Open Doors!

From the beginning Mike and I have always prayed that God would make it obvious to us, as to what we need to do regarding my situation. When we were looking at having physiotherapy in the United States we asked God to open and or close doors to what we needed to do. If you remember He did just that He closed the doors to 2 possibilities leaving us with Detroit being the obvious option.

Well we have been praying concerning my back as my pain since Christmas has been progressively getting worse. I thought maybe this is something I would just have to learn to live with but as I talked about it to my physiotherapist here in Ottawa and others I started to investigate as to what I should do. I heard of an orthopedic surgery, Dr. Don Chow and thought it would be great if I could get into see him. I found out that it is a long wait to see him just for a consult. This past Wednesday Mike was speaking with our dear friend Carol, who has worked at the Civic Hospital for years and knows Dr. Chow personally was able to speak with him and through there special relationship, Dr. Chow agreed to see me Friday morning.

After reviewing my original X-rays Dr. Chow feels that the rods that were placed in my back are causing the pain and is recommending that I have them removed. He also wants to have a neurological exam done and current x-rays to see if there are any cracks or breaks in the rods. As we left the examining room everyone that we needed to see and book these appointments with were standing just outside the door.

My exam was booked for Tuesday at 7:30am, x-rays just after and my post op paper work was completed just after that. Dr. Chow met with us again on Tuesday morning to review the surgery and any all questions that Mike and I had.

We prayed for OPEN DOORS…. Once again God just didn't open the door He blew the hinges off.
In less than a week I met with the surgeon had all the test that I need to have done, done and I am now booked for my surgery on May 22nd.

Depending on what Dr. Chow sees when he gets in there will depend on the extent of the surgery. He is hoping to remove all the rods and screws and a piece of the T5-disc that is sticking out. It should last anywhere from 1–4 hours. We are hoping that I won’t be in hospital longer than 1 week with a 6 week recovery. 

 
Although I am excited to reduce my pain I do have some fear about undergoing surgery. There can always be complications and risks involved. The normal risks of undergoing surgery but the biggest is more loss of function. This is very low risk but yet still a risk. It’s scary to have to undergo the recovery again. The fear of the unknown but now also the known. God gives us so many promises to cling to.

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength. Always ready to help in times of trouble” This journey has not been easy but daily I try to give the day over to God and rest in Him for what I need for the day. I continue to pray daily that God would reveal His glory and power through healing me completely.

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, what ever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” I believe it! Please continue to pray with me for my complete healing, for the coming weeks as we prepare and get ready for the surgery and for the recovery. Pray for the girls and for Mike as well as life is about to change again for them. Praise, that God is a God of power that can open doors!

Hugs Sandra

Day by Day

Yes...we are still here! Sorry it's been awhile. Thank you for always checking in and for your continued prayer...lots to keep praying over.

 After our trip to Mexico and getting back to our routine, we have made some decisions on the near future. We have decided it would benefit our family for us to stick closer to home for a while. To that end I now have my FES Bike and Standing Frame at home and have established a full routine both on my own and with my Physio Therapists twice weekly. I am making great progress on my FES Bike. Just after 2 weeks I find that my muscles are strengthening and it's helping to reduce swelling and my toning. I am "riding" up to 16 KM - 4-5 times a week!

I am continuing with acupuncture once a week. I am not sure what it's doing for me, but even though I dread it...its very uncomfortable...we feel I need to continue it for now. Things are happening and although we aren't sure we can attribute it the acupuncture we aren't sure it's not.

One of my biggest struggles is the "sitting and watching" that I am forced to do. I find it very difficult to sit and watch people do things for me. I am so grateful for all the giving, loving people in my life but really miss being able to do for others and even for myself. It goes completely against my nature and I am waiting for God to show me how to do this well.

People ask me and my family members constantly if there has been "any change". I am noticing that my sense of feeling seems to have reached further below my level of injury. It's faint but I am definitely aware of it when concentrating.
Something I have been needing and asking God for was something to show me progress and re-fuel my hope. During my physio sessions my therapist lift me to a standing position at my kitchen counter. The biggest challenge so far has been being able to hold my knees in a locked position. Once this was achieved we moved onto developing weight transfer and then using my hip flex-ors and gluts’ to activate movement.

This past Tuesday I was able to translate all that into actual "voluntary movement".

We have attached a video for you to see, but want to make it clear that although this is definitely progress, I am not feeling what is happening here. I am activating this muscle movement through a great deal of concentration & effort and as you can see it still lacks control. I am taking this as a positive sign and gift from God. This is movement below my injury level and that is amazing!

 Please continue to pray for complete healing and that my muscles will continue to react favourably. Also, for our day-to-day decision making. Hugs Sandra

Hola!!

So we made it back in the wee hours Sunday morning. Life is back to the full swing, work, meetings, Dr's appointments, etc..... We had a great time in Mexico, good friends, food and oh yes maid service with a choclate on my pillow at night pretty easy to get used to. Sandra's flight was interesting, it was booked before her acciedent so we didn't think it was a big deal for her and Emily to go on one flight, Jules and I took the milk run. Sandra and Emily arrived in Mexico only to realize that they are being dropped off in the middle of the tarmac with a full flight of stairs to get down. The lack of regulation worked to our benefit as a few mexican's just picked her up and carried her down. I'm thinking in Canada their may have been a few union and safety rules broken but it all worked our and just added to the adventure. Sandra is doing great on her FES bike, doing approximentally 10 miles/per day hopefully 4-5 times per week. It is a great workout for her, gets her heart rate, muscles going. We have our times where one of us is more positive than the other but I guess that is the beauty of marriage, we are truly there for each other and we will get through. Mike

Better news

Well yes last week was a difficult week, we always go hoping and praying for new gains, but they aren't always there. It was pointed out to me that we should be looking at more then the assessments, maybe look at real world improvements and yes Sandra has had a lot of improvements over the last few months. Mostly core improvements as she doesn't have to support herself with her arms when driving on an on ramp, and just transferring into her van, bed etc... Are all much improved, Yesterday I went with Sandra to her actupuncture appointment, it appears she is having more light touch feelings on her lower back. This is always hard to judge but improvements seam to be happening. Friday we are heading out of town away from the snow. Please pray for safe travels and our condo is as accessible as they say it is( always makes us a little nervous)Have a great spring break!! Mike

We are home

Well we just got in, it was a "fun" drive, about 4 extra hours including a detour to do a dealer trade in Toronto, so all in all not too bad. It was a difficult assessment this time, we didn't see any measurable progress since the last assessment. It is very frustrating and discouraging as we continue to look for even the smallest improvements. Mike

Detroit here we come .... Again!

We've been praying for my FEX bike to come and it finally did. So excited. We have it put together and now waiting to have the training session, which is booked for the 5th. I believe that it's been a huge part of my recovery and am looking forward to see how it will help having it at my fingertips. Right now we are on the road heading to Detroit for another session of physio. It's been 6 weeks and I'm eager to see what progress I've had. It's been hard waiting on the Lord. I know I'm in His hands and I pray that He will heal my body allowing me to walk soon. Please be in prayer for the next few days to go well in Detroit, that I will get a positive report on Wednesday during the assessment. Pray for safety on the road and for our girls at home. Hugs Sandra

9 month update

So we are 9 months into this journey, some days it feels like 9 days and others it feels like 9 years. We are certainly learning new systems, roles and responsibilities, for all 4 of us. Sandra can be self sufficient but it is extremely difficult to watch her struggle for 40 minutes to do something when the girls or I can assist (or do it)  in 5 minutes. The girls are so good at helping out from making a meal to helping Sandra get ready for bed if I'm out. It was explained to me that our energy is a currency we only have so much to spend. Unfortunately Sandra spends allot of her currency just doing the daily things we don't even think about.
So Sandra has had her van for almost a week, she is getting use to it, it still takes allot of effort getting in and out but she is very excited to be able to do it all on her own. It felt like old times when I got home from work last night. No one was home, it was allot easier to keep track of her when she didn't have that freedom.
Mike