Out with the Old, in with the New

Steve has made a rather big jump in the last several weeks in his functionality.  Just before Thanksgiving he finally got carbon-fiber AFO's (Ankle-Foot Osthesis) to stabilize his legs.  Essentially they consist of a foot plate that goes underneath the shoe inserts, and then a 1/2 inch bar that connects to velcro straps around the calves.  It does several things for him.  It transfers information from his feet to places where he has more sensation, so he's getting much more input about where his feet are.  It also takes a great amount of strain off of his knees and glutes.  He's improved his balance so much that he's down to one cane, and has increased his walk-to-work time from 30 minutes to 20 minutes!  To give you an idea of the balance improvement, his pre-brace balance score was 18% and his score with braces increased to about 60%!  His pre-accident time was about 13 minutes, so this is really amazing.  Finally, we're finding that he's working the proper muscles when he's walking, so his calves are firing more regularly and more steadily.  He's not able to make that happen without the braces because of his balance, so this is really helping to build up his calves.

This is also very hard work, too.  His feet and legs are exhausted at the end of the day, and his body just feels worked.  But the increase in balance and mobility and taking the strain off his knees is so worth it.  We went on the first family neighborhood walk we've been on since the accident -- an hour-long stroll to Biola and around campus.  It was so fun to return to something that is so very us.

Two more gifts during the holiday season -- Steve's braces make it possible for him to get on his trainer bicycle in the garage.  He has a lift that's made for his road bike so that it essentially works like a stationary bike.  It was so awesome to see him up on the bike again, just like he was before.

Possibly the best gift was the clearance to DRIVE!!  We met early this week with Rancho's Driving School OT's.  After some evaluation, training and simulator reaction time, he went out in their training car.  He scored really well, and the very thorough and cautious OT's were confident to clear him for driving short distances. Today I watched him drive himself to work and couldn't have been more proud.  He never, ever complains about his dependence on others, but it made me so thankful to watch him gain some of that freedom back.  

We do still have our reality checks that this is for the long haul, and that some of the damage may yet prove to be permanent.  Here's kind of a funny example.  The other day Steve turned on the seat warmer in our car.  He kind of forgot that his butt has no feeling until he shifted his position and part of his leg that does have feeling touched the seat.  I thought he was going to jump out of his skin!  It was a comical reminder of the sobering fact that there are still no guarantees for complete and total healing.  So we'll continue to walk (walk!!) in that strange tension of these gifts and losses together.  All of it is to the glory of God.

November

So this thing happened where November kinda got sucked up like a sock in a vacuum.  People ask how we are doing, and it seems so generic to say "BUSY!"  And yet, accurate!  I am kind of dying to spend more time blogging because so many of you have been kind enough to keep reading, keep asking about us, keep praying, and I want to honor you with a very honest, from our hearts view of our lives.  I have seen God continue to use our family for his purposes and I continue to marvel.  Be it unto us as you have said, Lord.  

For now, some photos to narrate our November!  

This is our Thanksgiving tree that I put up each year.  Really, I'm the only one that adds things to it for the most part, but I did notice that Lucy added some things unaided:  "Books" was her most recent entry.  (YAY!)  I try to represent the incredible gifts our family has experienced during the year, and it seems to fall so far short.  But in the end, we offer even the most profound words at such a great gulf to what praise God really deserves.  So thankful that the Holy Spirit translates perfectly. My hope is that these physical reminders will speak to my children's hearts in ways that my audible words can't.    

We did not escape the Fall rounds of sickness this year as we often have.  I made the mistake twice of believing I had a "free" week coming up in which to "catch up" and "get ahead."  Ha.  The first week I did that the kids took turns with a long-lasting stomach bug.  The second week I did that, we got the nasty cough/fever du jour.  Søren was actually incredibly cute though, when he lost his voice.  Poor baby was voice-less for 3 days.  I won't lie, it was kind of nice...

In between we had a mid-week day off for Veteran's Day.  Steve had 8-5 meetings that day, so we three tripped off to the beach for a perfect November beach day.  We dug and ran and found shells and I soaked up the peace that I always seem to find when I'm near the ocean.  (Even the idea of living too far away from the ocean almost terrifies me like claustrophobia.)  We even had a dolphin sighting!

You already know that we are goobers.  I'm not really sure what the gang sign is that Lucy's making here.

This was Lucy's field trip to the Shipley Nature Preserve, where they had some hands-on learning about the California Coastal Native Americans.  It was an exceptionally well done field trip -- best to date!  I'm so privileged to be a stay-at-home-mom right now so that I can do these things with my kids.

And then there was THIS.  Is there anything cuter than a Kindergartener in an oversized construction-paper pilgrim hat?  I submit that there is NOT.

We got in the car at 5am on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so we could beat the traffic on the 5 to San Jose.  (This meant that Steve had to get up at 3:30 to perform his necessary routines.) We had a fantastic time with the Earle family, every cousin, aunt and uncle present and accounted for.  I made lemon meringue pie and apple crisp and we ate like monarchs.  Mimi gave me a special treat and took me to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts--just the way to speak to my heart!  However, even "Joe" (pictured below) could not work his magic with the sad, sad Niners, and we all walked away with red-and-gold daggers in our hearts.  I'm actually considering watching basketball this year to cleanse my palate.

So begins December and The Mad Rush of it all, which now includes our twice-weekly appointments at Rancho, plus blood-draws and appointments with the prosthetics clinic, driving clinic, and all The Stuff.  And yet, God has been gracious, allowing me small moments of quiet when I'm really, really able to take in, like a sharp gasp of wonderfully frigid air, that he sent Jesus.  That Jesus laid aside heaven and walked with dusty, grimy feet, was everyday at the heart of gossip and slander and eventually lay even that aside.  Because it's a joke to think that I can conjure up enough "good" to bridge the gap between me and a perfect, holy God.  I'm not sure I've ever felt so intimately, so fully, safely, and confidently loved by God in my life, and I'm profoundly grateful.  Veni, Jesu!