Monday (day 158)

Good morning all. We had a beautiful weekend with Shawna. The highlight of which was being able to stay with her in the ADL apartment at Chedoke. Thsi meant we would have to take total care of her with the nurses availabe only if we had troubles. Everything went very well. We're a bit tired at the end of Sunday but you dont get a lot of sleep. I did but Deb didn't. Deb slept in the bed next to her and found out Shawna likes to make a lot of vocal noises in her sleep or maybe that's her practice time. I slept on the pull-out(got the boot to the couch) and was only required to wake up every 4 hrs to assist with changing Shawnas position. On Saturday, Shawna was on the exercise bike and the therapist was going to set her up in a higher gear. Well he sure did. Accidentally he started her in gear 5 and she was only used to gear 1. Well, she kept at it pedalling slowly but still determined till the gear flashed up on the screen and the therapist quickly adjusted it to gear 2. Then she was tearing away again at 44 rpm and a few hills in gear 3 were added to the route. After pedalling for 15 mins. she was allowed to rest and the results were tabulated. Shawna has had some real positive results just in one week. Last Saturday she pedalled 1.3 km in gear 1 with no changing gears to simulate a hill in the route. This time She went 1.8 km in gear 2 with two gear 3 hill durations of 1 min. Her leg symmetry or balance of pressure exerted from one leg to the other is steadily improving. Amazingly enough it gets better in the higher gear and when I was videoing it she had 42% left and 58% right. After her workout we were off on a day trip to Selkirk Provincial park where the Buist family was holding their annual family reunion. When Shawna showed up she was surrounded by many of her cousins, second-cousins, aunts and uncles wishing her well. I think for Shawna it was a hard part of the day as her limitations were brought back to her as she really enjoyed playing games with many of them in the years past. It was an enjoyable afternoon though and we managed to squeak in a couple of hours between the rain. It's been a pretty wet affair this year and listening to the tales of pulling Hein and Ria's trailer out of the mud finally with a tow truck, it is almost with relief that we're not there(almost : ( ). We made the trek back to Chedoke slowly traversing many potholed roads especially the campgrounds. After a good night in the ADL we went to Katie's (and Will's later) apartment for lunch on Sunday. It was a tight squeeze for the wheelchair in the elevator and the apartment hallways but also an enjoyable time. We had planned to go from there to Attercliffe church for the afternoon service but due to some of Shawna's meds. had to stay closer to Chedoke. Again and again we have experienced the riches of God's blessings in our lives as we continue in the life He has planned for us. We know He works everything for the good of His children and we look forward to and pray for his continued guidance. Thanking you for your continued prayer and support Al and Deb