It's the Little Things

Wow, what a gorgeous weekend! I hope everyone got out for a little while and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Judi and I spent some quality time outside both days. She is over the "crud" and feeling great. On Saturday, we did some shopping and then had some lunch outside and just enjoyed the atmosphere. On Sunday, we spent the morning just sitting outside hanging out with each other and listening to some of our favorite tunes. I talked to her a lot and she seemed to soak all of it in. It is awfully good medicine for me to hear her laugh and see her clearly enjoy herself. The new room is working great for her and she enjoys letting the sun shine in. I think it greatly reduces the "cabin fever" for both of us.


Judi continues to show significant progress physically. She is steadily regaining control of her left leg, but there is still a very long way to go. We had her evaluated for BOTOX injections in her left hand and arm last week to relieve the contractions she has experienced there. The results indicated these are very good candidates and that she should get some significant relief. I am still very concerned about where we are on this arm, but we will continue to pursue all available options to restore it to maximum functionality. Neck strength continues to improve as well. She now has her very own recliner and is enjoying it a great deal. I was able to find her one that fits her almost perfectly and I think it is already aiding in maintaining a better posture for her. We are also changing her wheel chair to a different model that will aid in her back and head positioning. The new chair will also position her legs differently which we hope will minimize her desire to push against the foot plates. We are continuing to experiment with medications and massages to give her some relief from the muscle spasms in her legs. We are having some success and hopefully we can whip this thing soon.

Speech continues to be a focus area. Not much new to share here, but we still believe it is just a matter of time. I continue to spend the majority of our free time during the evening in this area. She is very vocal, but still unable to get everything to line up. If there is anything Judi will fight to recover, it will be her ability to talk!

Mentally her recovery continues at a slow pace, but she is clearly getting better. She is doing fine on the new anti-seizure medication. We will have to keep a close eye on her blood chemistry since this medication has some potential side effects in this area, but so far so good. I am also trying to expose her to more visitors now that she has reached a point where she understands and hopefully recognizes them. The goal being to stimulate her brain activity and cause her to keep trying to put all of the pieces together. I am unsure whether it will help, but I am sure it will not hurt. What I have discovered about brain injuries is that it is very much a trial and error process to see what works. What works for one person, may be totally ineffective for another. Just let me know if you would like to come and visit.

On a different note, I had someone innocently tell me last week how sorry they were that Judi and I were having to go through this and how sad they were that our lives had been ruined. I could write an epistle around both of these comments, but I'll keep it to a few lines since most of you already know how I feel about this. I obviously wish this had never happened, but it did. I wish it had been me instead of Judi, but it wasn't. Our lives have certainly been changed forever, but they have not been ruined. We will move forward and find new things to share together and grow stronger as a result of it. As the title of this post says, it's the little things that are important. I continue to take refuge in the belief that God has a purpose here and that we will be enriched in the long run. I will admit that this is the only thing that keeps me moving on some of the more difficult days. I will also admit that each day of late seems to test my faith and resolve. I only mention it so that each of you will know how important your prayers are to us.

Thank you all again,

Steve