We are settled at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. The last 24 hours have been pretty horrid for a variety of reasons. His transfer from Kaiser Downey to Long Beach Memorial was frightening for me because of his pain levels. However, without hashing through all the gory details, we discovered what was causing his pain and were able to give him relief. When I walked into his room here in Long Beach, he was a new Steve, 180 degrees.
While there were some horrid times today, he is making important improvements. He took 5 steps today! I wasn't there to see them, but my parents were there. It absolutely wiped him out, but I am so proud of him. He has increased ability to move his legs, and even a bit of new foot movement. When I left him tonight, he had not one single cord attached to his body, after having 6 just a few days ago.
We are so grateful for the close of a really difficult part of this journey, and we believe the next several days should develop into a more predictable routine. Lucy's last day of 2nd grade is tomorrow, and we think the kids will be able to go see him very soon, perhaps even tomorrow.
Steve is grieving many losses, and while really ready to be able to DO something, is certainly sobered by the amount of work it is going to take to get him walking again. 5 steps today knocked him out for the rest of the day, so he is anticipating some very hard work ahead. Pray that as his mind is coming out of the haze of the meds and the acute pain that he would not sink into depression. I am encouraging him to acknowledge the negative and difficult thoughts, not to ignore them, but to then really choose to identify it as truth or lies. He has stopped blaming himself for what happened, and has been able to curb the "what if's," understanding them to be unhelpful. In the wise words of his sister, "You can't live your life that way. There's always a what if."
My thanks to the people who have signed up for meals, paid for someone to clean my house this week, cared for and picked up our kids, for the myriad of wise, funny, sweet and sincere words, and always for the way you have gone to God on our behalf when we ourselves could not pray as we would want. God has been so very good to us, and you have been a means of his grace to us.
Praying all along for you guys. Your posts are giving clear insights into what is going on around you and in you both, which helps the rest of us pray. With God's help and the GRACE he gives, you will both make it thru this stronger, wiser, deeper.
ReplyDeleteI'm on for dinner for you Thursday this week; cooking for such a great cook is stopping me in my tracks! who knew you had such power!