Consider it pure joy!

Well, Arla is “jumping” ahead quickly.  While we do not know the exact date she will move to rehab, she has improved enough and made enough progress with her therapy to cause her neurology team to recommend intensive inpatient therapy.  Two days ago, the recommendation was a less intensive therapy at a skill nursing rehabiliation center. So after two days of planning and investigating skilled nursing rehabilitation, Arla runs us in another direction.  Even though we don’t mean it, we feel like shouting, “Hey, Mom, slow down!”  And yes, we know the advances will become slower as the rehab progresses.

Like we said before, this is a process.  Praise God for options; praise God for the medical advances we have access to; praise God for the years of skilled training the medical professionals have done; praise God for his grace and love; praise God for prayer; praise God for patience and love; and praise God for the knowledge and gifts he has given each of us in our lifetime.

It was simply one busy day.  Arla did well with physical therapy today.  It is very clear that she is able to follow commands and work toward improvement.  It is also becoming very clear that her number one supporter and encourager is Harold.  Harold eagerly participates in her therapy sessions and is becoming her motivator.  Today, Arla was able to sit unaided for a short while.  The therapist would give her directions to correct her balance as Arla would begin to lean to the right.  Arla also has an additional therapy companion, a tiger her grandson Jared won at the fair for her.  Today, the tiger became part of the therapy session.  Arla is also moving her right toes on command.

To prepare for Arla to be able to move from the hospital to a rehabilitation setting, she needed to have the nasal gastric tube removed.  To provide nutrition and hydration, the doctor did a PEG, Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy, to place a food tube directly though the abdominal wall and into the stomach.  The procedure went well.  By this evening, Arla was moved out of ICU into the Cardiac Telemetry unit…one more step toward being out the door and into rehab.

And the arrangement for a rehabilitation placement was what Mary Ann worked on today.  Visits and checklists and questions were handled.   We hope that soon Arla will be working hard at learning to regain so many of the functions she has lost.  All the while we must continue to look to the Lord, but we know he is in command of our lives.  And through all the events of the day, we know one thing for sure…God has a purpose for each of us.  And He is still working through and in Arla.  Though her purpose may change, God is still using her to show the love of Christ.

The changes are minimal these days.  But Arla continues to move forward in her recovery.  Today, she had many meaningful visitors and spent time sitting in a chair.  She may be weak in body, but the joy she shows when those she knows and loves are near her bubbles up with strength and vigor.

Mary Ann spent much of the day speaking with those in charge of Arla’s care as we begin planning for the next steps of her rehabilitation.  It can be exhausting to navigate the web of providers, but the task is important and brings a sense of accomplishment.  But like her mom, Mary Ann finds joy in helping others.  Helping manage your mother’s care does bring joy despite the sorrow that the situation exists in the first place.

Pray for Arla in the next few days as she will be undergoing a procedure to insert a food tube through her abdominal wall and into her stomach.  This will be important to maintain her nutrition and hydration.  While the procedure is straightforward, Arla is in a weakened state.

And so, we watch and wait and continue to work.  Keep up the prayers.  Keep up the visits.  Keep up the joy!  All you do is making a difference!

The agony of this process demands that we have patience, but we must be vigilant as well.  We are now Arla’s advocate, and, though we never applied or trained for this job, we must do it well.  This is a process.  Arla is in a process.  A process of healing.  A process of gaining strength.  And so, we all must go on this journey with her.  Thank you for being there.  Thank you for praying.

God has a plan for her life, as he does for all of ours.  Pray that Arla’s family may lean heavily on the Lord as we not only care for her but our own families and our friends and our co-workers and our students and our daily needs and on and on.  The day-to-day lives of those who care for an ill family member become more hectic than ever.  It is hard to let go and let God, but we have no other choice.  And so today, we practice patience and strength……and we will practice again tomorrow.

Today, Arla was visited by 5 of her 8 grandchildren.  Her facial expressions clearly matched what she was thinking and feeling.  It was clear that she recognized the voice of each person as he or she entered the room and was anxious to have each person come within her line of vision.

We would also note, that Lutheran Hospital has some very loving and caring nurses.  They not only care for Arla but also have genuine concern for Harold.

If you visit her, please sign the calendar on the wall.  We want to know who has been with her and how your visit went.  Arla is a lover of people….all people.  She has also always been a person you could call on for help.  Thanks to all of you who are praying for her and thinking of her.

Forty-five years ago today, Arla was in the hospital.  She was giving birth to her oldest daughter Mary Ann.  Life intermingles with joys and sorrows.  Just like in childbirth, joy often comes with pain.  And the pain makes the joy all that much sweeter.

Arla had a restful night, although she managed once again to pull out her feeding tube.  We told her she better be good or they were going to kick her out.  Perhaps that is her plan.

Also, just so you know.  Harold understands a lot of what is happening to Arla, but from time to time, we find he has the information a little wrong.  For example, he has said that the doctors did not need to do anything to the blocked artery in Arla’s heart.  The reality is that the doctors did some ballooning but in the end could not totally open the artery.  It was a small artery and trying to do more would risk further damage to the artery than allowing it to remain blocked.  Harold also is still trying to understand the atrial fibrillation that Arla is experiencing.   This condition was not being treated, and we are certain (looking back and now knowing this was going on) that she has been in A Fib off and on all summer. A Fib is the condition that would have directly contributed to Arla’s stroke and heart attack.

We tell you this to encourage you to use the blog to gather information and keep up on Arla’s progress.  When asked what happened, Harold starts at the very beginning of the story and tells what he knows.  He recounts ALL the events.  It is exhausting!   He can understand that Arla was sick and needed help getting dressed and was taken to Lutheran and was very good on Sunday night and suddenly took a turn for the worst Monday morning better than he can understand the medical chain of events.  We are trying to help Dad learn a short version of the “story”.  He is also directing people to the blog.  So Harold is learning to run the marathon and not the sprint.

Please pray for endurance!!!!  Please pray that Harold can develop a selfish nature, one that will allow him to consider his needs first.  Dad is an unselfish man, that will need to change.

Janeen (Arla’s middle child and youngest daughter) wrote on Facebook today,  “Mom has proven to be unpredictable in her recovery. She has been moved from the Critical ICU to the other side of the ICU unit. The initial stroke has weakened her left side and there has not been much movement on the right side. She is able to understand what we are saying to her and is responding with smiles. Nobody (not even the most experienced medical professionals) can really predict how much Mom will or will not recover. No matter what you are told, stroke recovery is very unpredictable and varies with each individual. We have gone from taking one minute to next minute to taking one hour to the next hour. With round the clock prayers, we are now trying to take one day at time. We take joy in each moment of progress, and know that there is always room for hope!!”

The words always and never are SO LIMITING.  But when a medical professional uses them, they can be devastating and control your thoughts and emotions.  Sadly, today the neurologist told Harold  that Arla would never……… and then the list began.  Also, sadly, neither Janeen nor Mary (Arla’s oldest child) was present as the neurologist used this word with their dad. How a neurologist would know this without even spending more than a few moments with Arla is beyond understanding.  A neurologist who also told Harold that Arla was not following simple commands.  THIS IS NOT AT ALL TRUE. Arla is following simple commands.  Today, after the physical therapist told Arla that they were going to sit her on the side of the bed, he told her she would have to help.  Once, they got her unhooked from all the tubes and wires, they lowered the bed rail and began to lift Arla from behind into a seated position.  She grabbed onto the upper rail with her left hand and swung her left leg out of the bed.    Now don’t tell us she cannot follow simple commands.   Later in the session, she was not wanting to touch her nose.  She was tired, but after they lay her down, she reached up and adjusted her glasses.  Mary said to  the therapist, “Did you see that?”  Indeed, he had.

Here is the reality of her condition:  1.  She is in atrial fibrillation.  2.  There was a major stroke on the left side of her brain.  3.  She cannot move her right side.  It is unclear if she can feel on that side.  4.  She cannot speak but is smiling and today began trying to stick out her tongue.  5.  She recognizes voices and turns her head and attempts to adjust her left shoulder to get a better look.  6. She seems to have limited vision in the right eye.  7.  She is receiving nourishment through a feeding tube.  8. When alert, she is really wanting to communicate.  We have had some success with yes/no questions and hand squeezing.  9.  She is only 4 days into her recovery.  NEVER GIVE UP HOPE!

Pray that Harold may learn to seek answers before allowing hope to fade.  Remember folks, with God all things are possible.  Arla believes that!!!!!

There is one context in which the word NEVER is not limiting, but rather uplifting and solace giving… God is ALWAYS with us.  God will NEVER leave us.