Friday, November 16th

Written last night by Paul:

Joanne will be discharged from rehab on Wednesday the 21st! One day before Thanksgiving. We sure have a lot to be thankful for! When she was asked what she eats for Thanksgiving, she said, "fired chicken...no...fried chicken...", she took a pencil and wrote 'turkey', looked at the word and confidently said, "fried chicken!" We all laughed. Thankfully, even when the words won't come out, or the same wrong word comes back over and over, she still laughs. I met her at her PT session this morning where the therapists were teaming up trying to come up with something to really challenge her. She beat them every time. She still leans to the right when she walks and I see a lot of body work being done on the right side of our car once she is back driving, but she is determined to get it done and do it right. On our way back to her room, her roommate was being wheeled down the hall and she said, "Oh, here is my angel." Apparently, the nurse didn't come in time for something and Joanne got up to help her. Keep in mind that she still does not have any use of her right hand and somewhat limited use of her arm. She leans to the right and says the color of a banana is blue, and yet, she can still get herself out of bed and help someone else. Unbelievable.

I brought the kids to see her tonight for the first time since she was in the hospital. It was a little awkward at first, but it quickly changed into a joy-filled time that none of us wanted to end. We were batting a balloon around in the gym and laughing at how she couldn't get out the right words. Her sister Suzan had written out some questions for Jo to practice saying, and we all laughed till we cried as she asked in a comical sing song manner, "So tell me how are your friends? Are you working on any projects? What books are you reading in school? Are you doing all your homework?" It was hilarious.

She will continue to have occupational and speech therapy as an outpatient about three times a week for the next few weeks. I can't wait to have her back home. The drive to Morristown and back each day is getting very tiresome. Please keep praying, because God is answering our prayers each day, several times a day. That is the only thing keeping us going...as well as all the great meals we are receiving, the washing of our clothes (thank you Joanna), the house cleaning, raking leaves, doing homework with the kids each day (thank you Loretta), the maintenance of this blog (thank you Terry), and the hundreds of other things being done to help us. Thank you again for your continued support during this wild ride.