Day 10, Madonna Rehab. Center. Lora continued to knock the walls down as she continues to build on past successes. This had to be Loras best day by far. It just so happens that she more than doubled her past performances on the same day her rewards program was implemented. The vistibular evaluation done on Wednesday seems to have helped with some of the dizziness. Today she will undergo another of these evaluations and hopefully it will be the end of this problem. This is the evaluation to determine if the crystals in her inner ear have been dislodged. They make these corrections one side at a time. Therapy on Thursday started at 9:00 AM and lasted until 4:30PM. We discussed with a therapist a need to get away for awhile. We were hoping for the weekend, we might get four hours. I guess the insurance companies feel that if you can get away for a weekend you probably dont need to be in an acute rehb. center. I couldnt agree more and believe Lora is so close to being ready to walk out of here. Shell still need more outpatient therapy for quite a while. I pushed her pretty hard again. Alone started the day with a walk down the hall. She went over one-hundred feet, turned around and came back. She did this with me twice. Her PT therapist worked on balance with her. They had her reaching for things, sometimes she reached for things so high she could barely reach, others she had to bend over to grab. This not only works on balance it also helps to train her eyes to work together again. Her left eye still isnt tracking as well as the right and now weve started eye exercises that I also do with her on our own time also. After a little balance work Lora was strutting her stuff again all the way from one end of the gym to the other, (well over 150 one way). This was incredible and every hair on my body stood up as chills came over me as I watched. I was sure when she got to the end shed turn around and go back. I was wrong! Her therapist walked her in to a set of stairs which Lora walked up and down a few times. Her strength is coming back very fast. Her balance is lagging behind just a bit. Much of this Im sure is not only due to the double vision; she still has some dizziness. The weather has been beautiful the last few days and weve spent as much time outside as we can. We both feel a discharge date creeping up on us and were getting pretty exited about things like privacy, home-cooked foods, and a queen-sized bed. Were ready for walks on the mountaintop, swimming in the pond, and bike rides. My good friend Deanna Panwitz sure helped us with the bike rides. I contacted Deanna last week to find out what size bike I should have for a girl about 55. It just so happens that Deanna was 55 and had a mountain bike in her garage that hadnt been ridden for ten years. Its very nice and the price couldnt have been better. Deanna gifted this bike to Lora and has been praying for her since day one. It will be a great help in the rehab process a little further down the road. The color of this bike was crimson, I thought it to be quite the coincidence. A crimson ribbon signifies Aneurysm Awareness. Thanks Deanna, your gift was greatly appreciated. The best part of the day came while we sat outside enjoying the cool temperatures. Lora has a spot above her right eye; her hair was shaved a few weeks past, the holes in her head where two bolts used to be are still very evident. Her wheelchair shows a lack of mobility, and her left eye still looks inward; this causes the double vision. Her belly is bruised ALL OVER from blood thinner shots she receives three times a day. Her little body has been through hell and so has her mind. She still looked at me and told me she feels like the luckiest woman in the world. It melted my heart and caused me to tear up again. Rehab is a very tough process and we have it much better than 99% of the people here. Lora has been able to feed herself since day one. Many here will need months of therapy to do just that. Its a very humbling atmosphere and depending on how you see things, determines your frame of mind. We try to look past all the struggling to see the determination these people share. Although they vary in their seriousness of their injuries and length of stays needed to return to their old lives. They share the same goals. They all want to walk, talk, and feed themselves. Thats it! These folks are traveling some tough paths to return as normal a life as their injuries will allow. A young man next door to us is in pretty bad shape. He sits in his room and constantly yells. While I was outside getting things out of the car, Lora took it upon herself to have a word with him. She wheeled herself into his room right passed his parent and at his bedside. She told him she was right next door if he needed to talk. She told him this is scary and she shares his fear. Who knows what effect it had on this man but she warmed my heart once again. We didnt hear him yell again after her conversation with him. Loras selflessness makes her so easy to love. I think Im the luckiest man alive to have got to share this journey with her. It has changed us both in a very positive way.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 12:32:42 +0000
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