1 year + 4 months

Good morning all. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautifull Sunday. Shawna continues to recieve God's blessings as she continues on her road to recovery. Albeit the progress is quite slow there is still progress. With physio She is able to stand on her own for 1+1/2 minutes holding on to a standing pole with both hands. The physiotherapist pushes her slightly to get her off balance and watches to see if she makes necessary corrections, which she is able to do. As a result Shawna has been able to stand and give her family members a full hug.We finally met with Shawna's neurologist who made a whole bunch of reccommendations. One of these has been to adjust her meds slightly to see if that would reduce the dystonic(tone) on her left side. So far, after 1 week of this treatment the tone is visibly getting less and less. There is a down side to increasing these meds. She must be regularly monitored by blood and urine samples to make sure her liver and kidney function are not compromized. We continue to pray that everything may work properly. Pool therapy has been quite a success. Shawna has been able to move her left leg in the bouyant environment without tone present. When the kinesiologist got excited about that and Shawna also became excited and was smiling all the way home. The pool at Grandma and Grandpa Bethlehem has been made ready for use with reinstalling a heater unit, and the hot tub at our home renovated and repositioned so that Shawna can be lifted in. The other modes of therapy have also continued with many variations. The most important has been a big brainstorming session on how to use the mytobii computer so that Shawna will not become frustrated . At first they will only use three screens and progress from there when they can see purposefull use. One of the screens is a tv remote which is actually can turn on the tv and adjust settings through the computers hardware. Another screen is a simple yes/no board where they can continue with communication instead of eyeblinks. The last screen is a music choice page where Shawna can choose her music the computer will play. The computer is capable of so much more than this but it is important to start out slowly and build Shawnas confidence in using this as a communication tool for hopefully using in community settings. There are many more outings into community planned for her as the weather contiues to improve. She has been getting a bit of sun outside as she watches the garden being planted and construction on the new ramp to the front door. Our children all enjoyed an enriching experience last weekend as they banded together to take care of Shawna for 4 days as Deb and I slipped out of Canada and into Holland, Michigan for the weekend. There were many notes to read and schedules to maintain as Deb wouldn't leave until all the finest details were covered including lining up extra psw's and grandparents. It was good to get away for a few days and sort of build back up the reserves as we ramp up for a busy summer. We couldn't do many events last year but we have a full plate this year. Lots of Soccer, Buist family camping and cottaging to mention only a few things will keep us quite busy. We continue to rely solely on God's providential care as he continues to care for us. Thankyou for your paryers and support Al, Deb, shawna, and the family