Encouragement

A person's anxiety will weigh him down, but an encouraging word makes him joyful. (Proverbs 12:25)

There are certain benefits (beyond the obvious – salvation) of being part of Christ’s Church. Our family has certainly experienced many of them in the last few weeks. Caring brothers and sisters have provided us with food, visits, phone calls, cards, babysitting, and prayers…and an encouraging word.

Encouragement is food for the soul and we have certainly been fed in the last few weeks. Your emails, cards, letters, phone calls, prayers, food, visits, and concern have encouraged us when the Adversary would have liked to kick us when we were already down. Your encouragement has been a buffer against the fear, anxiety, and grief that we’ve struggled with during our time of trial.

Your words of encouragement comfort us. Your words build and strengthen our resolve to keep on. They motivate us to do our best. They help heal our broken hearts. They give hope when for a moment we feel hopeless. And they remind us to rest in the promises given to us.

Proverbs 17:17 says “a friend loves at all times, but a brother is born for adversity…” We are not just friends, but you are our brothers and sisters sharing in trouble.

We are so thankful for you – our friends and our brothers and sisters – who faithfully stand watch over us in thought, prayer, and with words of encouragement. And I wonder if you’ll ever know how much it has meant to us…

I thank my God everytime I remember you…
Philippians 1:3

And now for the update on Mom’s progress from Dad:

Today Mom walked 16', then 14' with a four footed cane. The therapist moved her right foot along the way, but Mom moved her left foot and had to stand on both feet. Today when the therapist moved her right leg out wide, she was able to pull it back in to the center. She did that 20 times.
I set up the laptop computer for her and she was able to type messages in a Word Document. Now she can communicate not only by her weak voice, but also by the computer.
Her therapists are amazed at the resilience and determination she exhibits in doing her exercises with them. To God all the glory!!

More Good News...

All we have today is good news to report to you! Mom is making progress. Something new happens everyday.

Her speech improves by the hour, it seems. Yesterday, she told me the food was "mediocre." A four syllable, not just a run-of-the-mill word, huh? Way to go Mom! She is also speaking more frequently in sentences. Still has some word-finding problems but overall, this Speech Language Pathologist daughter-of-hers is quite pleased with the swift, steady progress!

She walked two (count them: 1 -2) lengths of the parallel bars today. She moved some cones with her right (yes affected) hand and from what I hear, scooted her foot along, too!

Here's the greatest news. My brother says "she's bored!" She emphatically indicated she wants visitors! I talked to her on the phone tonight. Regarding visitors she said, "Maybe not during the day, but at night (evening) -- yes!"

So, at the risk of being over-protective can I give a few instructions if you visit? To make communication easier for Mom and to set her up with success, try these strategies:

• Ask yes/no questions (e.g. Is the food good? Is therapy hard?)
• Ask multiple choice questions (Does Nelson stay all day or just part of the day?)
• Avoid open ended questions (Don't say, "What have you been doing?")
• Use a normal volume (she's NOT hard of hearing!)
• If Mom tries to tell you something and can't make herself understood, be honest "I didn't get all of that" but encourage her to "hold that thought" and perhaps "try later."
• If you understand part of what she said, repeat the part you understood. She might be able to say the rest of it -- maybe not. But at least, she'll know you got part of the message.

Mom's understanding of speech seems pretty good now. She knows what she wants to say, she knows how to say it, but when it comes time to "execute" is sometimes doesn't work. I'll compare it to my husband's golf swing (sorry, Art)...he knows where he wants to hit the ball, how he's supposed to do it, but sometimes it takes a curve he doesn't want! As in golf, it's easier to successfully accomplish small steps than it is large steps. It's easier to work on your grip, then your back swing, then your follow through than it is to practice it all at once. Same with Mom's speech. It's easier to answer yes/no and multiple choice questions than it is to answer a question that requires a paragraph!

Okay, enough of that. Many of you keep asking about Dad. Dad is great! What a man of strength he is! He spends all day with Mom, marveling at her strength and resolve. He's lost a few pounds and reports, "I think I could get used to this reduced diet!" He's done laundry, kept the house in order, and has done a darn-good job of keeping things going. He's handled everything quite impressively. We are so proud of him and respect him so much. He's a man to model yourself after. He is the true example of "giving things to God." It's not just talk...he really does it. Much better than me...I have to work on it much harder.

Well, God is good and it's bedtime at our house! More later, but as usual, thanks for your love, concern and prayers! We love you and appreciate you all!

More Glimmers of Hope...

Everyday brings a glimmer of new hope and today was no different. Today, Mom was sitting up when Lori and I arrived and she no longer was on oxygen! What a relief that was to see her breathing well without any help! Out of those hospital gowns and into her own jammies, she looked great!

Tomorrow starts her first real big day of therapy. She'll be a busy gal. Up in the morning for breakfast...Occupational and Physical Therapy in the morning...a quick rest...lunch...probably a quick rest and both therapies again with Speech Therapy sometime in between as well!

Many have asked if visiting would be appropriate now. Even though Mom and Dad love all of you, we're asking that you not visit yet. As you can see from her above schedule, there's not a lot of time for visiting. Any free time that she has away from therapy needs to be used for resting. On top of that, communication is still really tough for Mom.

Cards/letters are certainly a great way to express your love and well wishes. They are also more "permanent" as they can be read over and over again. They also help to decorate her room. It must be motivating to her to see how many people love and care for her so thanks for being a part of her recovery! (See the sidebar to the right for the address.)

Once again...thanks for the prayers! Lots of love to you all...

Do I Have What it Takes to Carry On? - January 26, 2008

As I look at Mom and contemplate the long road that she has ahead of her, I picture her in a Marathon at about the 25.5 mile mark. "Do I have what it takes to continue on?" That's a question I think we've all asked during our journey these last few weeks...

When I look at Mom I see that she's still running the race that was set before her. This time, though, she has no baggage. The suitcase has been left behind. She has no house to clean, no meals to fix. No appointments to attend. She just has the basics. A toothbrush, some jammies, a bed to sleep in.

"Do we have what it takes to continue on?" Certainly, because we have faith. Faith is not just "part" of the Christian life, it IS the Christian life. It's by faith that we draw near to God in times of trouble. It's by faith that we stand our ground in a great test of suffering. It's by faith that we persevere so that when we are done we will receive what has been promised us.

So Mom took her first steps in Physical Therapy today. In faith, she perseveres and she "has what it takes to continue on."

Hold fast to your faith and you'll have what it takes to carry on...it's a promise.

...because it is by faith you stand firm

2 Corinthians 1:24

Mom's Quote of the Day

We were talking about the little victories that we have experienced so far. Mom often just listens and nods. But today, she chimed in and very laboriously said, "Victory...is...when...I...go...home."

Day 6 - Out of the Woods and Into Rehab

Welcome to the Chamberlin blog. So many of you have been so faithful about praying, calling and wanting to know what is going on with Mom. For some reason, it seems that daily my distribution list named "Mom Update" gets deleted from Outlook (probably because of something I do) and I have to create a new one! Fearful that I'll leave someone off that I promised to include, I decided it's time for a Chamberlin Blog...so this one's for you!

As I (Audi) have said before, we have been so humbled by the number of people who have called, written, or come to our rescue in the midst of Mom's illness. Cards, letters, emails, visits, babysitters, food, prayers, tears...all on behalf of my sweet mother who for so many, many years has been on the giving end of things. Now it is her time to receive.

We are so blessed to have the love of family and friends - near and far - to support us during this time. If I ever neglect to say thank you, please forgive me. I do not take your prayers and well wishes for granted. How many times have we said "How do people go through these things without a faith, good family, and friends? I'm glad I'll never have to find out.

Well, for those of you who are just catching up with you, I'll give you the short version. (Feel free to check out now if you've been on board since the middle of December). Back on December 16, Mom had open heart surgery. Five (yes, 1-2-3-4-5) bypasses were done. She came through with flying colors and the staff was amazed by "her numbers" that day. Then later that afternoon, her bleeding became an issue and after a total of 10 units of blood, plasma, and platelets...she was finally "out of the woods."

Mom came home and was well on her way to recovery. She started rehab and did the bike and the treadmill. Her comment about that was "it wasn't that hard." I guess all that weight lifting at the Y and those hours on the elliptical trainer paid off...

Then, Dad came down with a nasty stomach virus. We spent the day at the ER with him getting him rehydrated. We kept them separated so Mom wouldn't get it but I guess they had done their "smooching" after Dad got the bug and before he exhibited any symptoms because 2 days later, Mom was at the ER with the same bug. She stayed in the hospital for 4 days because upon examination they found that she had a plueral effusion (water around the lung) -- not uncommon in patients after open heart surgery -- but it was something they wanted to watch and not let get out of hand. She came through that okay and was "out of the woods" once again.

Friday, January 18th was a good day. Mom told me, "I feel normal again...almost like before the surgery." The next day, she gave Dad a "concert" on the piano. Then, while working on the computer in the bedroom, Dad heard a "thud." Mom had gone down and it was back to the hospital, this time because she had a stroke.

She was in ICU and it's certainly been an up and down roller coaster ride. It took awhile to get her Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) back into a normal rhythm. This was probably what caused her to "throw a clot" and have a stroke. She was finally "chemically converted" (yeah, I didn't know that term before this so I'm not really that smart) and back into a sinus (normal) rhythm. "Out of the woods" once again.

Just today, Mom was transferred to acute rehab. She has aphasia (or dysphasia to be exact) which just means she has difficulty processing language. She knows what she wants to say and is still as smart and as sharp as she always was. It's like the printer for your computer is just not working right. She is making rapid progress with her speech! However, she is still extremely frustrated.

She also has right hemi-paresis...can't use her right arm/leg. Today, though, we saw those little right toes wiggle! She recognizes her hand/foot as being her own (which is good - some patients have neglect and don't even pay attention to the affected side), and it is so sweet how she takes such good care of that "piano hand" that has served God's church for all of these years.

Finally, she's still on oxygen...I'm guessing because she still has that Pleural Effusion (don't know I'm not a doctor). She's breathing much easier now, so in that regard I'm thinking she's "out of the woods" once again.

We are praying that if God sees fit, He will heal her with a zeal that will make everyone take notice of His mighty power. God certainly has been working through her all of these years so we're hoping he'll use this opportunity to do it again!

Enough for the details...in future postings, we'll try to relate to you some of the awesome things that have gone on behind the scenes, beyond the facts, and in our hearts.