February 20, 2013

After driving through over an hour of heavy snow (like 1/2"/hour, 20-30 mph winds heavy snow), we had a lovely day in Chicago for John's check-up at RIC. Blue skies and a brisk (OK, frigid!) wind -- but not a hint of the snow we'd left behind somewhere west of LaPorte. But enough of the weather report -- I'm guessing that's not what you're here for! (Funny side note, first: when I went out to reshovel the walk before leaving -- less than 2 hours after shoveling it to take Nora to school -- and saw how heavily the snow was still falling, I triple-checked the weather report online, and it swore to me that it was not snowing in South Bend. The snow on the porch was awfully fluffy and fake looking -- maybe it was my imagination?)

And now for the update you're skimming for:

Dr. C continues to be very pleased with John's progress! John's strength is slowly returning, and for this stage of the game, it's very good. He can now go against gravity with most of his limbs (yay!) -- it's so cool to watch them test for this. The doctor has John lift his arm, for example, and then John has to resist having his arm pushed down. It's amazing to see the mix of very high tech and very low tech techniques that have been used over the past 7 months, from the fanciest treadmill I could imagine to the doctor trying to squeeze John's pinkie and pointer fingers together. His discharge from OT is now official, reflective of the progress he's made in rehabbing his hands. He can almost spread his fingers completely now.

The cold does continue to challenge John. After lunch, we walked the 4 blocks from the restaurant to the hospital (I had dropped him off on the way in and parked the car), and that bright blue sky was deceptive: it was COLD! And Chicago was living up to it's nickname. And the wind and cold made the walk rather difficult for John. The good thing is, we know this will happen and we can plan around it. The bad thing is, we live in South Bend -- as I say to my students when they moan about the wacky weather and the cold, "Welcome to South Bend!" But winter (and the cold) can't last forever....

We also had the wonderful pleasure of stopping by the pediatric floor of RIC -- our neighbor's son is now rehabbing there. It was a privilege to witness for him (and his family) the powerful work that the RIC team can do. Please continue to keep them all in your prayers as well. Rehab is a long journey, and the more the merrier on the prayer front!