Well … It’s been a while!

Since we last wrote …

We drove to Florida in July. Kathy got behind the wheel a number of times. She did experience an event in the Richmond, VA area. While driving, a truck passed that threw a rock onto the windshield creating quite a crack and chip (and it’s very near the driver sight of view). Moments later a large piece of debris was in her path on Rte 95s causing her to slow down significantly and move around it. It was a large piece of truck tire tread from an obvious blowout. We saw such sights up and down I-95 but usually not in the traffic lanes!

In Florida, we traveled a few times to Downtown Disney and Melbourne Beach. Someday, we’d like to make the south our home as the weather (even though extreme to what we’re used to in the dead of summer), is a much needed change from our harsh northern winters. We were in Florida helping Mike’s sister who is caregiver for the folks. She traveled to Europe so we became the caregivers. The trip home had us stop in SC, DC and Lancaster, PA. Mike took a medical leave of absence from work which paid for his time off thru his 160 hrs of sick time.

Mike returned to work in mid-August but gave his notice in September ( a long story ). The church (www.agfnh.net) is seeing God bless so Mike has been using that income and some small jobs along the way for support. He will need more permanent side work come mid-January.

So Kat is forging ahead. Her stamina and alertness are increasing. She has been away from PT since her dizzy spells last year. But she is ready to return to the pool. Weight loss thru healthy eating and movement is her current goals.

Thanks for your prayers and patience! Stay tuned for more updates. The next blog post will be a Bible study talk she wrote to give the AGF Ladies at their Christmas Tea tomorrow morning. She wrote it by hand, and I typed it so it’s a cut and paste document. It will be posted after she gives the talk within the next few days! You’ll need to check it out!

CHRISTmas Joy to All … It’s Because of Jesus! C U Soon!

Interesting Days

Since our last update, Kathy has had some interesting events … some good, some not so good:

• Minor in/out surgery in January
• Concerns about Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar
• EKG tests and 24 heart monitor check
• A tough few months in February and March due to dizzy issues

The surgery went well and she has recovered as expected. The BP and sugar concerns have passed the test of acceptability. Both have been checked for a month and have come out to be in very acceptable ranges. Her heart tests all check out good. These tests were all performed due to dizzy spells she’d been having. The source is still exactly unknown but believed to be imbalances internally that can be helped with some physical therapy. It’s hard to explain but she goes through a series of head movements to regain proper balance within so as to eliminate the dizzy feelings. She’s yet to be treated for this but will be scheduled soon as she recently visited her neurologist about it. For the time being she is on a med that used used for folk with vertigo and the neurologist hopes the PT will allow for the meds to be soon suspended.

We recently celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary and spent an overnight  about an hr away. Kat was able to get into the jaccuzi and enjoy that as well as a short 5 day vacation with her boyfriend of many years. She also hosted with her sister and sister-in-law a wedding shower for her niece by decorating a beautiful cake for the event. One-handedness doesn’t get her to stop doing these amazing things.

So there’s the update — much overdo as always, but good things to report. Just a few weeks will be the 4th anniversary of the event that caused the need for this blog (4/29/2007). She is an amazing girl and does much on her own. This weekend she and other ladies from AGF (www.agfnh.net) will be going to a day conference for spiritual uplifting and inspiration. It’s a great time for her and the others as they connect and reconnect with Jesus. More updates to come — stay tuned!

THANKSGIVING … CHRISTMAS … NEW YEARS …

As we write it is snowing in N. NH again! Temps went down to -5 degrees and the woodstove was roaring. This reminds me of how Kat has forged foward dispite her disabilities. She works hard at home keeping the wood fire going (I’ve caught her with soot marks on her face when she wipes her face with her wood glove at times!); loading the diswasher; vaccing the carpet; sweeping the kitchen and making meals. Recently she made a batch of her favorite holiday treats which we all enjoyed! Oh, she also worked some on shoveling the porch. She’s been driving around even in snowy weather and using her gifts from God during worship gatherings.

We thank God for her progress. We also seek God for more healing as muscle tone is a daily battle she experiences. Even in her daily battles, she seeks God, praises Him and forges ahead!

This holiday season was full and fun for us both. She cooked the turkey this Thanksgiving, decorated the tree this Christmas and shopped for deals this new years! It’s been a month or more since she’s been to the pool and she’s anxious to get back. Sickness and other deterrants have kept her away.

We are grateful for friends and loved ones. Thanks for your support and encouragement. Thanks mostly for your prayers. The journey continues! Check back soon …

What’s Up?????

Here in NH we are in the midst of Motorcycle Weekend. Many bikes travel Rte 25 which we can see and hear fom our house. After work today and following some worship preps for Sunday, I took Kat for a meal out in Ashland. We traveled the long way home to check out the bikers. There’s a group of Soldiers for Jesus (of the Covenant Motorcycle Ministry) right here at Rumney Bible Conference and we are thrilled about what they do.

Kathy expressed her desire to be a biker so when we got home she looked online and found a few impressive looking ‘trikes’, some more her style than biker’s style. It was fun to look!

For the past few weeks, she’s been doing bike riding and swimming at the pool. She also planted some flowers which she watered tonight walking around with the hose hooked to her walker as she braved the terrain (a bit bumpy)! She also took our grandson, Brent out for a meal at our local diner. She’s doing quite well!

Her most recent accomplishment was a drive at dusk and in the rain. She did remarkably well. We had a second car at the garage and Kat drove me down (about 12 miles one way) to get it after I left work and shopped so we didn’t get back home until 9:30pm. On a sad note, she did experience another seizure on Memorial Day. After a few phone calls to the local emergency room and the Neurologist on duty at Dartmouth, she rested for a few hours until she admitted (and I felt similar) that she was scared … so we drove down to the ER in Plymouth. They found that her meds were at a very low level (4.1 and should have been 10) causing her to experience this. We’ve have had issues with this medication since March after we found the cost was higher than we could afford. The Neurologist put her on an older more affordable med but that resulted in a seizure in the hospital back in April, Easter Sunday while she was being treated for cellulitus. She was then given another medication at the hospital which was the low count they found in her blood test while in the ER. We have since switched back to the original med she had since Sept ’07 without any incident all the way to the switch just prior to the Easter ordeal. The cost has leveled but we plan to get her on med help. It will be three weeks since her last episode this coming Monday which we thank God. These incidents do a loop on her progress. She was just beginning to bend her knee while walking and then …

She’s bouncing back well, though! Thanks for your prayers and love. She journeys on! Check back.

Slight Setbacks

It has been way too long since I’ve updated Kat’s journey. She has been doing remarkably well altho her left hand and arm are still inactive. She’s walking quite well, and of course drives around in both her cart and car!

She does continue to fight tone in her leg, arm and mid-side all on her left due to the stroke and lack of certain motor functions. She complains, though, very little. I forget if I posted about a vacation we took last September where we used a gift certificate from a friend to stay at the Common Man Inn in Plymouth. It was Kat’s first overnight away from home since her injury. We took our grandson and during such trips, Kat loves getting in the jacuzzi with Brent but with as much effort as she could, she just couldn’t beat the way in so sat out while grandpa and grandson froliced around. Just this past March, though, we visited the Inn again on a speial deal they were offering and this time she with determined motivation and obvious body strengthening was able to get into the jacuzzi. It was very tricky getting out but she did it and she did it well.

This past Easter weekend was one she was looking forward to. It began on Friday with a Good Friday gathering at Amazing Grace Fellowship. She attended but began getting the chills about 1/2 way through. After she got home, we tried to warm her up in bed but it was difficult until about 2am where she was very feverish. By 5am the fever was still there. After getting dressed, we took her to the ER and they ended up admitting her which ended her possibility of gathering with others on Easter.

She’s still in the hospital now (Monday – 11:30am), and it seems they’ve finally got her temp regulated. The infection she’s battling doesn’t look much better at this point but she’s still being given anti-biotics via IV. She did suffer a slight seizure Sunday morning probably due to the fever. The cellulitus (sp) infection is on her good leg so it’s very difficult for her to walk. Keep her in your prayers. Thank you.

We’ll try to do better with updates (at least monthly) from now on! So the Journey’s ongoing! Check back …

Really Drivin’ Around

For a few months now, Kathy has been driving — on her own — and even took her mother to a family gathering recently! It began with a trip about 7 weeks ago to the hairdressers and more recently (last week) she drove to and from her pool therapy sessions … in fact, she did it 2 days in a row (Wed and Thur).

Changes:  Yes, there are some new developments … Kathy began meeting with her former PT to help with leg strengthing. She is also utilizing the pool PT room to ride the exercise bike. There is another development with her therapy for her arm. Tightness in her shoulder and elbow has hindered her hand movement … so a new elbow strightening devise has been approved by insurance for her to get and begin a new regimented therapy to help her have the brain reconnect to make the hand react to commands.

The journey continues with a promising future. Your kind support, love and prayers have been the catalyst to keep Kat positive and moving foward. Thank you and God bless you all.

What’s This? Behind the Wheel?

Yes! Kat drove on the road yesterday. She drove about 30 miles from Rumney south to Tilton. She did very well through stop lights, intersections, traffic circles and passing on the highway! It tired her out as Mike had to drive back, but for her first real trip in her mini-van, she did very very well!

So the exciting journey continues on. Come back soon to hear more of her dynamic recovery!

Finally … An Update!

Sorry this has taken so long. Last week, Kat took grandson Brent to the local pool and she got a pretty good sun tan! It was a wonderful day (as they’ve been lacking this summer) so she took advantage. She also recently received a gift of a Ford Taurus with special handicap gadgets which we are so grateful for. We are looking forward to the time when she’ll be driving real soon.

Today Kat is sick. She’s had some sniffles and small issues along the way but this one forced her to the Drs. She’s got a bladder infection and is feverish. Mike left work early today because he had felt lousy, too. But Kat’s worse off. She’s now on a few more meds and we pray this will knock it out of her.

She went to the therapy pool a few times this week also riding the stationary bike for about 10 mins. each time too. Her leg brace is in need of repair so she’s been using an ankle air cast which doesn’t give the stabilty of the brace. We got her a new pair of Nike’s to wear with the air cast and even though she’s slower, we think it’s building a little more strength in the leg. Right now though, she’s mostly in the sack sleeping off sickness.

She did make Mike a cup of tea and toast when he came home early from work … she is still a giver even when she’s hurting — and for those of you who know her well, that’s exactly the way she is.

Hopefully the next update will find her feeling much better and getting around a lot more. Visit again … we promise to update more often.

Kat’sProgress Is Ongoing

Great news this past week at DHMC. Kat’s neurologist, Robin Clark, told us that dead brain cells are not forever! We do grow new ones. The issue is their connections. It takes much longer for regaining brain/nerve connectivity after a brain injury. The brain tissue that was damaged is permanent but new brain cells will eventually bring restoration (some of which we’re seeing every day). Kat’s been reworking her arm daily and has been able to lift and stretch in many new ways. After the news received, we’ve been really encouraged. Robin did say, however, that which connecting through the nerves, memory doesn’t last … relearning has to take place all the time. We’ve recently been told of a person who suffered a similiar stroke to Kathy’s that in her 8th year of recovery, much of heractivity before the stroke had returned.

We appreciate your prayers and good wishes. We are excited as these days prove profitable in her recovery.

Kathy received a wonderful gift today. A 1994 station wagon, handicapped equipped! Mike took it for a short ride and it’s in great shape. We are very blessed to have good friends. Thanks so much Lynette and Priscilla! May our God richly bless you.

Two Years Today — Drivin’ Around

Today is Wednesday … April 29, 2009. Date sound familiar? Yes! It was 2 yearsago today Kathy suffered her stroke. There has been an amazing amount of prayer support and love from all of you. Kat could be discouaged and dismayed (altho she does have days like that), but she is holding strong and moving forward. Listen to this:

Tuesday we drove to Greenfield, NH to the Crotched Mtn Rehab Center. Here, Kat had an appointment to be confirmed to get back behind the wheel. The first part of her visit was talking with the driver instructor about basic road stuff (signs, situations, etc) as well as taking an eye test. Memory skills were also tested and she did very very well! Her vision skills revealed 20/20; her memory test was very good and her remembering road situations were ok! The instructor then got the car, fitted the steering wheel with a ball (which included a special electrical device with 3 switches: 1-L/R directional signaling; 2-wiper switch and 3-horn and high beam switch) and put Mike in the backseat and Kat in the driver seat!

After a few trips around the Rehab complex, the instructor had Kat drive off campus onto the roadway. Her reactions at stop signs, lights, on-coming traffic, etc was remarkable! The instructor then had her head for downtown Peterboro! Yes! Pedestrians, lights, school buses, tight turns, traffic …all of it. Again, her driving was remarkable (especially for someone who hadn’t been behind the wheel on her own for over 2 years). The instructor basically told Kat that she was ready to drive again! The only concern he had was that she hadn’t been driving in such a long while, he would like her to do a few more trips with him. He also wanted her to have the car we own fixed for the device he had because everything (signalling, high beam switch and wiper switch) was on the left side … which she’s still working on but yet not working on her! By the way, this is the other remarkable thing: she drove using this “new-to-her” device with very little difficulty. Only twice did she hit the wiper by mistake and drove in 92 degree weather with a brilliant sun and once she beeped her horn! AMAZING!

This has been a dream for her for a long while … to drive once again. Prayer is being answered and the reality of her behind the wheel is coming to pass! There’s great excitement in the Tremblay household!

As you can see — 24 months and the journey goes on. Join us again as we update Kat’s dynamic improvement!