Update on our great-niece Toni -- and Karen donated a quilt for a raffle

Several of you have asked for updates on Toni, our great niece.

We greatly appreciate the thoughts and prayers.

Toni was badly injured in a car accident on June 3rd in southeast Missouri that left her paralyzed below the waist.

We had a visit with Toni yesterday at the rehabilitation hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  She was sitting up in a wheelchair when we got there and seemed to be in good spirits.  For the next month and a half, to allow bones and incisions to heal,  she has to wear a plastic form fitting brace around the trunk of her body whenever she is sitting up at an angle more than 30 degrees. 

While we were there, we were able to go to rehab therapy with her and her grandmother, Mary, who is her legal guardian.  She was able to transfer herself from the wheelchair to the therapy table, which was really scary for Mary who had not seen her do that yet.  Her physical therapist seemed to be really pleased with her progress. 

One problem is that she doesn't seem to want to eat.  They've done a lot of tests and pretty much ruled out any medical cause. One thought is that it is psychological and that she is not eating because that is the one thing that she can control.

Even with a lot of volunteer help, there has been no progress on remodeling Mary's house to make it handicap accessible because of bureaucratic red tape from a state agency that will provide funding for part of it.

Karen has donated a quilt that she was planning to sell to the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County, Arkansas.  The will be holding a raffle for it, with the proceeds to go to help Toni.  The quilt can be seen at A Quilt for Toni

Mike,

Thanks for the update on Toni. Sorry to hear about the darned red tape and hope you can cut through that.

Also, thanks for the link to the quilt. Great job by Karen.

Thanks for the update on Toni.

Tom said:

Sorry to hear about the darned red tape and hope you can cut through that.

Also, thanks for the link to the quilt. Great job by Karen.

Click to expand...

The red tape is associated with the requirement to have three different bids for the work.  It doesn't matter that the contractor is donating the labor part of it.  To get around that, two other contractors submitted higher bids.  The red tape was complicated with a death in the family of the lady who is handling Toni's case a day or so before the 4th.

So far as Karen's quilt, I'm more than just a little proud of what she does. Thanks for the comment, Tom.

Mike Goad said:

One problem is that she doesn't seem to want to eat.  They've done a lot of tests and pretty much ruled out any medical cause. One thought is that it is psychological and that she is not eating because that is the one thing that she can control.

Click to expand...

Toni had emergency surgery early this morning for complications associated with her gall bladder.  Apparently she's been having some issues related with the gall bladder over the last six months or so and the trauma of her injuries and surgery complicated matters.  Her gall bladder was removed.  It was also probably the culprit behind her lack of appetite.

Toni is going to be a fighter through all of this, I think.  After the gall bladder problem was diagnosed yesterday at the rehab hospital, she was told that they would arrange for a surgeon to come see her.  She basically demanded to be taken to the hospital because of the pain she was experiencing.  They took her to the emergency room of Washington Regional, which is actually very close to the rehab hospital.

Thanks for the update. We sure hope this helps.