March 12, 2022 - Surgery Recovery Update + An Exciting Celebration

I've been meaning to share an update on Hope's continued recovery at home after the surgery to repair the broken hardware in her back for a while now.  So, here is a catch up on how the last three weeks at home have been going for Hope's recovery and current praises and prayer requests for her . . . 

The first week at home (post op week #2) for Hope was pretty tough with a lot of pain, nausea, and spasms.  Her muscles were not working well and so her function was pretty limited to simple stand/pivot transfers using the wheelchair to quickly move between bed, bathroom, and the recliner chair in our living room.  It was tricky trying to find the right routine for her pain meds, and she was convinced that they weren't doing much good anyways.  We augmented the pain management with Hope's essential oils and muscle relaxants to help her.  As hard as it was, Hope was delighted to be home!  Trevor was away, and so I had my sisters and mom staying with the girls and I to help out . . . what a blessing!

The second week at home (post op week #3) for Hope had great improvement in her level of pain, for which we were very thankful!  She was only taking Tylenol and the muscle relaxant, as well as her usual essential oils.  Her feet started to work better and she started taking some steps and walking with our help short distances, more like her usual.  If she pushed to do too much walking though, her legs would collapse, and she would have pretty bad spasms in her calf muscles, so we continued to take it slow.  She was not moving like she used to either . . . she was very stiff and her back was making a pretty loud rubbing noise with any movement . . . but, she was moving, and she was thankful for that progression in her recovery!  Towards the end of this week, she started having really rough nights with a lot of pain, spasms, and involuntary movements that kept her awake all night.  The lack of sleep also made her feel worse.  It lasted for 3 nights, so we decided to stop giving the muscle relaxant as it is quite strong and sometimes Hope reacts to medications by having opposite reactions to them.  This had happened in the past with another muscle relaxant.  We're not sure if the medication was actually causing problems, but she did finally start to sleep again, and so we've held off using the muscle relaxant since, and thankfully, she has done well for pain control without it.

This past week was her third week at home (post op week #4) and she will be one month from her surgery date in two days!  Her improvement continues to be gradual, but she is improving!  Her incisions have been healing well.  She is starting to do some of her care again more like before surgery.  Her walking has continued to improve, although she does still have some dizziness and occasionally weakness where her legs will just give out on her and she will collapse to her knees.  For this reason, only Trev and I help her with walking for the most part, with her preferring her daddy's strong arms most of all, of course!  She has continued to have the odd night here and there where she just cannot go to sleep and will remain awake for most of the night.  So, Hope would love to have you pray for her to be able to sleep better.  Her pain management this week has been really good, and she stopped taking Tylenol for the most part.

The one thing Hope hadn't been able to do well is sit up in her wheelchair for any period of time.  We had thought of trying to go to church last Sunday, but with the terrible nights of no sleep and pain, that didn't work out.  However, when her sister and dad came home from church last Sunday, Gabi shared some special news . . . Gabi decided that she wanted to get baptized at our next baptism service, which is tomorrow!!!  Hope definitely wanted to be there to support and celebrate with her sister, and Gabi really wanted Hope to be there, too.  So, with no better reason to set a goal for sitting up in the wheelchair, Hope started that very day, last Sunday!  She sat up for 30 minutes, and although she was in a fair amount of pain, she pushed through with such an important reward in sight . . . how the love between these two sisters has spurred Hope on in her brain injury recovery many times over the past 10 years.  Hope is very motivated to support her awesome little sister in this step of obedience to get baptized!

Hope sat up for 48 minutes on Monday, 1 hour on Tuesday, 1 hour and 35 minutes on Wednesday, 2 hours on Thursday, and 2 hours again on Friday.  It is quite painful for her to sit up . . . causes a burning pain in her lower back.  Today, we are having Hope take a break and rest her back as much as possible, so Lord willing, she can make the trip to church and see her sister's baptism and testimony and celebrate with her tomorrow!  I have a plan to cover her with some extra pain medications also, to try to make this first outing doable for her.  Please pray for the Lord's strength and comfort for Hope as she does this great thing in support of her beloved Gabi sister.  And please pray for Gabi as she shares her testimony tomorrow . . . our quiet girl is pretty nervous about speaking in front of people, but she deeply desires to walk in obedience to her Saviour by taking this step of public proclamation of her faith in Jesus Christ and the difference He has made in her life, all to His glory!  What a wonderful celebration to mark Hope's first outing since her surgery!

Thank you so much for your precious prayers for Hope, her recovery, and our family through this past month!  We have been so blessed, encouraged, and carried by the Lord's loving kindness to us, as He answers your prayers on our behalf.  We have also been so blessed by a meal train that our beloved Redemption Calgary North church family have been providing for us this past three weeks . . . wow!!!  Hope received a huge basket overflowing with all her favourite treats from her precious small group that have been such a sweet encouragement to her . . . she loves them so much!  What an incredible blessing to have such a outpouring of Christ's love over our family through meals, messages, prayers, kind gifts, and shared Scripture verses.  We are humbled and so very grateful to the Lord and to each of you!

Thank you, dear ones!!!  You are very loved!!!