On Thursday, Daddy moved to BRI to begin his first stint of rehab. We don't really know how long this part of our journey will last, but probably a couple of weeks. The transition was difficult for several reasons, but things seemed to have smoothed out now. Over the weekend, Mom has raved about the staff (attitude & care). I am so grateful for people who feel called to serve in healthcare positions that are not the most prestigious but could be some o the most important.
Friday was filled with therapy evaluations & a glimpse of what is to come. The BRI facility is amazing & their therapists are incredible. I was able to observe part of his occupational therapy Friday when they were fitting his right arm with a stimulator machine called a BioNess. It fits around his hand & comes up his arm giving shocks/stimulations to the muscles which reminds the brain to start working that part of the body again. His weekend speech therapist has worked with them on singing "Amazing Grace." Mom said he tried to mouth some words but no sounds yet. We just have to remember to be patient!!! He also had a very exhausting time in physical therapy Saturday when they used a "frame" to help him stand. It locks his knees in place & helps him stay upright. He stayed up for 7 minutes which they said was really, really good & were planning on 10 minutes today. I can't imagine how tiring that must be. Makes sense why babies & toddlers sleep so much...learning all this stuff is really hard!
Saturday was a big day for our family since Shawn has Regional Bible Drill & we determined that would be the day for Shawn & Anna Kate to finally go see Grandpa. We all went to Sherwood for the drill & ate lunch with our entire group. Shawn did great & passed the Regional Drill (means of 24 calls he had less than 8 mistakes-he actually only had 4-5). He is qualified for State later this month. It was a great morning & day together. When we finished we ran to Kroger to get some surprises & treats for Grandpa. They picked out vanilla & chocolate pudding (since we couldn't find banana cream in sugar free) & applesauce. Then it was time to head to see Grandpa...
We didn't time our arrival very well since he was just heading to supper. We let the kids entertain themselves for a few minutes & waited in his room. When Mom wheeled him into the room & he saw them, he smiled big! They both hugged & loved on him them showered him with his gifts of food ;-) AK proceeded to dance around for him some & Shawn showed him his new Monster truck he finally found that they had been on a search for during Shawn & Grandpa Days! Daddy seemed to be glad they were there, but at the same time I could tell that it made him sad too that they had to see him not talking to them or doing whatever they wanted! We tried not to overstay our first visit & left when he was ready to get into bed. They thoroughly enjoyed watching the sling & lift which moves him from the chair to the bed. All seemed to have gone well until we were saying our byes & Shawn asked Mom when he was going to get to go home. Of course, we all started crying & that was the first real emotion we have seen from Shawn through all of this. I think the reality of what was happening & him seeing it for himself. We wanted to stop by & see a friend that is also in BRI bc a tree fell on her. Phillis has pretty much everything broken on her right side except her hip. Her daughter, Kris, has been staying with her & they had visited Daddy so we wanted to repay the favor. I'm so thankful that Phillis can encourage Daddy to keep pushing through even when therapy is hard! Mrs. Phillis was one of AK's MDO teachers for about a year when she was a baby so she is pretty special to us!
As we were heading downstairs, Shawn asked if we could walk through the garden. We said yes which was really good for all of us. Just outside the BRI entrance & by the parking lot, there is a beautiful garden area. It is called the Psalm 91 Garden. It is absolutely gorgeous right now with all the azaleas blooming! It was perfect bc we read the marker that was placed with Psalm 91 on it. We definitely needed to hear those words & promises! I took a few pictures of the kids while we were down there. Not really where you would plan a photo session, but I am thankful to catch a few pics of my cuties! They are just from my phone so not great quality, but they make me smile!
How sweet is this with her looking down into the water?
Love all these flowers around Shawn!
I turned around & AK was try to climb on top of the Scripture marker!
She made it!
Well, that was our weekend & now we are getting geared up for this week. It's a short week with Easter next weekend, but I can't believe that April is almost over!! I do have to say that I will not really be sad to see it go! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend & thank you again for your continued prayers! God is faithful & will continue to be each & every day. Thank you for allowing Him to bless us through each of you!
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