Friday - Sept 25

I can't believe I haven't posted for two weeks, the time has flown, sorry I know some of you have been worried. Not to worry everything is going well we've just been busy, and tired.

As I reflect on the last 9 months I'm encouraged and discouraged at the same time. I'm so thankful for the speedy recovery that Jerry had as well as the progress he continues to make. My heart sinks a little that we are almost 10 months post injury and there's no leg or hand movement yet. In my heart I know he'll walk again, we will never give up on that, we'll do whatever it takes to help him achieve that goal. I pray for controlled movement in his legs and hands so he has something to work with. If he has the smallest of controlled movement he has the ability to strengthen it for use. Jerry continues to work hard in therapy, in October we go back to SCI-FIT on Fridays so he will again be in therapy four days a week.

My mom and dad came for to visit for a few days from Washington, we had a good visit it was nice to see them. They drove from Washington so they could bring some exercise equipment for Jerry. My mom had a treadmill and Total Gym (like they use at SCI-FIT) that she wasn't using, thanks mom and dad. We can try and set up a harnessing system for the treadmill so we can do gait training with Jerry on a more regular basis as well as do total gym with him on the weekends. He'll have a mini gym set up in his room, I'm glad we went extra large on the room so it can fit all his stuff.

I'd like to give a big "THANK YOU!" to Barbara Lofranco, I hope I spelled that right. Barbara donated an adjustable bed to Jerry. It's hard to believe we are almost 10 months post injury and still don't have Jerry's permanent hospital bed. The loaner bed from the vendor was a big piece of doodoo (sorry, Karl), Jerry had a hard time sleeping in it. Jerry is using the adjustable bed from Barbara until his permanent bed comes in. We appreciate your kindness Barbara, Jerry sleeps much better and is far more comfortable.

Jerry still struggles with the morning/noon nausea it so frustrating for him to still be dealing with this. All the different tests, and nausea meds, acupuncture etc, has not helped or even changed a thing at this point. Despite the nausea Jerry still has an incredible attitude, he remains in good spirits most of the time even though he's down in the mornings. I think he feels a little depressed in the mornings because the morning routine takes so long to get him out of bed, he has a lot of time to reflect on the situation he's in. Not to mention that's when he feels his worst physically. Once Jerry is out of bed and the nausea subsides he's in a much better mood, he returns to the pre injury Jerry, talks more, jokes and laughs, enjoys his computer games and shows.

Dennis is making progress on the bathroom, we are almost ready to tile. I've gone to a few places to check out tile to try and find something I like, I gotta say it's a little overwhelming. A nephew of a friend of ours whom we did not know, volunteered his time to come and hot mop the floor to seal it and get it ready for tile. Thank you so much Matt you did a beautiful job we appreciate the time you spent on your day off to help out. YOU ROCK!!!! Jerry is going to be so excited when he finally gets a real shower, 9 months of sponge baths just don't cut the mustard if you know what I mean.

Dennis is making a lot of progress on the house but it seems never ending. Working on it Saturdays and Sundays makes for slow progress, he still has to get the roof and siding on the house before the rains come. He needs to move the water heater and plumb the bathroom, sheet rock the bathroom, set the tile, tub and fixtures, poor a concrete pad for the AC unit, poor a permanent concrete ramp, build a secondary concrete ramp to Jerry's room, and on and on. Sometimes it feels like it will never get done. Dennis works hard all week and then works hard all weekend, not much break. I'm proud of his endurance and am thankful for all his hard work. I'm also very thankful for his skill to complete the work, to pay contractactors to do the job would have been a huge financial road block.

Well I'm on Jerry duty and I've neglected him all morning I better get rolling so he's not in bed all day. Thanks for all the love and support you all give. I'll try not to let too much time pass before the next post.

Much love to all,
Katie