March 4, 2017: Day +105

Two days ago when I was with the physical therapist and Doug the only thing I could really see were the skills that Doug does not have yet.  She spent most of her time working on transferring him from the bed to the wheelchair, with her doing most of the work. Later I talked to Doug about me not being strong enough to move him and that he would need to be able to do most of the transfer, for him to go home.  This left him worried and he did not sleep well that night.  

My intention was not to scare him.  It was to make sure that the therapists, Doug and I all have the same goals for Doug going home and for the Elks team to have realist expectations for what I will be able to do.  Well, I have thought over this conversation many times.  Today I awoke redetermined to work with Doug until he is strong enough to come home.  I know how badly he wants to.  For the last 2 weekends at the Elks he has not had therapies on the weekend.  And so I decided that I will do his therapies with him.

The good news in working with Doug today is that I was able to see the new skills he has that I did not know of.   Today we went to the dining room for meals.  Doug was able to eat all of his meals on his own.  The staff brought me  a dinner I was able to eat with him.  It was really enjoyable. Doug said Grace and we were able to eat side by side at a table with a view of the city.  It felt normal. Other new skills I noticed is that Doug can now lean forward and back, allowing him to exercise core muscles.  He was able to move his manual wheelchair on his own for about 300 feet.  He is also able to kick both his legs up to a straight leg from a bent leg.  His left let is not quite as strong as his right and needs a little more support. He is sitting upright on his own and did not need any additional supports in the wheelchair or in bed. He has come along way. It is hard to know how much farther along he will be in 2 weeks. Wish we had a cyrstal ball.

And so we pray:

Gracious God, we give you thanks for continuous and measurable progress.  We give you thanks for experiencing hope and the day to day strength to keep trying, and to keep moving forward.  Be with us when we are discouraged or frustrated.  Sustain our vision of wholeness and healing.  In your name we ask it.  Amen