We would like to provide an update as to where Kathleen is now in relative to when she initially had the stroke. However, things are constantly up-and-down, and can change quickly day to day.

First, and most importantly, we would like to thank everyone for their generous donations thus far.

Kathleen and Tom will soon be faced with a financial situation they never imagined. Anything we can provide prior to Kathleen going home will greatly reduce the stress surrounding the fear of finances awaiting her and Tom for the next few years .

Kathleen continues to progress toward her ambulatory goals. She is now able to walk up to 70 feet with with a pyramid cane. She is doing very well with more challenging tasks such as transferring and turning. This week, Kathleen is working on walking up and down steps. This has proven to be a challenge, but Kathleen is determined to conquer it, and we also feel that she will; given her history of hard work and perseverance with everything she is faced with in general.

Kathleen's speech is very good. She does have some vocal cord weakness and at times managing lengthy conversations can be a challenge due to the large amount of breath support required to do so. She is working with the speech therapist in order to repair those deficits .

Aside from some occasional difficulty with short-term memory, Kathleen's cognitive function remains intact.

Aside from the difficulties mentioned above, Kathleen's progress has been outstanding. This is especially true considering her initial progress for the first few weeks was painfully slow, causing her major depression.

Additionally, Kathleen continues to battle excruciating nerve and muscle pain at times. Kathleen and the medical professionals have been working at finding the correct combination of drugs and leg/arm movement in order to manage the pain. Unfortunately, this combination has been elusive up to this point. Kathleen and Tom will continue to work with medical professionals and therapist in order to come up with solution to manage her pain.

On behalf of Kathleen, her family, and her army of friends, thank you for the financial and emotional support given to her over the past few months, as well as for the support you provide in the future.

Please continue to keep Kathleen and her family in your thoughts and prayers.