Lilburn Home Companions

Tuesday, 2/28

We had 2 of the home health care therapists come to do their evaluations of Paul. The physical therapist was encouraged to see how strong Paul was in his arms,although the left is still a bit weaker and she also said that Paul has good strength in his legs. She walked him around the house and decided that the first thing Paul will need to work on is his balance. He needs someone to be right by his side when he walks, as he tends to lose his balance every so often. He is very good about using the tables or wall or door frames to hold onto as he walks, but she would like to see him be able to walk without the amount of help he requires now. She realizes his strength and low endurance will also need to improve before he will have great success. She will be bringing something that she says is fairly new and it will be something Paul can use to help him with his balance. She won't be here until Thursday for her actual therapy session. We are looking forward for this therapy to continue, as he has lost a good amount of ground in the last few weeks since his pneumonia.

The speech therapist came today and she talked to Paul for awhile and took a big
interest in him, once she found out that he is a musician. Her husband owns a recording studio, so their family is also involved in music. After she worked on a couple of areas, she said that the main area she will be working on is Paul's short term memory and his reading skills. I have had Paul reading out loud to help more with his gaining greater lung capacity. He can read 5-6 words out loud and then has to take a breath. After we finish reading the paragraph, I ask him questions about what he has just read. Like everything else, he has moments where he can do it very well and others where he struggles to answer my questions. Making him read out loud has helped him in talking more readily. Today, he answered the therapists questions well. She had him do work sheets and he did very well with math, counting money, spelling and did well with reading comphrension today. At one point, she placed her hand out in front of Paul and asked him if he could reach out and touch it. He looked at her with a very questioning look and said "I sure hope so". It was a very simple thing for him to do and the tone and look he gave was an indication he knew that if he couldn't do something that simple, he was in worse shape than we all thought! She was actually checking to see if he was still having problems with his hands trembling. He is now having no troubles at all with that. She also checked about the tremors before she had him do some writing skills. After he wrote, I had to let her know that his penmanship was always that bad............smile. He writes exactly as he had before the accident. His spelling is good and she will work with him on his sentence structuring.

When Pam (speech therapist) was finished, she asked questions about his injuries, then asked when he had his accident. When I told her, she stopped writing and looked at me and then at Paul and said "Are you kidding? Do you know what a miracle it is for him to be doing this well after so short a time? I have seen this type of injury before and I have to tell you he is doing incredibly well." She was genuinely amazed. I told her how many people have been praying for Paul and she said to let everyone know to keep it up, since it is clearly helping. So thank you so much, once again, for your continued prayers. Everyone has helped bring about this recovery, through your loving care and prayers. We pray for every person who has offered even one prayer for Paul, that God will bless you with great graces.

There is one area where Paul's memory is improving. He wants to lay down a lot and I need him to stay up a lot more than he is, if we are going to get an increase in endurance. I have started to bargain with him and today said that since he had taken an hour nap, he needed to remain awake and active for an hour. I explained all the reasons why it is important that he put out more effort in this area. He got up and I said we would take a short walk, like maybe just down to the stop sign. He got on his coat and hat and we walked. I was hoping that he would not remember I had set the stop sign as the destination and we would be able to continue a lot farther. Right before he got to the stop sign, he started his turn back home. I asked if he wouldn't like to try a little harder and get more walking in, since we had gone to so much effort getting outside. His memory was sharp as a tack and he said no. He said he had walked to the stop sign and he now wanted to go home to lay down. Well, it appears that Paul does not have as much short term memory problems as I thought - it has become very selective memory loss. It won't be my physical strength that will get Paul to do what is best - this has become a mental war between us and I will need to measure my words so that I can get the best results from this battle! Later, in the afternoon, I told Paul that I would give him a break and not make him walk the 4 times around St. Stephen's parking lot, and would let him sleep if he would do just the 3 rounds (which is our current standard). Yes, I am taking full advantage of this situation. Sleep can be his reward and I will just make sure the goals are worded so that this will be a win-win recovery effort.

Wednesday, March 1
I was thinking about Lent alot and realized that God has spoken very clearly to our family that He wants our attention. I have done a lot of meditating about what God needs from me and what I need to do during Lent. The initial shock is over and now it is time for reflection. Funny how the timing of all this has brought me to day one of Lent, the beginning of a time for personal renewal and purification. I have given it so much thought and have come to the realization that I need God's help in discovering his message for me. I don't know where this event (Paul's accident) is taking our family, but I have learned one thing. God HAS provided the resources to find out. Just like the speech therapist did for me yesterday. I have been scrambling since Paul was discharged from Pathways for things to do with Paul to keep up some sort of therapy program each day. I did not have a clue what to do with him and I kid you not, it caused me to panic. Really panic. I had so much to do just caring for Paul and did not have the time to do any real research. I mentioned this to my sisters and they helped me find some internet sites in the areas of speech and physical therapies. I have pieced together a basic routine, but I didn't feel it was very effective. I am not trained in any of these areas, and while I know Paul very well and an approach that works better for him, I am limited in the knowledge of physical and speech therapies to keep advancing Paul's recovery. Yesterday, Pam left me with activities to do with Paul until she comes back and she said she will do that everytime she comes. I was given a direction and the materials needed to accomplish a goal! It was such a relief to me. A true blessing, to be sure.

Yesterday, I was feeling the same way concerning Lent. What am I called to do this Lent? What does God really want from me? What discipline should I try to improve? My mind was wandering as I tried to come up with a concrete plan for the next 40 days to 'get the best results'. I went to bed last night without a real game plan, still searching for a clue as to what God wanted from me. When I woke this morning, it came to me as clearly as the sun that was shining through the trees. I have the resource necessary at my fingertips. Simply devote my time, my care of Paul, my delight in seeing the beautiful mornings and listening to the birds chirping loudly as they go about tending their nests, my enjoyment of the hot cup of coffee my husband brings me each morning, my struggles with staying very patient with Paul's stubborness - each moment of each day - devote it to the Glory of God. Do not take any of it for granted, because God's hand is in it. Use Lent to perfect this total awareness of God's presence in my life and soul, and grow in my love for Him. He is in everything I encounter, do, see, feel. No moment is without him. If there was a moment He was not present, I would not exist.
Putting my fingertips together in prayer - to thank, to ask forgiveness to request,to plead sometimes, to thank again - is my greatest resource. As I prayed last night, I was lead to read through the night prayers in my Magnificat subcription. This morning, as I read in this book again, the daily readings, I was given the knowledge that if I just put my fingertips together, God will then lead me to the thousands of other resources He has given this world. Mass, scripture, spiritual writings by enlightened authors, the rosary, stories of the lives of the saints, meditation and on and on. It will be through my prayers, meditations, reading and personal sacrifices that I will be led forward. My prayer today is that I will be more perfect in my love for God, with Jesus leading the way. I will look each day for the direction God wants me to go.

Opening Prayer for today's Mass

Lord,
Protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the discipline of Lent,
make this day holy by our self-denial.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

"Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment."

" A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spriit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence, and your
Holy Spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise."

May the Holy Spirit renew our hearts today, as we continue our walk with God.
Love,
Jon and Rebecca