Wow, unbelievable that it has been 21 days since I last posted. Time has really gotten away from me. More unbelievable is that it has been 307 days since Doug's Stem Cell transplant. These last few weeks I have been busy with work: getting a new school year started, trainings, busy with church related activities like attending Diocesan Council, preaching and teaching Sunday School. I also am teaching a class for NNU totally online and this has required me to develop some new skill sets. Life is returning to normal or perhaps a new normal.
Doug has continued to improve I am happy to report. He is now able to shower on his own in our regular shower stall. This is a big milestone. He is also getting more independent in walking and it is becoming more functional. He can walk with the walker,
and not just for exercise and practice walking. He is standing in the kitchen at the counter to make himself coffee and to get things out of the cupboard. In general he is becoming more independent. Such a Godsend.
We both had dental appointments this month. I was concerned for Doug's teeth after the chemotherapy, intubation and long hospital stay. But no need to worry. Both of us got an excellent report that our teeth are healthy and no cavities. Hooray! We both had eye appointments as well. Again, both of us got great reports. Doug's eyes can be corrected to 20/20 and my eyes have actually gotten better. It is so nice to have good news from the doctors.
Today we presented to the adult Sunday School at St. Michael's Cathedral on "Life as Pilgrimage". Putting the slide show together, required me to look at pictures over the last year and to read parts of the blog from last winter. I have not gone back and read any of the blog until now. Doug had not seen many of the pictures and had no memory of the time that he was so sick. It was like hearing it for the first time for him. We both end this day, feeling even more grateful for Doug's continued recovery and filled with hope that the progression of his MS has stopped.
And so we pray:
God of Life, God of Journey, God of Hope we give thanks for all that we have and all that we have been blessed with. We are grateful to call ourselves pilgrims. As we traverse this path to wholeness and healing we have found so many fellow travelers on the journey who have been willing to walk with us. We are grateful for their company and for their support. We are especially grateful for the strength that Doug has felt in the last week and for the hope he is experiencing in seeing his own recovery as possible. For this we give heartfelt thanks. Stay by us now dear Lord as we sleep and greet us in the morning, filling our hearts with hope as we look forward to the promise of the new day. Amen.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
September 5, 2017: Day 286
Last night we returned from 2 days in Cascade. Each time we go up the trips get a little easier. Doug becomes a little more independent and enjoys being there a little more. I realized that for several months since he came home, I have been pushing him back into a normal life. It would be so easy to give up and just accept this level of improvement. It takes real work to heal and needless to say we have to believe in healing to continue to push forward.
I started to write a post last night and remembered that last year before Doug had the HSCT treatment I had made a list of Doug's symptoms and had him rate them on a scale between 1 and 10. I have done nothing with that list since we got home. We certainly had not planned on him being paralyzed and having to come back from that. This list lost importance. After he was paralyzed I started a separate list keeping track of each movement he recovered. I looked at that list last night as well, but decided to only update the original list because what most people want to know and what we wonder about is if the HSCT worked. Has the progression of the MS stopped?
Reviewing the list, t was heartening to see that physically he has almost recovered the skills that he had before we went to Mexico. Not quite, but almost. His balance to stand independently without the walker is not where it was last year yet, but close. He is not as strong as he was. The good news is that he no longer feels dizzy. Before he felt dizzy every day and took medication for it. He no longer takes this medication. Also he had daily pain in his abdomen. He took pain medication everyday. He had to sleep in the recliner to help control his stomach pain. He no longer as any pain, anywhere. He no longer takes pain medication. Last year he was having frequent choking (daily) and he would pound on his chest. He no longer is choking. He has had migraine headaches for years and years. He is not having migraines. Also he rated numbness in his feet as a 2-3, which was fairly low. But he does not have any numbness in his feet now.
What do I make of all this? Do I dare hope? It certainly looks like Doug is not progressing with the MS and he is indeed recovering some. I could not say that before, because he has been recovering from polyneuropathy. We had no idea what was going on with the MS. In the past he has never had a respite from the progression of the disease. If one year after HSCT he is the same or better, this indicates that the treatment has worked. Of course we can be more certain in a month or two, but we prayerfully hope this is true.
God of promise and hope, on this pilgrimage of healing and wholeness you led us to Puebla in search of healing and wholeness. We give thanks for the healers that cared for us there and for those who have been with us on this journey since we returned. As the days go by, we feel your presence with us. We give thanks for Doug's continued improvement day by day. We pray for strength and courage to continue on this journey. Fill us with hope with the new day and we pray, heal Doug of MS. Amen
I started to write a post last night and remembered that last year before Doug had the HSCT treatment I had made a list of Doug's symptoms and had him rate them on a scale between 1 and 10. I have done nothing with that list since we got home. We certainly had not planned on him being paralyzed and having to come back from that. This list lost importance. After he was paralyzed I started a separate list keeping track of each movement he recovered. I looked at that list last night as well, but decided to only update the original list because what most people want to know and what we wonder about is if the HSCT worked. Has the progression of the MS stopped?
Reviewing the list, t was heartening to see that physically he has almost recovered the skills that he had before we went to Mexico. Not quite, but almost. His balance to stand independently without the walker is not where it was last year yet, but close. He is not as strong as he was. The good news is that he no longer feels dizzy. Before he felt dizzy every day and took medication for it. He no longer takes this medication. Also he had daily pain in his abdomen. He took pain medication everyday. He had to sleep in the recliner to help control his stomach pain. He no longer as any pain, anywhere. He no longer takes pain medication. Last year he was having frequent choking (daily) and he would pound on his chest. He no longer is choking. He has had migraine headaches for years and years. He is not having migraines. Also he rated numbness in his feet as a 2-3, which was fairly low. But he does not have any numbness in his feet now.
What do I make of all this? Do I dare hope? It certainly looks like Doug is not progressing with the MS and he is indeed recovering some. I could not say that before, because he has been recovering from polyneuropathy. We had no idea what was going on with the MS. In the past he has never had a respite from the progression of the disease. If one year after HSCT he is the same or better, this indicates that the treatment has worked. Of course we can be more certain in a month or two, but we prayerfully hope this is true.
God of promise and hope, on this pilgrimage of healing and wholeness you led us to Puebla in search of healing and wholeness. We give thanks for the healers that cared for us there and for those who have been with us on this journey since we returned. As the days go by, we feel your presence with us. We give thanks for Doug's continued improvement day by day. We pray for strength and courage to continue on this journey. Fill us with hope with the new day and we pray, heal Doug of MS. Amen
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