Sharing the wealth, 01-01-13

While John was still in ICU, our brother-in-law's sister-in-law's mother (did you follow that?) gave us a bottle of Lourdes water that I used daily to bless John and his body. The bottle flew with us to Chicago, and stayed in the drawer in John's room at RIC, and I bleesed him on each visit.Although the feel of the cold water was at times a little painful for John's senstive skin, the water's healing powers were worth it. This weekend, on the 5-month anniversary of John's accident, we passed on the bottle to a neighbor whose teenage son is fighting his own battle in ICU. And the bottle gave me another sign of John's healing: the fact that I could let it go to pass it on to someone who now needed it more than us was a poignant clue thatwe're making progress here.

A well-used bottle of holy water from Lourdes



Please add our neighbor's son to your prayers. He has a very long journey ahead of him, but the prognosis is hopeful.

Happy New Year!

From our priest's homliy today for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: "The story of the Nativity is not just a story of the beginning of life; it is a story of life interrupted... In the sorrows and the setbacks, in the joys and the glorias, God was with Mary always." What a comforting message as we enter this new year.

Last night, we celebrated how far we've come on this journey together with a small reminder of the way we spent our first married New Year's eve:

And we toasted our love for each other with our wedding flutes (given to us by our dear friends from Chapin). And we even made it up til midnight, saying a bittersweet goodbye to 2012. We made it! Tomorrow we'll look ahead at the hard work that still awaits John, but for now we pause to savor how far we've come.

"Nothing short of amazing..."

And the quote of the day is... "nothing short of amazing." As in, John's new neurologist's response when John walked for him.* Today, he went in for a check-up of the bone graft/fusion in his spine from the original surgery (and the bony fusion is great) and to get established with a neurologist here in South Bend (since the doctor he'd seen at Northwestern is out of network). So seeing a new doctor of course means telling the story again, and while reliving it is difficult, the affirmation we get each time that we explain to a doctor where John was on July 31, and they assess where he is now is heartening beyond words.

*Edit: John reminded me that he also called it "spectacular"!

And yet again, we have another great doctor. He was very personable, and we felt comfortable with him immediately. The transfer of care can be a little sticky sometimes, but he talked to us right away about the role he sees for himself, steeping in at this point. He's here to be John's cheerleader, to encourage him in the rehab, and to give him a tough love reminder if he needs it of just how far he's come. He's optimistic that John will continue to recover, and he warned us that there will be frustrating moments ahead when John tries to do something he used to be able to do and it won't be as easy/he'll have to do it differently. Because John's made so much progress in the big picture recovery, these little things will be more evident (all things considered, a very good problem to have).

He wants to see John in 3 months and check the graft again then. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a February visit into Chicago to see the physiatrist to check in on how rehab is progressing and a March visit to the neurologist here in South Bend to check on the surgical fusion and address any issues that might arise.

Merry Christmas!

All I wanted for Christmas, right in front of my tree: The deepest of gratitude to the Long Beach Twp. Lifeguards, Shirley & the Beach Haven First Aid Squad, Matt, Jeremy, Liz, Jennifer, Lee Ann, Dr. Cathy D, Kate, Dr. Kris R, AtlantiCare, Mike, Ryan, Piper, Blake, Warren, Dr. David C, Amy, RIC, Marilyn, Angie, Kelly, Arnold, St. Joe Rehab – there are not enough words…



Christmas Eve, 2012
Thanks be to God for His graciousness!

20-12-2012 (because it's fun to type that date!)

Yesterday, John & I went into the city to see his physiatrist (at RIC), which meant I got to have lunch in Chicago a day late for our 9th wedding anniversary :)

Dr. Chen is very pleased with John's progress and again told us to just keep on doing what we've been doing -- 2 days of PT/OT and 1 day of aquatic therapy. We discussed going back to work, and everyone agreed that it's too soon for John to try that, so the classroom will wait. That will give him time to finish recovering and building up his strength. As one of his therapists told us, it takes an average of three days to recover and regain your strength for every one day you spend in the hospital. And at over 8 weeks of hospitalization, that's a lot of weeks for recovery. So while John's disappointed that he won't be back in the classroom next month, it's really for the best since he doesn't yet have the stamina for it. His principal Susan has been fabulous to us, and we're grateful for her support.

So it's reunion time -- while we were at RIC, we went up to the 9th floor to see Piper (OT) and Mike (PT) and show them John's continued progress since we last saw them in mid-October. The best moment was when John was able to shake hands with Mike, thereby showing Piper how much his hands have recovered -- such a cool moment to witness!

And today we talked to Dr. Radcliff, the surgeon who operated on John in Atlantic City. He was thrilled to get our update and hear just how well John's doing, since the last he knew was when John was transferred to RIC for inpatient rehab. It's a little overwhelming to remember now, but at that point, John could squeeze my hand and push his toes down an inch -- and now he's climbing stairs and "running" in the water! Hopefully the conversation was as gratifying for Dr. R as it was for us -- as he reminded me, John had a 5% chance of recovery, and  I savored the opportunity to thank him for his skillful treatment that put John in that 5%.

Our own Christmas miracle...

December 6, 2012

Another milestone in therapy today: John started aquatic therapy this morning, which meant getting in the water for the first time since his accident. Doing pool therapy lets him use the water's buoyancy to help him work muscles (like his hip flexors) in ways he can't on land. So in the pool, he can move his legs like he's doing jumping jacks. All of this will continue to build his strength, flexibility, and balance back up.

So now he goes to PT/OT twice a week (at one location) and will do the pool therapy once a week (at another location).

In other exciting news, he has a neurosurgeon here in town (or maybe that's only exciting to me because it means I've managed to track down all of his records and images [from three hospitals] for the doctor to see before John's first visit!). And finally, this will be one visit nearby -- the neurosurgeon's practice is adjacent to the hospital in our neighborhood, so it's just 4 or 5 blocks to the office for us. John will see him at the end of the month for a check-up.

I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I continue to be shocked at how much paperwork I'm chasing. We get an EOB listing what the insurance company has paid, what discount the provider has accepted -- and then we get a bill from said provider for the discounted amount that they've already agreed we don't owe. If I had a dollar for every phone call I've made to eventually be told, "You can disregard that bill," I'd be rich -- of course, since I've called rather than just write checks, I guess you could say we're already richer (or at least not poorer)! I mention this not to complain, but to empathize with others going through the same ordeal. It's really easy to see how more than 60% of bankruptcies in the US are the result of medical bills.

11-0 (and undefeated at home!)....

Today, we made it campus for pregame festivities for the first time this season, just in time for the final home game:

Please note Nora's socks and shoes choice...

We got lunch from the Badin Hall food stand -- grilled brats and cheeseburgers:


Picnicking outside CoMo

And then listened to the band concert on Bond Hall before heading home to watch the game and eat Bruno's pizza and Blue & Gold cupcakes in honor of their undefeated-at-home 2012 season:

Sprinkles lovingly added by Miss Nora, my sous-chef.

A great way for John to get out for his exercise (though Nora did reluctantly let him use his chair when he needed it and jumped right in everytime he got up -- the novelty of riding in it hasn't worn off yet) and fresh air today!

November 14, 2012

And the progress continues...

Last Monday in PT, John was cleared to use a cane out in public! For long distances or big crowds, he should still use the walker for more stability, but for a lot of situations, he's OK with the cane. His first outing with the cane came the next day, when he and I took Nora to vote after school (she was so excited to fill in the bubbles on my ballot!) and then to Martin's to pick up some milk. The trip was a great success!

Then on Thursday, Patty, Brian, and Brenna came for a long weekend visit. John was at therapy when I picked them up from the airport. I got them settled at the house and then went to get John while Nora entertained them. When we pulled up, Brian came outside to meet us and John walked right up into the bear hug Brian had waiting for him -- a wonderful way to show how much he's accomplished in the past two and half months since they said goodbye to John in Atlantic City!

We had a lovely visit with them. Nora and Brenna were like two long lost twins reunited -- very cute to watch. Brian and Patty helped us get the house ready for winter -- thank you!!! And despite the blue corn chips served at dinner on Saturday (avoided since the Fiesta Bowl all those years ago), we were able to watch the Irish win #10 for the season together!

And today in PT, John practiced walking down the hallway without his cane! His balance is still precarious at times, and as he joked when he passed me, he couldn't wave to me or he'd lose his balance. But with careful concentration, he made it down the hall and back.