I planned on going to see Chris today.  Mom decided to drive her own car in, and Jon was coming in to see his brother and sister-in-law ’cause they are moving to the other side of the world, and so we drove in together.  We got to VGH about 10am, and he just dropped me off.

I made it up stairs a few mintues later, only to be told by the nurses that I was just in time.

Just in time for Chris to be transferred.  I was SO excited.  Transferred?  He was going to GF Strong this morning….???  He was 8th on the list on Monday, and next on the list as of yesterday, but this was it????  He was going now????

I walked into his room, and he was already on the stretcher and the paramedcs were just getting him comfy for the drive, when Mom said, “He’s going to UBC!”

I was stunned!  I didn’t know what to think or to say or to ask or……anything…..

It was such shocking news.  Apparently it was just as shocking for Chris and for Mom….

Mom said that Chris was feeling a bit stressed over the fact that it was such a sudden change – seriously less than an hours notice – and by the fact that he didn’t have time to get anything cleaned up and packed up and ready to go.

It was a blow to Mom, ’cause the last we understood – Chris was headed up to GF Strong’s Rehabilitation any time now!  So hard, and so frustrating!  We can see God’s hand at work every step of the way from the beginning of the accident until now, and are certain that we will see God’s hand once again, in this particular situation and move. 

It’s just hard to see the good when your world has been unexpectedly rocked.

Chris went off in the ambulance about 10:30am, and Mom and I packed up his room, and left for UBC just before 11am.  When we arrived, it was after 11:30am, and we went up to where Chris’s room is. (He is in the Purdy Pavillion on the 3rd floor in the Transitional Care Unit in Room 334 – if anyone can visit, that would be wonderful!)

He was just sitting in his bed looking very lost and alone and confused and upset and disoriented.  Mom started to cry, and even Chris cried…..it was a hard move, and very upsetting to all.

Just not knowing what’s going on or why or anything is so difficult.

The Nurses and Therapists and the admitting Doctor and all the staff was SO AMAZING!  They were so sorry that we weren’t informed that he was coming there, and were so sorry that there was a bit of upset from the transfer, and were so attentive to his chart – reading it and re-reading it, and clarifying the list of injuries, and verifying where he was at, and how far along he was in the recovery process.  The Occupational Therapsit and the Physio Therapist were UNBELIEVABLE.  They worked so hard to assess Chris, and to get him up into a chair, and have said that they’d get him up tomorrow, and into a wheelchari and possibly into a exercise class and they got him a new bed so he could have a support bar attached to his bed so he can manuever himself in and out of bed.

Jon came by around 1:00pm, and lunch was a disgusting mess of egg salad, nasty bread, and limp Caeser Salad….so Mom and I ran down to the cafeteria and bought some pizza and we had a bit of a pizza party back in his room to celebrate his move to the next unit on his road to recovery.

Debbie showed up a bit after that, and we talked and chatted.  It was nice to just be able to hang out and spend time with each other.

Nina and Jackie came and Chris was so happy to see her.  He had asked me a couple of times when she was coming, and if she knew where he had been moved to.  After the emotional upset of today – it was so nice to have some of the steady, constant things (and loves) in his life be there for him.

I know that this sounds like whining, but it’s hard to have him moved even farther away.  Even VGH was a drive and basically a day’s worth of time to get into.  Now he’s even farther away……it just makes it even harder to get into, and you really aren’t just dropping in.  You have to plan to go in and spend some time.  So anyone who can possibly go in, please – I’m asking for a favor – please go in a see him, if you possibly can.  It would mean a lot to us, and I know to him and Nina to have family and friends to be supporting them and us through this transitional time.

The doctor today told us that it could be 12 weeks that he’s there.  We were overwhelmed.  Imagine being told that you are going to the Rehabilitation Center just up the street at any time now, and then getting transferred to another facility 20 minutes away, AND being told that you’re probably going to be there for the next 3 months.

Can we say stressful?

Please pray for Chris to be strengthened in body, mind and emotions. 

Pray for Nina, as this is another strain on her, both physically, emotionally, and financially.

Pray for the family on both sides, that we would know how to support Chris and Nina through this transitional time, and that we would be able to effortlessly fill in the spaces with love and joy and peace and strength to both Chris and Nin when they are feeling overwhelmed by all that life is bringing to them.

Pray for increased miracles in Chris’s body and mind.  We were just told yesterday that they couldn’t believe how far Chris had come (physically and mentally) just since Friday, and that is was absolutely unbelievable how quickly he was progressing.  We are believing for that progress to just keep going in God’s pace and timing.

Pray for whatever miscommunication that we may have either misunderstood or whatever, that everything would work out according to God’s timing and plan and purpose for Chris and Nina’s life.

Just pray that God’s will would be done in every area of Chris’s life and that all glory and honor would go to HIM, and that we would all be able to keep our focus on the One who is carrying each and everyone of us through these sometimes rocky times.