ProgressContinues

PROGRESS UPDATE: Progress continues in the right direction. Therapy continues on a weekly basis with the professionals for Physical Therapy and Hand Therapy, and daily at home with the "hack therapist"! It is great going to the pro's once a week and getting the official word that Molly is getting stronger, more flexible, and confident in herself which means that we are closer each day to normal and complete independence. Hand therapy continues to be the big pain in the, er, uhm, hands I guess is the best way to put it. It is painful and exhausting. Molly has said numerous times that she would rather spend 5 hours in physical therapy than an hour of hand therapy. But, we see improvement everyday and the little things that most of us take for granted on a daily basis are becoming easier for Molly. Molly has been wearing the stump shrinkers almost 24 hours per day for the last two weeks. My untrained eye can see a big difference in how her stumps are taking shape and being formed so they will fit better in her prosthetics. Ideally, 2-4 weeks is what is necessary to wear them before getting the first 'moldings' done to be fitted for the sockets (the part that actually goes over her stumps to attach the prosthetic legs). So we are very close to getting legs and beginning the next step of the journey, learning to walk again, (pun intended)! Visitors, cards, emails, voice mails and thoughts and prayers continue to pour in, which are truly a blessing for us as they help to keep our spirits high and remind us that we are not going through all of this alone. We do continue to talk and pray about how we are going to use this experience to help others, and it seems that each day someone or something happens to remind us and help us to get closer to that decision. As promised, we want to start sharing some of the amazing stories and experiences we had and are having during all of this. PRAYER NEEDS:

• Hands and Legs to progressing toward complete, full and normal function
• Strength - physical and mental to keep moving forward

Again, simply saying thank you never seems say enough for all the prayers, thoughts, cards, gifts, visits, phone calls, and acts of kindness, but know that it is truly from our hearts,

THANK YOU all, and God Bless!

Love,

Jamey and Molly

The New 'NORMAL'

Things in the French household continue to progress in a positive way. While we have been looking for the new definition of 'normal' we have discovered that 'normal' can't really be defined. What is 'normal' for us right now will be completely different in a few months from now and different again in a year and even different yet again the year after. 'Normal' is an ever changing and evolving term for everyone, if it wasn't life would be the same day in and day out and pretty boring. So, the fact that our lives are anything but boring right now, we certainly are not normal, yet many of you have probably already knew that! This past week of our new 'normal' we are starting to see some huge benefits of hand clinic and physical therapy. Molly is becoming more and more independent each day. Some of the tasks that she required help with a mere week ago she no longer needs help or very little help with. she has even started to get a little bold and shows off from time to time with her rediscovered skills and abilities. Things like putting on and taking off of clothes, taking showers, cutting the cheese (actual cheese, not what you were thinking), typing on the computer by beginning to answer the close to 1,000 emails, writing some thank-you notes, and generally becoming more confident to try things on her own. The new wheelchair is working out well, especially since I took it apart and made some adjustments that now makes it easier for Molly to push, turn and maneuver it. Although the cat still doesn't seem to get that the wheelchair rolling over his tail is going to hurt as he just sits in front the wheelchair, almost daring her to move it towards him. Molly is a lot more kind about it than I am. When I am pushing her and the cat gets in the way, I just keep going, thus the reason his tail has gotten ran over. Daily we continue to fight with insurance (me not her), do exercises and hand therapy (her not me) and find new forms of therapy (me not her) like folding laundry, wheeling herself all around the house, etc. In addition to "home" therapy and getting back to a routine, we have quite a few visitors which is great. They all comment on how great Molly looks. One common comment is that Molly still looks like Molly. Some have expected to see her with a few extra pounds due to the 3K-5K calories she was getting in the hospital, however, all those calories were used by her body for healing of wounds, etc, thus not gaining any additional weight. We do continue to discuss and talk about what we are supposed to do with our experience and everything from writing a book, speaking engagements, a foundation, education and awareness, etc. has been talked about. At this point everything seems possible, yet nothing seems quite right as of yet. Any ideas that any of you may have are certainly welcomed. Feel free to email them to us at jameyandmolly@gmail.com. Lastly, continue to pray, not only for us but for yourselves and others as we continue to see and believe how truly lucky we are to have friends and family that support us, and know how much worse this whole experience could have been and continue to be as proof of the many people we came to meet while still in the hospital. Molly truly is a miracle as half with similar illnesses do not make it and most that do loose arms and legs and take 3-4 months to even make it to rehab and then another 3-4 months to get out of the hospital. So we are blessed to have overcome this and be as far along as we are this quickly. With that said, we still have a long road ahead of us, so prayer and positive thoughts are still needed and requested! SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS:

• Legs - continue to heal and gain strength and are actively wearing stump shrinkers. Within 2-4 weeks should be ready to be fitted for prosthetics.
• Hands - continue to show great progress, still a ways to go to return to 'normal' function.
• Job(Molly) - Molly has been moved to kindergarten for next year, with all the preparatory time needed, not sure at this point if fall is going to be possible or not. Puts Molly and the school in a quandary as to what to do. The school is not pushing us to make a decision and are being respectful of our needs, yet they also will need to know something about the fall sometime in the fairly near future.
• Job (Jamey) - As the bills and expenses are now starting to come in and we are getting a clearer view of how much we will owe/need, getting back to work is important. Being self employed has been a blessing as I have been able to take the time needed to care for Molly, however, no work = no income. Getting back to find clients, speaking gigs, and other opportunities is important.
• Insurance - The schools policy has limited number of therapy visits, so having enough visits to get Molly back to full function is important and that we do not run out before reaching that goal.
• Opportunity - Molly and I both know that we have a great opportunity to help others by sharing our experience, deciding how and when to do that is important to us.

God Bless you all and thank you!

Love,

Molly and Jamey

OK We're Back

Before you even say it, we know. We have gone for way too long without any postings or updates. For that we are sorry, however, as you quickly realize as you continue reading that time has become a very precious commodity. So, the last several weeks have been filled with doctors appointments, therapy visits, visits from family and friends, and just getting back to some sense of normal. However we have had to redefine 'normal' recently. Here is a sense of a regular day for us. Get up at the crack of noon, no just kidding, but unless we have an appointment in the morning, we do not get in any big hurry to get up, but are generally up around 8am. After some coffee (this is a big relief as Molly had lost her taste for coffee while in the hospital) and breakfast we begin our 2 hour journey to get ready. Although we are getting much better and quicker and when we have to can make it in about 1 1/2 hours. Then it is off to therapy or doctors visits. Of which, hand therapy takes the most time as the clinic is in Vandalia and usually lasts from 2-3 hours, so with drive time it is usually a 4-5 hour trip. Then when we get home, fix dinner, take care of some house chores it is getting close to time for us to start getting ready for bed, which also takes time. All that to then be repeated the next day. Rest assured though we are not complaining, it is soooooo good to be home and being able to see progress each day. Ok, here are some general updates with Molly's progress over the last several weeks:

• We have been back to U of M 2 times since our last post for follow up appointments. Each of these have went very well with the last one being this past Monday & Tuesday and Molly being completely released from their care with NO RESTRICTIONS. This means that her skin grafts have taken well and she can now be weight bearing on her legs, can begin wearing the special pressure garments on her stumps called "stump shrinkers" to begin shaping her legs to prepare them for her prosthetics.
• During the time we were waiting for this news, we have found a prosthetist (the guy who will make, adjust and fit Molly's legs) right here in Greenville. He comes highly recommended and we both like him and feel very comfortable with him. this is so important as we will form a life-long relationship with Carl and will see him frequently as much as daily in the very beginning. so being close is a real blessing.
• Hands! Hands are getting better by the day, but still have a ways to go for them to return to normal. Between the lack of oxygen, the compartment syndrome, crushed nerves, tendons, etc and the lack of use, the hands have really suffered quite a blow and will take lots more therapy to get them back. The good news is that all the surgeons, doctors, therapist that we have seen have all said that her hands should return to complete normal function.
• Of course Molly is not back to work, but I am not either. Of course to many that know me can't see a difference! Anyway, the time is getting close for me to get back to work at least part time and begin working with clients again as well as looking for some speaking gigs. I am very excited as I told Molly I had been looking for some new speech material so thanks to her I definitely have new speech material. Of course she did not have to go to that extreme to help me out, but nonetheless, I have new material.

Since we are now back online and are fully prepared to keep this blog updated regularly, we have decided to not only keep posting updates on Molly's progress, but to also share some of the things we have observed, learned and gained from this experience including things that we once took for granted and things we now have a whole new perspective on. In addition we will continue to post specific things needing prayer, as we have seen so many answered prayers and how powerful prayer can be.

SPECIFIC PRAYER NEEDS

• HANDS! Progress has been great, but a long ways to go yet to get back to full function with strength flexibility and sensation.
• LEGS! Continued strength and flexibility so prosthetics can be fitted as soon as possible (hopefully within 2-4 weeks) Included with legs is skin integrity as being weight bearing on her knees, wearing the pressure garments, and the prosthetics themselves can cause skin tears and skin breakdown, all of which can delay progress.
• SPIRITS! Right now our spirits are good, but we still have our days and moments and the road ahead is still long and keeping a positive mental attitude has and will continue to keep us going.
• CLARITY! Molly and I still discuss and struggle with what exactly to do with this experience. While we both feel and believe very strongly that we are being called to do something to help others, we are not sure exactly what that is. Along with that is the financial aspect of doing something to help others by sharing our story but still holding down jobs to make a living and finding a balance between the two.

Again, please forgive us for taking so long to update you on Molly's progress. Here is our promise to you: "We promise to keep this blog updated regularly as much as daily, but never longer than one week!" We are open to ideas from you on what you would like to see in the blog. Please email them to us at jameyandmolly@gmail.com.

Please know that all your prayers and positive thoughts have gotten us through the last 3 months, and we know that they will continue to sustain us through the rest of this journey. Thank you all and God bless each of you for your constant prayers.

Love,

Jamey and Molly