Dear Family and Friends,
We've had a very busy last few days! Our family has really enjoyed having Granny and Grampa with us since Tuesday. On Thursday, Ryan was able to be up in his chair for a few hours and enjoyed going to therapy. In exercise class, the group played basketball with a beach ball. Ryan also had a cooking class where they made cookies and pistachio fluff. Ryan's main jobs were cutting up the pineapple and decorating the cookies.
Also on Thursday, Kurt Hunter brought by an acquaintance of his to meet Ryan named Robert Feldman. Robert is a doctor from California who had a body surfing accident when he was 31. He suffered a C-5 injury which left him paralyzed. Slowly, over time, he regained use of his arms and legs and is now able to walk and resume his medical practice. It was very encouraging to all of us to hear his thoughts regarding his rehabilitation and priorities in life since his accident. Robert said we need to measure spinal cord improvements in months and years, not over days and weeks. He also feels that if you can move a body part you can continue to strengthen it through rehabilitation. Robert is another example of the many people who have been helpful to us over the past three months.
Granny and Grampa were able to go with us to Kaitlyn's choir performance on Thursday night where Kate had a small solo. It was great to have them share the evening with us.
Aunt Julie flew over from Idaho today and will drive home with Granny and Grampa on Monday. She is always fun to be with. Ryan had probably his best physical and occupational therapy classes today since before he got sick about nine weeks ago. In physical therapy, Ryan and Heather worked on the mat balancing and positioning. In occupational therapy, Ryan and Amanda played upper body strengthening and balancing games.
Over the last few days, the dietician has been keeping track of Ryan's calories. The doctor stopped Ryan's lipids (fats) and will hopefully decrease the rate of his IV nutrition in the next few days. Ryan has made a real effort to eat more. I've tried to convince him that you can eat even if you aren't hungry!
Tonight, Nathan, Elson and Nicole from the Singles Ward came to watch a movie with Ryan. It was a great day at Craig with lots of visitors and activities going on.
I would like to close with a portion of the email Linde Howell, from our Auburn Hills Ward, sent to us earlier today. It has to do with the name Tyler gave to Ryan's blogspot, "Ryan's Transcendence," when he set it up shortly after Ryan's accident. Thank you Linde!
Dear Ryan,
Our little family follows your progression and it's been a real source
of unity and prayer for us. As odd as it sounds, we are thankful for
you and this opportunity.
I was intrigued by the word transcendence in your blog and wanted to
share some thoughts I found on the word from the president of the
Czech Republic as he took an old nation and made it into a new one.
One of the points he made is below. It struck me as a new world
opening up that requires faith to enter. It's not what was planned,
but it offers opportunities that we don't even understand at the
moment, but we have the faith that the experiences are linked to joy
and are experienced with joy.
>>>>>Transcendence as a deeply and joyously experienced need to be in
harmony even with what we ourselves are not, what we do not
understand, what seems distant from us in time and space, but with
which we are nevertheless mysteriously linked because, together with
us, all this constitutes a single world and a single unifying
experience.
Love, Bridgette, Barry, Ryan and Kate
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