Our Journey to Healing Day 37
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Psalm 18:2
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield[a] and the horn[b] of my salvation, my stronghold.
What is it about pictures and songs that move us so much emotionally? For weeks, I have been avoiding using any photo that kills me inside. But finally, I caved. This picture brings me to tears Every. Single. Time. I don't even know why. Maybe it is because this photo was taken a few days before we moved into our first house. Or because it feels "normal" to me. Or because Derek hates selfies and he looks ALMOST not annoyed in this one. Either way, I normally love this picture but am hating it today. I miss the days of eating Chinese and working on a project. I miss getting smoked in Yahtzee while we sip on wine out of a Ball Jar. I miss watching Friends with the doors wide open. I miss cooking him dinner. I miss him walking in the door with his helmet on and me yelling HELLO! because he could never hear me. I miss our tiny loft. I miss our walks around the neighborhood and randomly stopping to talk with our friends. I miss not having to deal with insurance. I miss actually cuddling with my husband. I miss our life in Indiana. A lot. And there you have it. A depressing intro to a not so depressing overall blog post.
With rehab, Derek has been doing really well. They keep him fairly busy here with around 4-5 hours a day of therapy. His other injuries (scapula, hands, arm, & wrist) have been a little frustrating since they inhibit the amount of bending and weight he can really handle. Overall, the therapists seem very encouraged. We have been getting to know the doctors, nurses, and therapists fairly well. He tends to work with the same group of people every day, which is nice!
We have been given the estimated release date of September 13th! This gives us approximately 8 weeks to figure out how to live on our own :) After he is released from inpatient, we are planning on continuing on with their Day Rehab program. This program is considered outpatient and will allow Derek to still receive 4-5 hours of rehab a day but be able to go home at night. We are currently looking into either subleasing an apartment here in the city or possibly an ExtendedStay hotel. We are trying to figure out what would be the most affordable option and it appears we will be doing the Day Rehab program for at least 3 months. The amount of weeks in Day Rehab just really depends on insurance. We want to stay here as long as insurance will keep paying!
Yesterday, Derek was asked if he would consider participating in a study which helps doctors determine if using a new device helps SCI (spinal cord injury) patients recover nerve function. This device is like a robot on a treadmill. He will be using a robot type thingy that supports his legs and helps him walk on a treadmill. They will then measure his nerves and muscles to see if doing the motion of walking helps his brain connect with those nerves. Also, I am fairly confident I am not explaining this clearly. Sorry! Anyway, he would undergo an MRI soon and then he would walk on the treadmill for the next 8 weeks. He would then undergo another MRI at the end of the study to see if the treadmill helped. They are only choosing one person and he passed the second round of inspection today! We are very hopeful that he will be able to participate and we should learn more by next week.
If you read the first paragraph you have probably figured out that I am struggling a bit on the emotional side. I am hoping and praying this transition gets easier for me and continues to be encouraging for Derek. He has been doing SO well and I am so proud of how he handles this all in stride.
P.S We do have an doctor's appointment tomorrow a few streets down to check out his ear. He has had muffled hearing in the right ear since the accident and the doctor's here are not sure what could be causing the hearing loss. I will keep you all posted!
Please be praying for the study and for "after rehab" decisions that we need to be making fairly soon.
With Love,
The Lavenders
