2 years

Good Evening to all the readers. I know we have'nt posted in quite a while. As yesterday was the two year anniversary we thought it appropriate to make this post the last one to close off this blog dialogue. We are extremely grateful for all the helpful and uplifting messages we have read. Hopefully in the future Shawna herself can post her own thoughts on this blog.
Since the last posting Shawna did end up staying in the hospital quite long almost 2 full weeks. When she finally came home her feeding had been trimmed down to the minimum to keep her stomach from being upset by the antibiotics she was recieving. She was very weak and it took a long time till she regained her strength, almost a month. The Spinal tap she recieved was deemed to be unreliable so she was scheduled to have another performed by her neuro-surgeon, Dr Wells. When this was done it was confirmed that there was indeed no extra intra-cranial pressures that were contributing to her issues of tone. Her Neurologist, Dr. Gillett, prescribed a new medication to combat the condition of "Appraxia" which Shawna suffers from. When movements are not rehearsed, Shawna is able to do many with ease. When asked to point or move this or that she becomes agitated and stiff, and unable to comply. The meds which are slowly increased month by month to their maximum at 6 months have been giving wonderfull results to this point at the halfway mark. Vocalization has been steadily increasing. No words yet but loud sighs and laughter. Shawna has been standing by her pole while we only help her left hand to hold on, for periods in excess of 15 mins at a time. During this excercise we take away her comfort zone by moving her right hand from the pole and leaving it in midair to see what she will do. We also push her sideways to help her learn to make the minute adjustments she requires to remain standing. In all these exercises she continues to do very well, especially maintaining her standing posture. We also assist her to walk across the floor from the livingroom to her bedroom and kitchen area. Shawna maintains her own weight over her legs, but we support her side to side, and slide her legs across the floor. Her speed and strength going from sitting to standing is steadily increasing, as well as her ability to relax and place her feet on the floor working against the tone. On the reverse side her ability to go from standing to sitting is almost getting perfect. She is now able to hold up her head unassisted when you pull her up from lying down to sitting. She is easily able to center her head but still favours looking to the left. Her eyes track left to right and vice versa in very quick motions now. Her eye to hand co-ordination has been steadily increasing. Somehow on Sundays she has always managed in the last month to grab my tie when I assist her into her wheelchair. She smiles immensely at this small success. Once just recently when Deb and I were assisting her to get to bed, she reached up and removed her own glasses as if "here I can do this to help you guys". We were amazed! Once she reached up and removed Deb's glasses too. The therapists working on helping Shawna learn to swallow have been stimulating her mouth muscles for quite a while with some success, not a huge breakthrough but consistent. Another really good development has been the use of her computer. We have several new attachments which are making the use of the computer from her wheelchair very successfull! It may take a long time but there is promising developments in that area. Her computer will make it possible for her in the future to communicate with others and regulate anything that uses a remote in the house. Shawna is very consistent with her Yes/No eyeblinks, and communication showing her cognitive ability has been fantastic. Some of her therapy sessions have been happening at night now when she is very awake and ready for family things. These sessions have been integrating her friends one at a time to show them her abilities and help them to feel part of the solution, making it very easy to socialize in other situations.
The two year milestone again brought many memories to the foreground, but the most important one is how we were upheld by God's almighty power. Last night we read with Shawna and our children from Isaiah 40, where God gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. The chapter ends with the words that those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength and soar on eagles wings. Looking back now on this journey we can see how we've been strengthened and protected by God's gracious providence. When I talked with Shawna about how we found strength from this portion of God's Word, she vocalized her agreement and smiled at me as tears made their way down my cheek. We ended the day with singing Hymn 9 vs 5

They shall mount up with eagles' wings;
Unwearied they shall run.
They'll neither falter nor grow faint
As they in faith walk on



Yours in Christ
Al, Deb,Shawna, and family