It’s Sunday afternoon, about 4:00, and I’m sitting here in Debbie’s room watching the Los Angeles football teams figure out how to lose their games. Meanwhile, my mind is somewhere else entirely.
I’m making a mental punch list of everything I need to get done this coming week to prepare our little home on Balboa Island for Debbie’s return on Thursday.
There are grab bars to install in the shower, a ramp to build at our front door so wheelchairs can come and go easily, an electric wheelchair that was generously given to us to pick up, and some furniture to rearrange so Debbie can move around comfortably and safely.
It’s amazing how differently you look at your home when you realize that something as simple as getting through a doorway or taking a shower can become a major undertaking.
Meanwhile, Debbie continues to amaze me.
Even though physical and occupational therapy take a break over the weekend, she doesn’t. She continues doing her exercises on her own, determined to regain her strength and independence.
Tomorrow, Monday, her therapists will be back to continue working on the mobility of her surgically repaired right knee and strengthening her left leg. Her left ankle remains immobilized in a protective boot to allow the fractured bones to heal without movement.
Another big milestone comes this Wednesday when we return to her orthopedic surgeon to have the staples removed from her right leg. And would you believe there are 66 of them? That’s right, 66 staples holding together the incision from the remarkable surgery that reconstructed her shattered knee. I’ve been calling it her zipper, and we’re both looking forward to the day that zipper is gone!
Every day brings a little more progress, and every bit of progress brings us closer to home.
I find myself wishing this coming week would fly by. After a month of hospitals, surgery, rehabilitation, wheelchairs, and learning an entirely new vocabulary of medical terms, I’m more than ready to get my bride back home.
Of course, getting home won’t mean the journey is over. There will still be healing, therapy, adjustments, and plenty of challenges ahead. But we’ll be facing them together, in our own home, and that sounds pretty wonderful to me.
Thank you for continuing to pray for Debbie and encourage both of us. Your friendship, generosity, and love have carried us through some very difficult days.
We’re learning a lot about patience, gratitude, and taking life one day at a time.
And right now, I’m praying those days go by just a little faster!
With love and gratitude,
Jim & Debbie