STEPS in the Right Direction

Words are not enough, just watch the video.

AmazingProgress

Progress Update This part is becoming harder and harder to do each time, which is probably part of the reason that we don't update the blog as often as we probably should. The reason progress updates are becoming difficult to share with all of you is that we only go to Physical Therapy and Hand Therapy once a week to get the 'official' word on how things are progressing, which is in and of itself a great sign of progress, but gives us little to share with you about how things are going. That along with the fact that while we do see progress each day these progressions are very subtle and are only realized when compared to previous days/weeks abilities. For example, we know nerve regeneration continues in Molly's hands which is evident because she says she feels like she has better control and command of objects she is holding. She can feel it but it is hard for her to explain it, and I can see it but equally difficult for me to explain. In simple terms day to day progress continues, but progress is not of the 'earth shattering' type that it used to be, which we thank God for! Since the last posting we do continue to do physical therapy and hand therapy at home everyday and are able to see Molly getting stronger each and every day evident by doing more reps and/or more weight with each exercise. Also, with hands, many of the activities are less painful then before and able to see her fingers getting straighter and more flexible. In fact, the last visit to the hand clinic indicated that her right hand strength is at '24'. At our first visit to the clinic it was '8' and her left hand was at '2' and now is at '18'. The numbers really do not mean much other than an indication of progress in the right direction. Just so you know, '20' is considered to be the lowest measurement within "normal" range. That is the official word, but things like being able to take the cap off the Listerine bottle, eating without the adaptive devices on the silverware, back to writing Thank You cards, deadheading the hanging baskets and typing on the computer are all the everyday signs that her hands are truly getting better. Now, with all that said there is still a lot of progress to still be made before we would declare "full recovery", but the fact that we know it is coming and probably coming relatively soon is great news. Especially when according to the doctors and nurses and compared to others similar types of illnesses, Molly should not even be in Rehab yet, let alone back home. We are expecting Molly to be measured this week by our prosthetist, which means that her stumps have and continue to heal to the point of being fitted for her first liners, which is the part of the prosthetic that "lines" the socket and protects her leg from rubbing, etc. If all goes as planned and expected, the liners will be available within a few days if an "off the shelf" size will work for Molly, and no more than 2 weeks if they need to be custom made. After that we will go to Physical Therapy several times per week and the updates will have a lot of very exciting news in them. As we have said so many times before, you all will never know how appreciative and thankful we both are for all the prayers, thoughts, cards, emails, gifts, and generosity shown to us. Words will never be enough to truly show and share how much you all mean to us, but THANK YOU! Love, Molly and Jamey