Visual Update...

Well, I think my parents are certainly enjoying being in the comfort of their home instead of being at Riverview hospital. Therapy is getting started and I can see Mom is still really motivated to get that hand better and to talk better! That's encouraging -- motivation is certainly a key component! Dad is doing a great job of keeping things going and Mom's speech is good enough to give him direction when he needs it! Once again, I say we are so thankful that they are such a good team and example for us. We could all learn from them.

I think one of the hardest things for Mom now is just "sitting around" waiting for things to happen. Mom has always been "one who serves" and I think once she can get back to work in that capacity she's going to enjoy life a little more. Please don't hesitate to call and ask Mom to pray for you -- that is one thing she is certainly good at!

Well, must go...just thought I'd give you a little visual update. Much love -- Audi

Home Therapy Begins -- Monday, Feb. 25th

The TENDER LOVING CARE Company began our Home Therapy on Monday with a visit from their Home Health Care Nurse (Diana). She took La Donna's vital statistics (including her Coumadin level) and got acquainted with her case. Leslie is La Donna's Physical Therapist now, and has already worked with her twice on walking and the balance issue. Carolyn (her Occupational Therapist) appeared and worked with her on her lame right arm and leg. She expresses great hope for improvement there.

Her Speech Therapist and Home Health Care Assistant are scheduled to begin work with her immediately. We are so grateful for the help she is receiving in bringing her to some sort of recovery. We believe we made a wise choice in accepting Riverview Hospital's Rehab high recommendation of Tender Loving Care Company. We look forward to working with them.

Home Sweet Home -- Sunday, Feb. 24

Be it ever so humble ... there's no place like it !

On La Donna's last day of Speech Therapy at Riverview Rehab, I heard her Speech Therapist ask her, "What is your favorite meal?" She responded, "Cube Steak with Mashed Potatos and Gravy." So to celebrate her home-coming, I ran to the grocery store and bought some steak. I got the recipe out of her box, but couldn't figure out how to do it.

So when I got her home, I parked her in her wheel chair in the kitchen and had her advise me step by step how to make the celebration meal. It came out beautifully and we had a great first day home.

Now for meals ... the people of Whispering Woods have committed themselves to bringing in meals for this first week (and I can tell we are going to gain some of that weight we lost the last few weeks). Then the Fishers United Methodist Church people will bring the meals the next week. (We never got rich in the ministry ... but we are millionaires because of the friends we have accumulated.)

Our son (Monte) came in on Saturday and took off doors to ease the passage of the new wheel chair through. He set up the shower with a bench (and shower curtains to replace the shower doors). Then he put in a grab bar in the Master Bathroom which greatly aids in the transition from the wheel chair to the toilet. He lowered the 32inch bed to 21 inches by removing the box springs (making the transition into be much easier.

Our kids have been so supportive in this ordeal and we are grateful to them all.

Home Sweet Home!

Hi there faithful friends! Indeed, Mom came home on Saturday. What a blessing it is to have her home. Now the place seems a little normal!

It's gone very well. On Friday, before Mom came home, Lori and I went up to Riverview and "officially" got trained on transfers. Mom does all the work. We're just there for back up. It really put us both at ease to see how well she does.

Mom/Dad's Whispering Woods Neighborhood has stepped up to the plate and is supplying them with food this week. (I got some of that GREAT cherry pie yesterday and today I ate one of Mom's oatmeal raisin cookies -- yum yum!) They'll get fat if everyone keeps bringing them all that good food. (I need the recipe for the taco chili! -- Had some of that, too!)

Mom's new nurse has already been out and the Physical Therapist was scheduled to come this afternoon. What a blessing it is to live in this country where we have healthcare like we do. Yes, there is a cost to all of us but I could never put a price on my momma! I thank God everyday for his goodness to her and our family. God is good.

Again, thank you for your prayers. More later...

Home on Saturday!

Hi Friends! Mom's had a few great days since I've last updated you! On Tuesday, it was confirmed at the care plan that Mom will go home FOR GOOD on Saturday! Today, the Occupational Therapist, Mom, Dad, and my brother, Monte, went out to the house to assess any accomodations that need to be made to make the transition easier. Nothing too major needs to be done -- just a few modifications!

Mom will be able to do her therapy at home. Now, won't that be nice? It will be so practical. She'll be using her stuff - walking around her home!

Well, the cards are down! Mom must be really looking forward to going home. She's sending things home and already having things packed up at the hospital.

Isn't this just a great example of how wonderful God is? We asked him with confidence for his blessing upon Mom and he has answered with an emphatic YES! Dad is elated and so are we!

We are truly grateful for all the prayers, the staff at Riverview, and all the support that we have received. Thank you so much!

More to come later! Keep prayin' and keep the faith!

It was a Great Day!

Today was a great day as Mom got to spend the whole day at home! She arrived home at about 10:30 "This is nice," she kept repeating. Mom and Dad were like two kids on a date. It seemed like almost everytime I left the room to go get something or do something, I would hear Dad say, "I love you."

Just the little things were so delightful: eating around the kitchen table, reading the newspaper in the living room, listening to "elevator music", snuggling up in a blanket and just having her at home. I told Mom if she didn't improve one smidgeon more, we are tickled to have her just as she is. It was so wonderful having her there.

It was a learning day, too. Dad had it all under control - directing and handling all the transfers from here to there. We were a bit wobbly every now but as the day went on, it seemed like things got a little easier.

I thought it would be really hard sending Mom back to the hospital but it dawned on me that this was just another step in getting her home for good! One visit by therapist to assess any need for equipment and then Mom will hopefully come home for good!

Keep prayin' and we'll be celebrating when Mom comes home for good!

Late Night Update

Just in case you didn't read Dad's comments -- here's a quick, late night update!

• Mom is coming home for a 8 hour furlough on Sunday! Dad's been practicing transferring Mom in and out of the wheelchair AND in and out of the car. Since he's been so strong and reliable -- she can come home for a one day visit!
• Mom walked 55 feet on the hemiwalker cane (a new record for her). She is moving her right foot much better now (though she still needs the therapist's assistance to maintain her balance).

We're so proud of Mom and Dad! They're both doing great. More later...it's late at the Cathcart house and it's bedtime!!

Oh...here's a suggestion from Dad about visiting:

"Therapy keeps LaDonna busy most of the day besides meals. After supper (5:30 or so) she is probably ready for company.She is not good for long visits, so I suggest you put a mint or life savor in your mouth before you go into her room, and when the mint or life savor has melted in your mouth it might be a good time to say good bye. (That is a trick I employed when I was in the active pastoral ministry, and it served me well.)But don't be misled ... she loves to see her friends and you are most welcome (for a short visit)." Nelson Chamberlin (a concerned husband)

Hallelujah!!

Hi Everyone! Just a quick update. Mom and Dad had a Care Plan Meeting on Tuesday and although nothing is in stone - and we continue to take things one day at a time - there is a possibility that Mom could go home in a couple of weeks! Of course, she will continue getting therapy after she gets home but wouldn't it be better to be in the comforts of your own home? Yes!

Thank you for the prayers for her spirits. It's amazing how God listens. I cannot tell you the difference in her mood. She said last night "I...think...my...pain...is...gone." She wasn't talking about physical pain - she was talking about her sadness.

Thank you so much. I hope that you will call on our family to pray for you when you are in need. Many of you are already on our prayer lists but we are happy to add more. Hopefully, all is going well for you and we'll be celebrating Mom's return to home soon!

Much love...

Audi

There's Work to be Done

Mom's busy at work in speech therapy six days a week. She's making good progress and her speech gets a little better everyday.

She usually has 5 therapies a day for a total of 4 hours. Being up for at least 3 hours a day for meals makes for a very busy girl!

She's hanging in there, though! Dad is too! He's usually present for her therapies. If not, he's out running some type of errand that Mom has sent him out to do or managing the things at home. They are certainly a good team and a good example for all of us!

Prayer Request

Well, we begin Week 3 of therapy today. We look forward to seeing progress in Mom's walking, talking, and use of her hand.

Here's a new prayer request: please pray that Mom's spirits would be lifted. It seems she's a bit down in the dumps. I think being away from home - 6 days of hard therapy each week - and just the struggles of life are starting to wear on her. She's a tough lady and can do a lot. However, she's still human.

Please pray that she'll be confident about her future and that God will comfort her - especially at night when everyone has gone home.

Thanks.

My Confession - by Audi

I have a confession to make. I often go to bed with an anxious heart. Anxious because I'm always looking ahead... Will Mom be able to talk well enough to express what's on her heart? Will Mom ever play the piano again? Will Mom be independent in getting around? Will Mom be glad that she survived this stroke and will she be able to enjoy life again? And when Mom gets teary everytime I leave is it because she is sad or is it because she loves me so much? (She can't say.)

Over and over again, God tells us not to be afraid but sometimes His advice to me doesn't seem to "take."

Is there a difference between feeling afraid and being afraid? Can I feel afraid and still be courageous? Can I feel afraid and still be faithful? Can I feel afraid and still be all wrapped up in my loving Father's arms?

I think the answer is yes. I think God knew that we were going to go through things and our tendancy would be to feel afraid -- otherwise, why would he have said "Fear not" so many times?

Maybe what God was saying was to not stop there. Don't let your fear define you. Don't be afraid. Be dependent on me. Be comforted by me. Be near to me.

Early on when Mom had her stroke, my sister, Lori, and I were talking about our faith. "Is your faith automatic or do you have to work at?" she asked.

"It's a cognitive decision," I told her. "Especially now, It's a choice I make even though its not how I feel."

So even though, through all my positive talk, I confess: I feel afraid sometimes -- okay, I feel afraid a lot. But "afraid" is not who I choose to be.

LATEST NEWS -- From Dad

• Friday Mom was able to climb 4 steps (with help lifting her right foot high enough) and then back down again.
• She walked 22 feet on the hemiwalker.
• She responded well to electrical stimulation on her arm, hand, leg & foot.
• She survived the family celebration in the Consultation Room with the Dairy Queen Cake and the presents Nelson received.

Dad's Birthday - Friday, February 8th

We celebrate you today,

Dad! Happy Birthday!!

We love you!!!

Monkeys on the Wall

Just two weeks ago, Mom was transferred out of ICU to a "normal" hospital room . However, there was nothing "normal" about this room and nothing normal about this situation.

Mom was struggling to breathe, still on 3 liters of oxygen - sleep deprived, and just down right miserable. Each breath was a struggle and we just kept thinking if she could just have some sleep! If she could just relax and take an easy breath. She couldn't talk and we were all fighting this new "normal" that we were being forced to adjust to.

Mom's roommate was not your "normal" little roommate. Bless her heart, she had a horrible, continuous loud cough that shook the room. And let it suffice to say, she had loud noises coming from all of her orifices! (No joke) Each time our phone rang, she yelled "Hello! Hello!" and when Dad dropped the phone, she yelled "Watch it Buddy!" When my sister walked in the room and her shoes made a light tapping sound, she looked at Lori and sarcastically said, "Clomp - clomp - clomp - clomp -clomp!" Oh yeah...as the night progressed she continually got out of her bed setting off an alarm that alerted the whole floor. Finally she fell on the floor and had to have a team pick her up. But none of that compared to the monkeys that she saw on the wall that night! Now that wasn't normal.

In the midst of all of this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Dad looked like he was going to blow a gasket every time she coughed (which isn't normal for him). Lori was about to make a comment back to this poor lady everytime she made a comment to her (which was normal) and I was becoming so slap happy that I was beginning to think the whole situation was hilarious (which was certainly not normal!)

There is no point to this story other than things are better today than they were two weeks ago. Today, Mom walked 40 feet without any help - other than having someone stand by to steady her. She was up MOST of the day - and although she was exhausted, she is creating a new "normal" for herself - everyday! She's accepting visitors now and her speech improves every day.

We are fortunate to have Mom struggling with walking and talking with a CLEAR mind instead of dealing with monkeys on the wall! We are thankful for that and at the same time, we'll say a prayer for the lady (and her family) who struggled at making sense out of the monkeys on the wall. We are certainly counting our blessings today!

The Problem with Suffering by Nelson Chamberlin

LA DONNA’S STROKE

When La Donna first suffered her stroke and was in the Intensive Care Unit of Riverview Hospital, I came home with human questions plaguing me. I know no one is perfect, but she is just about the closest thing to perfect that God has ever created. And I was talking to God about “Why her? She doesn’t deserve this!”

That first night home I picked up Nicky Gumbel’s book, “Searching Issues” and delved into the first chapter “Why Does God Allow Suffering?” I read all about suffering as a result of our own sin – suffering as a result of others’ sin – suffering as a result of a fallen world. But that wasn’t what I needed then.

And then I read his words on God is involved in our suffering. He wrote about a playlet, “The Long Silence” and that spoke eloquently to me. The playlet makes this point:

At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God’s throne.
Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly – not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.
“Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?” snapped a young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. “We endured terror … beatings …torture … death!”
In another group a young man lowered his collar. “What about this?” he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. “Lynched … for no crime but being black!”
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes. “Why should I suffer?” she murmured. “It wasn’t my fault.”
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent for their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a young black man, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth --- as a man!
“Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
“At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.”
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.
And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No one uttered another word. No one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence.”

We are not alone in our pain. When we suffer, He suffers with us.

Beautiful by Dad (Nelson Chamberlin)

La Donna is constantly concerned about her appearance ... her hair, her lips, her pajamas. No matter how much we assure her that she is still the pretty lady she always has been, she flips her left hand with that "don't give me that baloney" sign like she doesn't really buy it.

But she is beautiful ... and what she has been doing is beautiful. Yesterday (Tuesday) she walked 36 feet on the hemiwalker (the four-footed cane) with the assistance of her therapist who helped her maintain her balance. The therapists are so delighted that she constantly shows signs of fierce determination to get well, and they indicate that that determination is serving her well in her recovery.

Wednesday, after a hard full morning of therapy and consultation regarding Strokes and Aphasia (the problem affecting her communication) she insisted on sending Nelson home right after lunch so she could sleep away the afternoon. The speech therapist informed us that the brain heals even in sleep because it is active even then. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER!

One more thing: Wednesday morning our Lawyer/Neighbor Larry Gaston walked across the street to inquire how La Donna is doing, then said to Nelson -- "I sure hope she gets home in a hurry so she can give you all the hell you deserve!"

I'll take it ... with all the gratitude and thanks I can muster. Love, Poppo

Footnote for the Day

This little size 7 foot amazed some therapists and bystanders (me -Audi - for one) today in Physical Therapy today! I wish you could have been there to share in the joy!

Just two days ago we were saying, "There's just not a lot of movement in that leg..." The therapists were having to push it along as Mom tried to walk and it just wasn't "doing its part."

Not the case today! This little foot of Mom's decided to get its act together today and show its stuff! Today, Mom walked with a hemi-walker and the right leg came along for the ride without the therapist pushing it along! Hurray for each step of progress (pun intended, sorry)!

Then, when sitting in the wheelchair, Mom lifted this little foot more than twenty times up off of the floor at least 4 or 5 inches! "Amazing! That's great! Awesome!" Everyone was so excited.

Mom continually asks, "What about my hand?" She wants that hand to wake up - get with the program - and start doing it's job, too! So prayers along that line would certainly be appreciated.

In speech therapy, she continues to demonstrate progress with word finding, discriminating correct responses from incorrect, and sentences. Her voice could use a little "pumping up". That will probably come in time. All those cards that you have been sending are part of her therapy homework: read them aloud for additional speech practice! Thanks for providing her with some meaningful homework!

Also, Mom was upgraded to a regular diet so no more chopped food! Yea! Chopped salmon and chopped meatloaf just doesn't look so appetizing! On to more appetizing culinary delights now!

Well, today has no doubt been a great day! Thanks for your prayers, cards, calls, letters and well wishes. I know Mom is looking forward to telling you THANKS in person, but until you see her, the blog will have to do!

Keep on prayin' and we'll keep giving thanks for you!

Looking ahead...

"My grace is sufficient for you..." That's something I had to remind myself over and over again in the first week of Mom's stroke. I vacillated from "my worry" to "God's grace" over and over again. "You take it, God" I'd pray. He would... then I'd take it back! "No God, you handle this..." He would and then in my humaness I'd take it back again. Each time I'd ask, though, he'd give me all the grace I needed for the moment. Not grace for tomorrow, not for next week, but just for the moment.

It just dawned on me today that this week has had a new focus. Instead of living from one breath to the next, from hour to hour, and from test to test, our focus has taken a turn: We're looking ahead!

Now the focus has shifted to God's promise of a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). God has plans for all of us...plans to prosper and not to harm...plans to give us a hope and a future. Most people stop there. But in Jeremiah, the LORD continues on to declare even better things. "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD.

I'm struck by a couple of thoughts when I ponder this promise. First of all, God declared this promise - he announced, made clear, officially stated, emphatically said - this promise! There are no doubts, conditions, ifs, ands, or buts! It's official.

Secondly, God's idea of something great is always better than our idea of something great. God does promise that he has plans for us and a future...and we like that. (Now that's sounding like something that we've been praying for, huh?) But God's idea of something really good is that we will call upon Him...come to Him..and pray to Him. We will seek Him but better yet, we will find Him! What could be better than finding God?

So even though we're now "looking ahead" instead of surviving moment to moment, we're not forgetting that God's idea of great plans are better than any plans we can conceive.

We rejoice at Mom's accomplishments this week: walking with assistance, transferring from bed to wheelchair with just a bit of help, speaking in sentences and learning to compensate for a weakened right side. We rejoice that Mom is "looking ahead" and can ask, "When will I go home?" We rejoice that Mom can tell us what she wants for dinner and which jammies she wants to wear. But most of all, we are "looking ahead" to all the good things that God has planned for us that we haven't even thought of.

It just confirms to us that life cannot grind to a halt during troubled times. We must adjust and keep moving. We are reminded that God knows the future, provides the agenda, and goes with us as we fulfill his mission. This doesn't mean that we will be spared from pain or suffering, but it does mean that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion. Because of that promise, we keep looking ahead...