On the road again...

Hi all, 

After a year at Rosedale, getting excellent care and therapy, Steve has moved on to intensive rehab at Health South in Northern Kentucky, Room 100. He got there on Sunday, July 10.   As you can imagine, it was hard to leave the staff and some resident/friends there.  

He gets 3-4 hours a day of intensive rehab, focusing on being able to take steps and transfer from surface to surface.  He has yet to master standing/pivoting.  Steve is" hard wired" to reach goals and he recognizes the structure at the rehab facility as "just like basic training!"  It does really wear him out though.  He welcomes visitors in the early evening around 6:30.  If you come during the day, you are welcome to watch his therapy, although he won't be able to visit much.  We think he has another week inpatient rehab.  Then comes the move to the apartment in Florence and hopefully more rehab on an outpatient basis.

This coming Monday, the movers and family will move some of our furniture from the condo to the apartment, about a 15 minute commute.  It is called Elmcroft Senior Living and it is a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with a small kitchenette. No stove:(  There go my legendary cooking skills!  We are provided three meals a day in the dining room.  There are a lot of other amenities and we hope to get our feet under us again as a couple while Steve's healing continues.  We plan to return to the condo when Steve is able.

I have had some health issues arise since my July 5 blog.  A small blood clot in my lung brought on some additional pumping problems with my heart and I currently can push blood out at only 1/2 the rate I used to.  This leads to great fatigue and breathlessness.   I am now on a blood thinner and fortunately, the heart issue can be fixed by replacing my current defibrillator with another model that has an additional lead that will fix the problem and I'll "beat" normally again.  The procedure will be Aug 3, when I'm off the current dosage of blood thinner.  Prayers appreciated that I will find patience with my situation and learn how better to "let go and let God" be in charge!

I'll let you all know when we are both settled at Elmcroft and looking forward to visitors!

Love

Nancy and Steve

Moving into the future

The last 3 weeks have brought the usual hurdles and reprieves in the GBS march forward.   The most frustrating was the necessity of renewing our Medicaid eligibility, which involved sending in a large packet of information, then receiving a form letter saying we needed to submit two documents (that we already sent them) and proof of the value of our time share.  Except we don't and never did have a time share! I told the worker that would be like proving the value of our castle.  She played along with my poorly disguised joke and said she would like to be the first one to move in to said castle!  We are working through the logjam, although we may not need Medicaid because Steve may move very soon from the rehab/nursing home.

As I wrote last month, it is time to try and move into the future we hope is waiting for us.  To this end, we put down a deposit on an apartment in an assisted living community in Florence KY, very central to everywhere we go.  I will live with him :) As Steve can't yet use his hands nor stand alone, we needed somewhere where we would be able to purchase the help we needed right in the facility. Three meals a day are included and many amenities.  We would rather live in the condo, but Steve can't access what he needs there.  We pray that the next six months to a year brings enough healing that we can both move there.

We are at 28 months of living separately, so while we are eager for this, it will certainly come with adjustments.  Please pray for this.

We are waiting to see if Steve can be admitted to intensive rehab for a week or two before we move to the apartment.   His current therapists know that he is ready for 3 hours of therapy a day, with special equipment that will suspend gravity so he can learn to take steps.

Lastly, very good news regarding his continuing 6 month follow up to the oncologist.  There is still no sign of the cancer from 5 years ago returning and he has "graduated" to checkups every 12 months!

Check out Steve's blissed out face in the picture sidebar of him getting his Father's Day gift - his first massage!

Thank you so much for traveling along with us on such a long journey.  None of us could have imagined the length and all God brought us through.  

Love

Nancy and Steve