Sunday (day 215)

Good morning all. The day is drawing nearer for Shawna to come home for good. Our home is almost ready. The specialized wheel-in bathroom is nearly complete. The community rehab team is fully assembled and ready to start working with Shawna at home. Shawna as well is excited about coming home and September 5th draws near quickly. She's making more noises now which continues to give us hope that she will talk. She continues to improve in the physio area. She's biked 2.6 kms in 20 mins and is able to sit up unassisted with excellent head posture for quite a while. She continues to get stronger and moves her left arm a few times per day. Her smiles are infectious and her laughter enjoyed by many. The tests continue to make sure everything is good with her health. There are many appointments and consults arranged for the coming months and possibly a small operation to change the location of the feeding tube. We continue to reap the blessings of God's grace as He continues to heal our darling. Thankyou again for your support and prayers. Al and Deb

P.s. Were waiting for our house to be back together before we can post some of the wedding photos, but. I did post a beautiful shot of her smiling on Facebook. "Friends and family of Shawna Bethlehem"

Monday (day 207)

Good Evening all. We've been very busy again and not home much. It feels like a lame excuse but we had a couple of days away from the hospital, one visiting our camping sons and another on a boating event with some close friends. The time away allows us to keep focused on what we have to do as a family and not to become tunnel visioned. Shawna continues to improve and we remain very thankful for all the small advances we see. Her swallowing is improving and they are going to do a videoscope of the swallowing activity to make sure all is well. She continues to try to vocalize and now makes many small noises especially if she is in discomfort or very happy to see us. It is so beautiful to see her smiling and breaking into a laugh when something funny is said or done. She's been watching a bit of the Olympics and when they have the commercials of the kids training and falling she instantly laughs. Her reaction times have improved dramatically in the last couple of weeks. When Deb went in today to assist with physio Shawna instantly lifted her arms for a hug. This was an amazing feat as she has only just started to move her left arm a small bit the last couple of days. It brings tears to my eyes picturing that endearing moment as Deb embraced Shawna in a hug which she initiated. This is another step we have been patiently waiting for. Some other important things which have happened are ones which people ask us a lot about. We often hear "will she recognize me?". I just tell them try and initiate eye contact. More times than i care to count she has recognized people and given them a sign she knows them. Now it is more definite though. We brought her to Hamilton Cornerstone Church on sunday and after the service she was smiling and listening to people around her. Mr. Wildeboer, one of her former teachers from Guido, bent over to say hi and she instantly beamed him a huge smile. She was very happy to see him as she worked a "before school" fitness club with him in the past. Other events which make us chuckle is her sense of humour. The nurses were cleaning up around the room one night and were talking and joking about the machines in her room. They thought Shawna had drifted off to sleep but her laughter brought them immediately to attention and one nurse said she felt she was going to have a heart attack from the suddeness of Shawnas reaction and the fact they didn't know she could laugh. There's our girl keeping them on their toes. It goes to show we cant take her sleepiness for granted and have to be very careful what we say and do in her presence. We continue to pray for God's blessing on Shawna and thank you all for your prayers and support. Al and Deb

Sunday (day 199)

Good morning all. We have been so blessed by God's favour. The staples for Shawnas plate reinsertion were taken out on Monday and the incision has healed beautifully and can hardly be seen without a very close inspection. The nurses and staff continually are amazed at the results of the reinsertion as the bone ridge cannot be seen. They claim its one of the best works they've seen. We thank Dr. Wells and his staff for all they've done. She has smiled very much and to the point we thought she was laughing. Sure enough. She has developed a laugh complete with shoulder shakes. What a blessing! To be able to laugh in the presence of all that has happened to her is an amazing blessing we have received from God's hand. She attended Will and Katies wedding as a bridesmaid and refused to sleep between pictures at McMaster U and the ceremony. It was a very beautiful day. Her physiotherapist, Chantelle voluntered to take care of her the whole day and was faithfully with her the whole time. She monitored constantly on Shawnas contidition if she was showing signs of distress, but all was well. We didn't get her back to Cedoke till 1.00 am and she was still wide awake and smiling away! We thought she would be wiped the next day but for a few cat naps at the usual time she maintained her physio schedule with sitting, leaning on either arm, standing and biking. Simply amazing the level of endurance and determination that she has been given. We are thankful. Another result from her stay at the General is that they have checked and double checked that there is confimed no blood supply obstruction to her right leg. Everything is good and no further operation will be required. There has been further work with her swallowing and a scope will be done to determine if anything is going into her lungs silently. If this shows to be good they will feed her yogurt and applesauce. The team is being assembled for her home care as that day draws closer for her to go home. They have meetings scheduled with the team at Chedoke to carry on with their plan and objectives. We continue to be strengthened by our Father and rely solely on him for our needs. Thankyou for your prayers and support. Al and Deb

Sunday (day 192)

Good mornign all. Today again we have been given a beautiful sunny day after all the rain we have experienced this summer we can surely see the sunny days as blessings. We've been very busy driving back and forth home this week as our house is again in the midst of hopefully the last major renovation. It is progressing slowly and is supposed to be finished by Aug 25 (hopefully earlier). Shawna meanwhile continues to improve. Her eye contact and tracking have improved a lot. Her smiles are huge and sometimes border on laughter when some jokes and funny things have happened. She has seen herself in a mirror and was smiling about that as well. Physio continues also to improve as they increase the performance demands. They had her in a stepping machine to try to teach her how to step but she could not step on her own but she did try to lift her right leg. Her right arm movements have been getting more fluid as its getting harder to let go of her hand as she catches you again very quickly. She reaches for certain visitors as soon as she recognizes them. The progress is very slow but God teaches us patience every day and we accept and thank him for his favour on our daughter. Her staples will come out this week as the incision has healed beautifully and her hair is still mostly there except for the cut site. I will post some pictures on facebook friday or saturday after Will's wedding as Shawna will attend as bridesmaid. Shawna and Katie are still very close and Shawna is very excited about being there. We pray that all may go well. May you all have a blessed Sunday of praise and worship. Thanking you again for your prayers and support. Al and Deb