We continue to literally put one foot in front of the other each week. Steve continues to improve much more quickly than any of his doctors could have predicted. To Steve especially, it feels oh. so. slooooow. But that is part of the reason for this blog--to provide ourselves with a historical record of how far he has come and what God has done.
To give you an idea of what "improvement" looks like, it is even more than the fact that he can walk around the house without his walker much of the time now. (As long as he is close to something that can catch his balance.) We are seeing slow increase in some of the different muscle groups. He can move his foot up and down more, his calf muscles and glutes are firing more, and there's some increase in ability to use the outside of his foot for balance.
We are still waiting for the slow process of being transferred to Rancho Los Amigos for his physical therapy. In the mean time, we had a PT party at our house yesterday afternoon. My friend Jaclyn, who is a spinal recovery PTA, was in town visiting and did a 2 hour work-out with Steve. Denise was here and took vigorous notes. They talked about the strategy of PT for Steve, thinking through what his goals are. The goal isn't just to strengthen his quads, the goal is for him to be able to get up from a sitting position, or bend down to pick something up, or go down stairs. Jaclyn was nearly giddy working with him, as she had a highly motivated, quickly progressing patient with a fantastic attitude. At this stage of recovery, there is so much he can be doing!
In addition, Steve was cleared by his surgeon to get in the pool! Not for actual swimming until likely late September, but for walking. It is so great to see the kids like minnows around him as he does his daily walking back and forth in the water.
We both needed this boost. We've been feeling like we are stuck in a super weird in-between-land. We don't know our schedule from week to week, yet we are terribly busy. And feel like it's a hurry-up-and-wait busy at the same time. It very much reminds me of how life changes when you bring home a baby. Your life is crazy busy, but it's hard to describe what exactly it is you're doing all day, how tired you are, and what the weird Twilight Zone you live in is like.
The other boost we got this week was the arrival of Steve's parents for the week. Another gift from God -- my friend and neighbor around the corner was desperately looking for a house/dog-sitter during their vacation exactly during the timeline of Mimi and Papa's intended stay. So they don't have to sleep on air-beds on the floor, they get to sleep in a real bed. Not to mention Papa is the Dog Whisperer.
During their stay this week we've been able to check a few things off our list: oil change on the van, kids trip to the aquarium, and a haircut for me! News-flash: I have bangs for the first time in 23 years! (Hence the title--Sari tells me the Brits call bangs "fringe"). It feels sooo good to get some of those things taken care of. And there's just nothing like seeing my kiddos jump up and down when their grandparents arrive.
We also had a sweet, sweet visit with my sister and her family last weekend. Sari and Abby came through on their way to pick up Jason and Emma from their Mexico missions trip. I didn't mention this before because at the time I didn't feel it was my story to tell, but a week after Steve's accident, my precious niece ended up in the hospital for 4 days with a new diagnosis of Type-One Diabetes. She had been slowly declining, and had reached a scary, critical point. It was really precious--Steve and Abby were praying for each other from their hospital beds. They call each other "fellow sufferer." It was so, so good to hold my girl in my arms and see her beautiful face and to have her show me her diabetes kit. I got to look in her eyes and tell her what we are learning ourselves: That when God asks something hard of you, he gives you everything you need and more.
I lifted this quote from a friend on Facebook the other day. I should've known that Billy Graham would say it best!
"The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us." - Billy Graham
No comments:
Post a Comment