The 'Inner Game'

Greetings Everyone,

This Sunday brought about quite a surprise. RuthAnne and I are in Lincoln with Rachel right now, but spent the night with David & Rachel Akridge (who have been extremely hospitable by opening their home up to us).

We were walking into the entrance of Madonna this morning, and no sooner had we stepped into the front door than Rachel comes flying by in her wheelchair, right in front of us! Evidently, Rachel and Ryan were out walking before we got there, and decided to ambush us as we walked in. We all had a good laugh.

Rachel is still progressing. Yesterday, she only did about 30 minutes of physical therapy, so it was a bit of a "recovery day" for her. She did spend much of the day laughing and goofing around with all of us, which was nice.

She stood quite a bit, and has been devoting much time to practicing her transition from sitting to standing. She still needs much assistance to do that, but is getting stronger.

She is also sleeping better. Previously, she was waking up multiple time per night, needing to use the bathroom or other needs. For the last 2 nights, she has only woken up once.

The biggest challenge to her speech at this point is her ability to move and manipulate her tongue and mouth. We said the alphabet yesterday, and while she can make noises and sounds, she is making the sound from her mouth and nose, so that it is a very 'nasal-ish' sound. In other words, she's not talking exclusively through her mouth.

Even though Rachel done a fantastic job in keeping her spirits high, there are times when she has doubts about herself, and in moving back towards a full recovery. Even though she is progressing fast, she wants to progress faster. She is very aware of her status, and she wants to get back to normal ASAP. However, this is a process, so having the patience and fortitude to work through the process will be a challenge as we move forward.

ONE IMPORTANT CHANGE TO NOTE: At this point, Rachel will be working hard, day in and day out. Meaning, she will be participating in much of a routine, so we will be updating this blog twice per week now, on Wednesday's and Saturday's. That way, we will have more new information each time the blog is updated (so we actually have something to talk about). We have a balance to strike, between giving every little detail and giving very general information.

We recognize that there are all types of people reading this information, and we are very grateful for everyone that makes the effort to read this blog. We feel that updating twice per week will be frequent enough to give a good update with measurable progress, but also not providing so much info that it turns into 'overkill'.

Thanks for all your support,

- Josh


P.S. - For those of you that sent your names in, thank you. If haven't done so yet, then go make it happen. If you don't know what I'm talking about, refer to the previous post.