Good evening and thank you for your presence here. Your faithfulness in prayer and emotional support are evident as Joy’s site topped 5,000 visits. It means so much to Joy and our family to have such a wonderful cloud of witnesses interceding on our behalf.
Today was a good therapy day and felt more balanced than yesterday. With the continued eye on home, much of the therapy for the day focused on balance, stretching, and strengthening as we learned more exercises and stretches to continue daily once at home. We also reviewed several equipment options, like styles of walkers and canes, although ultimately came to the conclusion, with the therapist’s agreement, that walking arm in arm worked as well or better than any equipment 🥰. Joy’s day concluded with a visit from long time friend Becky who pampered Joy while I ran home for a shower and change of clothes.
While we are very excited about the plans and preparation for going home, Joy’s language and cognitive challenges stand in harsh contrast to so many of the physical gains achieved. I can take pictures of physical progress, but it’s hard to take a picture of Joy’s language and cognitive struggles.
So please, thank God for the many miracles he has performed as a result of your fervent prayers, but do pray in earnest for Joy’s language and speech processing which while progressing, leave Joy especially frustrated and depressed by the end of many of our days. We know this all takes time, and as our OT daughter-in-law Caitlyn shared, sometimes the body has to make the physical advances before the brain is ready to make the cognitive advances, but it’s still hard to see Joy when the discouragement gets the upper hand.
Once again, there are no words to express how much we appreciate you here and how much we need your ongoing prayers.