Lauren has had her mom (Michelle), dad (Guy), and Grandpa (Edward) staying with her in the ICU. She has also had extended visits from Alex and Tyson, as well as Colorado friend Katie. She has had several great interactions with Katie, including listening to music and flipping through social media.
Friday night was the first night without breathing tube, so she slept very well, just waking during the regular evaluation visits. The nurses were also able to clean Lauren’s face and hair, which I can imagine felt quite good. Lauren is pictured above with her dad. Today, Sunday, Lauren had her first drink of water!
Most of Lauren’s physical injuries are healing very quickly. The head injury is a much more complicated story. We honestly believe, because of her interactions at this early date, that Lauren will have a full recovery. But this is going to be a long road; we are taking it one day at a time. Her communication this weekend, when she is awake, is good: she answers questions, and her memory, although still spotty, is getting better. Her speech is single words and simple phrases. We are not going to push her too hard here, we have to be patient – she is trying and we know we have to let her heal at her own pace. Doctors believe she is showing a lot of good signs that lead to recovery.
We will continue to keep the blog up-to-date as we know more (hoping for some big improvements this week!) and we ask for your continued prayers, good thoughts, and support. You can visit Lauren’s GoFundMe page here, every small amount helps.
Lauren De Crescenzo 
Good to hear! Have a good recovery! Hugs from Belgium x
LikeLike
I’m sorry to read about Lauren. I don’t know her personally but I am an avid cyclist and am myself recovering from a traumatic brain injury. I’m sure that Lauren will be advised to be patient. What I have learened is that physical exercise can be invaluable for her psyche and physical healing. The degree of her TBI sounds very similar to mine. Within 12 weeks of my accident I started pedaling a recumbent trike on our local bicycle path. No balance is required to ride a trike and at that time I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be physical able to ride my road bicycle again. It’ been 9 months since my accident and despite my earlier doubts, I can ride my road bike 20 miles a day on the bike trail. I’m not 100% healed yet but I can do most of the things I want to. Both patience and desire appear to me to be very important to recovery.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing your story, Mike. Glad to hear of your good recovery and wishing you continued progress and enjoyment. Patience seems to be key, thanks again. – AGC
LikeLike
BTW, recovery is so gradual that I often needed to be reminded of how far I had actually come. I don’t know how much Lauren will remember about her current state. I was in and out of a coma for my first three weeks. It really helped me later for my wife to remind me just how far I had come since the accident. People who only saw me once every few weeks could see my improvement and would comment on it. These comments convinced me that I was improving though it was so gradual that I could not see or feel it myself. My best wishes to Lauren. Seems like she has a good support team which is so important.
LikeLike
My best wishes to Lauren. Hugs from Spain.
LikeLike