March 13 11 am Lisa

Dear Family and Friends,

Having a few computer glitches here including power cord going dead on me! Also, took the day yesterday to visit Univ. of NE-Lincoln with our sone Phil (senior)who is still trying to decide where to go to college. Brother Paul updated me late last night so this is the first chance I've had to blog so here goes!

Well, yesterday was the 4th week anniversary since Joe's injury, and I cannot believe how well he is doing! We all have our eyes wide open and realize that this healing will be a long process, but we are so encouraged by what we have witnessed thus far.

With a PT person in front and behind Joe, he was able to walk about 10 feet and then sit in his wheelchair. He then walked another 10 feet and rested. I started cheering on the phone when Paul then said, "I've got more! He walked around the therapy room and down a hall--walked over 50 feet but less than 100." Isn't that fantastic! I'm sure that walking cast on his left foot is helping with this. He also was able to sit in shower and help wash himself, which is, of course, also huge. Lastly, though he has "a ways to go" (quote from therapist)in consistently swallowing water, he ate a bit of pudding twice yesterday! They cut the second of the two front wires yesterday so that helped a lot. The therapists are also doing all sorts of cognitive tests which Paul and Ginny were able to observe yesterday. One of the tests was to repeat a series of random numbers; the therapist started with 3 number series and then advance to 4 numbers, 5 numbers, 6 numbers and 7 numbers. Joe was accurate through 6 numbers but struggled with repeate 7 random numbers. We all chuckled that we would have difficulty repeating random set of 7 numbers. Another test that made us smile required Joe to name the category that 3 nouns belonged to. One of the prompts was: pants, shirt, dress. Paul thought to himself "clothes" but Joe said "apparel" at which point Paul laughed, reporting that even with a major brain trauma Joe still had a better vocabulary than he did!

Paul left this morning, and Ginny's bro Ed is on the way to Atlanta with sons Keith and Stephen. I chatted briefly with Ginny this morning who was in Joe's room. I heard Joe ask about Keith and Stephen, and he was so happy when Ginny explained that they were on their way to see him. Joe also told me over the phone that he was looking forward to seeing me. I told him I loved him and he replied that he loved me too (quiet but massive amount of tears ensued). These little moments are so touching and give all of us strength to bear the frustrations we experience as Joe has to relearn basic functions such as swallowing and walking that we all take for granted.

And so, since Joe is working so hard, and given we all can't be there with him and Ginny as much as we'd like, we can be inspired by his example. I was touched by one of the blog comments, apparently from a UAH student, who reported that the following message was written on some of the classroom boards in the Shelby Center:"I'm working hard so you work hard too. Dr. Leahy" Isn't that awesome! So when we don't feel like working out, we should do it anyway. We should eat more fruit and vegetables as Ginny does. We should all brush our teeth more often, even after lunch, as Joe and Ginny do. But most of all, we should all praise our Lord for all the gifts He gives us and trust that He is the Master of making lemonade out of lemons.

Blessings and Hugs to All,
Lisa