Happy Halloween Ivy!

Happy Haloween!

Sending you happy thoughts of last year's scaring festivities...It's not going to be the same without you in the gorilla suit.

What the heck??

What the heck am I seeing?? Very nice Ivy. It looks like you could ride that thing all the way to AG/SLO!! Atta girl Ivy.

Trike Ride!

This footage speaks for itself:

Ok, so I'm a dork

Oh my goodness, Ivy...I didn't even realize there was a video here of you eating your birthday cake!
And thanks to you, once again, I sit here typing through tear-filled eyes. (Geez, you'd think I'm a big cry-baby or something!).
I am just so amazed at how well you're doing. I just love seeing you smiling, looking around, and chowing down on that chocolate cake!

As always, Ivy...
You Rock!

God Bless!

Hey Ivy

Hi Ivy, just checking in and seeing what's going on. I can watch that video of you eating your birthday cake over and over. You are so happy. Jessica and I sent you a package. You should get it in a few days. It'll have to go into the birthday pile. One of these days you'll get to it. And it'll be your birthday all over again. We miss you, love you and think of you everyday. See you soon.

Love, Kim and Jessica

Ivy in Charge

A bit over a year ago Ivy & I were assisting Melinda during a bat talk to 100 junior high girls at a science summer camp. Besides being a natural public speaker (warm and articulate), Ivy asked the girls to please not assail Melinda with terrible bat stories, explaining that these stories were unhelpful and upsetting to her mom. Imagine that--a sixteen year-old looking out for her mum's feelings!

You're the best Ivy! I'm delighted to hear that you're stretching out your birthday celebration. You should also consider having a "do over" birthday in January when we are all in need of a holiday. ;)

Love,

Mary

LOOKIN' GOOD

Ivy,
You look great! I am glad that you got a mouthful of that yummy birthday cake. We had a doctor appointment in Pasadena yesterday and had wanted to visit but your Dad told us you had not been feeling well. So happy to see your big smile on the blog!
Love,
Candy and Dick

Happy Birthday GIRL!

I'm so sorry this wish is late, and would have given anything to be with you there on your birthday. You are completely amazing and I love you dearly!

Love always,

WOMAN

B-Day

First off, thanks for all the birthday wishes. Ivy really appreciates it, and I'm sure she'll post something here shortly.
She's just recovered from being sick the past few days to have an excellent weekend. She was so overwhelmed with gifts and cards on her birthday, that the majority remain unopened. Ivy seems to want to pace the gifts out over the next few weeks to really make her birthday last. She's been all smiles since Friday, so thanks again to everyone who have written, sent, posted here, etc.

I know most of my posts are about how well Ivy is doing. And I do have a tendency to omit some of struggles along the way. Seeing only the good news may give someone a sense that I'm not being completely objective in my assessment of Ivy's progress. I admit that it is difficult to look at things honestly when one has such a vested interest in a positive outcome. But let me just say, without a doubt in my mind, and as impartially as I can possibly be that Ivy's progress astounds me now more than ever. The entire staff here is blown away by what they've seen in just the past few days. Physically, Ivy's posture looks great, dexterity in her right hand has improved, even her troublesome left arm/hand/fingers have started moving! Cognitively, however she's made the most progress. Her vocab is expanding and I think nearly what it was before. Humor is back in full force, and she quick with it! Her sentences are getting more complete, and I think she'll start stringing them together into more expansive and complex ideas soon!

Happy Belated Birthday, Ivy

Dearest Ivy,
I'm sorry to say I'm late in wishing you a most wonderful birthday.
I do hope it was truly a wonderful day!
Happy Sweet 17!

Big hugs,
DesiRee

Happy Hatch Day!!!

Well you did come from an egg, didn't you? :)

I've been crazy busy all month, but I did pay attention to Ivy month and did my small part in the world. I carried around a pair of washable cups and drank nothing but water all this week. No encouraging polluting plastic factories and no adding any kind of drink containers to any pile at all.

I also switched to a more environmentally friendly laundry detergent and gave all my Trader Joe's reusable bags to a friend who always has excuses not to buy her own. Next trip to the store I'll buy more so then that's TWO people instead of one reusing their store bags.

Not exactly earth shattering, but small things count too!

I hope you've had a wonderful birthday today. Many happy returns!!

Love,
Lynn

Happy Birthday from the K Krew

Happy Ivy Day!!! And Happy Birthday! My sister-in-law, Chryee wanted me to send a special "hello" from her too, as it is her Birthday as well.
For all you out there celebrating Ivy Day, don't forget to post what you have done to help Ivy make our planet a better place.
We love you, Ivy,
clint, janet and special hugs from Aubrie.....

She still prays about that balloon getting to you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IVY

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO THE SWEETEST, BRIGHTEST GIRL IN THE WORLD!
GOD BLESS YOU TODAY AND ALWAYS WITH STRENGTH AND PERSEVERANCE IN CONTINUING TO MAKE SUCH GOOD PROGRESS!
LOVE,
CANDY AND DICK xxxooo

Happy Birthday Sweet Ivy!!!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday sweet Ivy
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuu!!

Woo hoo - look who's 17!!!!

Happy Birthday

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday :) finally 17! I love you Ivy, and I hope you have an awesome birthday. Hopefully I'll be seeing you soon.
Love,
Jessica

Happy Birthday to YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORGEOUS ONE!!!

The boys and I are checking on your progress everyday and, as always...you're still amazing!! YOU continue to inspire me and make me want to do and be better. I miss our long philosophical talks about animal rights, vegetarian cooking and PJs w/feet and can't wait for the moment I see your beautiful face again. I hope you have a fabulous day and I know this will be a spectacular year of triumph for YOU! I love you buddy. Kiss your mom for me...XOXOXOmrsbenson

Happy Birthday

I figure I won't be using the computer for a couple of days, so I just want to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IVY!!!

I love you very much, and hope you have an awesome day tomorrow. You really deserve it!
Love always,
Lauren Reeves :)

Hey Ivy

Hey there Ivy.
I miss you like crazy! You're birthday's coming up real soon, I'm trying to get some time off from work to come see you. I expect us to have a full blown dance party :) i miss our rock out sessions before work haha. Well i hope to see you soon my love!
Love Always and Forever,
Jessica

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time I knew a little girl who was interested in everything and CARED about the WHOLE WORLD! She followed her busy mother around and watched and listened to everything everyone said and she got involved in everything too. This little girl took care of sick and injured animals when other little girls were just taking care of dolls. Even when she was just a bit of a thing she stood up and said what she thought when someone treated an animal badly. She didn’t just stand up and speak for animals, she spoke for her Mother Earth too, and she DID things, BIG things, to make the planet better and to help other people understand why this was important and RIGHT!

The little girl grew into an amazing and beautiful young woman who just kept doing more and more for the world and who became more and more creative about how she went about doing it. Then one day the little girl had a terrible accident, but as it turned out, it wasn’t such an accident after all, and though it was terrible in many ways, because she and all her family and friends suffered, it was wonderful because it gave her the opportunity to show people how to overcome even the things that seem the most impossible to master. It also galvanized her friends to carry her torch for kindness to other species, for balance and for global harmony even higher and farther.

Ivy, every day you are rebuilding and mastering the pathways of your brain, one of the most complicated environments we humans know about in our current state of development. If one individual can do that, then surely we as a planetary community can rebuild and restore our environmental pathways to work in harmony and develop into something better and more beautiful still!

As always you are a leader. And as always you had to do it YOUR way, even when it rattled the rest of us. You GO girl!

Love you all to pieces,

Lynn, Russ, Chewie, George, Entree, Appie, Gus & Teranga

Ivy's Month

I'm a bit late on this, but being that it's Ivy's birth month there are many things in the works. Clint got the ball rolling on this with his idea for Ivy's Day, and San Luis High has been working on some amazing ideas to honor and help Ivy.

I'll start with what is going on at the high school. In honor of Ivy's commitment to environmental causes, they've started something called "Go green for Ivy", which involves students pledging to do something to positively effect the environment. Pledges are written on an Ivy leaf, and displayed. "Income for Ivy" milk jugs have been placed around the school. Students are also making and selling hemp bracelets with all proceeds going towards Ivy's recovery fund. They're also working on an Ivy t-shirt with a bat motif, to be designed by the nice people at Hep Kat, and Left Coast T's has greatly reduced the price of their services for the occasion. Other fund raisers include a bake sale and a movie morning at the palm theater. Details will follow. Thanks to everyone at the high school for their continued support and concern. It's truly overwhelming to see all the people rallying for Ivy.

I thought this would be a good place to revive the discussion around Clint's concept of Ivy's Day (to coincide with Ivy's birthday). The idea is best summed up in his own words:
"Wouldn't it by cool for us all to see Ivy as a stone dropped into a still pond and then we are the ripples created by her simple actions? So how can you help Ivy make the world a better place?
A list of Ivy inspired actions:
recycle more
convert to alternative fuels
mentor a child
eat less or no meat
use non animal tested cosmetics
use biodegradable products/soaps/cleaners
adopt an animal
abstain from dissecting animals
spend time with an elderly person
give money to a food bank or other responsible aid organization
Be creative. Do it for Ivy, for the world and for yourself."

Those who are interested in participating can sound off in the comment section of this post...

The Post About Reading (Part 1)

We dug up Ivy's phone today, at her request. After she explained a few basic operating instructions to us, we fired it up. She was so happy to see it running again! She couldn't remember her voicemail password, but we noticed she had some text messages so we thought we'd read them to her. The first one I opened was from her friend Conor, on about July 27, a week into her coma. I think he sent it while he was visiting her at French Hospital. Anyway, it was hand written in a paint program in big colorful letters. I thought this might be easier for Ivy to see than the tiny font of a normal text message. We showed it to her and she looked at it for a second. I said, "Can you see it Ive?" She said, "Yeah." "Can you read it?" I said. She didn't respond at first, so I started to say "What's the first letter?" At the same time she said, "Get well soon." She had decoded it! It was the first time any of us had seen her read anything! Later we read a little from "Where the Sidewalk Ends".
From what I understand (as a completely ignorant layman), the area that processes the meaning of symbols (letters) involves a different part of the brain than the area associated with speech. It's been amazing to witness different parts of her brain start to come on-line again. Of course they aren't coming back at 100% yet, but there's no reason to think she can't make enormous improvements over time!

Hello

I love you guys. I miss you guys. And I'll be back in the nick of time!

Dearest Ivy,

I first met you approximately 4 years ago. I heard about some of your accomplishments before I met you. To say the least, I was quite impressed, if not a bit envious. Who is this young person, many years younger than me, who has more courage and strength than I could ever imagine myself having. I’m referring specifically to the meeting with Fish and Game officials where you got up in front of a bunch of adults to tell them what you thought about the way things should be, in such a way that commanded respect and attention. And finally, I met you, and I could see the remarkable person you are and begin to understand how you could do what you had already done at such a young age.

As the years went by, we periodically met at bat events (I always look forward to the times that you and Melinda are with us at these events, and I know you would say that it’s only because when you are there, I work less!) and I watched you grow into an even more amazing young woman. I love hearing about your accomplishments, your aspirations, your choices to protect and fight for animals, fight for life, be it bats, cows or chickens. In your young life you have already taught many people with your strong conviction and absolute passion in what you believe.

I, like many others, have been watching your progress and am ecstatic at every improvement, every amazing development. And yet, I could expect no less from someone with your character, strength and spirit in which you approach everything you do in life. Melinda, Frank, Casey and all of your family have done an outstanding job in mentoring, guiding and helping you to be the wonderful, gifted person you are. I am honored to be a part of your life, despite the distance between us and look forward to pestering you again very soon.

Love, sloppy kisses and hugs – even though I haven’t showered in days!
Monique

Trachi-outta-me

It's out! After about 2 1/2 months the trach is out! Once it heals, Ivy will start to strengthen the neck muscles that have been tethered around the trach, making her swallow stronger, which will allow her to eat more by mouth, which leads to getting the feeding tube out! It's a vicious cycle of goodness!

Note: Those of you who know Frank, know that he has a reputation for having a... shall we say... unique sense of humor. It involves some sort of word play, usually a pun. In our family we call these "Frank jokes". Needless to say, we have Frank to thank for the title of this post. Ivy liked it so much she's been saying it to every nurse or doctor she's seen today!

Goldfish

OK, so I’m sitting next to Ivy on her bed….feeding her ice cubes. I complain…"The ice is swimming around like goldfish….hard to catch."

Ivy sez "I would like a goldfish."
Then I ask her "Ivy, what would you do with a goldfish?"
"Eat it", was her reply.

EAT IT?!...........I was horrified.............. "Ivy, you really DO need therapy."
"Mom, I mean goldfish crackers….I can’t imagine eating a REAL goldfish. That would be gross."

A little later in the day, dad brought Ivy the CORRECT kind of goldfish.

Trach

Ivy's trach came out on Monday, unintentionally. Melinda noticed it was at a peculiar angle while feeding her, and after looking under the dressing, found that it was completely out.  After several attempts by respiratory to get the trach back in, they had to call in a doctor to dilate the hole and get it back in there.  The whole experience was pretty upsetting to Ivy, and the next day she was tired.  She probably doesn't really need the trach anymore and the ear, nose and throat team is looking into removing it.  I think the trach's days are number.  When that day comes, lets burn it an effigy!

On a personal note, in keeping with Clint's proposal for "Ivy Day" I'm going completely non-meat for at least the month of October. Anyone want to join me?