Homeward Bound!!

The computers were down here at the hospital until this evening so I finally wrote a pretty lengthy report. Unfortunately, I lost the whole thing when I tried to post it. And so it goes.

Dr. Kaelin came into Shea's room and announced that she will be dismissed from Shepherd Hospital tomorrow morning!!! "Joy comes in the morning"! We are thrilled to finally put hospital life behind us and get home. Shea looks forward to hanging out at home and sleeping in her own bed after six weeks.

We had many meetings today with all the therapists and doctors and got all the necessary supplies -- a wheelchair, walker, etc. We thought we would take Shea to a rehab hospital close to our home where she could spend a few hours a day and maybe three days a week, but after consulting with everyone, we decided to place her in Shepherd's Pathways Rehab. It is an intense rehab -- five days a week from 9-3. You can imagine Shea wasn't happy about that at all. When we were in Macon, Dr. Troup, the neurosurgeon saw that Shea did have spinal fluid at the frontal lobe of her brain. He suspected that she would have dificulty with her executive thinking skills, organizational skills, etc. Dr Dan, her neuropsychologist here, shared her test results with us today and said that Shea soared through the whole test except for this very area. She has been living in a very quiet and controlled setting for six weeks, and their desire is for her to get back to her normal life as soon as possible. At Pathways, they are very agressive and try to get you through their program quickly and thoroughly. Once Steve and I made the decision and explained it to Shea she was fine.

Today as we were eating lunch in the Group Room, a man on a red scooter came in. He rolled right up to us and introduced himself as James Shepherd. He is the reason the Shepherd Center began thirty years ago. He had a surfing accident in Brazil,and his parents had such a difficult time getting rehab care for him that a year after his accident they opened Shepherd Center with just six beds. He shared the details of his accident and encouraged Shea on her journey in rehab. Mr. Shepherd had heard of the miracle in Shea's body and wanted to meet her before she left.It's hard to believe that we're really going home tomorrow. We can't wait! Thanks again and again for all your prayers and comments. We are amazed at God's faithfulness to our family. Sometimes the days here get a little long, and oftentimes Shea will say, "Why don't we read the blog." We laugh and cry and, of course, everything seems much brighter again. Last night Shea looked at herself in a mirror and tried to work her facial muscles. She still can't raise her left eyebrow and has quite a bit of swelling on the left side (Shea told me to tell you this. She said, "Aunt Liz thinks I'm beautiful no matter what I look like, but she has to say those things about me -- she's my aunt"!!) Shea tried to smile and make it even on both sides -- she showed us where her teeth were missing -- "I'm not kidding, I look like a country farmer!" We laughed so hard we cried. It's great to see that she can laugh at her temporary situation. She's comfortable with family but is still apprehensive of other people seeing her. Just before I left to type this I asked Shea to move her muscles on her face as much as she could. She felt tingling in her left cheek and I saw a new flicker. We started to cry, and she said, "I feel like I'm being 'knit together' again. Please thank everyone for praying." It is beautiful to behold a miracle before our very eyes. Thank you thank you thank you.

I Timothy 1:17 "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

With love and gratitude,

Steve and Susan