Hello faithful family, friends, and followers. This week saw doctor and therapy visits for both of us. Joy started the week with her pre-op physical for her upcoming wrist surgery on the 24th, then restarted PT on Tuesday, OT on Wednesday, and continued Speech Therapy yesterday. I had a spine follow up on Wednesday, followed by the start of PT for my back yesterday. So after somewhat of a break in the therapy action, we’re back at it and working hard.
Joy did an amazing job at PT with the therapist noting that while most people regress a bit after leaving therapy and need to “catch back up” when they return, Joy had actually excelled and improved since her last therapy session. The therapist was clearly pleased with and proud of her efforts. We agreed on a 5 session plan of care that will involve overall body strengthening and endurance and retooling the home exercise program for ongoing gains. Way to go Joy!
The OT visit on Wednesday was a bit more challenging. The therapist did an assessment on cognitive processing and while clearly improved by leaps and bounds from where Joy started, pointed out some key deficit areas needing work. While this was our goal, and we are thankful to have a clear path and purpose for Joy’s OT sessions, the experience proved frustrating and discouraging for her at being confronted once again, with the long road still to travel in her recovery. Fortunately, the OT assessment will also help further tailor Joy’s remaining Speech therapy sessions as well.
The discouragement over the OT assessment was compounded by the fact that Joy is now reading for herself, the earlier posts from her hospitalization. She had just read the entry in which I shared we had been told for the first time, that Joy had suffered permanent brain damage. The sobering truth she had just read on top of the evidence of that damage revealed in remaining cognitive deficits, was another one of those times that we chose to sit for a while with her grief and loss, for as long as it takes, before continuing to move on.
Joy has been tireless in her PT, OT, and Speech homework and has continued to read ever longer passages of the Psalms and Gospels, as well as every children’s story book she can find in our house. She is an inspiration to me each day with her hard work and dedication to her healing journey. And, while having her moments of discouragement, continues to show the sweetest and compassionate spirit to those we interact with whether medical staff, store clerks, wait-staff, those we may meet on our frequent walks, and in her interactions with friends and family. Once again she inspires me with her kindness to others in the midst of her own challenging journey.
In an earlier post I had mentioned the value I saw in returning to Courage Kenny Rehabilitation, not only for the therapy but for the inspiration of the indomitable spirits witnessed there who are so courageous and inspiring in their own right. Wednesday morning as we were waiting to check in for Joy’s therapy there was a woman ahead of us standing at the counter. She had both legs amputated below the knee and both arms amputated just below the elbow with prosthetics for both feet and hands. She greeted us as we walked up behind her with a huge smile and warm hello. She proceeded to get her medical card and credit card out of her backpack kindly interacting with the clinic staff and then walked on to her therapy session again with a big smile and, “have a nice day.” It brings tears to my eyes just to recall this. I can get so caught up in my little inconveniences and little discomforts, and then I see a beautiful and brave soul like this and I am humbled beyond words, but also so thankful for how very much we have been blessed.
Joy spoke to one of those blessings in her post last week in which, among other things, she shared her thankfulness for the restoration of memories so precious to her and all of us. As she has talked with me about her memories, both of the past and now of her recovery, it reminded me of a passage from Frederick Buechner in which he writes:
"To remember my life is to remember countless times when I might have given up, gone under, when humanly speaking I might have gotten lost beyond the power of any to find me. But I didn’t. I have not given up. And each of you, with all the memories you have and the tales you could tell, you also have not given up. You also are survivors and are here. And what does that tell us, our surviving? It tells us that weak as we are, a strength beyond our strength has pulled us through at least this far, at least to this day. Foolish as we are, a wisdom beyond our wisdom has flickered up just often enough to light us if not to the right path through the forest, at least to a path that leads forward, that is bearable. Faint of heart as we are, a love beyond our power to love has kept our hearts alive." (From A Crazy, Holy Grace)
As always, we continue to covet your prayers for Joy’s continued healing of her right upper vision blindness and the remaining cognitive deficits she courageously battles each day. We appreciate each and every one of you and while we may not know you by name, please be assured of our reciprocal prayers for you, prayers of thankfulness and prayers for provision of God’s grace and mercy you need today. Till next time…