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Showing posts from March, 2016

Three weeks one day at a time...

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We have been in the hospital for almost three weeks. Javad is getting daily physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy for hours a day. He is battling a virus, which means extra respiratory treatments and exhaustion. The doctors have asked for an additional week to compensate for the virus so it looks like we will be here for at least another week. Who knew that I would be excited to to be at the hospital for four weeks (or more)? Javad's therapy is going really well...he has increased his stamina, and is looking more like his "old self" in pictures and in person.  It is pretty exciting. On April 7 they will have him checked out for a new wheelchair (YES!!! A NEW WHEELCHAIR!!!) which would be amazing! Overall I am pleased, I am tired, I am weary, but I am pleased. Life hasn't been easy in the recent months but it's nice to have a small and shining light in Javad right now. I am so appreciative of people in my life that are stepping up to suppor

The strength of an Army...

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Yesterday was opening day of the Portland Timbers...the team whose MLS Cup run and win sustained my spirit last year. If you haven't read about last year, read about  Javad, the giraffe and the MLS Cup  here. It was a great day. A few hours before the game a friend called and offered me ticket. I had already prepped Javad and told him that we were going to watch the game together, had the nurse lined up to be in Javad's room because he was "needed." It was a plan. Then the call came and my plan changed quickly. IT WAS GLORIOUS!!! I got to meet to site in a section that I had never been before, got to watch soccer with people who loved the game as much as I do, cheered loudly, yelled at the ref, felt the love from the people around me, jeered at the Columbus Crew and their hideous uniforms, and finished the game off in fine Portland fashion...in the rain. There are so many areas of my life that aren't working right now...so many areas that I feel like I am no

Picking up the pieces...one at a time

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Today when I was hiking I was doing a lot of thinking. I was with two great women, two women who six months ago I either didn't know or barely knew. At the end of this month I am celebrating my three months back at hiking. When I was young my dad took me out a lot. It was what we did...camping and hiking. I am sure that there was a lot of complaining on my part...sometimes there still is a lot of complaining. Now I sprinkle in profanity occasionally too. So I was thinking about where I am in my life, the places I'm doing well, the places I'm not. This last year the tiny cracks of my life became chasms. For a long time I suffered in silence thinking that it was better to just deal. This cause such pressure inside me that I thought I would burst. Now I am talking...and talking is creating its own issues. It is both empowering and heart breaking. Honestly, I am not sure which emotion is winning. Adulting is hard, relationships are hard. Sometimes....life is hard. Long ag

Joy and sorrow...one day at a time...

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It has been a rough few weeks. Two weeks ago Javad was admitted into the PICU for pneumonia...his heart rate was a 180 for over an hour. We spent a week in the PICU, which for Javad standards is a blink of the eye...the day before the speedy PICU admission we had been a the doctor asking for the possibility of being admitted for intensive rehab. I was prepared to really list my reasons and potentially fight as to why this was in Javad's best interest...we were reaching the point where if we didn't do SOMETHING, we may not move any farther. It was an easy sell...so easy that here we are a week later...in Rehab. It's been a rough few weeks for our little MTM-CNM community. It seems that there is a rise is heart or seizure related activity. More and more I am realizing that, although incredibly horrible, we dodged a bullet last year. Javad survived and, although we are unsure of all the potential damage, he seems fairly unscathed. I mean, let's be realistic...we have los