Sunday - March 21st

Its been three weeks and 2 days since Kristi came home from the hospital and a little over 4 and 1/2 months since she got sick. What a journey - today Kristi and I were talking about how far she has come - 1 month ago she was not walking; today she uses her cane but never her wheel chair or walker. She continues to struggle with intense pain but that too seems to be lessening and the doctors tell us that as she continues to get stronger the pain should settle down.

As of yesterday she added on more therapy - Hep pa-therapy; yes she went for ride yesterday. A fat little pony, quit lazy, walked her around on a lunge line. A double edged sword but this ride was for her soul and to help her build strength, especially her core. She was exhausted afterwards but left with her next "lesson" scheduled. She rode bareback with a vaulting pad that has handles instead of reigns and she was stronger than the therapist anticipated (even got to do a little sitting trot) She is still very weak but is getting stronger ever day. When she gets sad and frustrated I try to remind her where she has come from and that this is a process that you just have to muscle through. We have been told that it takes 3-4 days of work for every day that you spend in bed, to get back to where you were before. Yeep - that's a year but as hard as Kristi is working I will bet she is back sooner!

She is worried about her short-term memory but I have noticed improvement there as well. We work lots of Sudoku and cross-word puzzles together. She is going to take some summer school classes at the junior college up the street. This will give her an opportunity to test herself and get back in the groove. She will then decide whether to go back to school in September or January - either way, she is determined to go back and graduate.

All and all - we are "hanging" tough!!
Lots of love!
Jayme
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