October Update
10-29-98
10-29-98
This month started off with a new addition to the family. Catherine had
mentioned wanting a dog several times and I was resistant to the idea,
especially a puppy that would require much time and energy. I prayed about
it and felt that it might be very therapeutic for Catherine and asked the
Lord specifically for a small lap dog that she could pick up and hold on
her lap to pet and bond with. I wanted a dog that was at least a year old,
10 pounds or under, housebroken, and not yappy, also preferring a female,
shorthaired species. I called the veterinarian and they had a Yorkshire
Terrier for adoption that was 3 years old. We brought him home on Oct.
2 and he has been a happy addition to our household. We all fell in love
with him.
On that same Friday, Catherine had her first visit with the cognitive retrainer. It wasn’t as positive an experience as I had hoped for. Catherine did not like discussing cognitive deficits and didn’t want to go back again. I explained that we see other therapists to work on the physical deficits she can see and we need to work on the cognitive as well. I asked to have the next session at our home. |
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Left: Catherine holding her niece, Gabrielle
Left: Attending a wedding shower for a friend. |
On Monday Oct. 5 we had the injection in her left arm to see if we could gain any extension. The doctor was surprised to see how much better her arm was and said that it was extended so much farther than he thought it would be, he couldn’t really expect much more from the shot. As it turned out we gained only 3 degrees from the block, so we won’t pursue that further. The doctor said again how she was exceeding all his expectations and that Joe had told him this would happen.
Catherine has busy days, including outings with her friends for coffee, choir practice once a week, her regular therapies at the hospital three times a week, her home therapies, computer time, tutoring twice a week, horse therapy once a week, and cognitive therapy on Fridays. The second session for cognitive retraining went much better than the first.
We made a trip to Camp Verde on a Saturday to see the house that the Lovealls (her sister and husband) had moved into from their apartment. Her other siblings drove up from Phoenix so we were able to all visit at Neta’s for the day. We took Gizmo, her new doggie, for them to meet and Catherine was able to hold her newest niece again. We had to be back in Flagstaff in time for a bar-b-que and fellowship.
Catherine
is very determined and works very hard. Her faith has been stronger than
ever. She confesses her healing readily (evento people waiting on her in
a restaurant) and has done this at church also. She has had fun planning
her 18th birthday party and is looking
forward to that on November 3rd. She is
so determined to walk that she has her dad walk her from the parking lot
to the rehab gym instead of using her wheel chair. We went for a walk down
the block and back and she pushes herself to her limit. She doesn’t want
to use the wheel chair except in cases involving too much distance. She
holds onto one of our hands for balance while walking. She started this
in therapy with her physical therapist and we’ve continued it outside of
therapy. She walked into church and sat on the pew instead of using her
wheel chair last Sunday. She stood at the appropriate times and walked
to the front of the church with me holding her hand, for prayer. She is
even going one step further by trying to walk by herself whenever possible...around
the house holding onto furniture or the wall.
One day, she was practicing her writing and was holding her right hand steady with her left and I thought I heard her say something. When I listened closer she was repeating "Thank you, Lord, for healing my shaking." It really touched me, so I know it touches Him.
She has times when she gets blue, but she always encourages herself in the Lord and bounces right back. She sets goals and keeps working everyday. Catherine is quick to acknowledge people who help keep her spirits up and will often tell me that the Lord sent just the right person along to tell her what she needed to hear at the time. She told me that she was thinking about being 100% back to normal and decided “why settle for 100% when I can be 150%”. That is her new goal. When she came home from choir practice the last time, she said she had had a great time and really felt like part of the group again.
We hit another obstacle today with the insurance. They have not authorized any of her therapies for November. Please pray that this will be quickly changed and continue on without interruption.
