like a week ago she was at 120% assistance). She then went back to her room and Betsy taught Nana (Ashton’s Great Aunt) how to massage one of the muscles in Ashton’s arm that is bothering her. Betsy thinks of Ashton’s arm issues are due to her muscles being tight. Who wants to sign up for Ashton’s massage train?! 💆‍♀️💪🏼

She then enjoyed a grilled cheese with tomato soup! (Who else loves this?!?!) 🥪🥣

We then had our family meeting to discuss her discharge for this Thursday. She has lots of follow ups with different doctors like Neurosurgery, her P*P, and Ophthalmology. She also will start outpatient rehab next Monday on Halloween!

Then for PT she got to carve a pumpkin!! 🎃She really enjoyed this as it was fun and she got to hang out with her fun PT people! Kristin, Nicole, Klair and nurse Pam all got to be a part of this! She carved a little monster into her pumpkin!

Highlight of the day: Carving the pumpkin was clearly the highlight of the day! Thank you to Kristin and Nicole for allowing her to do non-traditional Physical Therapy. This is not a typical thing they allow patients to do, but this really helped Ashton physically and emotionally! 🎃🔪

23/10/2022

Fantastic Friday (a day late because she fell asleep!)

This is the last Friday that Ash is at Madonna!

She started the day with PT with Nicole. Nicole made a new “cast” with velcro straps to help keep her left foot in a good place while she sleeps. It is also not as heavy as her boot and more comfortable.

Later she did PT with Danielle. They went outside and had Ash walking in the grass. This was challenging as the ground was uneven and the grass was long. Her feet would end up crossing a bit and hitting the other foot. She had to walk in every direction (forward, backward, and side to side) and then did karaoke (the sports warm up- iykyk!!). Ash then went on a pretty long walk without her cane on the grass the. Walked back on the concrete with her cane because she was getting tired. This session lasted an hour! 🏃🏽‍♀️

For OT she did the Armeo Power with Betsy. She was at 60% assistance for most of the games. She did this for an hour which wore her out too! No pain today with her arm and shoulder 💪🏼

Vision: she played some games and worked on near/far vision.

Speech: She worked with Amy and they did some challenges with cards. For example she had to create a minimum of 5 word sentence in which 4/5 works had to be in abc order.

Highlight of the day: Kicking butt walking in the grass without her cane. She felt like she really pushed herself and did her best!
🏅🙌🏼

21/10/2022

Thriving Thursday

Ashton continues to do very well with therapy. So good that she is able to be discharge next Thursday the 27th!

She followed up with the ophthalmologist today. She stated that Ashton’s eye are doing good. She may need a slight prescription as her eyes heal, but she will see someone in KC for that who can adjust as her eyes heal.

Her afternoon was filled with therapy sessions.

With OT she did the FES bike. They lowered the stimulation on the electrodes. She improved on how much time she was assisting which is good!

She started her return to work program which included wiping down equipment that is used in the patient rooms. She did this for about 10 minutes.

She then went to PT where they used a resistance band to provide counter resistance to make it harder for Ashton to move forward. She also walked outside with her cane.

She also played spot it with her Rec therapist, Kristin! This is a really fun game if you haven’t ever played it!

The highlight of her day was making Nicole and Makayla work while she pulled them around with the resistance bands! They were very proud of Ashton and told her she “crushed it”!!! This made Ash feel really good!! 🏃🏽‍♀️💪🏼

20/10/2022

Walk Out Wednesday

Today started with speech therapy. She worked on near/far vision first. Then she did the vision light up board. This is where she has a certain time to click the buttons that light up. She started with 3 seconds and did 100%. Then they decreased her to 2 seconds and only missed 2! This is a huge improvement from when she did the vision board when first at Madonna. She also goes back to the Ophthalmologist tomorrow to see how her eyes are doing! 🧐

Next she was supposed to go 🎣 except is was too 🥶!! Next best thing… Retail therapy 🤑 at target with some of her fav staff at Madonna, Kristen, Jessica, and Klair! This was the first 🚗 ride she has had since her injury! It made her feel really good and she said it was great for her mental health!

Once she returned she has speech. This was filling out a form to help with “work therapy”. This is how they incorporate things you do for job in “real life” into therapy. They don’t have much that correlates too Ashton’s job, but they have some things they are going to let her try.

PT did 3 sessions today. 1st was the elliptical. 2nd was walking up/down ramps, side steps, over/unders, and bands work. Some exercises bothered her hip a a bit, but they continue to work through these issues. 3rd session was the squat board where she did two legged squats and one legged squats. 🏋🏼‍♀️

Today was challenging and really wore Ashton out! So much that she took “a fat nap” and almost missed dinner 😴

Highlight of the day: Going to target 🎯 and getting out of the hospital for a while! This was great for her mental health and made her feel better about getting closer to discharge! 🛒

Thanks Klair for the photos!!

19/10/2022

Tough Girl Tuesday

Our tough girl completed her full shower… BY HERSELF!! 🚿🧼💦

Vision: she worked with Emily on near and far vision with letters on paper. She played the a find the differences game on the tablet. (You know those fun pictures of two of the same looking things but there are like 7 differences). She did really well with this and Emily (Jessica was off today) was pretty impressed with her! 🤓

OT: Ash did the FES bike with Kristen (another new OT for Ash). This caused her some weird shoulder pains that they really couldn’t explain. Hopefully they can figure this out more in the next few days.

PT: Nicole took her to get measured for her home wheelchair. She also took an ability test. When she got to Madonna her score was guesstimated to be 4/56. Today she was 39/56. 📈⬆️🆙☝️Super nice to see how she has improved on what she is able to do in !
She also did some fast walking and stairs with PT. They did side steps, stepping over items, and flute bridge strength training. Speed walking made her nervous, but she was able to do it!

Speech: Ash went grocery shopping for a football party that she was hosting. She had to shop on a budget. She got all the yummy foods for the party and came in UNDER BUDGET!! 💰💰💰

Rec therapy: Kristin and Ash played Kismet (similar to Yahtzee). Kristin barely won right at the end by getting some bonus… (I think she cheated 🤣😉)

Highlight of the day: She weighed in today and she is officially down 220lbs with her weight loss from her highest weight. Although this isn’t how she wanted to lose weight, she is taking it and building good muscles to help her in the future! 🥳💪🏼🏃🏽‍♀️🏅

18/10/2022

Monday Madness!

Heads together class- today was her last session with this class. She will move on to another class this week.

Vision- she worked on near and farsightedness.

OT- she did the Armeo Power machine. This is one of her favorites for her arm. She went from 80% assistance to 70%. This is how much weight the machine helps with to assist her.

PT- Scott (who says Ash is fantastic) had her walking in the lobby with some side stelling and stairs. Nicole did PT with her today as well and had her on the elliptical! (See video) She also did several variations of squats with Nicole and Makayla.

Speech- (see pics) with Rachel she worked on a sheet to plan a vacation including flight and activities. She has plans to go to Barcelona! (pretend or for real?!?!)

Highlight of the day: Doing the elliptical without a harness!! This made Ash miss working out which she says “I don’t think I’ve ever said that 😂)

15/10/2022

Feel Good Friday!!

Started with Recreational Therapy with a dice game. It was a challenging and interesting game. Ultimately, Kristin barely beat her!

Vision worked on focusing on near and far vision.

OT - She worked on the Armeo Power machine. Ash made improvements on this machine from just Monday 💪🏼 which means her arm has gotten stronger.

Speech had her fill out a form for the return to work program. None of their programs do what she actually does as an instrument technician. Unsure if this will help her while she is there, but maybe!

PT had Ash work on walking with her cane. She discovered that when she turns her head to left it makes her very unbalanced. She now has a goal to work on improving this! She also did some strengthening exercises for her abductor muscles in her hips, squats, butt kicks, heel raises, high knees. She had to hold the railing on the wall and was able to do everything with her right, but did her best! She got challenged by Karen to walk backward with her cane. Ash said this was kind of terrifying bc she didn’t feel like she had control. It did get easier and she became more confident as she went.

Highlight of the day: Gaining confidence in walking backward!

Ashton’s Road to Recovery