This updating this is harder than you might think.  I’m so glad that Momma is sending most of the updates through.  It’s hard to wrap your brain around putting all your feelings and emotions out into words, when you are just exhausted, and all you want is for someone else to do it for you.

I’m not complaining, too much!  This is just such an unbelievable experience and so hard to describe what you go through when it’s happening to you.  I know that what I’m going through in all of this is NOTHING compared to what Chris and Nina are going through, and even Momma and Dad.  I can’t imagine this being my husband, or my son…..it’s hard enough just being his oldest sister, and yet overshadowing it all is this amazing sense that God is in control, and and everything WILL BE OKAY.

Mom and I went in to see Chris on Friday.  We showed up around 9:30-10am, and he was just in the middle of getting cleaned up, so we went to the cafeteria and Momma picked up some fruit for him.  It neat to see that some things about him are exactly the same.  He LOVES fruit – watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple.  When we finally got back into see him, he wolfed the fruit down, and we joked around a bit, and it was so nice to see him up and fairly positive.

It’s hard to see him when he’s uncertain and talking about walking around earlier that morning or even yesterday.  It’s hard ’cause it’s not true.  He can’t walk right now.  It’s been about 2 weeks since they operated on his left foot, and the bones would not have healed yet.  There is also the place where they grafted in the muscle and skin on his lower leg, and that has to be wrapped anytime that his foot is hanging down ’cause they don’t want too much blood rushing to it and creating pressure where it is still healing.

So, walking at this point is pretty much an impossibility (for now) only ’cause he still needs to heal.  Soon…..soon they won’t be able to hold him back, but for now – it’s hard when he talks about being up and walking around ’cause we know that in his mind he was up and at ‘em even though physically it’s not possible.  We’ve talked to him quite a bit about the fact that he’s had a brain injury and how it messes up with the signals that his mind is sending, and sometimes he has a memory and it may seem really real, but he needs to trust us when we tell him that somethings just are not possible.

I said that it’s hard when he seems uncertain and talks about being able to do things that he can’t physically do just yet……..on the flip side, I think it’s even harder when reality hits, and he realizes and knows what he can and can’t do.  I think that God must have created the brain to only let you process what you can handle a bit at a time, until you are strong enough to really get a grip on the complete extent of what’s happening.  It hits him hard from time to time when he is really with it, and starts to understand where he is at, physically….it gets to him emotionally.  Graciously, he’s not stayed there in that space for a long time, and we just keep believeing that God is leading and guiding and that Chris is an overcomer and that he will continue to grow strong in his body and in his mind and emotions and also in his spirit.

We played Yahtzee for a few rounds, and then his lunch showed up.  He ate a bit.  He’s becoming a big fan of the mystery meat…..NOT!  He’d probably roll his eyes if he were reading this right now….I don’t know how many times he’s mentioned the mystery log now, and they keep bringing it…….I think it’s often times the lesser of two evils.  Oh the joy and pleasure of hospital food.

Chris kicked us out ’cause he needed to do some “paperwork” and so mom and I ran to move the van and to grab a quick bite to eat.  Mom brought him back a turkey dinner, and funny enough he ate all the steamed veggies, and wouldn’t eat any more.  Again, it’s nice to see him choose some of the same stuff that he’d choose from befoer the accident.  He’s always been pretty big into taking care of himself and being and eating healthy.

Right after we came back from lunch, the physiotherapists showed up……3 of them.  Even though Chris has lost a lot of weight, he’s still a pretty big guy, and they need all 3 to be able to help him stand up.  They got him sitting on the side of the bed, and that picture from the last post where he is sitting…..that’s from Friday.  He was sitting all by himself.  It takes a lot of effort just to sit, let alone stand; and they helped him to stand up 3 times, but by the third time he was sweating and pooped and just wanted to get back in bed.  He is getting stronger day by day and that’s wonderful to see.  It’s also amazing to see the mobility in his limbs getting stronger and more purposeful every day. 

One of the mental health nurses came by and dropped off some more homework for Chris to do.  The last set they gave him to do to asses where he is at, mentally, was too easy and he did amazing.  These ones are supposed to be a bit more difficult.  She also encouraged us to help him start journaling…..to write down in his notebook 9am….10am…..11am….and so on, and get him to write in it who came to visit, and what they did or brought, and things like brushing his teeth.  It will be a help to him while he is learning new coping strategies.

He was pretty funny while we were thinking of things to write down.  He was beeing really cheeky and I told him he was being a brat.  He seemed to delight in the fact that he was messing with me.

We were talking about his job, and he’s not remembered too much about the rig that he was working on when the accident happened.  We started talking about the old rig, and I asked a few open ended questions, and he started recalling some of the info about the lastest rig that he’d been working on.  This kind of info is good to hear.  It’s nice to hear that even if the memories aren’t readily at the surface, or don’t seem to be filed in the right locations, that when he starts talking about “stuff” he can seem to remember more and more every time that he talks about it.  There are no guarantees that he’ll remember the next time you talk about it, but you know that the info is somewhere up there just waiting to be bumped again.

Nina came a bit after that, and it was so nice to see her.  This is such a rebuilding time for the both Chris and Nina.  They are having to learn to communicate and be there for each other in ways that they have never had to do with or for each other before.  They are both having to recover from the trauma that an accident like this brings.  Chris may be recovering physically, but to see what Nina is going through is tough.  To not know what to do to help, and to want to do something, and yet to feel so unsure…..

This is so hard.  I’d like to ask that each of you be keeping both Chris and Nina in your prayers.  I know that you’re already praying, and I don’t want you to stop, but if you would remember to also pray about the two of them as a couple.  Really just lift them up, that this time would be a rebuilding of their lives as one, and that they would grow together even more than they were before.  That they would know exactly how to communicate with each other in love and support.  That they would be there for each other…when one is feeling weak, that the other would be stronger. That they would be able to lean on each other for support.  Pray that they would both really grab a hold of the fact that together they are stronger than they are as individuals.  Pray that LOVE would be greater than any hurt or fear they might experience as they walk through this journey together.  Pray that through out all of this that they would see God carrying both of them – together – through this time.  Pray for God to give each of them wisdom and grace to be able to walk this road, and to come out with an even stronger bond of love yoking them together.

Keep believing for miracles for Chris and Nina.  Chris is getting better day by day, and we stand on all that God has promised for him and his body and mind.  Pray for Nina and her thyroid.  PHysically, she is exhausted  and it is extremely wearing on her.  She is needing to make some decisions regarding her health.  Pray that God will give her wisdom and peace and the confidence to know exactly what she needs to do.

Chris and Nina,

We stand with you as your family and we support you.  We love you and continue to pray God’s deepest blessings over you and your house.  We expect God’s miracles to be evident in both your  lives, and we rejoice in everything He has done and is continuing to do.  We love you both, so much!