My Story: After The Tragedy (Part 6)

Today is one year since my surgery.  I have survived a year.  I am different from who I was before my surgery.  In this year I have gone from someone who was unconscious, to someone who was conscious but unable to do hardly any movement, to someone who could move but was in a life that needed a wheelchair and other assistance.  Now I have faced challenges, some have gone better than others without the wheelchair. I hope to face more challenges in the future. 

In most evenings we go outside after supper.  Now I go outside in the morning to walk after breakfast.  When I go outside I sit in my wheelchair for a chair just to put my shoes on.  This thing was such a necessary tool in my life and now is a chair just sitting in my garage.  Let me challenge you, what’s a necessary tool that you have that you want to leave behind.  Try to work on leaving that behind.  You may still need it but at least you tried to push yourself a bit with the help of family and friends plus the guidance of your doctor.  You just like me I would not be able to do these things if I never tried and was pushed by a therapist.  At the end of therapy I had to do several tests.  There was a time that I could not get myself out of bed.  My physical therapist would gradually push me to get out of bed.  He would put his arm behind me and catch me if I needed it then would help me up if I got to a point where I could not get myself up.  Finally in my final test I got myself to the side of the bed.  Not once but twice.  We celebrated!  Thankfully, this moment was recorded on video by my PT friend.  I now have this video as an encouragement.  Not only seeing the moment but watching the celebration of my friends and therapists is a huge part of the encouragement.  If I keep pushing myself I have not got to an end yet.  I know that God has more recovery in store for me.

Thanks again for reading my story.  As I am in recovery I felt this was a story I must share.  Writing my story was never on any of my goal sheets but this was a story that had to be shared so I could remember it.  I am sure my high school English teacher, Mrs. Temple, would mark this one up for sure but it was in her class years ago that I was challenged and learned to write.  Every document I have written for work gets marked up profusely.  I know that my friend Ryan would have a field day re-writing this one (I will wait until it’s finished to get him a copy).  I know it will need to be proofread but I better keep the list short of who I will ask for that favor as I do not want to have to re-write this one.  As I’m reading over it to proofread I’ve noticed how parts are unlike the others.  I did not intend this to be a religious story but as I’ve read it more put together I see my God’s hands intertwined in the story.  I wrote each section separately as well as many paragraphs inside a section but as I’ve put them into one document I can see how faith in his love and nature is throughout the story.

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