August 3

As I type in the date, I realize it has been exactly three months since Leanne's stroke on May 3. If I had been told then that Leanne would be doing what she does now, I'm  not sure I would have believed it.  But here she is, home for good, managing to do almost everything herself, talking to friends on the phone, getting ready to go to the pool. Who would have thought it? God has certainly worked a big miracle in our lives and shown us once again who is really in control.
Leanne is not entirely recovered. Sometimes we forget how tiring some things are for her, physical things, but also mental things. Some things take a lot more concentration for her than for the rest of us. The doctor told us it could be a year before she gets as 'good' as she can get. We're not sure yet what that means. Will it mean she can play the piano or viola like she used to? We don't know. But it doesn't matter. What matters is not how 'perfect' our bodies are, what matters is that we love and serve the Lord with our whole being.  If that cannot be done with two hands, that's okay.
In the meantime,  she can keep working on hand and finger exercises, and then she'll go for therapy once a week in St. Catharines in September. The doctor took her off her injections which she, and I, are thrilled about. Aspirin once a day is not so hard  to take.
Once again we thank you all for being such a support to us through thoughts, prayers, hugs, meals, driving, housecleaning, babysitting, and whatever else we all received from you. These also were reminders that God has blessed us greatly.
This will be the last blog we write, as there will  not be much to write about. Besides, Leanne is ready for attention to be directed elsewhere for a change:)
Our attention was drawn recently to Psalm 27:13 and 14, which I'd like to share with you:

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

How blessed we are when we can do this no matter what happens!
Clarence and Diana and family.

July 22

Only one more week and Leanne will be back home for good! Sometimes I think back on those first few days and how scary that was. And yet we knew that our Heavenly Father was carrying us and He knew what the future held even if we didn't. So much to be thankful for!
This past week Leanne spent 4 hours a day with 8 other children who also had  one low-functioning hand.  And with their good hand being restrained, they did many activities in which they had to use the other. We did wonder if she would manage to get any lunch down, but a fork was attached to her hand so that even though she couldn't grasp it, she was able to scoop and lift her food. By Friday, Leanne was noticing more wrist movement, and she was able to lift her pinky and ring finger slightly. And she is able to lift her arm much more easily. So this week was very beneficial, if rather tiring. The idea of it all though is to train the 'bad' hand to work more, as the 'good' hand tends to take over and make the other one 'lazy'. We have noticed her trying to do more things with her right hand this weekend, so it seems to be working well.
Originally the plan was for Leanne to have injections twice a day for 6 months. We got a call from the pharmacist that she is trying to change that, as the blood thinners are very expensive, and we would have to pay for that when she gets back home for good. Aside from the cost, it would be really nice not to have to do those needles anymore. Though I'm getting rather good at it (ahem) Leanne does not seem to love having them done by me (or anyone for that matter!). And it would certainly give her more freedom at nights when she wants to go out. For some reason the idea of taking me out all the time doesn't appeal to her, so hopefully the pharmacist is successful in getting her off it soon.

July 9

I know some of you are still checking for updates regularly, but the progress isn't so dramatic anymore so it's hard to come up with something every week. I will continue to update though when there is anything new, so please don't give up checking!
Leanne went back to the hospital after being home for 10 days. What a nice break! Not that we saw much of her because she went to Strings Camp everyday just to observe and hang out. But she was still home part of each day and things felt rather normal. And she enjoyed Camp enormously even though  she couldn't play. She's counting on joining in properly next year!
For the next two weeks her therapists are planning to strap her left (good)hand in a splint for 4 hours a day to try force her right hand to do more. That should be interesting as she really depends on that left hand. But she's game, since it's supposed to help her.  God has given her a lot of patience, which we're very thankful for.

June 27

And the discharge date is...
July 27! We can now start the countdown!
Today we had another meeting with the staff at Bloorview, and we were very encouraged by the reports that the staff gave. She will no longer need to take her wheelchair home, as she is walking well enough. Possibly in the few more days they'll take the wheelchair away altogether. Once she is finished with Bloorview she will go to therapy in St. Catharines once a week. That's not too hard to take! And the best news of the week is that Leanne is allowed to go to String Camp next week. She'll come home tomorrow night and not have to go back til July 8. She's very excited about that and it'll be wonderful to have her home for such a long stretch. After that she only has to go back for 3 weeks. I know that time will go fast and she will continue to improve during that time. We can be so thankful for the services available to us in our country. I know that some people have bad experiences with our health system, but for us it has been wonderful, truly a blessing.

June 25

Just a quick update for those of you who are still faithfully reading this blog... There is not too much new stuff going on, except that Leanne's right arm is definitely improving. She can now raise it above her head and keep it there for a few seconds. Now for the hand! She's still very positive but starting to feel like she'd really like to be home for good. On Wednesday we have our second Family Team Meeting which includes anyone at the hospital who is involved with her. Hopefully then we will have a good idea as to when she can come home. In the meantime, we keep thanking God for how far He has brought her and carried us throughout this journey.

June 16

Leanne's dismissal date seems to be getting closer! In the last week or two the middle of July seemed to be the goal for her to go home. Yesterday a therapist came over to make sure that Leanne could safely move around our house. She told Leanne if she worked at some exercises at home on the weekends, and showed (on video) her therapists at the hospital how easily she moves around now (even from the house over the uneven lawn to the pond), there should be no reason why she shouldn't go home sooner. As long she can get proper therapy in St. Catharine's she would not need to be in Toronto much longer. We like that idea!
There is definite improvement in her right arm. Though the muscles are still weak we notice new things that she can do every week. She really has to concentrate on those movements, so generally her arm does hang at her side. God has shown his goodness again and again as we see her gain strength every weekend that she comes home. So tomorrow we will go to His house with our whole family and sing praises to Him who cares for us all.

June 10

Today Leanne wanted to walk partly to church with her friends and have us pick them up on our way there. The answer was a definite NO but it does say something more about her progress! She's come a long way again this week. Her wheelchair came home with her, but it has not really been used, as she's walking everywhere herself. She's even sleeping upstairs again, to her delight. She does have to pace herself, and gets tired quite easily. The therapists keep warning her against doing too much, too fast. Now there is more discussion about when she can actually think about coming home. It sounds like it will not be too many more weeks, as long as they can find something closer to home to go to for therapy. Although that still sounds too long for her, it's pretty exciting for us. She's in a wonderful place, and doing well there, but it's not the same as being home. So the countdown is on!